Waiting for Godot
by
Samuel Beckett
Introduction of Writer
Samuel Beckett 13 April 1906 - 22 December 1989
An Irish novelist, playwright, short story writer, theatre director, poet, and literary translator.
A resident of Paris for most of his adult life, he wrote in both French and English.
Beckett's work offers a bleak, tragi-comic outlook on human existence, often coupled with black comedy and gallows humour, and became increasingly minimalist in his later career.
He is considered one of the last modernist writers, and one of the key figures in what Martin Esslin called the "Theatre of the Absurd".
His best-known work is his 1953 play Waiting for Godot.
Beckett was awarded the 1969 Nobel Prize in Literature
Major Works
Molly 1951 Murphy 1938 The Unnamable 1953
Watt 1953 Malone Dies 1951 How It Is 1961 The Lost Ones 1970
Themes
the human condition, absurdism, nihilism,friendship, religion.
Characters
Estragon
Pozzo
Vladimir
Lucky
Boy Messenger I
Boy Messenger II
Godot
Summary of Waiting for Godot
Dramatic Divisions of Waiting for Godot
ACT I:
(1) Vladimir and Estragon Alone
(2) Arrival of Pozzo and Lucky: Lucky's Speech
(3) Departure of Pozzo and Lucky: Vladimir and Estragon Alone
(4) Arrival of Boy Messenger
(5) Departure of Boy Messenger: Vladimir and Estragon Alone
ACT II:
(1) Vladimir and Estragon Alone
(2) Arrival of Pozzo and Lucky
(3) Departure of Pozzo and Lucky: Vladimir and Estragon Alone
(4) Arrival of Boy Messenger
(5) Departure of Boy Messenger: Vladimir and Estragon Alone
Opening
“ Scene: A country road. A tree. Evening.
Estragon, siting on a low mound, is trying to take off his boot. He pulls at it with both hands, panting. He gives up, rests, tries again. As before.”
Estragon and Vladimir
Estragon tells Vladimir that he slept last night in the ditch.
dressed in rags and tatters, clothes
"Nothing to be done"
Vladimir greets Estragon with the comment "I thought you were gone forever," and since they are "together again at last," they will "have to celebrate."
boots
"Hope deferred maketh the something sick . . ."
: "People are bloody ignorant apes."
ESTRAGON: You gave me a fright.
VLADIMIR: I thought it was he.
ESTRAGON: Who?
VLADIMIR: Godot.
"nothing to be done”
Arrival of Pozzo and Lucky
They can't even explain Godot to Pozzo:
VLADIMIR: . . . he's a kind of acquaintance.
ESTRAGON: Personally, I wouldn't even know him if' I saw him.
Pozzo then offers to let Lucky entertain them by dancing, singing, reciting, or thinking.
Lucky's Dance and Speech
THE ESSENCE OF LUCKY'S SPEECH
"Given [acknowledging] the existence . . .
of a personal God ...
[who exists] outside [of]
time . . .
[and] who . . .
loves us dearly . . .
and [who] suffers . . .
with those who . . .
are plunged in torment . . .
it is established beyond all doubt . . .
that man . . .
that man . . .
for reasons unknown . . .
for reasons unknown . . .
for reasons unknown . . .
[our] labors abandoned left unfinished . . .
abandoned unfinished . . .
Departure of Pozzo and Lucky: Vladimir and Estragon Alone
Arrival of Boy Messenger
Vladimir and Estragon Alone
The second act begins almost exactly as the first act did - with one exception: there are now four or five leaves on the once barren tree. As in Act I
Arrival of Pozzo and Lucky
Departure of Pozzo and Lucky: Vladimir and Estragon Alone
Arrival of Boy Messenger
Departure of Boy Messenger: Vladimir and Estragon Alone
Themes
The main themes in Waiting for Godot include the human condition, absurdism and nihilism, and friendship. The human condition: The hopelessness in Vladimir and Estragon's lives demonstrates the extent to which humans rely on illusions-such as religion, according to Beckett-to give hope to a meaningless existence.
Important Questions
Existentialism | Absurd Play | As a Mirror of our times | Characters | Themes |Tragi-comedy | Who is Godot? |
When Pozzo first enters, what does he reveal he is on his way to do?
Meet Godot
Kill someone
Meet a lover
Sell his slave
Before Pozzo leaves the first time, what does Lucky do to entertain everyone?
Sings and dances
Dances and thinks
Cries and thinks
Sings and cries
Who informs Pozzo and Lucky that Godot won't be coming on the first day?
Lucky
Pozzo
A boy
Godot himself
What has happened to Pozzo when he and Lucky return on the second night?
He is blind
His leg is broken
He can't speak
He's a different person
What do Estragon and Vladimir do after deciding to leave at the end of the play?
Nothing
They leave
Kill each other
Weep
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20 сен 2020
