Waiting for Godot by Samuel Beckett
"Waiting for Godot" is a seminal play by Samuel Beckett, first published in 1952, that explores themes of existential uncertainty and the human condition. The narrative primarily follows two characters, Estragon and Vladimir, who engage in a series of dialogues while waiting for someone named Godot, who never arrives. Their conversations oscillate between philosophical musings and mundane discussions, reflecting their confusion and despair about existence.
The play is set in a desolate landscape, marked by a solitary tree, symbolizing the barren nature of their waiting. Estragon struggles with physical discomfort, such as his ill-fitting boot, while Vladimir attempts to maintain a semblance of hope and order. Their interactions often reveal a cyclical pattern of conflict and reconciliation, emphasizing the absurdity of their situation.
Throughout the play, they encounter other characters, including Pozzo and Lucky, who further illustrate the themes of power dynamics and dependency. The dialogue is rich with irony and dark humor, prompting reflection on the nature of time, memory, and human relationships. Ultimately, "Waiting for Godot" challenges audiences to contemplate the significance of waiting and the search for meaning in an indifferent universe. This influential work remains a cornerstone of modern theatre and continues to resonate with diverse interpretations and philosophical inquiries.
On this Page
Waiting for Godot by Samuel Beckett
First produced:En attendant Godot, 1953; first published, 1952 (English translation, 1954)
Type of work: Drama
Type of plot: Absurdist
Time of plot: Indeterminate
Locale: A country road
Principal Characters
Vladimir , a trampEstragon , another trampPozzo , a success-blinded materialistLucky , Pozzo’s servantA boy , a messenger from Godot
The Story
Estragon tries to take off his boot but fails. Vladimir agrees with him that it sometimes appears that there is nothing one can do. They are glad to be reunited after a night apart. With Vladimir’s help, Estragon succeeds in removing his boot, which was causing him pain. Vladimir, also in pain, cannot laugh in comfort; he tries smiling instead, but it is not satisfactory.
Vladimir muses on the one biblical account that says Christ saved one of the thieves. Estragon wants to leave, but they cannot leave because they are waiting for Godot. They become confused about the arrangements and wonder if they are waiting at the right time, in the right place, and on the right day. They quarrel briefly but then, as always, reconcile.
Estragon and Vladimir consider hanging themselves from the nearby tree but decide that it would be safer to do nothing until they hear what Godot says. They do not know what they have asked Godot for. They conclude that they have forgone their rights. Vladimir gives Estragon a carrot, which he eats hungrily. They decide that although they are not bound to Godot, they are in fact unable to act.
Pozzo enters, driving Lucky, who is laden with luggage, by a rope around his neck. Estragon and Vladimir mistake Pozzo for Godot but accept him as Pozzo. Although he attempts to intimidate them, he is glad of their company. After ordering Lucky to bring him his stool and his coat, Pozzo gives Lucky the whip. Lucky obeys automatically. Vladimir and Estragon protest violently against Pozzo’s treatment of Lucky, but Pozzo deflects their outburst and the subject is dropped.
After smoking a pipe, Pozzo rises. He then decides he does not want to leave, but his pride almost prevents him from reseating himself. The tramps want to know why Lucky never puts down the luggage. Pozzo says that Lucky is trying to make Pozzo keep him. When Pozzo adds that he would sell Lucky rather than throw him out, Lucky weeps. Estragon tries to dry the servant’s tears, but Lucky kicks him away; Estragon then weeps. Pozzo philosophizes on this and says that Lucky has taught him all the beautiful things he knows but that the fellow has now become unbearable and is driving him mad. Estragon and Vladimir then abuse Lucky for mistreating his master.
Pozzo breaks into a monologue on the twilight, alternating between the lyrical and the commonplace and ending with the bitter thought that everything happens in the world when one is least prepared. He decides to reward Estragon and Vladimir for praising him by making Lucky entertain them. Lucky executes a feeble dance that Estragon mocks but fails to imitate.
Estragon states that there have been no arrivals, no departures, and no action, and that everything is terrible. Pozzo next decides that Lucky should think for them. For this, Vladimir replaces Lucky’s derby hat. Lucky’s thoughts are an incoherent flood of words resembling a dissertation on the possible goodness of God, the tortures of hellfire, the prevalence of sport, and the vacuity of suburbs. The words desperately upset Lucky’s listeners, who attack him and silence him by seizing his hat. Having restored Lucky to his position as carrier, Pozzo and the tramps say many farewells before Pozzo and Lucky finally leave.
A boy calls to Vladimir and Estragon. He brings a message from Godot, who will come the next evening. The boy, a goatherd, says that Godot is kind to him, but he beats the boy’s brother, a shepherd. Vladimir asks the boy to tell Godot only that he has seen them.
By the time the boy leaves, night has fallen. Estragon decides to abandon his boots to someone else. Vladimir protests, and Estragon says that Christ went barefoot. Once again they consider and reject the idea of separating. They decide to leave for the night, but they stay where they are.
The following evening, the boots are still there and the tree has grown some leaves. The tramps have spent the night separately. Vladimir returns first. When Estragon comes back, he says that he has been beaten again, and Vladimir feels that he could have prevented such cruelty. Vladimir begins to talk of the previous day, but Estragon can remember nothing about it except for his being kicked. They are then overwhelmed by the thought of the whispering voices of the dead around them. They try to break their silence but succeed only in part. With great effort, Estragon recalls that he and the others spent the previous day chattering inanities. He reflects that they have spent fifty years doing no more than that.
They discover that the boots left behind by Estragon have been exchanged for another old pair. After finding Lucky’s hat, which assures them that they have returned to the right place, they start a wild exchange of that hat and their own hats, shifting them from hand to hand. Finally Vladimir keeps Lucky’s hat and Estragon keeps his own.
Once more Estragon decides to leave. To distract him, Vladimir suggests that they “play” Pozzo and Lucky. Puzzled, Estragon leaves, but he returns almost immediately because some people are coming. Vladimir is jubilant, convinced that Godot is arriving. They try to hide, but there is nowhere for them to go. Eventually Lucky enters with Pozzo, who is now blind. Lucky falls and drags Pozzo down with him. Pozzo cries for help, and Vladimir passionately wishes to act while he has the opportunity to do one good thing as a member of the human race, a species that appalls him. Pozzo is terrified, and Vladimir also falls in his attempts to raise him. Estragon falls too while trying to lift Vladimir. As Estragon and Vladimir fight and argue on the ground, they call Pozzo “Cain” and “Abel.” When he responds to both names, they conclude that he is all of humanity. Suddenly they get up without difficulty.
Pozzo prepares to leave, but Vladimir wants Lucky to sing first. Pozzo explains that Lucky is dumb. Estragon and Vladimir want to know when he was afflicted, and Pozzo, angry, says that all their lives are merely momentary and time does not matter. He leaves with Lucky.
While Estragon sleeps, the boy enters to say that Godot will come, not that night but the next. The message for Godot is that the boy has seen Vladimir. The boy leaves, and Estragon awakes. He immediately wants to leave, but Vladimir insists that they cannot go far because they must return the next night in order to wait for Godot, who will punish them if they do not wait.
Estragon and Vladimir remark that only the tree in the landscape is alive, and they consider hanging themselves again. Instead, they decide that if Godot does not come to save them the next night, they will hang themselves. At last the tramps decide to go, but they remain immobile.
Bibliography
Bair, Deirdre. Samuel Beckett: A Biography. New York: Harcourt, 1978. Print.
Bloom, Harold, ed. Samuel Beckett’s Waiting for Godot. New ed. New York: Bloom’s Literary Criticism, 2008. Print. Blooms' Mod. Critical Interpretations.
Cohen, Robert. “Pozzo's Knook, Beckett's Boys, and Santa Claus.” Modern Drama 54.2 (2011): 181–93. Print.
Connor, Steven, ed. Waiting for Godot and Endgame. New York: St. Martin’s, 1992. Print.
de Villiers, Rick. “ʻOf the Same Speciesʼ: T. S. Eliot's Sweeney Agonistes and Samuel Beckett's Waiting for Godot.” English Studies in Africa 55.2 (2012): 18–28. Print.
Dubois, Diane. “The Absurd Imagination: Northrop Frye and Waiting for Godot.” English Studies in Canada 37.2 (2011): 111–30. Print.
Esslin, Martin. The Theatre of the Absurd. 3rd ed. New York: Penguin, 1980. Print.
Gordon, Lois. Reading Godot. New Haven: Yale UP, 2002. Print.
Graver, Lawrence. Beckett: Waiting for Godot. 2nd ed. New York: Cambridge UP, 2004. Print.
Hutchings, William. Samuel Beckett’s Waiting for Godot: A Reference Guide. Westport: Praeger, 2005. Print.
Karic, Pol Popovic. Ironic Samuel Beckett: Samuel Beckett’s Life and Drama; Waiting for Godot, Endgame, and Happy Days. Lanham: UP of America, 2007. Print.
Lawley, Paul.Waiting for Godot: Character Studies. London: Continuum, 2008. Print.