Viewes on Play Waiting For Godot

           Viewes on Play Waiting For Godot

         Samuel Beckett was an Irish playwright, poet and novelist best known for his play ‘Waiting for Godot’. Strongly influenced by fellow Irish writer, James Joyce, Beckett is sometimes considered the last of the Modernists. Though the play commonly interpreted within the context of the theatre of absurd, existentialist literature, it is also Christian allegory and also interpreted with religious interpretations.  

         Here we can discuss that nothingness in Waiting for Godot it shows some deep meaning in life in different way. ‘Waiting for Godot’ gives a message that while doing nothing there is something. “Nothing is also better than something” A person who always has desire for any achievement till birth to death his list of desire will never come to end. In the same way for Godot there is ‘waiting’ which has no any end or meaning.

                 The setting of the play is influenced by a mode of nothingness. A desolate country road, a ditch, and a leafless tree make up the barren, otherworldly landscape, which bears a surplus of symbolism. The landscape is a symbol of a barren and fruitless civilization or life. There is nothing to be done and there appears to be no place better to depart. The tree, usually a symbol of life with its blossoms and fruit or its suggestion of spring, is apparently dead and lifeless. But it is also the place to which they believe this Godot has asked them to come. The setting of the play reminds us the postwar condition of the world which brought about uncertainties, despair, and new challenges to the all of mankind.

       Tree is the Symbol that used in literature . it gave very symbolic meaning, in the second act leaves are sprouting means leaves as a “hope” for Vladimir and Estragon for them hope for Godot will come.  It represents cycle of nature and it shows hope also. these leaves inspired both tramps.

          Actually in this play many action that repeated , while it comes second time , it presents different meaning . In both Acts, evening falls into night and moon rises. ‘Coming of night and moon’, it’s the very common, simple thing which is naturalized process. Means ones night is there means, day will come. And a new day means new Start, new hope. Both acts end when night fall and moon rise; the situation is same in both act but it also have symbolic meaning that night represent death; another meaning is that like moon their waiting never end.

           This play leads towards thinking  on so many things . This play though it has not action, is multi-layered play. Here ‘nothing’ itself is ‘something’. here debris signified that  life is divided into various fragments and it has different meanings. search for little things . it is describes the absurdity of life , which presented very well in this play .

Act- 1

Evening time

Estrogon sitting on a low mound, is trying to take off his boot, he pulls as it with both hands , paintings. he gave up, exhausted rest tries again , as before

Enter Vladimir

Estrogon: Nothing to be done .

Beckett presents what human not do or what not thinking. it is all about search for self . Godot is Death , sound like Death . without Death we can’t achieve God. nothingness in Waiting for Godot it shows some deep meaning in life in different way. ‘Waiting for Godot’ gives a message that while doing nothing there is something. “Nothing is also better than something”.

 A person who always has desire for any achievement till birth to death his list of desire will never come to end. In the same way for Godot there is ‘waiting’ which has no any end or meaning. The theme of Nothingness is also present here, all characters, struggles with their existence. They do many absurd things; they are waiting for something also, but at last thing remains as it is. Nothing happens as such. Doing nothing there is something .

Here we interact that one who is busy with his boots and other one is busy on thinking. it show their identity what they are .  The hats and boots are playing vital role in this play. Here it is presented symbolically. The symbol of boot presented with the character of Estrogen that shows the lower order thinking as he has also had less memory. His thinking does not represent any logical dialogues throughout the play. Boots here may relate with the body and it shows the material thing.

        Hat also play vital role in the play. It is related with the character of Vladimir, the hat also shows the higher order thinking and logical connection. In the play we may observe that there also the mind power of the answer of Vladimir. It shows the spirituality of the life.

It is all about Master slave relationship . Yes Lucky’s obedience is extremely irritating; we can’t understand that how he is so obedient, what is the meaning behind that for Lucky we can say that his behavior is unbearable, Lucky and Pozzo’s characters shows us relationship between master and slave but it is extreme level of slavery what Lucky represent.

My opinion goes with Death . I’m believe that our ultimate goal is life .we do all the things for what purpose , for whom , and why . at the end nothing can comes with us . Death is Godot that everyone achieved at end of life , it is goal . above all words describes the same meaning leading towards to the Death.

.Here  the subject of this play is not Godot but waiting because the activity of both characters shows nothingness. Waiting that signified Hope .  No any rising action in the play, no any climax in the play. Only the story goes on moving with the illogical activities of them. They only are killing the time. according to me waiting is the central things .

In the play  many times while viewing the movie I feel the effect of existential crisis or meaninglessness of human existence in the irrational and indifference Universe. When, Vladimir and Estragon were talking to each other and when Estragon asks to leave, Vladimir reminds him that they are actually waiting for Godot. And doing meaningless things. their discussion is endless, and it goes with waiting . it is also appeals for meaning of the life . ‘ search for self ’

Man is simply is not that he simply what he conceive himself to be , but he is what he wills , and he is conceives himself after already existing . as he wills to be after that leap towards existence . man is nothing else but what he makes of himself .  That is the first Principle of existentialism .

They look at the tree and contemplate hanging themselves . Estragon  takes off his belt but it breaks when they pull on it . vladimir  says that they will hang themselves tomorrow unless Godot comes to solve them . They decide to go but again do not go .

Master slave relationship of Pozzo and Lucky it leads to the political reading of the play . one thing that is nothingness- the nothingness of the human life. But here ‘nothingness’ points its finger toward ‘everything’ , everything that modern people face physically and psychologically after two World Wars.

Whereas in the tradition play we see a concentrated single action motivates the whole play, here in the case of Waiting for Godot everything is fuelled by the sense of ‘nothingness’. In fact, here nothing creates everything.

At last conclude with it that - A new day will come with new desire that something fruitful will come for somebody in life. One or two ways it may be God, a fruitful desire will come for somebody who is eagerly waiting that has no any end.