In a clear departure from the realism of the late 19th century plays that we have studied the past two weeks, the lack of context in Samuel Beckett’s Waiting for Godot gives the play deeper meaning. The play opens with Vladimir and Estragon meeting on a deserted road. There is little theatrical scenery and no character background is given. This allows the audience to more easily draw connections between their own lives and the plight of Vladimir and Estragon, which is to be forever waiting until death, while trying to find meaning in life. To execute this commentary on a dark topic, Beckett employs a combination of humor and symbolism.
There are elements of humor throughout the play. Beckett even uses the subtitle A Tragicomedy in Two Acts. Early in the play Vladimir and Estragon contemplate committing suicide by hanging. They then enter into an exchange about the order they should be hung and Estragon humorously states about the tree on stage; “If it hangs you it’ll hang anything”(1, 254). Beckett clearly enjoys taking a serious topic, such as suicide, and then making fun of it to lighten the atmosphere. Vladimir and Estragon decided to wait to hang themselves until Godot arrives. They are waiting to find meaning in their lives which they see as Godot’s arrival. Later in the play Vladimir states, “We wait. We are bored to death, there’s no denying it”(2,679-680). Vladimir and Estragon are both figuratively and literally bored to death. They are bored waiting for Godot but also they are waiting to die. At this point Vladimir begins to make a realization that waiting will not help him find meaning and he convinces Estragon to help the now blind Pozzo.
Symbolism is important to Waiting for Godot. Zarelli describes the motivation of symbolism, “The symbolists urged viewers to look through the photo-like surface of appearances to discover more significant realities within – spiritual realities…”(Zarelli, 358). By focusing on death in the play, Beckett is urging the audience to examine their own relationship with life and death. The most important symbol of the in the play is the tree. The lack of any scenery besides the tree shows this symbol’s importance to the Waiting for Godot. The tree is a representation of life. Between the first and second acts the tree develops leaves, even though Vladimir and Estragon claim only one day has passed and have trouble remembering Pozzo. The sprouting of leaves is a step in a tree’s life cycle just as the passage of time is a step in the lives of Vladimir and Estragon. There will only be so many steps in the life cycle of the tree before it dies.
Given the inevitability of death, does Beckett make any conclusions on how one should live their life?
What role does the passage of time play in Waiting for Godot? Does the amount of time that has passed between Act 1 and Act 2 matter?
What are the connections between Vladimir and Estragon’s search for meaning in life and the general dissatisfaction with the world following the death and destruction World War II?