Samuel Beckett Waiting for Godot

Origination of WFG Beckett first wrote Waiting for Godot in the 1940’s while he was journeying through France with his wife, Suzanne. Opened in Paris in 1953 Not fully completed by Beckett until 1965 Should not be read as a purely Christian play Beckett says in his biography that Waiting for Godot does NOT mean Waiting for God!

Waiting for What? Beckett believed we are waiting for the unknown Sometimes the waiting is more important than the thing or person we are waiting for! WFG is a play of humanism

Gogo and Didi (Estragon and Vladimir) Their saving grace is their relationship with each other Some of the lines where they seem to wax romantic come from conversations Beckett had with Suzanne as they walked across France together. One character says “I’m leaving,” and the other answers “Maybe it would be better if we parted.” Their relationship is bleak at times, hopeful at others.

Existential Play

Beckett ponders the meaning of life Why live, why not die? The play is not religious, although Beckett often uses Biblical allusions WFG is similar to Hamlet in many ways Asks the question “To be or not to be?” Why should we choose to go on living?

WFG is not about waiting for God Not a question of God’s existence It is more about how we act in the world while we are waiting for life to end We won’t solve the question until we ourselves die Beckett is more concerned with how we as humans operate in the world Religion offers hope, and Beckett doesn’t write this to give hope, more to ask questions

WFG is a balance between hope and despair Hope can be found in each other – Gogo and Didi, Pozzo and Lucky The characters worry that they have repented for nothing We all share guilt, the state of sin We are all guilty of being born! (5)

“Nothing to be done” Act of acceptance, since we can’t change our destiny/fate Gogo and Didi are waiting for Godot, a man of power who we know nothing about. Beckett pulls from Sartre, a French philosopher, who believes we are condemned to our freedom. They say, “Let’s go,” but they never actually leave.

Estragon and Vladimir Gogo Didi Estragon is child-like Estragon is a poet Estragon is emotional Estragon lives in the moment Estragon accepts what happens Vladimir is more the adult Vladimir is a philosopher/intellectual Vladimir is rational, seeks answers Vladimir lives in a construct of time Vladimir is trying to find reasons for what is happening

Groundhog Day Gogo and Didi live the same day over and over again, either in the moment or in historical context, but they always end up in the same place. Life goes back and forth, it is self- perpetuating. Vladimir says “It’ll pass the time” and for him, passing the time means we are all working towards death, waiting for death.

Pozzo and Lucky Pozzo Lucky Pozzo is a social being, a leader Pozzo is elitist, he has a blindness to human elements Pozzo is a Nietzschean master figure Lucky is told what to do, a follower Lucky doesn’t have to make choices Lucky is a slave

The human condition is a recurrent theme The human condition, we are all here on earth, sharing little hope, lots of despair There is not meaning in life except for what we create for ourselves Gogo and Didi reject suicide They don’t want to be left alone Being left alone is worse than death! The human bond is most important part of life

“We’re Not Tied” Gogo and Didi insist they are not tied to Godot Destruction of religious hope after WWI and WWII Some found hope in God, others gave up hope Political loss of freedom and independence Crawling on all 4’s “We’ve lost our rights” (15) We have created our own monsters

Switching of Roles in Act II Characters switch roles in Act II Gogo sometimes speaks first and independently in Act II Pozzo becomes the slave Lucky becomes the leader/master Life is absurd! Changing roles is another way to pass the time

Changes in Act II 1. Re-entry of Pozzo and Lucky with role reversal 2. The tree has 5 leaves to show the passage of time 3. Speech given by Pozzo instead of Lucky These changes can be seen as mirroring Act I

Beckett’s Focus He is considering the human condition Different and interactive aspects of the four primary characters Changes that occur from Act I to Act II

Human Condition The Human Condition is the problem of not knowing the answer to the question, “Why are we here?” “What is our purpose in life?” All of the characters in WFG are looking for answers to these questions, but are not searching in a way that will help them find resolution