Waiting for Godot is a play by Samuel Beckett that explores existentialist themes of meaningless and absurdity. It focuses on two characters, Vladimir and Estragon, who pass time waiting beside a tree for the arrival of someone named Godot, but Godot never appears. The play has no linear plot and features tragi-comic elements as the characters endure their futile wait and discuss their suffering. Religious, political, and psychoanalytical interpretations of the play have connected it to themes of faith, capitalism, and mental states.

1. Waiting for Godot
Samuel Beckett
Presenters:
● Gopi Dervaliya
● Insiyafatema Alvani
● Gayatri Nimavat

2. Points to ponder
● About Author
● Historical context and The Theater Absurd
● Existentialism
● Character
● Major Themes
● Symbols
● Structure
● Settings
● Psychoanalytical Reading of the Play
● Various iterpretation of ‘Waiting for Godot’
● Memory's role in the play
● Tragi-comedy

3. About Author
•Samuel Beckett (13 April 1906 – 22
December 1989) was an Irish playwright,
novelist, poet and winner of the 1969
Nobel Prize in Literature.
• He wrote mainly in English and French.
•Samuel Beckett, the Irish playwright,
theatre director, novelist and poet, is one
of the most influential writers of the 20th
century.

4. •He went to Paris for the first time in 1928 – he would
spend most of his adult life there – to teach English.
•After the war Beckett settled in Paris and began a prolific
period as a writer.
•His most famous play, Waiting for Godot(was first
performed in 1953 in Paris)
•After Waiting for Godot, Beckett went on to write
Endgame (1957), Krapp's Last Tape (1958) and Happy
Days (1961).
•While most of his work was written in French and later
translated into English by Beckett.

5. •In the 1950s Beckett also published three novels, including
Molloy (1951).
•He also began a relationship with Suzanne
•Deschevaux-Dumesnil, whom he eventually married in
1961.
•Beckett died in 1989 and is buried in Paris.
•Beckett wanted to send the message, through his plays,
that the absurdity the society was holding was simply a
result of their self conscious state of mind, and that each
individual could only pass the time as painlessly as possible
until they approach the end of their life.

6. Key Facts
● Title: 'Waiting for Godot'
● Author: Samuel Beckett
● The original French text was composed between: 9
October 1948 and 29 January 1949.
● Type of work: Play
● Original Language: French
● Genre: Tragi-comedy, Absurdist Fiction
● Setting(Time): The time period of the play is unclear
● Setting(Place): A country road, near a leafless tree

7. Historical Context and The Theater of
Absurd
• Theater of the Absurd refers to a literary movement in
drama popular throughout European countries from the
1940s to approximately 1989.
• Absurdist playwrights adhered to the theories of
French-Algerian philosopher Albert Camus, in particular
his essay The Myth of Sisyphus, published in 1942.
• In this essay, Camus introduced his Philosophy of the
Absurd, in which he argues that man's quest for meaning
and truth is a futile endeavor.

8. Existentialism
Waiting for Godot is a highly celebrated existential play.
Existential philosophy says that we human beings simply
exist in a world that does not have any overarching moral
order or meaning. We are not essentially good or bad, we
are what we make of ourselves, what we think of ourselves
and we are what we choose to believe. Questions such as
life, death, the meaning of human existence and the place
of God in that existence are among them. The theories of
existentialism assert that conscious reality is very complex
and without an "objective" or universally known value.

9. Continue…
● All the four characters Estragon, Vladimir, Lucky, Pozzo discuss the
problems of existence and also questions their own existence in an absurd
way. As is shown in the play, they are waiting for an unknown person
called ‘Godot’ at an unknown place. All of them suffer from
meaninglessness, isolation, and frustration. As it happens, no Godot
comes but ironically a messenger boy comes who informs that Godot will
not come. And these characters become fed up of waiting repeatedly. The
word ‘waiting’ is universalized in the play, which is an essential feature of
any existential play.
● There are several existentialist elements present throughout the play and
one is very evident in Estragon’s words:
● “Nothing happens, nobody comes, nobody goes, it’s awful.”

12. Vladimir
• Protagonist of the play ‘Waiting for Godot’.
• We see the absurdity of the human existence
through the conversation of both characters.
• Vladimir seems to be the more responsible and
mature.
• He Reed the Bible and tells the stories from Bible
• Estragon calls him Didi and the boy adress him as
mr. Albert

13. Estragon
• He wears boot and bowler hat.
• He seems weak and helpless, always looking for
Vladimir’s protection.
• Vladimir calss him Gogo.
• He has chronically poor memory. He spends
most of his time trying to fall a sleep, unless he
is sleeping already.
• They demonstrates how human create pointless
and meaninglesss events in order to pass time.

14. Pozzo and Lucky
• Pozzo is very clear and self absorbed. He sees himself
a Godlike figure.
• He refers himself as the human species and Vladimir
and Estragon are the same species as him. “Of the
same species as my self. Of the same species as Pozzo
made in God's image.”
• Lucky is slave of Pozzo and he follows his order
because he wants respect from his master like humans
tries to impress God, to see that we are worth
something.

15. Who is Godot?
• Mysterious character of the play which
Vladimir and Estragon are waiting for.
• They don't really know who he is, they
never meet him but they do know that
they want something from him.
• Godot represents Beckett's pessimistic
version of God, an absent saviour who
never comes to the help of those who
Suffering on the earth.

16. Thematic
Study

17. • ‘Waiting for Godot’ is a prime example of absurd
play.
• The term ‘Absurd' was first used by Albert Camus in
his famous work ‘The Myth of Sisyphus’.
• This play reflects the abaurdist position of post
WWII.
• Martin Esslin in his book ‘The theatre of Absurd’
claims that ‘Waiting for Godot’ does not tell a story. It
explore the static situation.
Absurdity of Existence

18. Uncertainty of Time
• All the characters are unsure of exactly
when the play is taking place.
• Beginning of Act - 2 growth of leaves on the
tree suggest a longer period of time has
passed than the one day.
• The characters also seemed to be trapped
by time, endlessly repeating essentially the
some day again and again.
• Uncertainty of time in the play contributes
to the feeling of meaninglessness.

19. Purposelessness of Life
• None of the characters has a meaningful
purpose.
• Both characters are waiting for Godot but fact
is that Godot never arrives renders their
waiting meaninglesss.
• Pozzo and Luckey might seem to be
traveling towards something but their travel
shown purposeless.
• The boy who delivered message from Godot
also shown purposeless.
• This presents Idea that ‘Life has no purpose’.

20. The Theme of Suffering
• Physical, mental and emotional suffering.
• Suffering is inseparable part of human life.
• Estragon beaten daily by some gang of
ruffians.
• They have nothing to eat either, except
carrots, turnips and radishes.
• Pozzo abuses Lucky and calls him ‘Pig’.
• Beckett’s emphasis on the absurdity of
human behaviour shows both the tragic
and comic sides of the existential crises.

21. Symbolic
Significance

22. The Tree
• The tree may represents the cross on
which Jesus crucified.
• Another interpretation is that both
characters represents the theves crucified
along with Jesus.
• They have hope that Godot will come and
resolve their problem.
• In first act tree portrays world as barren
and lifeless.
• It stands as a symbol of hope because in
the end of play it has leaves.

23. The Raw Vegetables
• Is a carrot really a carrot? Or is it just what we like to
call it? Nothing you can do about it.
• This carrot is good comic relief in which both Vladimir
and Estragon can't agree on the vegetable.
• At first they were bickering over the way the carrot
tast. They are referring to the same thing. It doesn't
really matter who is right ang who is wrong.
• We put label on things but that is not necessary it
always true.

24. Hats and Boots
• Hat represents thinking and inner
conflict.
• Vladimir and Estragon exchange their
hat with many times. There is no
logical reason to this action but it
shows humour.
• Boot symbolises the daily life struggle
and Estragon is the most affected by
boots. He takes of and putting again
them on.

25. The Bag
Lucky carries a bag. He doesn't put
the bag down except when Pozzo
orders him to do something. This
action shows the human tendency of
enslavement and burden which are
unnecessary. The relationship
between Pozzo and Lucky is Shawn
aa capital and labour, master and
slave.

26. The Rope
• Lucky is slave he tied with rope, holding
both master and slave. This is the symbol of
distance between the God and his slave.
• When Estragon and Vladimir tries to hang
themselves with a cord it breaks. They
remind themselves tommoro that they need
to bring a rope. The slave is unable to
escape because of this rope that bond them
together.

27. Structure
A traditional play, in contrast, has an
introduction of the characters and the
exposition; then, there is a statement
of the problem of the play in relation
to its settings and characters. (In
Waiting for Godot, we never know
where the play takes place, except
that it is set on "a country road.")

28. Continue…
Furthermore, in a traditional play, the characters are
developed, and gradually we come to see the
dramatist's world view; the play then rises to a climax,
and there is a conclusion. This type of development is
called a linear development. In the plays of the Theater
of the Absurd, the structure is often exactly the
opposite. We have, instead, a circular structure, and
most aspects of this drama support this circular
structure in one way or another.

29. Lake of Plot
ACT 1:
(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
ACT 2:
(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

30. Setting
● The setting is the same, and the time is the same in
both acts. Each act begins early in the morning,
just as the tramps are awakening, and both acts
close with the moon having risen.
● The action takes place in exactly the same
landscape-a lonely, isolated road with one single
tree. (In the second act, there are some leaves on
the tree, but from the viewpoint of the audience, the
setting is exactly the same.)
● We are never told where this road is located; all we
know is that the action of the play unfolds on this
lonely road.

31. Psychoanalytical reading of ‘Waiting for
Godot’
• Waiting is mere interpretation of Sigmund Freud's
ideology of mind.
• In Freud's essay ‘Interpretation of Dreams’ he talks
about how dreams reflect our mental personality.
• Nightmare of Estragon contain flashbacks and
horrific event that has happened in Vladimir and
Estragon’s lives.
• It reflects that Estragon suffers with the post
traumatic stress disorder.

32. Continue…
• Freud talks about jagged thoughts, breaks and
pauses likewise Vladimir lost in his thoughts.
• He takes long pauses and cannot complete his
sentence.
• This shows that his mental personality is brutally
affected due to the WWII.
• Vladimir represents a mental decay in the hat.
• He constantly knocking on his hat which is
symbolism of thinking.

33. Continue…
• Freud's essay ‘Anatomy of Mental personality’
talks about Id, Ego and Superego.
• Estragon symbolises the Id, Vladimir
symbolises the Ego and Godot symbolises the
Superego.
• Estragon behaves with his impulses
throughout the play as Id does.
• Vladimir is rational character in the play.
• Godot is God like figure having such kind of
norms and rules.

34. Religious
interpretation
Political
Interpretation
Various Interpretation in ‘Waiting for Godot’

35. Religious interpretation
Religious interpretations posit Vladimir and Estragon
as humanity waiting for the elusive return of a
savior. An extension of this makes Pozzo into the
Pope and Lucky into the faithful. The faithful are
then viewed as a cipher of God cut short by human
intolerance. The twisted tree can alternatively
represent either the tree of death, the tree of life, the
tree of Judas or the tree of knowledge.

36. Political Interpretation
• Political interpretations also abound. Some reviewers hold that the
relationship between Pozzo and Lucky is that of a capitalist to his
labor. This Marxist interpretation is understandable given that in
the second act Pozzo is blind to what is happening around him
and Lucky is mute to protest his treatment.
• An interesting interpretation argues that Lucky receives his name
because he is lucky in the context of the play. Since most of the
play is spent trying to find things to do to pass the time, Lucky is
lucky because his actions are determined absolutely by Pozzo.
Pozzo on the other hand is unlucky because he not only needs to
pass his own time but must find things for Lucky I to do.

37. Memory’s Role in the Play
• It might seem strange to the reader why the character can
remember far back into the past, but not what occured
yesterday.
• From playing with the mind of the characters, every yesterday
just another normal day because of the memory's that are
randomly cleared.
• There is no progression in the play, that’s why they are stuck in
an unending cycle of actions.
• They wait for "Godot" everyday at the same spot, they play the
same games, and ask similar questions, which in turn repeats
everyday they spend together.

38. TRAGIC-COMEDY
• Fletcher, in his "Preface to the Faithful Shepherdess", defines
a tragic-comedy as:
• "A tragic-comedy is not so called in respect to mirth and
killing, but in respect it wants death which is enough to make it
no tragedy. Shakespeare's 'Cymbeline' and 'The Winter's Tale'
may also be categorized as tragic- comedy."
• The English edition of "Waiting for Godot", published in 1956
describes the play as a "tragic- comedy" in two acts.
• All musical devices are employed to create laughter in such a
tragic situation of waiting.

39. Examples From the Text
Estragon: Let's go.
Vladimir: We can not.
Estragon: Why not?
Vladimir: We are waiting for Godot. (They do not move.)
These dialogues occur like a comic paradigm in the play.
"Waiting for Godot" has several moments of anguish and despair. Someone beats
Estragon daily.
Estragon: Beat me? Certainly they beat me.
Theirs is a world of negation in which inactivity is the safest course; as Estragon
says:
Do not let us do anything, it's safer.

40. Continue…
• The situation of Lucky is quite pathetic, especially in view of
his glorious past, as Pozzo describes it. His speech tells us
that in his sonar moments Lucky must have brooded deeply
over the anguish of the human situation.
• Every activity is a mockery of human existence.
• The changing of farce into absurdity brings a lot of tragic
sentiment in the play.
• The climax of Beckett's tragic-comedy is the role of Lucky.
• The total effect of this co-mingling of tragic and comic
suggests that Samuel Beckett is a realistic dramatist who
looks at life from a position of a pessimist and an optimist.

41. citation
● Beckett , Samuel. “Waiting for Godot.” Google Books, Google, 12 Apr.
2011,
https://books.google.co.in/books/about/Waiting_for_Godot.html?id=FGhV
Mc7gN0EC&redir_esc=y.
● JOSBIN, RAOUL, and Joseph E. Cunneen. “‘WAITING FOR GODOT.’”
CrossCurrents, vol. 6, no. 3, 1956, pp. 204–07. JSTOR,
http://www.jstor.org/stable/24456672. Accessed 9 Jan. 2023.
● Sharma, Anurag. “‘WAITING FOR GODOT:’ A Beckettian Counterfoil to
Kierkegaardian Existentialism.” Samuel Beckett Today / Aujourd’hui, vol.
2, 1993, pp. 275–80. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/25781175.
Accessed 9 Jan. 2023.

42. Thank you