Thinking Activity on Samuel Beckett's "Waiting For Godot"

Waiting for Godot is a play by Samuel Beckett in which two characters, Vladimir(Didi) and Estragon (Gogo) wait for the arrival of someone named Godot who never arrives of someone named Godot who never arrives, and while waiting they engage in a variety of discussions and encounter three other character. Waiting for Godot is Beckett’s translation of his own original French-language play, En attendant Godot and is subtitled “a tragicomedy in two acts”. The original French text was composed between 9 October 1948 and 29 January 1949. The premiere directed by Roger Blin was on 5 January 1953 at the Theatre de Babylone Paris.

#About Author 

Samuel Beckett, in full Samuel Barclay Beckett, (born April 13?, 1906, Foxrock, County Dublin, Ireland—died December 22, 1989, Paris, France), author, critic, and playwright, winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1969. He wrote in both French and English and is perhaps best known for his plays, especially En attendant Godot (1952; Waiting for Godot).Samuel Beckett was born in a suburb of Dublin. Like his fellow Irish writers George Bernard Shaw, Oscar Wilde, and William Butler Yeats, he came from a Protestant, Anglo-Irish background. At the age of 14 he went to the Portora Royal School, in what became Northern Ireland, a school that catered to the Anglo-Irish middle classes.
From 1923 to 1927, he studied Romance languages at Trinity College, Dublin, where he received his bachelor’s degree. After a brief spell of teaching in Belfast, he became a reader in English at the École Normale Supérieure in Paris in 1928. There he met the self-exiled Irish writer James Joyce, the author of the controversial and seminally modern novel Ulysses, and joined his circle. Contrary to often-repeated reports, however, he never served as Joyce’s secretary. He returned to Ireland in 1930 to take up a post as lecturer in French at Trinity College, but after only four terms he resigned, in December 1931, and embarked upon a period of restless travel in London, France, Germany, and Italy. In 1937 Beckett decided to settle in Paris. (This period of Beckett’s life is vividly depicted in letters he wrote between 1929 and 1940, a wide-ranging selection of which were first published in 2009.)

1.What connection do you seen in the setting (“A country road A tree Evening.”) of the play and these paintings?

After see this image I connect in the movie Waiting for Godot’s one seen in  that seen Vladimir and Estragon stand like this. In image the word Longing means hungry, desire and the craving. It was connect with the Waiting. Longing means one kind of waiting. 

2. The tree is the only important ‘thing’ in the setting. What is the importance of tree in both acts? Why does Beckett grow a few leaves in Act II on the barren tree- The tree has four or five leaves-?

Tree is symbol of good and bed thing. If tree is full of leaves its look good and we like to see that but tree has not a single leave we don’t like that and its look like barren. In first act the tree is barren and in second act tree has four and five leaves. And its symbol for Vladimir and Estragon to God is come one day. In the play nature is important part.

3. In both Acts, evening falls into night and moon rises. How would  you like to interpret this ‘coming of night and moon’ when actually they are waiting for Godot?

Coming of night and moon it was symbol of end of the day and coming the night.  In both act coming of night and moon it was symbol of a new hope. A second day  God is coming defiantly. But it the waiting for  god is one kind of the west the time because god never come. And moon and night come everyday .

4. The director feels the setting with some debris. Can you read any meaning in the  contours of debris in the setting of the play?

suDebris is west thing which never useful in another work. Like debris in this play the  Vladimir and Estragon west their time in waiting for god. God never came but they both west their time like debris. The whole play near the debris. In that debris we see the iron plate and still. We also can say that the debris was there because that that time was the influence of second world war -2.  the waiting for godot is also like a debris.  Nothing difference between debris and west time for waiting for godot.

5. The play begins with the dialogue “ Nothing to be done”. How does the theme of ‘nothingness’ recurs in the play?

The dialogue reflect the existentialism and nothingness. It also give a one idea of the play it was nothingness. And after read play and watch movie we can say that in both thing don’t see a useful thing. Waiting for Godot this thing it was west of the time. Also reflect the existentialism because the Godot never come and never see. So its reflect existentialism.

6. Do you agree: “The play (Waiting For Godot), we agreed, was a positive play, not negative, not pessimistic. As a saw it, with my blood and skin and eyes, the philosophy is: ‘No matter what – atom bombs, hydrogen bombs anything –life goes on. You can kill yourself, but you can’t kill life.” (E.G Marshal who played Vladimir in original Broadway production 1950s)?

Yes, I agree with the play was a positive play, not negative, not pessimistic. In this play the positive thing is hope. They both don’t  loss their hope. When  coming  night and moon but they don’t loss their hope and another day they waiting for Godot. Also I agree with E.G. Marshal. ‘ You can kill yourself, but you can’t kill life’ it’s right because the life is long.  No one kill  the life.

7. How are the props like hat and boots used in the play? What is symbolical significance of these props?

Hat and boots are interesting symbol of the play. Hat is protect the head and boots protect to the leg. Boots also represent the power of authority. We see the Estragon trying to take of his boots. He fed up with the boots in first act. In second act when he wear the boots after that he happy with boots. Because in second he wear his boots and in first act he wear small shoes.

8. Do you think that the obedience of lucky is extremely irritating and nauseatic ? Even when the master Pozzo is blind, he obediently hands the whip  in his hand. Do you think that such a capacity of slavishness in unbelievable?

Yes, obedience of lucky is extremely irritating and nauseatic. Because his master Pozzo is blind and he done his all work by Lucky. Lucky run away from the work but he don’t do because he has some compulsion. Many time we face this thing we don’t do some work  but we have to do some work because of pressure,  need. Many time we do work like Lucky.

9. who according to you is Godot? God? An object of desire ? Death ? Gol? Success? Or.....

According to me Godot is An object of desire and Success. Desire is object to meet god. Because when we have any desire and that full fill that time we see desire as a god. We think that God full fill our desire. And also success is also a god. Because every body think that we get success because of the god. God blessed us and we get success in our work.

10. “ The subject of the play is not Godot but ‘Waiting’” (Esslin, A search for the self). Do you agree ? how can you justify your answer?

Yes, I agree with the Esslin’s A search for the self. Throughout the life we have  hope or desire but for that thing get we have passion or hope. In this play we see the subject is Godot but it not right subject and the theme is Waiting. They both are waiting for the Godot we  see  them to waiting.