Paper no. 107
Assignment : Paper no :107
The Twentieth Century Literature: From World war II to the End of the Century.
∆ Personal Information:
Name : Maya Batiya
Roll no : 18
Enrollment no :5108230003
Course : M.A.sem-2
Paper no :107
Paper code :22400
Paper name : The Twentieth Century Literature: From World war II to the End of the Century.
Topic : Analysis of Samuel Beckett's Waiting for Godot.
Submitted : Smt.S.B.Gardi, Department of English MKBU.
Email:mayajbatiya2003@gmail.com
Q. Analysis of Samuel Beckett's Waiting for Godot.
∆ Introduction :
Waiting for Godot is a two-act play by Samuel Beckett, translated from Beckett’s own French script. First performed in English in 1953, it has been heralded as one of the most important plays of the 20th Century. It is a central work of absurdism, though it was not originally received with much acclaim. In fact, the play’s frank treatment of the body provoked some horror in its initial audiences.
∆ About Samuel Beckett :
Waiting for Godot, tragicomedy in two acts by Irish writer Samuel Beckett, published in 1952 in French as En attendant Godot and first produced in 1953. Waiting for Godot was a true innovation in drama and the Theatre of the Absurd’s first theatrical success.winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1969. He wrote in both French and English and is perhaps best known for his plays, especially En attendant Godot (1952; Waiting for Godot).
∆ Famous Works :
1.Waiting for Godot
2.Endgame
3.Malone Dies
4.Happy Days
5.Murphy
6.Watt
7.Molloy
∆ The Theatre of the Absurd :
The term ‘Absurd’ stands for the kind of drama that presents a view of the absurdity of the human condition. It was applied by a group of writers in the 1950s. After World War II, religious faith declined. People began to believe in technological advancement and materialism.
The plays of the Theatre of the Absurd reflect the anxiety and the problems of the modern age. The main theme in these plays is the absurdity or the meaninglessness of life.
People are confused, estranged, and lost. Their lives become mechanical. As a result, the characters endeavour to end their miserable lives, but they fail to get out of this vicious circle of suffering and absurdity.
In an absurd play, the plot is loose and the dialogue is fragmentary, incoherent and, most of the times, meaningless. This means that language has lost its function as a mean of communication.
Nothing happens in the play. The structure is circular since the play starts and ends without anything happens. There is no series of events that tell a story but rather a pattern of images which present people as lost beings in a meaningless universe.
∆ Analysis of Waiting for Godot :
Waing for Godot qualies as one of Samuel Becke's most famous works. Originally wrien in French in1948, Becke personally translated the play into English. The world premiere was held on January 5,1953, in the Le Bank Theater of Babylon in Paris. The play's reputaon spread slowly through word ofmouth and it soon became quite famous. Other producons around the world rapidly followed. The playinially failed in the United States, likely as a result of being misbilled as "the laugh of four connents." Asubsequent producon in New York City was more carefully adversed and garnered some success.Waing for Godot incorporates many of the themes and ideas that Becke had previously discussed inhis other wrings. The use of the play format allowed Becke to dramaze his ideas more forcefully thanbefore, and is one of the reasons that the play is so intense.Becke oen focused on the idea of "the suering of being." Most of the play deals with the fact thatEstragon and Vladimir are waing for something to alleviate their boredom. Godot can be understood asone of the many things in life that people wait for.The play has oen been viewed as fundamentally existenalist in its take on life. The fact that none ofthe characters retain a clear mental history means that they are constantly struggling to prove theirexistence. Thus the boy who consistently fails to remember either of the two protagonists casts doubt ontheir very existence. This is why Vladimir demands to know that the boy will in fact remember them thenext day.Waing for Godot is part of the Theater of the Absurd. This implies that it is meant to be irraonal.Absurd theater does away with the concepts of drama, chronological plot, logical language, themes, andrecognizable sengs. There is also a split between the intellect and the body within the work. ThusVladimir represents the intellect and Estragon the body, both of whom cannot exist without the other.
∆Characters :
1.) Esragon :
Estragon is one of the two protagonists. He is a bum and sleeps in a ditch where he is beaten each night.He has no memory beyond what is immediately said to him, and relies on Vladimir to remember for him.Estragon is impaent and constantly wants to leave Vladimir, but is restrained from leaving by the factthat he needs Vladimir. It is Estragon's idea for the bums to pass their me by hanging themselves.Estragon has been compared to a body without an intellect, which therefore needs Vladimir to providethe intellectual.
2) Vladimir
Vladimir is one of the two protagonists. He is a bum like Estragon, but retains a memory of most events.However, he is oen unsure whether his memory is playing tricks on him. Vladimir is friends withEstragon because Estragon provides him with the chance to remember past events. Vladimir is the onewho makes Estragon wait with him for Mr. Godot's imminent arrival throughout the play. Vladimir hasbeen compared to the intellect which provides for the body, represented by Estragon.
3) Lucky
Lucky is the slave of Pozzo. He is ed to Pozzo via a rope around his neck and he carries Pozzo's bags.Lucky is only allowed to speak twice during the enre play, but his long monologue is lled withincomplete ideas. He is silenced only by the other characters who ght with him to take of his hat. Luckyappears as a mute in the second act.
4) Pozzo
Pozzo is the master who rules over Lucky. He stops and talks to the two bums in order to have somecompany. In the second act Pozzo is blind and requires their help. He, like Estragon, cannot rememberpeople he has met. His transformaon between the acts may represent the passage of me.
5) A boy
The boy is a servant of Mr. Godot. He plays an idencal role in both acts by coming to inform Vladimirand Estragon the Mr. Godot will not be able to make it that night, but will surely come the next day. Theboy never remembers having met Vladimir and Estragon before. He has a brother who is mentioned but who never appears.
∆ Themes:
In Waiting for Godot, Beckett builds his themes through the minimalist setting and the characters' absurd conversations and actions. Characters represent humanity, the setting represents human existence, and words and actions demonstrate larger truths about the human condition.
1.) Absurdity of Existence :
One of the most noticeable features of the play is utter absurdity: Vladimir and Estragon dress shabbily, engage in physically inept actions, and partake in clownish nonsensical conversations. They absurdly wait endlessly for an unchanging situation to change when it is clear Godot will never come. They occasionally discuss ending their wait by hanging themselves or simply leaving, but absurdly, they never take any action. Although they agree there is "nothing to be done," they work absurdly hard to fill the time while they wait. The unavoidable conclusion is that human existence itself is absurd. Beckett's emphasis on the absurdity of human behavior shows both the tragic and comedic sides of the existential crises.
2.) Purposelessness of Life :
None of the characters in Waiting for Godot has a meaningful purpose. Waiting for Godot might seem to give Vladimir and Estragon a purpose, but the fact that Godot never arrives renders their waiting meaningless. Likewise, Pozzo and Lucky might seem to be traveling toward something, but their travels are ultimately shown to be equally purposeless. Pozzo initially professes to be taking Lucky to the fair to sell him, but this purpose is never fulfilled. The second time they pass by, they express no purpose at all—they are simply moving from one place to another. Their traveling may even be counterproductive because they cannot seem to go any distance without falling down. The messages from Godot delivered by the boy are equally purposeless. Godot will never come, and it is not at all clear the messages are even meant for Vladimir and Estragon—theboy calls Vladimir "Albert." All the characters seem to be trapped in their purposeless roles by little more than habit, which Vladimir calls "a great deadener." The idea that life has no purpose is a recurring theme in the Theater of the Absurd, which Waiting for Godot helped define.
3) Folly of Seeking Meaning :
Although it is unclear who or what Godot represents, by waiting for him, Vladimir and Estragon are clearly seeking some type of meaning outside themselves. In Act 1, they remember making a "kind of prayer" to Godot, expecting it to give them some direction and they decide it is safer to wait and see what Godot says rather than die by hanging themselves. Godot, however, never comes, representing the futility and folly of such a search for meaning in an inherently meaningless existence.
4 ) Uncertainty of Time :
Time is a slippery thing in Waiting for Godot. It seems to pass normally during the period the characters are on the stage, with predictable milestones, such as the sunset and moonrise, although the characters are sometimes confused about it. But the intervals between the two acts and various events are wildly uncertain. When Vladimir and Estragon return at the beginning of Act 2, the growth of leaves on the tree suggests a longer period has passed than the one day Vladimir claims it has been. Estragon and Pozzo retain little or no memory of their encounter the "previous" day, and other changes have mysteriously occurred "overnight." Estragon and Vladimir have no firm idea of how long they have been together or how long ago they did other things, such as climb the Eiffel Tower or pick grapes in Macon country. The characters also seem to be trapped by time, endlessly repeating essentially the same day again and again. This creates a despair that leads them to repeatedly contemplate suicide, although they never remember to bring the rope they would need to actually hang themselves. Time is one of the main ways people organize their lives and memories, so the uncertainty of time in the play contributes to the feeling of meaninglessness.
∆ Conclusion :
Beckett was very straightforward regarding how he wanted Waiting for Godot to be staged. The only scenery of note in the stage directions is a tree and a stone or mound on which Estragon sits. The barrenness of the set, along with the play's complicated classification as a tragicomedy, has caused scholars to study and theorize about the play. Beckett's literary and theatrical immortality was confirmed when Waiting for Godot was voted the most significant English-language play of the 20th century in a poll conducted by the British Royal National Theatre.
Thank you.. ☺🍂🍁
Words : 1890
Images :4
References :
“Samuel Beckett.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, inc., 29 Mar. 2024, www.britannica.com/biography/Samuel-Beckett
(PDF) Samuel Beckett’s waiting for godot: Critical analysis. (n.d.). https://www.researchgate.net/publication/366878302_Samuel_Beckett’s_Waiting_for_Godot_Critical_Analysis
Scribd. (n.d.-c). Waiting for Godot Character list: Estragon. Scribd. https://www.scribd.com/document/485392438/Waiting-for-Godot
Alsharadgeh, Dr. Samer Ziyad. “THE THEMES IN SAMUEL BECKETT'S PLAY WAITING FOR GODOT Dr. Samer Ziyad Alsharadgeh English Language Center, Umm Al Qura University.” EA Journals, 2020, https://www.eajournals.org/wp-content/uploads/The-themes-in-Samuel-Becketts-play-Waiting-for-Godot.pdf . Accessed 18 February 2024.
