“Waiting
for Godot” play uses symbolic to express not the emptiness of one’s existence
but the emptiness of existence itself. The characters have no personality, no
goal, no obstacle to overcome they are just waiting: waiting for Godot to come,
waiting for Godot to give them a clue, the reason of their presence in the
play, the reason of the existence of the play actually the reason of existence
itself.
The relation between Estragon and Vladimir: a self-relation?
Being attentive to the characters, we can
suppose that Estragon and Vladimir represent two parts of the same person
trying to relate: Estragon the body / Vladimir the soul. Indeed, Estragon is
always feeling pain on his body. He speaks with small sentences often
describing how his body hurts. He is beaten by some mysterious guys at night,
and he also gets hit by Lucky, the slave. It is strange that he always gets
physically hurt whereas Vladimir is always feeling mental pain. He talks a lot,
think a lot of the past and the awfulness of the situation. Estragon and Vladimir are also more united
when they are facing another person. When they are in front of the Master Estragon
often repeat Vladimir sentences like if they were parts of the same person but
desynchronized parts. However, considering them as separate persons is also
useful to understand the hedgehog’s dilemma of Schopenhauer which is a famous
existentialist idea. The idea is that human beings are like hedgehogs: they
want to live close to each other but as they have spikes they are hurting
themselves by getting closer. Estragon and Vladimir can’t stay alone: they actually
abandon the idea of committing suicide because they are afraid that one of them
might fail and stay alone in existence. But they can’t stand each other. For
instance, when they try to hug Estragon rejects Vladimir because he stinks.
Nobody knows nobody
Another funny fact is that every time they met
again the characters don’t know if they know each other or not. Lucky (the
slave), Pozzo (the master) and the messenger don’t recognize Estragon and
Vladimir during the second act although they have already met them. When Pozzo
and Lucky are gone Estragon and Vladimir are not able to know if they still
know them. And Vladimir keep on saying yes we know them “unless they are not
the same”. This situation highlights a main existentialist idea: self as it
exist is always changing until it dies. As all the characters keep on changing
they can’t know each other when they met again. Estragon and Vladimir know Lucky
and Pozzo old selves but not the new ones so they actually don’t know Lucky and
Pozzo.
The absence of Godot is the reason of the nonsense of the play, of the
nonsense of existence
Godot is like the clue: if he comes he will give
us the meaning of waiting, the meaning of the play, the meaning of existence. It
is even more obvious when we consider the fact that Godot is the word God with
the French pejorative suffix “ot”.
Godot is god, is the person who can give us the
answer to the What of existence. But he doesn’t co
This situation is emphasized by Estragon saying “in
the meantime nothing happens”: while we wait nothing happens. But they are
forced to wait because it is the play, because waiting is existing and there is
no escape. Estragon always says that they should leave but at the same time he
says that he has never been anywhere else but here and that even if, as
Vladimir says, he went to the Vaucluse it is exactly the same place as here. He
is right saying that Vaucluse is the same place as he is now because the play
doesn’t take place in a place it takes place into existence.
Dear Eva,
ReplyDeleteI found your article very interesting and the splitting between body and soul represented by Vladimir and Estragon is very constructive. I may just have a different comprehension of the play that i would like to discuss with you.
You say that the absence of Godot is a nonsense, i actually believe all the sense that their existence is about is because Godot is absent and will never come. Waiting for Godot is a pretext for them to be together, to fill the blank space by talking to each other, keeping the social links and not feeling lonely.The main reason they met and talked to Pozzo was because of this "Godot" they are waiting for. Godot may be just waiting for nothingness, together, in order to fight against absurdity. I think the main purpose for which " the are forced to wait" is because they need to, it gives an aim to their existence, it makes life less absurd to wait for something, it's like having a imaginary friend, you know he is not there, but the main reason we believe in when we are children is because we don't want to be alone. It's the coming of Godot that would make this play absurd and not his absence.
Hi ! I quite agree with what you are saying ! Actualy what I meant when I wrote that the absence of godot was a non sens is that godot emphasizes the sense of life, the sense of the play and as he doesn't come it shows that the play has no sense like the existence has no sense. And to this point we can say that the absence of godot has a sense and this sense is that the life has no sens. The characters try to avoid this reality, so they are all acting like he is going to come, like the sense of existence exists and that it will soon be revealed. So the characters indeed need the absence of godit but hey also need the idea that he is going to come.
DeleteHi ! I quite agree with what you are saying ! Actualy what I meant when I wrote that the absence of godot was a non sens is that godot emphasizes the sense of life, the sense of the play and as he doesn't come it shows that the play has no sense like the existence has no sense. And to this point we can say that the absence of godot has a sense and this sense is that the life has no sens. The characters try to avoid this reality, so they are all acting like he is going to come, like the sense of existence exists and that it will soon be revealed. So the characters indeed need the absence of godit but hey also need the idea that he is going to come.
DeleteDear Eva,
ReplyDeleteI agree that the absence of Godot is the reason of the nonsense of existence. Nevertheless, I think we can use a Nietzschian approach to understand the nonsense of the play. It makes me thought of the death of God: I see Estragon and Vladimir as two Camels, carrying the burden of the metaphysic traditions. They are not ready to transform themselves to a lion, they are not ready to defeat the values. I think they represent the absurdity of humans lost in existence, trying to catch metaphysic values that do not exist anymore. God(ot) will never come, but they are not ready to assume it, they are not ready to be existent.
First of all, I find your image (“Another day at Beckett International airport”) very funny (maybe because it symbolizes reality) !
ReplyDeleteI absolutely agree with your analyse of Waiting for Godot.
I would like to add that Beckett has deliberately constructed a play where not only his characters, but also his audience wait for something that never happens ! Just like Estragon and Vladimir, the audience waits during the play for some major event. All of this waiting for nothing, talking about nothing, and doing nothing contributes to a pervasive atmosphere of nihilism in the play.
Thus, Beckett tries to convey us that our existences are hopelessly unfathomable. According to him, human life has no meaning and no purpose. Realizing this, humans will create distractions and diversions to provide the purpose and meaning that is inherently lacking in their lives.
Hey nice article, it's well written and I think readers can easily understand it, however if anybody need educational guides or online notes, please visit us at www.LitCul.com.
ReplyDeletePlease check our new article : 1) Summary of King Lear 2) Biographia literaria: Fancy and imagination 3) Paradise Lost :Satan as the Hero of John Milton
4) Waiting for Godot as an Absurd Play"