Waiting for Godot is a remarkable piece of work by Samuel Beckett
. waitingfor Godot was one of the most revolutionary plays of the twentieth century. In this
play, Samuel Beckett experimented with ‘minimalism’ – a technique employed to create
artistic effects with minimum possible means. When the play was first performed, many
spectators left the theatre early because they could not understand anything. The audience
was totally confused at the strange dialogues, characterization and lack of plot/story. Some
critics also see the play as a reflection of Beckett’s own military experiences during the
Second World War.
The play is a tragicomedy in two acts. It has only five characters who actually appear on the
stage and another character, Godot who doesn’t appear on the stage at all. The whole play
revolves around the protagonists, Estragon and Vladimir, nicknamed Gogo and Didi
respectively. The title refers to the protagonists waiting endlessly for Godot. They wait on a
deserted country road, with nothing else in the background except a willow tree.
it reflects the nothingness of the plot which sets the tone for the play.
The setting of the play is influenced by a mode of nothingness. A desolate country road, a ditch, and a leafless tree make up the barren, otherworldly landscape, which bears a surplus of symbolism. The landscape is a symbol of a barren and fruitless civilization or life. There is nothing to be done and there appears to be no place better to depart. The tree, usually a symbol of life with its blossoms and fruit or its suggestion of spring, is apparently dead and lifeless. But it is also the place to which they believe this Godot has asked them to come. The setting of the play reminds us the post-war condition of the world which brought about uncertainties, despair, and new challenges to the all of mankind.
In next comes the plot. The beginning and the end of Waiting for Godot, in which "Nothing happens, nobody comes ... nobody goes, " are also determined by a sense of nothingness. The play is without the traditional, Aristotelian structure where there is a beginning, middle and a perfect ending. Waiting for Godot does not tell a story; it explores a static situation. On a country road, by a tree, two old tramps, Vladimir and Estragon, are waiting. That is the opening situation at the beginning of act I. At the end of act I they are informed that Mr. Godot, with whom they believe they have an appointment, cannot come, but that he will surely come tomorrow. Act-II repeats precisely the same pattern. The same boy arrives and delivers the same message. So, the play ends exactly where it started. In this way, a sense of nothingness or purposelessness acts as a driving force in the play.
As per as the portrayal of characters is concerned the play also uplifts the sense of
nothingness. A well-made play is expected to present characters that are well-observed and convincingly motivated. But in the play the five characters who are not very recognizable human beings and don’t engage themselves in a motivated action. Two tramps, Vladimir (Didi) and Estragon (Gogo), are waiting by a tree on a country road for Godot, whom they have never met and who may not even exist. They argue, make up, contemplate suicide, and discuss passages from the Bible.
The play concludes with some beautiful exchanges between Vladimir and Estragon.
"Estragon: why don't we hang ourselves?
Vladimir: with what?
Estragon: you haven't got a bit of rope?
Vladimir: no
Estragon: then we can't
Vladimir: oh, wait, there is my belt
Vladimir: it's too short
Estragon: you could hang on to my legs
Vladimir: and who would hang onto mine?
Estragon: true
A play is expected to entertain the audience with logically built, witty dialogue. But in this play, like any other absurd play, the dialogue seems to have degenerated into meaningless babble. ‘Nothing to be done’ is the words that are repeated frequently. The dialogues the characters exchange are meaningless banalities. They use language to feel the emptiness between them, to conceal the fact that they have 'nothing' to talk about to each other.
In the play we come across some behavioral attitudes that are more important than dialogues as they reflect the frustration, hesitation and psychological complexities of modern people. The opening lines of play are the superb example of it. When the curtain opens we find Estragon is engaging in his another vain attempt to take off his boots. His repeated failure attempt symbolizes the meaninglessness of everyday life activities and more symbolically the meaninglessness of life itself. Throughout the play there are so many behavioral attitudes that reflect the nothingness of human life. Innumerable poses as well as deviation from the topic also depicted by beckett to insinuate towards psychological alienation. Same appears in our life we speak less but contemplate a lot at subconscious level. Thus it reflects the human predicament in modern time through out the play with its all the essential elements of the play as such settings, plot, characters, dialogue.
the ‘waiting’ it seems as if their very existence is absolutely meaningless. Critics have
commented that Godot actually stands for ‘God’. Through the character of Godot,
Beckett has illustrated a common human condition. Human beings wait and wish for
something or the other, throughout their entire lives and Godot can be seen a similar
objective.
Through it's theme it also signify the human predicament in modern scenerio. Critics have identified many themes, but Waiting for Godot “is a mystery wrapped in an
enigma”].Some of the main themes in the play are waiting, anxiety, alienation, nihilism,
existentialism, vain expectancy, flux of time, boredom, eternal recurrence, uncertainty,
denial, friendship, suffering and so on.
Conclusion
What is most fascinating about Waiting for Godot is that it doesn’t really end. The structure
of the plot is circular as the play begins and formally ends with waiting for Godot. The
audience is fully aware that the waiting goes on and on. When it was staged in London in
1955, Kenneth Tynan remarked, ''It has no plot, no climax, no denouement; no beg/ astounding impact on the audience/readers because of this very fact. It signifies the eternal
recurrence of human life in all its complexities. The tragi-comic elements emphasise the
helplessness and vulnerability of the characters who do nothing at all to change their destiny. Beckett does not intend to convey and universal message rather he just presents an experience and modern human predicament truthfully in front of his audience.
Bibliography
Beckett, Samuel. Waiting for Godot. London: Faber and Faber, 2010 (1956). P13, p4, p18 . Pdf.
Web
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