Please enable JavaScript.
Coggle requires JavaScript to display documents.
Waiting For Godot Themes - Coggle Diagram
Waiting For Godot Themes
Humour and the Absurd
- The play is filled with nonsensical lines, wordplay, meaningless dialogue, and characters who abruptly shift emotions and forget everything
- Humour is uncomfortably mixed together with tragic or serious content to make a darker kind of comedy
- The absurdity caused by the seeming mismatch between characters' tones and the content of their speech can be seen as a reaction to a world emptied of meaning and significance
- Estragon refers to "billions of others" who have been killed, and describes being beaten by an anonymous "they"
- Lucky is treated horribly and physically abused on stage
- Vladimir and Estragon talk nonchalantly and pleasantly about suicide
- In Act 1, Vladimir says, "one daren't even laugh any more"
- "Then adieu. Adieu. Adieu. Adieu"
- "Tell him... tell him you saw us. You did see us, didn't you?"
-
Human Relationships
- Vladimir and Estragon are the 2 main figures within the play and are very contradictory to one another:
- Estragon seems to be a cowardly person who suffers from nightmarish visions and therefore needs the care and guardianship of his friend and can't really do anything without him
- Vladimir is more intelligent and more alert than Estragon, however is more or less a pathetic character finding himself quite himself and feeling compelled indefinitely to wait for Godot who is likely to bring about change in the present situation
- Vladimir and Estragon's relationship symbolises a relationship of naturalistic. Occasionally they talk about parting but never take the suggestion too seriously
- V + E illustrate the bond of understanding. They are full of fustration and resentment, but they cling to each other with a mixture of interdependence and affection deriving comfort from calling each other by the childish names 'Gogo' and 'Didi'
- V + E are incapable of anything more than mere beginnings of impulse, desires, thoughts, moods, memories and impressions
- The relationship between Pozzo and Lucky is reflected in the physical bond that holds them together - the link of the rope
- The relationship between P + L is that of dominance and dominating, though the 2nd act it takes on another aspect that of the dumb leading the blind
- P + L 's relationship also represents human exploitation of the social life where Pozzo is one of the haves, dinning on chicken and wine, while Lucky is the have-not whom he throws the gnawed bones. The drudgery and inhuman treatment have reduced Lucky to the level of an animal, but is not treated as a man, so he is below the level of animals.
- Lucky and Pozzo create a metaphor for society, although Pozzo and Lucky present an obvious and sharp contrast to each other. They have one thing in common - they are both driven by a desperate attempt to avoid panic which would ruin them if they lost their belief. It becomes more and more evident in the course of the play that Lucky believes that his safety is only with the pattern of a mutual sadmasochistic relationship between them
- " But at this place, at this moment in time, all mankind is us, whether we like it or not" - Vladimir, recognising they need each other in order to keep their last remains of sanity
- " Then why did they beat you? .... I don't know" - V + E, V concerned about E
Human Suffering
"'We've no rights anymore?' 'We've lost our rights?' '(distinctly) We got rid of them'" - distinctly appears to understand what has otherwise been beyond his grasp: men cannot leave because they consciously decide not to. If have no rights, it is because they decided to get rid of them. All compulsory restrictions, then, are at the core a self-inflicted choice and therefore self-inflicted emotional and physical suffering.
"'We'll hang ourselves tomorrow. Unless Godot comes.' 'And if he comes?' 'We''ll be saved'" - V removes himself from responsibility of choice by hanging his fate of action of another, like flipping a coin. This highlights the suffering this procesdure of waiting for Godot is putting them through, a pain which would rather be substituted with a quick death. It is also said that 'maybe it will give us an erection' while this is an absurd statement it hints that the end of this suffering will bring pleasure, and relief. The two want Godot to be responsible for their suffering, yet they imagine his coming will be a salvation and end to their suffering.
-
Boredom
- Both Estragon and Vladimir struggle to find ways to pass the time and end up conversing back and forth about nothing
- The boredom of the characters on-stage mirrors the boredom of the audience
- Boredom becomes the primary motivator and stimulator of action
-
- "'Taking off my boot. Did that never happen to you' 'Boots must be taken off every day, I'm tried of telling you that'" The use of stage props e.g boot and hat, creates non-sensical cyclical routines, emphasising futile activities and habits created during the continuous boredom - the more we realise the extent of the repetition, the more horrifying their predicament seems.
E: That's the idea, let's abuse each other. (They turn, move apart, turn again and face each other.) V: Moron! E: Vermin! V: Abortion! etc. - As if E an V use each other only to pass the time; each man is only seen as entertainment, not ass another real, genuine human being. As if suffering puts their boredom on hold.
Waiting
- Since Godot remains physically absent from the framework of the play, it is this regard that the waiting in the play seems uneasy, hopeless and more tragical than comical.
- In the title of the play 'Godot' and 'waiting' have been used together, signifying that Godot, which presents promise, is awaited. But in the play the very act of waiting precedes in importance over the significance of Godot.
- All actions such a the abuse of each other sesrve a double purpose. On one hand they indicate pathetic attempts of human beings to divert attention from their real situation. On the other hand, they emphasise upon the despair that human beings constantly juggle with. All these actions are within the process of waiting.
- 'Let's go' 'We can't' 'Why not?' 'We're waiting for Godot' this quote sequence is constantly repeated throughout the play and highlights the cyclical waiting they are stuck in, the power of waiting for a mysterious figure has them isolated and stuck in one spot - personifying the act of waiting into a greater force.
- "'Well? Shall we go?' 'Yes, let's go.' [They do not move]." Even despite being unaware of waiting at times, having urges to leave, they do not. This shows a disconnect between their mind and bodies, almost as if this Godot figure and the action of waiting has taken control of their movement.
Time
- Time in the play is a constant uncertainty, and all the characters are unsure of exactly when the play is taking place
- Vladimir and Estragon even disagree over what time of day it is
- Time is recursive in the play, the same events occur over and over again while the characters also repeat themselves
- With the strangely repetitive temporal structure, the characters are trapped within an infinite present of time
- "But what Saturday? And is it Saturday? Is it not rather Sunday? Or Monday? Or Friday?"
- "We came too soon. It's always at nightfall. But night doesn't fall. It'll fall all of a sudden, like yesterday"
- "You're sure you saw me, you won't come and tell me tomorrow that you never saw me!"