Interpretations
The title requires some clarification. “In the words of Aristotle: ‘catastrophe is an action bringing ruin and pain on stage, where corpses are seen and wounds and other similar sufferings are performed,’”. Malone refers to “Catastrophe … in the old sense … o be buried alive in lava and not turn a hair, it is then a man shows what stuff he is made of.” The more obvious definition applies of course to the act of defiance itself; the effect is nothing less than catastrophic.
The play is often singled out amongst the Beckett canon as being overtly political even though similar claims could be made for What Where and Rough for Radio II. The play is still a Beckett play and as such it is unwise to limit ones reading of it. "When ... asked about the political significance of Catastrophe, he raised his arms in a gesture of impatience and made just one remark: 'It is not more political than Pochade Radiophonique’”, Rough for Radio II, as the latter is known in English."
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