Hello every one.
Here 's a plane to my project please time little time suggest and correct me. Thanks.
An analytical study to Samuel Beckett's play Waiting for Godot
Introduction.... ...
Chapter One
1- General summary...
2- The study of characters....
3- Setting...
3-1-The time.
3-2-The place.
Chapter Two
1- Life and meaninglessness in Waiting for Godot....
2- Human conditions in the play...
Conclusion... ...
Bibliography.... ....
Please tell me if there are ideas to add or delete.
Ladib Ismail
here is a part of the introduction.
After the brutal World Wars, first and second, many philosophers and writers expressed their pessimism towards life. After the war, life became more complicated and meaningless. Even though there was an industrial revolution which enhanced the society and brought so many positive aspects to every day life, the Second World War evokes the belief that the new life is unsafe and the new technology itself has bad effects on people and industry's disadvantages outweigh its advantages. New weapons are created and massive destruction felt among ordinary people. There was a huge number of innocent people who were killed for no worthy reason. Victims of the war were too many and those who weren't killed were left in miserable conditions. The picture of that era is fairly depicted by Thomas Carlyle "doubt, desire, sorrow, remorse indignation, despair itself, all these like hell dogs lie beleaguering the soul of the poor day worker, as of ever man?(Lionel trilling and Harold bloom, Victorian prose and poetry, 1973?P;54;
In these same conditions the philosophy of absurdity emerged and the theatre of the absurd had birth. But what is the theatre of absurd?
The theatre of the absurd refers to a particular type of plays which describe human conditions as basically meaningless and arguing that the world must ultimately be seen as absurd. It aims at creating a vision of confusion which is stemming from the fact that it is difficult, if not impossible, to find answers to the basic existential questions: why are we alive? Why have we to die? Why there's injustice and people have to suffer.
"Absurdist Theatre" discards traditional plot, characters, and action to assault its audience with a disorienting experience. Characters often engage in seemingly meaningless dialogue and/or activities which make the audience senses what it is like to live in a universe that doesn't "make sense." Besides Eugène Ionesco, Jean Genet, Arthur Adamov, and Harold Pinter, Samuel Beckett is one of the well-known playwrights of the absurd theatre. These writers felt that this disoriented feeling was a more honest response to the post World War II world than the traditional belief in a rationally ordered universe.
and here is the following.( The summary of the first part)
Waiting for Godot is one of the most important works of our time. It revolutionized theatre in the twentieth century. It has a great a profound influence on generations of succeeding dramatists, including such renowned contemporary playwrights as Harold Pinter and Tom Stoppard.
It is first written in French in 1948 as En Attendant Godot and was published in French in October of 1952 before its first stage production in Paris in January of 1953. Later translated into English by Beckett himself as Waiting for Godot, the play was produced in London in 1955 and in the United States in 1956 and has been produced worldwide.
The play came to be considered an essential example of what Martin Esslin later called "Theatre of the Absurd," a term that Beckett disavowed but which remains a handy description for one of the most important theatre movements of the twentieth century.1
Waiting for Godot is a play in two acts. The Act I begins in the evening on a country road next to a tree. Estragon, an old poor man, is sitting on a low mound trying to remove his boot. His friend, Vladimir, another old man joins him and begin to chat.
From the start the audience can easily know that the two men have known each other for years. It seems that they were once rich, strong and respectable in their community but now they turn to be homeless, weak, and often suicidal. In many occasions both Vladimir and Estragon wonder out loud why they did not kill themselves years ago! They consider the possibility of doing it today. Yet, they are still having a hope which encourage them waiting for someone they call "Godot". No body can stand waiting and Estragon and Vladimir also don't. Thus, as to avoid feeling sad and depressed of waiting, they share conversation, food, and memories.
Later on, two other elderly men, Pozzo and Lucky, arrive on the scene. For the first sight, it is clear that Pozzo is the master, and Lucky is the slave. Upon command, the slave dances and thinks out loud for the entertainment of the others, until he is forcibly silenced by his master.
After Lucky and Pozzo depart, a boy arrives to tell Estragon and Vladimir that Godot will not be there today, but will be there tomorrow. The boy leaves and Estragon and Vladimir continue waiting and suffering with a hope that Godot will meet them tomorrow.
Please help.
The second act is almost the same as the first, there is no change except the tree that has sprouted few leaves. The remaining of the first act, Lucky's hat and Estragon's boots, are still on the stage. Vladimir appears singing untill Estragon angrily enters barefoot, complaining of Estragon being happy without him. They chat again waiting their saviour to come, confessing their need to each other. They are still in their misery of waiting when Pozzo and Lucky arrive again. This time, Pozzo is blind and helpless, and Lucky is mute.
A short speech between the four shows how Estragon has forgotten everything took place the day before, he has forgotten all about Pozzo and Lucky and even about himself. Vladimir, mistake Pozzo for Godot and tries to hide. The conversation then generates into abusive phrases. Esragon says," that's the idea, let's abuse each other". They insult one another but embrace each other at the end and wait again.
Pozzo is blind and Lucky is mute, they fall down and waiting for help. This raises a great question about how many people spend their lives in waiting and asked by Vladimir, answered by Estragon that they are so many. Even though Pozzo offers to pay for help by offering a hundred francs. They don't want to help because they are afraid to be alone again if Pozzo deserts them. When Pozzo stands up he demands who are they? And what time is it? Which shows his confusion about the notion of time. After a while the master and his servant leave.
Vladimir deduces that there is no general truth and that by tomorrow he will forget all about today. All the characters forget immediately what happen to them. Even the boy when he returns to announce that Godot will not come again claims that he is not the boy who came yesterday simply because he forgets every thing about it. Vladimir is a bit sure of the poor memory. He shouts, "you are sure you saw me, you want come and tell me tomorrow that you never saw me!"
Lastly Vladimir and Estragon remain on the stage, they want to leave but they can not since they are waiting for Godot. They contemplate hanging themselves; yet, they fail all the time.
Waiting for Godot is one of the most important theatrical works (You should say what kind of work) of our time.
It revolutionized theatre in the twentieth century by ______________________ Explain... it is not good just to say it revolutionized it; give a few words to express the nature of the revolution.
Later on, two other elderly men, Pozzo and Lucky, arrive on the scene. For the first sight, it is clear that Pozzo is the master, and Lucky is the slave. Upon command, the slave dances and thinks out loud for the entertainment of the others, until he is forcibly silenced by his master. (Add some sentences to show how these events support the main idea or argument you are making. Do you know what I mean? The paragraph should end with a few sentences that explain how this EXAMPLE supports your ARGUMENT.
You should do that for every paragraph. Start with a paragraph topic sentence that explains the idea you are sharing with the paragraph. Then, give examples. Then, end the paragraph with a sentence that tells how the examples support the main idea of the essay.
Capitalize the T:
Esragon says,"That's the idea, let's ...
He shouts, "You are ...
:-)
Thanks indeed. wish you read again and give more advice. your ideas will be taken into consideration in the final draft. thanks again.
be kind to read and correct . thanks
2- The characters and what they stand for.
" Characters studies has a great importance. It sheds light on the relationships of the literary characters and the texts in which they appear. This part of my project thus provides an analytical reading of the characters which is also an attempt to show the ability of Samuel Beckett in creating suitable ordinary people who fit in the situations they are created for.
Even though the possibility to divide the characters into passive and active ones, I prefer to study them individually because they all contribute in creating a kind of sorrows, suffering and waiting and forming the general idea of the play.
2-1- Godot
The name GODOT takes us immediately to religious field because it has a G-O-D in it. Consequently, from the beginning we see that Vladimir and Estragon are actually waiting the mercy of God.
In spite of being absent all the time, Godot remains the major character in the play. He represents hope for Vladimir and Estragon. Both of them believe that Godot will save them from their bitter life. Just as people think God will save them from the hell the day after, Vladimir and Estragon strongly believe Godot, who sounds like God, is able to save them from their present hell. However, Godot/ God never comes to save Man, represented by Vladimir and his friend. Godot never shows up during the whole play. He always sends his messengers to say he is not going to appear and the fact of waiting goes on and on and sorrows of human being carry on.
2-2-Vladimir
Unlike his friend, Vladimir is some how intellectual and enjoy discussing mental issues, referring sometimes to the Bible. He is looking forwards to make a sense of his. He is dealing philosophically and pragmatically with daily problems and usually has moments of lucidity in regard to his situation. He says: Was I sleeping while others suffered? Am I sleeping now? Tomorrow when I wake up, or think I do, what shall I say of today? That with Estragon my friend, at this place until the fall of night, I waited for Godot? That Godot passed...and he spoke to us? Probably. But in all that what truth will there be?"
Vladimir is there also as a sort of light and help to Estragon who once informed Vladimir is beaten, he replies that is because he has done something bad to deserve it. He said if he was there he could be able to prevent him from committing sins and saved him from dangers.
We can also claim that Vladimir is there representing Estragon's consciousness and without him Estragon can't wait for Godot. In fact, both Estragon and Vladimir depend on one another. This is obvious when they try to hang themselves but afraid one may die and leaves the other alone.
2-3- Estragon(here I am _ correction)
It is him who begins the playby saying" Nothing to be done."2 He is impatient and constantly wants to leave but he is restrained from leaving because he is in need of his friend. It is him who suggested to put an end to their lives.
Estragon is one of the protagonists. He is more passive and instinctive than Vladimir. He sleeps in a ditch where he is beaten each night. he has not got a good memory and he relies on his friend so much. yet, he has an insight into his miserable conditions in this world. After listening to Vladimir's comment about the uselessness of reason he says: "we are all born mad. Some remains so."2
2-Waiting for Godot. Beckett, Samuel. Newyork: Grove Weidenfeld, 1954.p 3
3-Ibid
2-4- Lucky
Lucky is Pozzo's slave; but look at the name "Lucky"! It is an ironic term. Is he really lucky as his name suggests? He is abused physically and verbally. He is tied to Pozzo via a rope around his nick and he carries Pozzo's bags. He is only permitted to speak twice during the first Act and appears as a mute during the second. However, it is also likely that Lucky is lucky compared to Vladimir and Estrago. Lucky is lucky because he doesn't have to worry about what to do and when. He has Pozzo to do that for him and even to think in his place. He is lucky because he is with Pozzo and Pozzo might be Godot whom people in the play waiting and looking for to save them.
Vladimir and Estragon are enslaved by themselves under the idea of waiting and abused more because they don't know what to do by themselves after all. Lucky however is fully aware of his position as a slave knowing exactly what he has to do.
The first time Lucky speaks, he produces a long speech full of incomplete sentences. But Beckett would not write that speech for no good reason. I think if we examine the speech we can see that it embodies the general purpose of the play as a whole. First of all, Lucky chooses to repeat the same phrases" for reasons unknown", "time will tell" and " what's more" to let us aware of the ideas of Time and the meaningless of life. (We will deal with these ideas in the following parts of this paper).
2-5-Pozzo
Who is Pozzo?
Pozzo is the master, Lucky's master. He stops and talk to Vladimir and Estragon in order to have some company and comfort. In the second act the reader is surprised to meet Pozzo blind and in need of help. He, like Estragon has a poor memory. He can not remember people whom he has met.
For many critics, Pozzo's transformation between the two acts represents the passage of time. For some critics Pozzo is Godot himself and it's only because he has a poor grasp of reality and memory, Pozzo fails , perhaps, to recognize Vladimir and Estragon as being the people he has to meet. This reinforces the view that claims that the tramps are waiting a false Godot who himself needs help.
Indeed, Pozzo is difficult to be recognised due to different reasons. Firstly he may be Godot himself as we have just discussed. This idea it is too much confusing because the boy claims Godot has a beard; yet, we can find some truth in it when we think that Godot is severe with the boy and his brother. He beats his brother and the boy is afraid of his muster and lies. In this particular point we can also think of Lucky as the boy's brother who is beaten.
If we suppose that Pozzo is Godot/God. Would he be tyrannical and cruel? If so, then he must be a very different from The God we imagine and too much different from the one Vladimir and Estragon expect to help them. Again if Pozzo is Godot/God his power wouldn't be limited and seek help himself. His memory is poor and he is helpless; he can not even stand without others' help. "I can not go long without the society of my likes", he says. Accordingly, Pozzo might be God, but if so, he is an imperfect one.
Here are a few ways to improve it. Let me know if you have any questions about these changes:
Even though it is possible to divide the characters into passive and active ones, I prefer to...
In spite of being absent all the time, Godot remains the major character in the play. ---Interesting! That is another quality people associate with God -- that God seems to be absent, or to turn a blind eye on the atrocities in the world.
He is looking forwards forward to making sense of this.
This is obvious when they try to hang themselves but afraid one may die and leaves leave the other alone.
It is him he who begins the play by saying, "Nothing...
2-Waiting for Godot. Beckett, Samuel. Newyork: Grove Weidenfeld, 1954.p 3----What kind of citation style are you using? Usually the name of the author comes first.
Great job!! you have great ideas an understanding of the concepts. The writing has very few errors, too!
Thanks lot
Be kind to have a look in this thread daily if u can.
3-Setting in Waiting for GodotThanks for reading and corrections
Beckett avoids entrapment in clock time and physical space by blurring specifics in the background of action. Beckett do so to pass the idea that both the time and the place where and when to meet Godot is uncertain.
The characters jump from present to past then to present again. The actions take place in very limited place next to the tree. The characters stick to that place and never want to move.
In waiting for Godot, there isn't the kind of time and place we know in our daily life. Waiting for Godot's characters have no clear history and there are few relations among them. the homeless people " have simply been thrown into a strange land without any preliminary explanation about their situation". They don't know where are they, where to go and what to do with their time.
3-1- Time
One scene is there to be seen throughout both acts. Two bumps are waiting in a country rooad, waiting for someone called Godot.
Beckett does not seem very much interested in either future or past. Time is meaningless to the author. Eugene finds out that " one of the seemingly most stable of the patterns that give shape to experience, and one of the most disturbing to see crumbe, is that of time"3 Past, prtesent and future seem to be the same for the major characters. For Vladimir and Estragon, there is no difference between first day (the first act) and the second because they are doing the same thing in both acts. (They are waiting). The second act ends exactly in the same way as the first.
Concerning the boy, he carries the same message in both acts. Lucky also is still living under the orders of his cruel master and still suffering. Time doesn't lead anywhere other than to the central awareness with which the play begins, "Nothing to be done" now and later. The time in Waiting for Godot is useless if not a source of troubles and pain.
Let us consider this sample scene in the second Act, when Vladimir tries to convince Pozzo that they meet yesterday.
Vladimir: And you are Pozzo?
Pozzo: Certainly I am Pozzo.
Vladimir: The same as yesterday?
Pozzo: Yesterday?
Vladimir: We met yesterday.(silence.)Do you not remember?
Pozzo: I don't remeber having met anyone yesterday. But tomorrow I won't remember having met anyone today. So don't count on me to enlighten you.5 Pozzo can not remember what happened yesterday and he is sure he will not remember what is happening now in the near future! This is very clear when he says, «Don't question me! The blind has no notion of time." He seems to be indifferent about the notion of time. He becomes angry with Vladimir and shouts at him: "When! When! One day, is that not enough for you, one day he went dumb, one day I went blind, one day we'll go deaf, one day we were born, one day we shall die, the same day, the same second, is that not enough for you?(calmer). They give birth astride of a grave, the light gleams an instant, then it's night once more."
4 - Webb, Eugene. The plays of samuel Beckett. Seattle: University of Washington Press,1972.p34-35
5( waitinf for Godot. Samuel, Beckett. New york;1954.)
Now it is obvious that the notion of time for Pozzo is very different from ours. For him, the present, past and the future are one. Day and night are different only in terms of colours and for him the action is more important than the time and place in which it takes place. ONE DAY for him is very enough to express time." One day conveys past, present and future".
3-2- Place
Beckett deals with the place in a similar method. Though the scenery of the play is very simple and isolated, consisting only of a tree and a bog, it is very complicated at the same time because the exact location is unknown.
The place is empty except from a tree and a bog. It has no historical relationships with any other place, people or events in this world. The road, next the tree where events take place, has no geographical name. Hence, it could be anywhere in this world.
As we have already mentioned, the second act is identical to the first. The same place, same objects (the boots and a hat) with a small change, the tree has few leaves on it. In fact, though the road and the tree express the idea that the characters are in an open space.
It is clear from what we have discussed that the place in Waiting for Godot is rather a closed space and the characters are prisoners there. Prisoners of themselves and more precisely jailed by the idea of waiting some one to come to free them from their invisible jail.
The fact that Vladimir and Estragon one day are waiting some one somewhere to save them can be seen as a "man's struggle to find a distant place or existence full of meaning and sense"
6 - orgonazations.onenta.edu/philosc/papers09/hotaling.pdf
For all the characters in the play the sense of time and place is unstable because of the interruption of another genre of time and place. Time as a unit that can not be divided in terms of years, hours and days and the same order that we live with in our world: Monday follows Sunday and after Tuesday there is Wednesday.
This is clear from Estragon's phylosophy when he asks insidiously: But what Saturday? And is it Saturday? Is it not rather Sunday? (Pause.) On Monday? (pause.) Or Friday?
In waiting for Godot---Capitalize those words! :-)
Use a spell checker program: remeber
... met anyone today. So don't count on me to enlighten you.5 ---If this is a quote, put it inside " " marks.
Capitalization---> New york;1954.)
Put a period at the end:
The fact that Vladimir and Estragon one day are waiting some one somewhere to save them can be seen as a "man's struggle to find a distant place or existence full of meaning and sense"
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