Waiting for Godot
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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"Given the existence as uttered forth in the public works of Puncher and Wattmann of a personal God quaquaquaqua with white beard quaquaquaqua outside time without extension who from the heights of divine apathia divine athambia divine aphasia loves us dearly with some exceptions for reasons unknown but time will tell and suffers like the divine Miranda with those who for reasons unknown but time will tell are plunged in torment..." --Waiting for Godot (1963) by Beckett ESTRAGON: Let's go. --Waiting for Godot (1963) by Beckett "It'll pass the time. (Pause.) Two thieves, crucified at the same time as our Saviour." --Waiting for Godot (1963) by Beckett "The tears of the world are a constant quantity. For each one who begins to weep, somewhere else another stops. The same is true of the laugh." --Waiting for Godot (1963) by Beckett |
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Waiting for Godot is a play by Samuel Beckett, in which the characters wait for a man (Godot) who never arrives. Godot's absence, as well as many other aspects of the play, have led to many different interpretations since the play's premiere on January 5th, 1953.
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Plot
Act I
The play opens with two bedraggled acquaintances, Vladimir and Estragon, meeting by a leafless tree. Estragon notifies Vladimir of his most recent troubles: he spent the previous night lying in a ditch and received a beating from a number of anonymous assailants. The duo discuss a variety of issues at length, none of any apparent significance, and it is finally revealed that they are awaiting a man named Godot. They are not certain if they have ever met Godot, nor if he will even arrive.
Subsequently, an imperious traveller named Pozzo, along with his silent slave Lucky, arrives and pauses to converse with Vladimir and Estragon. Lucky is bound by a rope held by Pozzo, who forces Lucky to carry his heavy bags and physically punishes him if he deems Lucky's movements too lethargic. Pozzo states that he is on the way to the market, at which he intends to sell Lucky for profit. Following Pozzo's command "Think!", the otherwise mute Lucky performs a sudden dance and monologue: a torrent of academic-sounding phrases mixed with pure nonsense. Pozzo and Lucky soon depart, leaving the bewildered Estragon and Vladimir to continue their wait for the absent Godot.
Eventually, a boy shows up and explains to Vladimir and Estragon that he is a messenger from Godot, and that Godot will not be arriving tonight, but surely tomorrow. Vladimir asks for descriptions of Godot, receiving only extremely brief or vague answers from the boy, who soon exits. Vladimir and Estragon then announce that they will also leave, but they remain onstage without moving.
Act II
Vladimir and Estragon are again waiting near the tree, which has grown a number of leaves since it was last seen in Act 1. Both men are still awaiting Godot. Lucky and Pozzo eventually reappear, but not as they were previously. Pozzo has become blind and Lucky is now fully mute. Pozzo cannot recall ever having met Vladimir and Estragon, who themselves cannot agree on when they last saw the travellers. Lucky and Pozzo exit shortly after their spirited encounter, leaving Vladimir and Estragon to go on waiting.
Soon after, the boy reappears to report that Godot will not be coming. The boy states that he has not met Vladimir and Estragon before and he is not the same boy who talked to Vladimir yesterday, which causes Vladimir to burst into a rage at the child, demanding that the boy remember him the next day so as to avoid repeating this encounter once more. After the boy exits, Vladimir and Estragon consider suicide, but they do not have a rope with which to hang themselves. They decide to leave and return the day after with a rope, but again they merely remain motionless as the scene fades to black.
See also
- Le Monde's 100 Books of the Century
- Unseen character
- Absurd
- Theatre of the absurd
- Talking past each other
- Not knowing
- Uncertainty
