Assignment On Waiting For Godot: 20Th Century English Drama ENG 414

ASSIGNMENT ON WAITING FOR GODOT
Topic: 1. Evaluation of Waiting for Godot as an Absurdist Play

2. Themes of Waiting for Godot
Course Name: 20TH CENTURY ENGLISH DRAMA
Course Code: ENG 414
PREPARED FOR:
NASER EMDAD
Senior Lecturer, Department of English
Faculty of Arts and Social Science
ASA University Bangladesh
PREPARED BY:
RIFA KADER DISHA
ID: 18-1-18-0029, Batch: 33,
Department of English
Faculty of Arts and Social Science
ASA University Bangladesh
Date of Submission: 03/05/2021

EVALUATION OF WAITING FOR GODOT AS AN ABSURDIST PLAY
What is an Absurdist Play?
Theatre of the Absurd or absurdism is a movement where theatre was less
concerned with a plot that had a clear beginning, middle, and end, but dealt with
the human condition. The theatre of the absurd was a short-lived yet significant
theatrical movement, centered in Paris in the 1950s. Largely based on the
philosophy of existentialism, absurdism was implemented by a small number of
European playwrights. The theatre of the absurd will be remembered in history for
many things, the most significant of these being Samuel Beckett’s
masterpiece Waiting for Godot, one of the great plays of the 20th century. Born
from the ashes of postwar Europe, absurdist theatre reflects an era of spiritual
emptiness, a time when the precariousness of human existence was palpable.
Following the atrocities of World War Two, to some the world itself had become
absurd: a frightening and illogical place in which life had lost all meaning and
human existence seemed futile. The growing popularity of Existentialism in
Europe (notably in Paris, where many of the absurdist playwrights lived as exiles),
will also have been influential.
How does an Absurdist Play work?
Plot and Structure:

Anti-realistic, going against many of the accepted norms of conventional
theatre
Labeled by some critics as ‘anti-theatre’
Often characterized by a deliberate absence of the cause-and-effect
relationship between scenes
Non-linear plot developments, sometimes cyclical – ending where
they began
Occasionally appearing as though there is no plot at all to speak of
Deliberate lack of conflict
Acting and Characterization

Both presentational and representational modes of acting
Sometimes stereotypical
Often an absence of character development
Absurd characters lack the motivation found in characters of realistic
dramas, highlighting their purposelessness
Time, place and identity are frequently blurred with characters often unsure
about who or where they are
Characters are often out of harmony or out of sync with the world in which
they live.
Dialogue
Language was devalued as a communication tool (unreliable and distrusted)
Often illogical
Sometimes telegraphic and clipped
Long pauses
Clichéd
Repetitive
Rhythmical
Frequent use of silence
Monotone
Slow dialogue sometimes accompanied by a frenzied, fast-paced monologue
(extremes)
Waiting for Godot as an Absurdist Play
As the father of absurdist theatre, no examination of the form can take place
without looking to Samuel Beckett, the Irish playwright known
for Endgame and his most famous and successful play, Waiting for Godot. Voted
as the most significant English-language play of the 20th century Waiting for
Godot (1952) was a game changer in European theatre. Waiting for Godot is an
absurd drama. In fact, absurd drama presents human life and human situation as
absurd. This type of drama is free from traditional plot, story or division into acts
and scenes. Here we get few characters. They have symbolic significance.
Dialogues are very short and crisp. Nothing significant happens on the stage. It
prefers existential themes. Things are not explained but they are merely hinted at.
One can find all these features in Waiting for Godot.
A perfect summary of absurdist theatre, the characters spend the entire play
waiting for someone named Godot. Needless to say, Godot never arrives. There are
no values and ideals in Waiting for Godot as it explores that static situation of
waiting. The play never leaves the stasis of Vladamir and Estragon waiting even
though events happen.
Title:
In general, a title evokes expectations and is foreshadowing the coming scene.
When there is a name mentioned in the title, we automatically assume that this
name stands for the most important character in the text. But with regard to
Waiting for Godot one can learn that “waiting“ appears – but Godot never does.
Thus, it is an unconventional handling of the title through which a disillusion is
created. In short, one could say that the title is misleading you.
Lack of Action:
Lack of action is one of the major characteristics of an absurd play. There is
nothing significant in the play. So is the case with Waiting for Godot. In this play
nothing significant happens except waiting and waiting. The waiting also becomes
meaningless because no Godot arrives. As soon as the play opens, we find
Estragon, a tramp. He is trying to remove his shoes. The first comment of this
character is, “Nothing doing.” This comment echoes throughout the play. Thus in
the world of Godot even the minimal action is impossible.
ESTRAGON: (giving up again). Nothing to be done.
VLADIMIR: (advancing with short, stiff strides, legs wide apart). I'm
beginning to come round to that opinion. All my life I've tried to put it from
me, saying Vladimir, be reasonable, you haven't yet tried everything. And I
resumed the struggle. (He broods, musing on the struggle. Turning to
Estragon.) So, there you are again.
This dialogue brings into surface the absurd nature of the play where though
Estragon is discussing his problem of taking off his shoes but it represents the
entire human existence where man is disappointed and disillusioned by the very
fact of existence which bring despair and hence, absurdity. It means that man
cannot change his situation. What simply he can do is to exist and suffer.
Losing Identity:
In an absurd play, the characters generally lose their identity. In Waiting for
Godot, we find tramps as characters. They lose their identity in Act II. Their
relationship is in doubt. They spend the night apart. Life to them is an endless rain
of blows. Estragon and Vladimir have lost their identity. The other pair of
characters Pozzo and Lucky become blind and dumb respectively. Suicide is a
recurrent temptation.
VLADIMIR: (gloomily). It's too much for one man. (Pause. Cheerfully.) On
the other hand, what's the good of losing heart now, that's what I say. We
should have thought of it a million years ago, in the nineties.
Vladimir is fed up of the routine miseries of life and that is why he says “it is too
much for one man”. He means to say that life is a sort of burden where living has
got no incentives and no purpose and hence, quite absurd.
Absurdity cannot exceed further than the fact that your very name becomes
senseless as what happened with Pozzo.
POZZO: (Terrifying voice.) I am Pozzo! (Silence.) Pozzo! (Silence.) Does that
name mean nothing to you? (Silence) say does that name mean nothing to
you? (Vladimir and Estragon look at each other questioningly.)
Here Pozzo asks time and again that his name is Pozzo but then too Estragon and
Vladimir are indifferent and call him with wrong name. If somebody loses his
identity and name, the situation becomes unbearable and absurd. This gives the
sense that like Pozzo, everybody will lose his or her identity in this chaotic world
where people become so indifferent that they cannot even recognize you by your
name.
Existentialism:
Waiting for Godot deals with the absurdity of man’s existence in this universe.
When the play starts Estragon and Vladimir agree that they have nothing to do.
They think that they have lost each other. They admit that struggle has been of no
use. Sometimes they feel that they should jump from a tower and kill themselves.
On another occasion they want to hang themselves immediately with a tree. The
existence of Pozzo and Lucky is also absurd. They become blind and dumb
respectively.
Human Situations:
This last part of the play symbolizes human situation. We do not know why and for
whom the tramps are waiting. Like them we are also waiting for something. We
are also living in the same situation in which these two characters are living. The
last part of the play is again full of absurd situations. Estragon says to Vladimir
that they must hang themselves. Vladimir replies that there is no rope to do so.
Estragon says that the cord of the trousers will serve this purpose. As soon as he
removes the cord, the trousers fall to his knees. They test the strength of the cord.
The cord breaks into two. They decide to go. As Estragon says, “Let’s go”,
the curtain falls.
Setting:
The setting of the play is bare. We find only one tree in the first Act, It is without
leaves. In the second Act this tree attains some new leaves. The whole background
is absurd. It reminds us of man’s loneliness and alienation. There is suffering,
agony, anxious wait, futility and all sorts of absurdity.
At last, but not the least, Waiting for Godot is entirely unconventional play.
Samuel Becket violated all dramatic conventions. Indeed, every ingredient of
theater of absurd has been fulfilled by him. Regardless of that this play is
successful. He wrote this play to break the rules of traditional dramatists. Waiting
for Godot completes every factor of theater of absurd, therefore, it can successfully
be called the play of absurd.
MAJOR THEMES OF WAITING FOR GODOT

Waiting for Godot (1952) is an unusual and notable play written by Irish Nobel
Prize-winner (1969) Samuel Beckett. The play was an exploration of a new form
of drama which was categorized as the ‘theatre of the absurd’ by Martin Esslin.
Abstract
The term abstract is used in Esslin’s study and was discovered in the early fifties
during a period that saw the rise of modernism in Europe. Peter Barry categorized
it as post- modernism in his book Beginning Theory. The psychoanalytic
perspective in the same book (with its roots in the theories of Sigmund Freud), also
applies to the protagonist’s desire to meet Godot. Although sometimes the tramps,
especially Estragon, forgets their intention as Estragon often says “Let’s go”,
Vladimir reminds him “We can’t”, Estragon asking “Why not”, Vladimir replies
“We’re waiting for Godot”, they always return to the same subject.
Time and Absurd
Waiting for Godot is a story of ‘time’ written in the form of ‘absurd’, set during
two consecutive days. The two main characters are tramps awaiting Godot’s
arrival. Nevertheless, Godot’s continual absence wastes time in the lives of the
tramps by making them living puppets in the world of the absurd, therefore they
simply “Let it go to waste”, instead of finding an appropriate way to spend it.
Beckett’s intention in creating these characters may have been to make them the
victims of time, pointing out that we cannot stop time, suggesting that we live in
the present moment with what we have, instead of waiting for better lives or for
what we do not have. A possible solution to this would be the path to eternity;
which could be represented by Godot. Furthermore, this suggests that if the
tramp’s intention is to find the way to eternity through Godot, and if they are
certain that Godot is able to guide them, it would be advisable to invest their time
in that hope. In reality, it proves to be the most absurd investment; a whole life
spent waiting for someone mysterious to come and rescue them. Time could be
identified as another major character in the play, since the tramps have nothing else
to do in their lives but wait for Godot. In fact, the idea behind the waiting is that
letting time pass on its own, instead of using it, is harmless. Indeed, if we do not
like the present moment, the only thing we have to do is wait.
All our lifetime is an endless wait for something, and Godot simply seems to
represent that object of our waiting. We wait for “an event, a thing, a person,
death”. If we are active, we hardly remember the passage of time, then the time
flies but if we are inactive, perhaps waiting.
Waiting
The title of Beckett’s play is the one to assess the main theme of the text, namely
the waiting. Waiting represents rather a state than an action as its meaning is that
of resting in expectation, of doing nothing, but expecting something to happen. The
gerund form of the verb is meant to accentuate even more this state. It also
suggests the permanence of this state, the continuous waiting. After reading the
book, one can notice the lack of the traditional plot which means that the action in
the play is almost absent and Beckett’ static comic sense of humor. The two acts of
the play seem to be identical as the background does not change (the only
difference that the leafless tree from the first act grows leaves in the second one)
and also the plot can be summarized as presenting two tramps staying on the edge
of a road, by a tree, waiting for Godot.
The play suggests that “waiting” is the only choice the tramps have if they want to
continue their lives “The subject of the play is not Godot but waiting”.
Hope
The tramps’ excitement to meet the mysterious Godot may be a representation of
man’s desire to fill the time between birth and death with something meaningful.
This period of time often could be a continuation of endless hope which connects
the beginning, birth, to the end, death. In Waiting for Godot it seems that the
tramps’ hope is Godot; they continue their lives with that hope of meeting Godot,
because they believe that they “Will be saved”. However, if they did not have the
hope of meeting Godot they may already have taken the action of suicide as
Meanwhile, as the tramps are waiting for Godot, they try to find something to do in
order to pass the time.
Unknown and Uncertainty
Beckett has created the entire plot of the play based on the themes of unknown and
uncertainty. The play provides the idea that whatever is certain in this moment may
turn out to be uncertain in the next moment, and as Estragon insists
“No, nothing is certain”.
In act one Pozzo and Lucky were healthy, but in act two, the following day, Pozzo
has become blind and Lucky dumb. In only one day both of their lives have
changed. Pozzo’s dialogue in the second act is an excellent illustration of the
uncertainty of life, which is, ironically, one of the few certainties in life:
Have you not done tormenting me with your accursed time! One day, is that
not enough for you, one day he went dumb, one day I went blind, one day
we’ll go deaf, one day we were bone, one day we shall die, the same day, the
same second, is that not enough for you? They give birth astride of a grave,
the light gleams an instant, then it’s night once more. (He jerks the rope.) On.
The tramps’ idea of uncertainty in life proves the argument mentioned in chapter
one, the tramps’ intention is to spend their time doing nothing. Unfortunately, the
tramps do not try to use the time but “Let it to go to waste”, for unknown Godot,
and it seems that they have come to the conclusion “Nothing to be done”, a phrase
which is constantly repeated throughout the play. They are certain that whatever
they achieve will last only for a short time, that in one second, they will lose
everything, and end up attaining nothing, stuck in the same place where they
began. Hence, they simply do not try to change the present situation, because what
is certain in this moment may turns out to be uncertain in the next as Vladimir
says-
“Nothing is certain when you’re about”.

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ASSIGNMENT ON WAITING FOR GODOT

Topic: 1. Evaluation of Waiting for Godot as an Absurdist Play

Date of Submission: 03/05/2021

How does an Absurdist Play work?

Plot and Structure:

Acting and Characterization

Waiting for Godot as an Absurdist Play

MAJOR THEMES OF WAITING FOR GODOT

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