Hamm's name is the first syllable of perhaps the most famous play and
role in English, Hamlet. There are multiple oblique references to
Shakespeare throughout the play, and, as in Hamlet, the central
dynamic in this play is father-son conflict (see also [3]).Moreover, Hamm's first words are "Me... to play," and
much later, he says: "I'm warming up for my last soliloquy," displaying
the self-consciousness of a ham actor playing such a juicy
role.
Clov --> French clou = nail
Nagg +Nell --> German Nagel = nail
Beckett said of this play that it relies on "the power of text to claw"
and praised one production by saying, "In the smaller theater, the hooks
went in."
In the Bible, Ham is a son of Noah (who also survived a global catastrophe), who is cursed by his father for a peculiar act of disrespect:
And the sons of Noah, that went forth of the ark, were Shem, and Ham, and Japheth: and ham is the father of Canaan.Hamm has embittered relationships with his father, Nagg ("Accursed progenitor") and his "son," Clov.
These are the the three sons of Noah: and of them was the whole earth overspread.
And Noah began to be an husbandman, and he planted a vineyard.
And he drank of the wine, and was drunken; and he was uncovered within his tent.
And Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father, and told his two brethren without.
And Shem and Japheth took a garment, and laid it upon both their shoulders, and went backward, and covered the nakedness of their father; and their faces were backward, and they saw not their father's nakedness.
And Noah awoke from his wine, and knew what his younger son had done unto him.
And he said, Cursed be Canaan; a servant of servants shall he be unto his brethren.
And he said, blessed be the LORD God of Shem; and Canaan shall be his servant.
God shall enlarge Japheth, and he shall dwell in the tents of Shem; and Canaan shall be his servant.
(Gen. 9:18-27, King James Version)