FACTOID # 153: In all the countries surveyed, women do more housework than men.
 
 Home   Encyclopedia   Statistics   Countries A-Z   Flags   Maps   Education   Forum   FAQ   About 
 
WHAT'S NEW
RECENT ARTICLES
More Recent Articles »
 

SEARCH ALL

FACTS & STATISTICS    Advanced view

Search encyclopedia, statistics and forums:

 

 

(* = Graphable)

 

 


Encyclopedia > Waiting for Godot
Waiting for Godot
Written by Samuel Beckett
Characters Estragon
Vladimir
Lucky
Pozzo
Boy
Date of premiere January 5th, 1953
This box: view  talk  edit

Waiting for Godot is a play by Samuel Beckett, in which the characters wait for Godot, who never arrives. Godot's absence, as well as many other aspects of the play, have led to many different interpretations since the play's premiere. Voted "the most significant English language play of the 20th century"[1], Waiting for Godot is Beckett’s translation of his own original French version, En attendant Godot, and is subtitled (in English only), "a tragicomedy in two acts".[2] The original French text was written "between 9th October 1948 and 29th January 1949 … after Molloy and Malone Meurt but before L’Innommable."[3] Waiting for Godot book cover This image is a book cover. ... Samuel Barclay Beckett (13 April 1906 – 22 December 1989) was an Irish dramatist, novelist and poet. ... For other uses, see Play (disambiguation). ... Samuel Barclay Beckett (13 April 1906 – 22 December 1989) was an Irish dramatist, novelist and poet. ... (19th century - 20th century - 21st century - more centuries) Decades: 1900s 1910s 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s As a means of recording the passage of time, the 20th century was that century which lasted from 1901–2000 in the sense of the Gregorian calendar (1900–1999 in the... Tragicomedy refers to fictional works that blend aspects of the genres of tragedy and comedy. ... Year 1948 (MCMXLVIII) was a leap year starting on Thursday (link will display the 1948 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1949 (MCMXLIX) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Molloy (1951) is a novel by Samuel Beckett, the first of the sequence of novels which includes Malone Dies and The Unnamable. ... Malone Dies is the second novel in Samuel Becketts so called Trilogy of novels that began with Molloy, and ended with the Unnamable. ... The Unnamable is a novel by Samuel Beckett. ...

Contents

Plot synopsis

Act I

The play follows two consecutive days, in the lives of a pair of old men who divert themselves as best they can while they wait expectantly on someone called Godot. They claim Godot to be an acquaintance but in fact hardly know him, admitting they wouldn’t recognize him if they saw him. To occupy themselves they eat, sleep, talk, argue, make up, sing, play games, exercise, swap hats, contemplate suicide; anything so as “to hold the terrible silence at bay”.[4] "Silence," says Beckett, "is pouring into this play like water into a sinking ship."[5] There are in fact several extremely long pauses where communication breaks down completely. U.S. Marine emerging from the swim portion of a triathlon. ... For other uses, see Suicide (disambiguation). ...


The play opens with Estragon struggling to remove his boot. He gives up for the moment. “Nothing to be done,”[6] he says. Vladimir takes up the thought and muses on it identifying himself immediately as the more thoughtful of the pair. The implication here is that nothing is a thing that has to be done and this pair are going to have to spend the rest of the play doing it. (Beckett objected strongly to the sentence being rendered: “Nothing Doing”).[7] Estragon tells Vladimir that he has spent the night in a ditch where he says he was beaten but he shows no signs of being assaulted. Ditches at the Ouse Washes nature reserve. ...


When Estragon finally succeeds in removing his boot he looks and feels inside but finds nothing. Just prior to this Vladimir has also checked inside his hat.


They discuss repentance particularly in relation to the two thieves impaled alongside Jesus and the fact that only one of the Gospel writers mentions that one of them was saved. Vladimir quickly expresses his frustration with Estragon’s limited conversational skills: “Come on, Gogo, return the ball, can’t you, once in a way?”[8] Throughout the entire play Estragon struggles in this regard. To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ...


In the great tradition of music hall, Estragon peers out at the audience and comments on the bleakness of their surroundings. Estragon wants to go but he’s told they can’t because they have to wait for Godot. The problem is they cannot agree that they are in the right place or on the right day. They are not even positive what day it is. The only thing they are fairly sure of is that they were to meet by a tree and there’s only the one, sorry specimen that it is. Music Hall is a form of British theatrical entertainment which reached its peak of popularity between 1850 and 1960. ...


Estragon dozes off but Vladimir isn’t interested in hearing about his dream when he wakes him. Estragon wants to hear an old joke about a brothel (one of the play’s very few allusions to women) which Vladimir starts to tell but he has to cut his story short to rush off and urinate and doesn’t bother to finish it (the story) when he comes back. He asks Estragon what else they might do to pass the time who suggests they hang themselves. The idea behind this is that doing so might give them erections but they quickly abandon the idea when it seems they might not both be able to successfully kill themselves; the notion of being left alone is intolerable. They decide to do nothing. "It’s safer,"[9] says Estragon and then wants to know what Godot is going to do for them when he comes. For once it is Vladimir who struggles to remember: “Oh … nothing very definite,”[10] is the best he can come up with. A brothel, also known as a bordello or whorehouse, is an establishment specifically dedicated to prostitution, providing the prostitutes a place to meet and to have sex with the clients. ... Manneken Pis of Brussels. ... Hanging is the suspension of a person by a ligature, usually a cord wrapped around the neck, causing death. ... A death erection or terminal erection[1] is a post-mortem erection, technically a priapism, observed in the corpses of human males who have been executed, particularly by hanging. ...


Estragon says he’s hungry and Vladimir provides a carrot which he eats most of without much relish. This section ends, as it began, with Estragon concluding that they still have nothing to do. This article is about the cultivated vegetable. ...


Part way through each day their waiting is interrupted by the passing of a master and his slave who may, according to Beckett, “shatter the space of the play”[11] but they also provide much needed distraction and entertainment though, from Pozzo’s perspective, Didi and Gogo merely present an excuse for him to pontificate; he does not take them seriously.


A terrible cry,”[12] from the wings heralds the entrance of Lucky who crosses half the stage before his master appears holding one end of a long rope, the other of which is tied around Lucky’s neck. Pozzo barks orders at his slave but is civil to the other two. They mistake him at first for Godot and clearly don’t recognise him for who he is which irks him. He maintains the land they are on is his but acknowledges that “[t]he road is free to all.”[13]


He agrees to rest a while and enjoy a meal of chicken and wine. When finished he casts the bones aside and Estragon jumps at the chance to ask for them much to Vladimir’s embarrassment. He’s told that the bones belong to the carrier and to ask Lucky. He tries but Lucky hangs his head, refuses to answer and so Estragon gets his bones. Vladimir tries to take Pozzo to task regarding his mistreatment of his slave but his protestations are ignored. They want to know why Lucky doesn’t put down his load. Pozzo explains that Lucky is trying to mollify him so he won’t be sold. At this Lucky begins to cry. Pozzo provides the handkerchief but it is Estragon who gets kicked in the shins for trying to wipe away his tears. This article is about the vertebrate bone. ...


Before he leaves Pozzo asks if he can do anything for the pair. Estragon tries to ask for some money but Vladimir cuts him short saying that they are not beggars. They nevertheless accept an offer for Lucky to dance and think – which he does out loud – for them. The dance is clumsy shuffling; everyone is disappointed.


Lucky’s think is a parody of a disquisition. Blin teasingly described the role to Jean Martin as “a one-line part”[14] but the soliloquy, which begins relatively coherently, quickly dissolves into logorrhoea. Broadly speaking Lucky's speech falls into four gambits: "the first describes an impersonal and callous God, the second asserts that man 'wastes and pines', the third mourns an inhospitable earth and the last attempts to draw the threads of the speech together by claiming that man diminishes in a world that does not nurture him.”[15] It can be summaried however as follows: In contemporary usage, a parody (or lampoon) is a work that imitates another work in order to ridicule, ironically comment on, or poke some affectionate fun at the work itself, the subject of the work, the author or fictional voice of the parody, or another subject. ... A monologue, pronounced monolog, is a speech made by one person speaking his or her thoughts aloud or directly addressing a reader, audience, or character. ... Logorrhoea or logorrhea (Greek λογορροια, logorrhoia, “word-flux”) is defined as an “excessive flow of words” and, when used medically, refers to incoherent talkativeness that occurs in certain kinds of mental illness, such as mania. ... A gambit is a chess opening in which something, usually a pawn, but sometimes even a piece, is sacrificed in order to achieve an advantage. ...

[A]cknowledging the existence of a personal God, one who exists outside time and who loves us dearly and who suffers with those who are plunged into torment, it is established beyond all doubt that man for reasons unknown, has left his labours, abandoned, unfinished.[16]

The presentation becomes increasingly garbled, frenetic, unintelligible – the rubble from a collapsing house of intellect – and it only ends when Vladimir rips his hat – without which he cannot think – from his head.


Once Lucky has been revived, Pozzo has him pack up his things and they leave.


At the end of each day a boy arrives, purporting to be a messenger sent from Mr Godot, to advise the pair that he will not be coming that “evening but surely tomorrow.”[17] During Vladimir’s interrogation of the boy in Act I he asks the boy if he came the day before making it clear that the two men have been waiting for an indefinite period and will likely keep on waiting ad infinitum. Look up Ad infinitum in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...


They decide to leave but make no attempt to.


Act II

Act II opens with Vladimir singing a round about a dog which serves to illustrate the cyclical nature of the play’s universe. This is only one of a great number of canine references and allusions in the play.[18] “Time in the song is not a linear sequence, but an endlessly reiterated moment, the content of which is only one eternal event: death.”[19] In this way the second act is different from the first, even though Act I was not the first day they had waited for Godot. Vladimir, alone out of all the characters, is beginning to understand the world they are trapped in, that, although there is notional evidence of linear progression, basically he is living the same day over and over and, like Bill Murray in Groundhog Day or Jonathan Silverman in 12:01, he is the only one aware – or interested – in testing his theory. A round is a musical composition in which two or more voices sing exactly the same melody over and over again, but with each voice beginning at different times. ... Trinomial name Canis lupus familiaris The dog (Canis lupus familiaris) is a domestic subspecies of the wolf, a mammal of the Canidae family of the order Carnivora. ... In computational complexity, an algorithm is said to take linear time, or O(n) time, if the time it requires is proportional to the size of the input, which is usually denoted n. ... William James Bill Murray (born September 21, 1950) is an Academy Award-nominated and Emmy-winning American comedian and actor. ... Groundhog Day is a 1993 comedy film directed by Harold Ramis, starring Bill Murray and Andie MacDowell. ... Jonathan Silverman (front row, on left) with other cast members of NBCs The Single Guy Jonathan E. Silverman (born August 5, 1966 in Los Angeles, California) is an American actor, perhaps best known for his roles in the TV series Gimme A Break!, as well as in the films... The word theory has a number of distinct meanings in different fields of knowledge, depending on their methodologies and the context of discussion. ...


Once again Estragon maintains he spent the night in a ditch and was beaten – by “ten of them”[20] this time – though once again he shows no sign of injury. Vladimir tries to talk to him about the change in the tree and the proceedings of the day before but he has only a vague recollection and is difficult. Vladimir goes on at some length to get Estragon to remember Pozzo and Lucky but all he can call to mind are the bones and getting kicked. Vladimir realises here is an opportunity to produce tangible evidence of the day before’s events. With some difficulty he gets Estragon to show him his leg. There is a wound which is beginning to fester. It is then Vladimir notices that Estragon is not wearing any boots.


He discovers the pair of boots which Estragon insists are not his, nevertheless, when he tries them on they fit. There being no carrots left, Vladimir offers Estragon the choice between a turnip and a radish. He opts for the radish but it is black and he hands it back. He decides to try and sleep again and adopts the same fœtal position as the previous day. Vladimir even sings him a lullaby. Trinomial name Brassica rapa rapa L. For similar vegetables also called turnip, see Turnip (disambiguation). ... This article is about the vegetable. ... Fetal position(also spelt FOETAL) is a medical term used to describe the positioning of the body of a prenatal fetus as it develops. ... For other uses, see Lullaby (disambiguation). ...


Shortly after Vladimir notices Lucky’s hat (which also suggests that the action might take place on the next day despite other evidence to the contrary) and he decides to try it on. This leads to a frenetic hat swapping scene. They play at imitating Pozzo and Lucky but Estragon can barely remember having met them and simply does what Vladimir asks. They fire insults at each other and then make up. After that, they attempt some physical jerks which don’t work out well and even an attempt at a single yoga position, which fails miserably. For other uses such as Yoga postures, see Yoga (disambiguation) Statue of Shiva performing Yogic meditation Yoga (Sanskrit: योग Yoga, IPA: ) is a group of ancient spiritual practices originating in India. ...


Straight after this Pozzo and Lucky arrive, significantly changed, Pozzo is now blind and he insists that Lucky is dumb. The rope is now much shorter and Lucky – who has acquired a new hat – leads Pozzo, rather than being driven by him. He has lost all notion of time, but assures them he cannot remember meeting them the day before, nor does he expect to remember the current day’s events when they are over. This article is about the visual condition. ... Muteness is a speech disorder in which a person lacks the power of articulate speech. ...


They fall in a heap at one point. Estragon sees an opportunity to extort more food or to exact revenge on Lucky for kicking him. The issue is debated at length. Pozzo offers them money but Vladimir sees more worth in their entertainment value since they are compelled to wait to see if Godot arrives anyway. Eventually though, they all find their way onto their feet.


Whereas the Pozzo in Act I is a windbag, since he has become blind he appears to have gained some insight. His parting words – which Vladimir expands upon later – eloquently encapsulate the brevity of human existence: “They give birth astride of a grave, the light gleams an instant, then it’s night once more.”[21]


Lucky and Pozzo depart. A boy returns, possibly the same boy (typically played by the same actor), to inform them not to expect Godot but he would arrive the next day. The two again consider suicide but their rope, which served as Estragon’s belt, is not up to the job. His trousers fall down but he doesn’t notice till Vladimir tells him to pull them up. They resolve to bring a more suitable piece and hang themselves the next day, if Godot fails to arrive.


Again, they agree to leave but neither of them makes any move to go.


Characters

Beckett refrained from elaborating on the characters beyond what he had written in the play. He once recalled then when Sir Ralph Richardson “wanted the low-down on Pozzo, his home address and curriculum vitae, and seemed to make the forthcoming of this and similar information the condition of his condescending to illustrate the part of Vladimir … I told him that all I knew about Pozzo was in the text, that if I had known more I would have put it in the text, and that was true also of the other characters.”[22] Sir Ralph David Richardson (19 December 1902 – 10 October 1983) was an English actor, one of a group of theatrical knights of the mid-20th century who, though more closely associated with the stage, did their best to make the transition to film. ... Look up résumé, curriculum vitae, resume in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...


Vladimir and Estragon

When Beckett started writing he did not have a visual image of Vladimir and Estragon. They are never ever referred to as tramps in the text. Roger Blin advises: “Beckett heard their voices, but he couldn’t describe his characters to me. [He said]: ‘The only thing I’m sure of is that they’re wearing bowlers.’”[23] “The bowler hat was of course de rigueur for male persons in many social contexts when Beckett was growing up in Foxrock (when he first came back with his beret … his mother suggested that he was letting the family down by not wearing a bowler), and [his father] commonly wore one.”[24] There are no physical descriptions of either of the two characters however the text indicates that Vladimir is likely the heavier of the pair. They have been together for fifty years but when asked – by Pozzo – they don’t reveal their actual ages. John Everett Millais The Blind Girl: vagrant musicians See also vagrancy (biology) for an alternative use of the term. ... The bowler hat is a hard felt hat with a rounded crown created for Thomas Coke, 2nd Earl of Leicester, in 1850. ... Look up de rigueur in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Foxrock (Carraig an tSionnaigh in Irish) is a suburb, formerly a separate village, in Dublin, Ireland, in Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown, in postal district Dublin 18. ... Basque style beret Black beret with military emblem A beret (pronounced pronounced in French or [ˈbÉ›reɪ] in English[1], except in the USA, where it is usually pronounced [bəˈreɪ][2]) is a soft round cap, usually of wool felt, with a flat crown, which is worn by both...


Vladimir stands through most of the play whereas Estragon sits down numerous times and even dozes off. “Estragon is inert and Vladimir restless.”[25] Vladimir looks at the sky and muses on religious or philosophical matters. Estragon literally “belongs to the stone”,[26] preoccupied with mundane things, what he can get to eat and how to ease his physical aches and pains; he is direct, intuitive. He finds it hard to remember but can recall certain things when prompted, e.g. when Vladimir asks: “Do you remember the Gospels?”[27] Estragon tells him about the coloured maps of the Holy Land and that he planned to honeymoon by the Dead Sea; it is his short-term memory that is poorest and points to the fact that he may, in fact, be suffering from Alzheimer’s disease.[28] Al Alvarez writes. “But perhaps Estragon’s forgetfulness is the cement binding their relationship together. He continually forgets, Vladimir continually reminds him; between them they pass the time.”[29] For other uses, see Philosophy (disambiguation). ... Gospel, from the Old English good tidings is a calque of Greek () used in the New Testament (see Etymology below). ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Holy Land. ... A honeymoon is the traditional trip taken by newlyweds to celebrate their marriage with seclusion and sexual intimacy. ... The Dead Sea (Hebrew: ‎, , Sea of Salt; Arabic: , , Dead Sea) is a salt lake between the West Bank and Israel to the west, and Jordan to the east. ... Short-term memory, sometimes referred to as primary, working, or active memory, is that part of memory which stores a limited amount of information for a few seconds. ... Alzheimers disease (AD) or primary dementia of Alzheimers type is an incurable, degenerative neuropsychiatric disease which results in a pervasive loss of first mental, then physical functioning due to the deterioration of brain tissue. ... Al Alvarez (1929-) is an English poet, writer and critic. ...


Vladimir’s life is not without its discomforts too but he is the more resilient of the pair. “Vladimir's pain is primarily mental anguish, which would thus account for his voluntary exchange of his hat for Lucky's, thus signifying Vladimir's symbolic desire for another person's thoughts.”[30]


Throughout the play the couple refer to each other by pet names, “Didi” and “Gogo” although one of the boys addresses Vladimir as “Mister Albert”. Beckett originally intended to call Estragon, Lévy but when Pozzo questions him he gives his name as “Magrégor, André”[31] and also responds to “Catulle” in French or “Catullus” in the first Faber edition. This became “Adam” in the American edition. Beckett’s only explanation was that he was “fed up with Catullus”.[32] Fresco from Herculaneum, presumably showing a love couple. ... For other uses, see Adam (disambiguation). ...


Vivian Mercier – famous for describing Waiting for Godot as a play where “nothing happens, twice”[33] – once questioned Beckett on the language used by the pair: “It seemed to me … he made Didi and Gogo sound as if they had earned Ph.D.’s. ‘How do you know they hadn’t?’ was his reply.”[34] They clearly have known better times, a visit to the Eiffel Tower and grape-harvesting by the Rhône; it is about all either has to say about their pasts. In the first stage production, which Beckett oversaw, both are “more shabby-genteel than ragged … Vladimir at least is capable of being scandalised … on a matter of etiquette when Estragon begs for chicken bones or money.”[35] Vivian Mercier Vivian Mercier (1919 - 1989) was an Irish literary critic. ... Doctor of Philosophy, abbreviated Ph. ... The Eiffel Tower (French: , ) is an iron tower built on the Champ de Mars beside the River Seine in Paris. ... The Rhône River, or the Rhône (French Rhône, Arpitan Rôno, Occitan Ròse, standard German Rhone, Valais German Rotten), is one of the major rivers of Europe, running through Switzerland and France. ... It has been suggested that Office etiquette be merged into this article or section. ... Beggars in Samarkand, 1905 Begging is the practice whereby a person obtains money, food, shelter or other things from people they encounter by request. ...


Pozzo and Lucky

Although Beckett refused to be drawn on the backgrounds of the characters this has not stopped actors looking for their own motivation. Jean Martin had a doctor friend called Marthe Gautier, who was working at the Salpêtrièe Hospital, and he said to her: “‘Listen, Marthe, what could I find that would provide some kind of physiological explanation for a voice like the one written in the text?’ [She] said: ‘Well, it might be a good idea if you went to see the people who have Parkinson's disease.’ So I asked her about the disease … She explained how it begins with a trembling, which gets more and more noticeable, until later the patient can no longer speak without the voice shaking. So I said, ‘That sounds exactly what I need.’”[36] “Sam and Roger were not entirely convinced by my interpretation but had no objections.”[37] When he explained to Beckett that he was playing Lucky as if he were suffering from Parkinson’s, Beckett said, “‘Yes, of course.’ He mentioned briefly that his mother had had Parkinson’s, but quickly moved on to another subject.”[38] This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ...


“When Beckett was asked why Lucky was so named, he replied, “I suppose he is lucky to have no more expectations…”[39]


Although it has been contended that "Pozzo and Lucky are simply Didi and Gogo writ large"[40] there is a different kind of dynamic at work here. Pozzo may be mistaken for Godot by the two tramps but, as far as Lucky goes, Pozzo is his Godot, another way in which he is lucky. Their association is not as clear cut as it first seems however for “upon closer inspection, it becomes evident that Lucky always possessed more influence in the relationship, for he danced, and more importantly, thought – not as a service, but in order to fill a vacant need of Pozzo: he committed all of these acts for Pozzo. As such, since the first appearance of the duo, the true slave had always been Pozzo.”[41] Pozzo credits Lucky with having given him all the culture, refinement, and ability to reason that he possesses. His rhetoric has been learned by rote. Pozzo’s ‘party piece’ on the sky is a case in point, as his memory crumbles he finds himself unable to continue under his own steam. Slave redirects here. ... For other uses, see Culture (disambiguation). ... Rhetoric (from Greek , rhêtôr, orator, teacher) is generally understood to be the art or technique of persuasion through the use of oral, visual, or written language; however, this definition of rhetoric has expanded greatly since rhetoric emerged as a field of study in universities. ...


We learn very little about Pozzo besides the fact that he is on his way to the fair to sell his slave, Lucky. He presents himself very much as the Ascendancy landlord, bullying and conceited. His pipe is made by Kapp and Peterson, Dublin’s best-known tobacconists (their slogan was ‘The thinking man’s pipe’) which he refers to as a “briar” but which Estragon calls a “dudeen” emphasising the differences in their social standing. He confesses to a poor memory but it is more a result of an abiding self-absorption. “Pozzo is a character who has to overcompensate. That’s why he overdoes things … and his overcompensation has to do with a deep insecurity in him. These were things Beckett said, psychological terms he used.”[42] The Protestant Ascendancy refers to the political, economic, and social domination of Ireland by Anglican landowners, Church of Ireland clergy, and professionals during the 17th, 18th, and 19th century. ... G. H. Hardy smoking a pipe of tobacco A smoking pipe for tobacco smoking typically consists of a small chamber (the bowl) for the combustion of the tobacco to be smoked and a thin stem (shank) that ends in a mouthpiece (the bit). ... Peterson is an Irish pipe maker. ... A tobacconist is someone licensed to sell tobacco in various forms as well as smoking supplies. ...


Pozzo controls Lucky by means of an extremely long rope which he jerks and tugs if Lucky is the least bit slow. Lucky is the absolutely subservient slave of Pozzo and he unquestioningly does his every bidding with “dog-like devotion”.[43] ‘Lucky’ is a dog’s name. He struggles with a heavy suitcase without ever thinking of dropping it. Lucky speaks only once in the play and it is a result of Pozzo's order to “think” for Estragon and Vladimir. Pozzo and Lucky had been together for sixty years and, in that time, their relationship has deteriorated. Lucky has always been the intellectually superior but now, with age, he has become an object of contempt: his “think” is a caricature of intellectual thought and his “dance” is a sorry sight. Despite his horrid treatment at Pozzo's hand however, Lucky remains completely faithful to him. Even in the second act when Pozzo has inexplicably gone blind, and needs to be led by Lucky rather than driving him as he had done before, Lucky remains faithful and has not tried to run away; they are clearly bound together by more than a piece of rope in the same way that Didi and Gogo are “[t]ied to Godot”.[44] Beckett’s advice to the American director Alan Schneider was: “[Pozzo] is a hypomaniac and the only way to play him is to play him mad.”[45] Hypomania is a mood state characterized by persistent and pervasive elated or irritable mood, and thoughts and behaviors that are consistent with such a mood state. ...


“In his [English] translation … Beckett struggled to retain the French atmosphere as much as possible, so that he delegated all the English names and places to Lucky, whose own name, he thought, suggested such a correlation.”[46]


The Boys

The cast list specifies only one boy.


The boy in Act I, a local lad, assures Vladimir that this is the first time he has seen him. He says he was not there the previous day. He confirms he works for Mr Godot as a goat herder. His brother, who coincidentally Godot beats, is a shepherd. Godot feeds both of them and allows them to sleep in his hayloft. Shepherd in Făgăraş Mountains, Romania. ...


The boy in Act II also assures Vladimir that it was not he who called upon them the day before. He insists that this too is his first visit. When Vladimir asks what Godot does the boy tells him; “He does nothing, sir.”[47] We also learn he has a white beard – possibly, the boy is not certain. This boy also has a brother who it seems is sick but there is no clear evidence to suggest that his brother is the boy that came in Act I or the one who came the day before that.


As messengers from Godot, those who take a Christian interpretation of the play naturally cast the boys in the role of angels. For other uses, see Christian (disambiguation). ... This article is about the supernatural being. ...


Godot

The identity of Godot has been the subject of much debate. “When Colin Duckworth asked Beckett point-blank whether Pozzo was Godot, the author replied: ‘No. It is just implied in the text, but it's not true.’”[48]


“When Roger Blin asked him who or what Godot stood for, Beckett replied that it suggested itself to him by the slang word for boot in French, godillot, godasse because feet play such a prominent role in the play. This is the explanation he has given most often.”[49]


“Beckett said to Peter Woodthorpe that he regretted calling the absent character ‘Godot’, because of all the theories involving God to which this had given rise.[50] “I also told [Ralph] Richardson that if by Godot I had meant God I would [have] said God, and not Godot. This seemed to disappoint him greatly.”[51] That said, Beckett did once concede, “It would be fatuous of me to pretend that I am not aware of the meanings attached to the word ‘Godot’, and the opinion of many that it means ‘God’. But you must remember – I wrote the play in French, and if I did have that meaning in my mind, it was somewhere in my unconscious and I was not overtly aware of it.”[52] “Beckett has often stressed the strong unconscious impulses that partly control his writing; he has even spoken of being ‘in a trance’ when he writes.”[53] This article discusses the term God in the context of monotheism and henotheism. ... Trance - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia /**/ @import /skins-1. ...


What if Godot were to arrive? The play suggests that were this to happen only one of the two tramps would benefit. Of the two thieves crucified along with Jesus only one was saved, of the two boys who work for Godot only one appears safe from beatings, “Beckett [even] said, only half-jokingly, that [only] one of Estragon’s feet was saved”;[54] it is perhaps better for the pair of them that he does not come. For other uses, see Crucifixion (disambiguation). ...


The name "Godot" is pronounced in Britain and Ireland with the emphasis on the first syllable (i.e. /'gɒ.dəʊ/); in North America it is usually pronounced with an emphasis on the second syllable (i.e. /gə'doʊ/). Beckett himself said the emphasis should be on the first syllable, and that the North American pronunciation is a mistake. [1]


Setting

There is only one scene throughout both acts. Two men are waiting on a country road by a skeletal tree. The script calls for Estragon to sit on a low mound but in practice – as in Beckett’s own 1975 German production – this is usually a stone. In the first act the tree is bare. In the second, although the script specifies it is the next day, a few leaves have appeared. The minimal description calls to mind “the idea of the ‘lieu vague’, a location which should not be particularised”.[55]


Alan Schneider once suggested putting the play on in a round – Pozzo has often been commented on as a ringmaster[56] – but Beckett dissuaded him: “I don’t in my ignorance agree with the round and feel Godot needs a very closed box.” He once even contemplated at one point have “faint shadow of bars on stage floor” but, in the end, decided against this level of what he called “explicitation”. (See Beckett in Berlin) In his 1975 Schiller-Theatre production there are times when Didi and Gogo appear to bounce off something “like birds trapped in the strands of [an invisible] net”, to use James Knowlson’s description. Didi and Gogo are only trapped because they still cling to the concept that freedom is possible; freedom is a state of mind, so is imprisonment. Alan Schneider (?–1984) was a prolific director and mentor responsible for over 100 productions in the American theatre. ... The ringmaster is often the most important and most-visible performer in the modern circus. ... For other uses, see Concept (disambiguation). ...


Interpretations

I cannot explain my plays. Each must find out for himself what is meant.

[57] - Samuel Beckett Samuel Barclay Beckett (13 April 1906 – 22 December 1989) was an Irish dramatist, novelist and poet. ...


Throughout the work one can find religious, philosophical, classical, psychoanalytical and biographical – especially wartime – references, there are ritualistic aspects and elements literally lifted from vaudeville[58] and there is a danger in making more of these than what they are, merely structural conveniences, avatars into which the writer places his fictional characters. The play “exploits several archetypal forms and situations, all of which lend themselves to both comedy and pathos.”[59] Beckett makes this point emphatically clear in the opening notes to Film: “No truth value attaches to the above, regarded as of merely structural and dramatic convenience.”[60] He made another important remark to Lawrence Harvey, saying that his “work does not depend on experience – [it is] not a record of experience. Of course you use it.” [61] Various Religious symbols, including (first row) Christian, Jewish, Hindu, Bahai, (second row) Islamic, tribal, Taoist, Shinto (third row) Buddhist, Sikh, Hindu, Jain, (fourth row) Ayyavazhi, Triple Goddess, Maltese cross, pre-Christian Slavonic Religion is the adherence to codified beliefs and rituals that generally involve a faith in a spiritual... For other uses, see Philosophy (disambiguation). ... Classical antiquity is a broad term for a long period of cultural history centered on the Mediterranean Sea, which begins roughly with the earliest-recorded Greek poetry of Homer (7th century BC), and continues through the rise of Christianity and the fall of the Western Roman Empire (5th century AD... Today psychoanalysis comprises several interlocking theories concerning the functioning of the mind. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... The Croix de Lorraine, the symbol of the resistance chosen by de Gaulle French Resistance is the name used for resistance movements during World War II which fought the Nazi German occupation of France and the collaborationist Vichy regime. ... For other senses of this word, see ritual (disambiguation). ... This article is about the musical variety theatre. ... Look up Pathos in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Film is a film written by Samuel Beckett, his only screenplay. ... Laurence Harvey (October 1, 1928 - November 25, 1973) was a Lithuanian-born actor. ...


Beckett tired quickly of “the endless misunderstanding. Why people,” he said – as far back as 1955 – “have to complicate a thing so simple I can’t make out.”[62] That said, he has not been forthcoming with anything more than cryptic clues. “Peter Woodthrope [who played Estragon] remembered asking him one day in a taxi what the play was really about: ‘It’s all symbiosis, Peter; it’s symbiosis,’ answered Beckett.”[63] For specific countries see Taxicabs around the world. ...


Beckett directed the play for the Schiller-Theatre in 1975. Although he had overseen many productions this was the first time he took complete control; Walter Asmus was his conscientious, young assistant director. “The production was not naturalistic. Beckett explained:

It is a game, everything is a game. When all four of them are lying on the ground, that cannot be handled naturalistically. That has got to be done artificially, balletically. Otherwise everything becomes an imitation, an imitation of reality … It should become clear and transparent, not dry. It is a game in order to survive.”[64]

Over the years, Beckett clearly realised that the greater part of Godot’s success was down to the fact that it was open to a variety of readings and that this was not necessarily a bad thing. Beckett himself sanctioned “one of the most famous mixed-race productions of Godot to be performed at the Baxter Theatre in the University of Cape Town, directed by Donald Howarth, with … two black actors, John Kani and Winston Ntshona, playing Didi and Gogo; Pozzo, dressed in checked shirt and gumboots reminiscent of an Afrikaaner landlord, and Lucky (‘a shanty town piece of white trash[65]) were played by two white actors, Bill Flynn and Peter Piccolo … The Baxter production has often been portrayed as if it were an explicitly political production, when in fact it received very little emphasis. What such a reaction showed, however, was that, although the play can in no way be taken as a political allegory, there are elements that are relevant to any local situation in which one man is being exploited or oppressed by another.”[66] For other uses, see Ballet (disambiguation). ... Actress Halle Berry was born to a white mother of British extraction and a black father of American extraction. ... The Baxter Theatre Centre is a performing arts complex in Rondebosch, a suburb of Cape Town, South Africa. ... UCT redirects here. ... John Kani (1943 -) is a South African actor, director and playwright. ... Winston Ntshona (born 6 October 1941 in Port Elizabeth ) is a South African actor. ... This article is about the Southern African ethnic group. ... Shanty town in Manila, Philippines. ... For other uses, see White trash (disambiguation). ... Bill Flynn (December 13, 1948 - July 11, 2007 Johannesburg) was a well known South African film and theater actor and comedian. ... For other uses, see Politics (disambiguation). ... Allegory of Music by Filippino Lippi. ...


Other interpretations abound.

Political: “It was seen as an allegory of the cold war,” [67] or of French resistance to the Germans. Graham Hassell writes, “[T]he intrusion of Pozzo and Lucky … seems like nothing more than a metaphor for Ireland's view of mainland Britain, where society has ever been blighted by a greedy ruling élite keeping the working classes passive and ignorant by whatever means.”[68] The pair are often played with Irish accents, an inevitable consequence, some feel, of Beckett's rhythms and phraseology, but this is not stipulated in the text.
Freudian: “Bernard Dukore develops a triadic theory in Didi, Gogo and the absent Godot, based on Freud’s trinitarian description of the psyche in The Ego and the Id (1923) and the usage of onomastic techniques. Dukore defines the characters by what they lack: the rational Go-go embodies the incomplete ego, the missing pleasure principle: (e)go-(e)go. Di-di (id-id) – who is more instinctual and irrational – is seen as the backward id or subversion of the rational principle. Godot fulfils the function of the superego or moral standards. Pozzo and Lucky are just re-iterations of the main protagonists. Dukore finally sees Beckett’s play as a metaphor for the futility of man’s existence when salvation is expected from an external entity, and the self is denied introspection.”[69]
Jungian: “The four archetypal personalities or the four aspects of the soul are grouped in two pairs: the ego and the shadow, the persona and the soul’s image (animus or anima). The shadow is the container of all our despised emotions repressed by the ego. Lucky, the shadow serves as the polar opposite of the egocentric Pozzo, prototype of prosperous mediocrity, who incessantly controls and persecutes his subordinate, thus symbolising the oppression of the unconscious shadow by the despotic ego. Lucky’s monologue in Act I appears as a manifestation of a stream of repressed unconsciousness, as he is allowed to “think” for his master. Estragon’s name has another connotation, besides that of the aromatic herb, tarragon: “estragon” is a cognate of oestrogen, the female hormone (Carter, 130). This prompts us to identify him with the anima, the feminine image of Vladimir’s soul. It explains Estragon’s propensity for poetry, his sensitivity and dreams, his irrational moods. Vladimir appears as the complementary masculine principle, or perhaps the rational persona of the contemplative type.”[70]
Existentialist: Broadly speaking existentialists hold there are certain questions that everyone must deal with (if they are to take human life seriously), questions such as death, the meaning of human existence and the place of God in human existence. By and large they believe that life is very difficult and that it doesn't have an "objective" or universally known value, but that the individual must create value by affirming it and living it, not by talking about it. The play touches upon all of these issues.
Biblical: Much can be read into Beckett’s inclusion of the story of the two thieves [from Luke 23:39-43] and the ensuing discussion of repentance and it is easy to see the solitary tree as representative of the cross or indeed the tree of life. Likewise, an obvious conclusion many jump to is that, because Lucky describes God as having a white beard and Godot appears also to have a white beard that he must therefore be God. Vladimir’s “Christ have mercy upon us!”[71] could easily be taken as corroboration that that is what he at least believes. There can be no arguing that much of Waiting for Godot deals with the subject of religion, there are simply too many scriptural references. For example, the boy claims to be a goatherd, while his brother is a shepherd. In the Bible, goats represent the damned while sheep represent those who have been saved. “[Beckett] always possessed a Bible, at the end more than one edition, and Bible concordances were always among the reference books on his shelves.”[72]Christianity is a mythology with which I am perfectly familiar so I naturally use it,” he admitted,[73] but, as one of his biographers, Anthony Cronin, points out: Beckett’s biblical references “may be ironic or even sarcastic”.[74] “In answer to a defence counsel question in 1937 (during a libel action undertaken by his uncle) as to whether he was a Christian, Jew or atheist, Beckett replied: ‘None of the three’”.[75] This was not though the occasion that put Beckett off religion. In a rare 1961 interview, Beckett said: “I have no religious feeling. Once I had a religious emotion. It was at my first Communion. No more … My brother and mother got no value from their religion when they died. At the moment of crisis it has no more depth than an old school tie.”[76] Looking at Beckett's entire œuvre, Mary Bryden observed that “the hypothesised God who emerges from Beckett's texts is one who is both cursed for his perverse absence and cursed for his surveillant presence. He is by turns dismissed, satirised, or ignored, but he, and his tortured son, are never definitively discarded.”[77]
Biographical: It has been called a “metaphor for the long walk into Roussillon, when Beckett and Suzanne slept in haystacks … during the day and walked by night … [or] of the relationship of Beckett to Joyce.”[78] The earliest drafts contained significant personal references but these were later excised.
Homoerotic: That the play calls for only male actors and barely references women at all has caused some to look upon Vladimir and Estragon’s relationship as quasi-marital: “they bicker, they embrace each other, they depend upon each other … they might be thought of as a married couple.”[79]

Beckett was not open to every new approach to his work and he famously objected when, in the 1980s several women’s acting companies began staging the play. “Women don’t have prostates,”[80] said Beckett, an allusion to the fact that Vladimir … frequently has to leave the stage to urinate, on account of his enlarged prostate. In 1988 he took a Dutch theatre company, De Haarlemse Toneelschuur to court over this issue. “Beckett … lost his case. But the issue of gender seemed to him to be so vital a distinction for a playwright to make that he reacted angrily, instituting a ban on all productions of his plays in The Netherlands.”[81] In 1991 “Judge Huguette Le Foyer de Costil ruled that the production would not cause excessive damage to Beckett's legacy” and the play was performed by the all-female cast of the Brut de Beton Theater Company at the prestigious Avignon Festival.[82] The Italian Pontedera Theatre Foundation won a similar claim in 2006 when they replaced Vladimir and Estragon with two female actors albeit playing the roles as males.[83] A 2001 production at Indiana University staged the play with women playing Pozzo and the Boy. Allegory of Music by Filippino Lippi. ... For other uses, see Cold War (disambiguation). ... The Croix de Lorraine, the symbol of the resistance chosen by de Gaulle French Resistance is the name used for resistance movements during World War II which fought the Nazi German occupation of France and the collaborationist Vichy regime. ... This article is about metaphor in literature and rhetoric. ... The term ruling class refers to the social class of a given society that decides upon and sets that societys political policy. ... The term working class is used to denote a social class. ... Look up Accent in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Sigmund Freud (IPA: ), born Sigismund Schlomo Freud (May 6, 1856 – September 23, 1939), was an Austrian neurologist and psychiatrist who founded the psychoanalytic school of psychology. ... The neutrality of this article is disputed. ... For other uses of ego and id, see EGO and ID. Id, ego, and superego are the three components of the human mind in the psychoanalytic model introduced by Sigmund Freud in the early 20th century. ... Year 1923 (MCMXXIII) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Onomastics (Onomatology) is the study of proper names of all kinds and the origins of names. ... The pleasure principle and the reality principle are two psychoanalytical terms coined by Sigmund Freud. ... This article is about metaphor in literature and rhetoric. ... Jung redirects here. ... Analytical psychology is part of the Jungian psychology movement started by Carl Jung and his followers. ... The neutrality of this article is disputed. ... Analytical psychology is part of the Jungian psychology movement started by Carl Jung and his followers. ... Analytical psychology is part of the Jungian psychology movement started by Carl Jung and his followers. ... Persona literally means mask , although it does not usually refer to a literal mask but to the social masks all humans supposedly wear. ... Analytical psychology is part of the Jungian psychology movement started by Carl Jung and his followers. ... Psychological repression, or simply repression, is the psychological act of excluding desires and impulses (wishes, fantasies or feelings) from ones consciousness and attempting to hold or subdue them in the subconscious. ... In psychology, egocentrism is the characteristic of regarding oneself and ones own opinions or interests as most important. ... For other uses, see Herb (disambiguation). ... This article is about the herb; for the Freedom Call CD see Taragon. ... Look up cognate in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Estriol. ... For other uses, see Hormone (disambiguation). ... Anima, in Jungian psychology: 1. ... Existentialism is a philosophical movement that posits that individuals create the meaning and essence of their lives, as opposed to deities or authorities creating it for them. ... Philosophical theories about the meaning of life // In that they attempt to answer the question What is valuable in life?, theories of value are theories of the meaning of life. ... A reliquary in the form of an ornate Christian Cross Topics in Christianity Movements · Denominations · Other religions Ecumenism · Preaching · Prayer Music · Liturgy · Calendar Symbols · Art · Criticism Important figures Apostle Paul · Church Fathers Constantine · Athanasius · Augustine Anselm · Aquinas · Palamas · Luther Calvin · Wesley Arius · Marcion of Sinope Archbishop of Canterbury · Catholic Pope... The Tree-of-Life is a fictional plant (the ancestor of yams, with similar appearance and taste) in Larry Nivens Known Space universe, for which all Hominids have an in-built genetic craving. ... This Gutenberg Bible is displayed by the United States Library. ... ... Topics in Christianity Movements · Denominations · Other religions Ecumenism · Preaching · Prayer Music · Liturgy · Calendar Symbols · Art · Criticism Important figures Apostle Paul · Church Fathers Constantine · Athanasius · Augustine Anselm · Aquinas · Palamas · Luther Calvin · Wesley Arius · Marcion of Sinope Archbishop of Canterbury · Catholic Pope Coptic Pope · Ecumenical Patriarch Christianity Portal This box:      Christianity is... For other uses, see Mythology (disambiguation). ... Anthony Cronin (born 1925 in County Wexford) is an Irish poet. ... Ironic redirects here. ... Sarcasm is the sneering, sly, jesting, or mocking of a person, situation or thing. ... In most litigation under the common law adversarial system the defendant, perhaps with the assistance of counsel, may allege or present defenses (or defences) in order to avoid liability, civil or criminal. ... Year 1937 (MCMXXXVII) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... “Libel” redirects here. ... Atheist redirects here. ... The term Communion is derived from Latin communio (sharing in common). ... An old boy network or society can refer to social and business associations among former pupils of top male-only public schools (independent secondary schools) in the United Kingdom, such as Eton, Harrow, Winchester and Charterhouse, private schools in Canada, and, to a lesser degree, to university students (notably Oxbridge... 1867 edition of Punch, a ground-breaking British magazine of popular humour, including a good deal of satire of the contemporary social and political scene. ... Coat of arms of Roussillon - see also senyera Flag of Roussillon Mount Canigó (Canigou) (2785m), a Catalan landmark Roussillon (French: Roussillon, pronounced ; Catalan: Rosselló, pronounced ) is one of the historical counties of the former Principality of Catalonia, corresponding roughly to the present-day southern French département of Pyrén... There are very few or no other articles that link to this one. ... For other uses, see Hay (disambiguation). ... This article is about the writer and poet. ... An example of lesbian erotica by Édouard-Henri Avril. ... The 1980s refers to the years from 1980 to 1989. ... The prostate is a compound tubuloalveolar exocrine gland of the male mammalian reproductive system. ... Year 1991 (MCMXCI) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the 1991 Gregorian calendar). ... Le festival dAvignon, the Avignon Festival is Frances oldest existing and most famous, founded in 1947 by Jean Vilar. ... Year 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Indiana University is the principal campus of the Indiana University system. ...


History

Poster for a 2003 production of Waiting for Godot

“[I]t was Beckett’s escape from the increasingly despotic interiority of the fictional trilogy; in Beckett’s own phrasing, ‘I began to write Godot as a relaxation, to get away from the awful prose I was writing at the time.’”[84] It was inspired, according to Beckett himself, by a painting by Caspar David Friedrich. Ruby Cohn recalls seeing the painting, Man and Woman Contemplating the Moon of 1824, along with Beckett who “announced unequivocally, ‘This was the source of Waiting for Godot, you know.’”[85] “He may well have confused two paintings since, at other times, he drew the attention of friends to Two Men Contemplating the Moon from 1819, in which two men dressed in cloaks and viewed from the rear are looking at a full moon framed by the black branches of a large, leafless tree.”[86] In either case both paintings are similar enough that what he attested to could apply equally to either. However, some sources point to conversations between Suzanne Deschevaux-Dumesnil and Beckett in Roussillon as the inspiration for the work. Beckett admitted such in a New York Post interview by Jerry Tallmer [2]. Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (432x652, 61 KB) Summary Waiting for Godot theatrical Poster, Tricklock Company production from 2003, starring Joe Pesce Licensing This image is of a poster for an event, and the copyright for it is most likely owned by either the organization hosting... Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (432x652, 61 KB) Summary Waiting for Godot theatrical Poster, Tricklock Company production from 2003, starring Joe Pesce Licensing This image is of a poster for an event, and the copyright for it is most likely owned by either the organization hosting... Self-portrait in chalk, 1810 by fellow artist Georg Friedrich Kersting, 1812 Caspar David Friedrich (September 5, 1774 – May 7, 1840) was a 19th century German romantic painter, considered by many critics to be one of the finest representatives of the movement. ... 1824 was a leap year starting on Thursday (see link for calendar). ... Year 1819 (MDCCCXIX) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar) in the [[Grhttp://en. ... Evening cloak or manteau, from Costume Parisien, 1823 A cloak is a type of loose garment that is worn over indoor clothing and serves the same purpose as an overcoat—it protects the wearer from the cold, rain or wind for example, or it may form part of a fashionable...


“[O]n 17th February 1952 … an abridged version of the play was performed in the studio of the Club d’Essai de la Radio and was broadcast on [French] radio … [A]lthough he sent a polite note that Roger Blin read out, Beckett himself did not turn up.”[87] Part of his introduction reads: Year 1952 (MCMLII) was a leap year starting on Tuesday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Roger Blin (March 22, 1907 - January 21, 1984) was a French comedian and actor. ...

I don’t know who Godot is. I don’t even know (above all don’t know) if he exists. And I don’t know if they believe in him or not – those two who are waiting for him. The other two who pass by towards the end of each of the two acts, that must be to break up the monotony. All I knew I showed. It’s not much, but it’s enough for me, by a wide margin. I’ll even say that I would have been satisfied with less. As for wanting to find in all that a broader, loftier meaning to carry away from the performance, along with the program and the Eskimo pie, I cannot see the point of it. But it must be possible … Estragon, Vladimir, Pozzo, Lucky, their time and their space, I was able to know them a little, but far from the need to understand. Maybe they owe you explanations. Let them supply it. Without me. They and I are through with each other.[88]

The Minuit edition appeared in print on 17th October 1952 in advance of the play’s first full theatrical performance. On January 4th 1953, “[t]hirty reviewers came to the générale of En attendant Godot before the public opening … Contrary to later legend, the reviewers were kind … Some dozen reviews in daily newspapers range[d] from tolerant to enthusiastic ... Reviews in the weeklies [were] longer and more fervent; moreover, they appeared in time to lure spectators to that first thirty-day run”[89] which began on 5th January 1953 at the Théâtre de Babylone, Paris. Early public performances were not, however, without incident: during one performance “the curtain had to be brought down after Lucky’s monologue as twenty, well-dressed, but disgruntled spectators whistled and hooted derisively … One of the protesters [even] wrote a vituperative letter dated 2nd February 1953 to Le Monde.”[90] Eskimo Pie is a brand name for a chocolate-covered vanilla ice cream bar wrapped in foil, the first such dessert sold in the United States. ... Estragon (affectionately Gogo; he tells Pozzo his name is Adam) is one of the two main characters from Samuel Becketts Waiting for Godot. ... Vladimir (affectionately known as Didi; a small boy calls him Mr. ... Pozzo is a character from Samuel Becketts Waiting for Godot. ... This article needs cleanup. ... Cover of the first book clandestinely published by Les Éditions de Minuit, as part of the French Resistance during WWII Les Éditions de Minuit (midnight editions) is a French publishing house which has its origins in the French Resistance of World War II and still publishes books today. ... January 7 - President Harry S. Truman announces the United States has developed a hydrogen bomb. ... This article is about the capital of France. ... A monologue, pronounced monolog, is a speech made by one person speaking his or her thoughts aloud or directly addressing a reader, audience, or character. ... For the song by the Thievery Corporation, see Le Monde (song). ...

En attendant Godot - Paris: Editions de Minuit, 1952. First trade edition.

The cast comprised Pierre Latour (Estragon), Lucien Raimbourg (Vladimir), Jean Martin (Lucky) and Roger Blin (Pozzo). The actor due to play Pozzo found a more remunerative role and so the director – a shy, lean man in real life – had to step in and play the stout bombaster himself with a pillow amplifying his stomach. Both boys were played by Serge Lecointe. The entire production was done on the thinnest of shoestring budgets; the large battered valise that Martin carried “was found among the city’s refuse by the husband of the theatre dresser on his rounds as he worked clearing the dustbins,”[91] for example. Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... A dresser is a theatrical stagehand involved with backstage quick changes and maintaining costume quality each night. ...


A particularly significant production – from Beckett’s perspective – took place in Lüttringhausen Prison near Wuppertal in Germany. An inmate obtained a copy of the French first edition, translated it himself into German and obtained permission to stage the play. The first night had been on 29th November 1953. He wrote to Beckett in October 1954: “You will be surprised to be receiving a letter about your play Waiting for Godot, from a prison where so many thieves, forgers, toughs, homos, crazy men and killers spend this bitch of a life waiting … and waiting … and waiting. Waiting for what? Godot? Perhaps.”[92] Beckett was intensely moved and intended to visit the prison to see a last performance of the play but it never happened. This marked “the beginning of Beckett’s enduring links with prisons and prisoners … He took a tremendous interest in productions of his plays performed in prisons … He [even] gave [Rick Cluchey] a former prisoner from San Quentin financial and moral support over a period of many years.”[93] Cluchey played Vladimir in two productions in the former Gallows room of the San Quentin California State Prison, which had been converted into a 65-seat theatre and, like the German prisoner before him, went on to work on a variety of Beckett’s plays after his release. Lüttringhausen is a district of the German town of Remscheid with a population of about 19,500. ... Wuppertal university Wuppertal is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. ... see also: The First Edition, a musical group fronted by Kenny Rogers. ... Year 1954 (MCMLIV) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... A young waif steals a pair of boots Stealing redirects here. ... Forgery is the process of making or adapting objects or documents (see false document), with the intention to deceive. ... Homosexuality refers to sexual interaction and / or romantic attraction between individuals of the same sex. ... A lunatic (colloquially: loony) is commonly used term for a person who is mentally ill, dangerous, foolish or unpredictable, a condition once called lunacy. ... For other uses, see Murder (disambiguation). ... The sprawling San Quentin prison complex. ... These gallows in Tombstone Courthouse State Historic Park are maintained by Arizona State Parks. ...


The English-language premiere was on 3rd August 1955 at the Arts Theatre, London, directed by the 24-year-old Peter Hall Again, the printed version preceded it (New York: Grove Press, 1954) but Faber’s “mutilated” edition did not materialise until 1956. A “corrected” edition was subsequently produced in 1965. “The most accurate text is in Theatrical Notebooks I, (Ed.) Dougald McMillan and James Knowlson (Faber and Grove, 1993). It is based on Beckett’s revisions for his Schiller-Theatre production (1975) and the London San Quentin Drama Workshop, based on the Schiller production but revised further at the Riverside Studios (March 1984).”[94] Year 1955 (MCMLV) was a common year starting on Saturday (link displays the 1955 Gregorian calendar). ... The Arts Theatre was a small club theatre in London, England. ... This article is about the capital of England and the United Kingdom. ... Sir Peter Reginald Frederick Hall CBE (born 22 November 1930) is an English theatre and film director. ... A car from 1956 Year 1956 (MCMLVI) was a leap year starting on Sunday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1965 (MCMLXV) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display full calendar) of the 1965 Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1993 (MCMXCIII) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display full 1993 Gregorian calendar). ... Year 1975 (MCMLXXV) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... The Triumph Film Company moved, in 1933, to a former factory building located in Hammersmith, west London. ... This article is about the year. ...


Like all of Beckett’s translations, Waiting for Godot is not simply a literal translation of En attendant Godot. “Small but significant differences separate the French and English text. Some, like Vladimir’s inability to remember the farmer’s name (Bonnelly[95]), show how the translation became more indefinite, attrition and loss of memory more pronounced.”[96] A number of biographical details were removed, all adding to a general “vaguening”[97] of the text which he continued to trim for the rest of his life.


In the nineteen-fifties, theatre was strictly censored in the UK, to Beckett's amazement since he thought it a bastion of free speech. The Lord Chamberlain insisted that the word "erection" be removed, “‘Fartov’ became ‘Popov’ and Mrs Gozzo had ‘warts’ instead of ‘clap’”.[98] Indeed, there were attempts to ban the play completely. For example, Lady Dorothy Howitt wrote to the Lord Chamberlain, saying: "One of the many themes running through the play is the desire of two old tramps continually to relieve themselves. Such a dramatisation of lavatory necessities is offensive and against all sense of British decency."[99] “The first unexpurgated version of Godot in England … opened at the Royal Court on 30th December 1964.”[100] The 1950s decade refers to the years 1950 to 1959 inclusive. ... For other uses, see Censor. ... The point of a bastion on a reconstructed French fort in Illinois. ... This article is about the general concept. ... The Lord Chamberlain or Lord Chamberlain of the Household is one of the chief officers of the Royal Household in the United Kingdom, and is to be distinguished from the Lord Great Chamberlain, one of the Great Officers of State. ... This article is about human physiological erection. ... A wart is generally a small, rough tumor, typically on hands and feet, that can resemble a cauliflower or a solid blister. ... The clap redirects here. ... For other uses, see England (disambiguation). ... The Royal Court Theatre is a non-commercial theatre in Sloane Square, in the Chelsea area of London noted for its contributions to modern theatre. ...


The London run was not without incident. The actor Peter Bull, who played Pozzo, recalls the reaction of that first night audience: Peter Bull as the Russian Ambassador in Stanley Kubricks (1963) Peter Bull (21 March 1912 - 20 May 1984) was a British character actor. ...

“Waves of hostility came whirling over the footlights, and the mass exodus, which was to form such a feature of the run of the piece, started quite soon after the curtain had risen. The audible groans were also fairly disconcerting … The curtain fell to mild applause, we took a scant three calls (Peter Woodthorpe reports only one curtain call[101]) and a depression and a sense of anti-climax descended on us all.”[102]

The critics were less than unkind but “[e]verything changed on Sunday 7th August 1955 with Kenneth Tynan’s and Harold Hobson’s reviews in The Observer and The Sunday Times. Beckett was always grateful to the two reviewers for their support … which more or less transformed the play overnight into the rage of London.”[103] “At the end of the year, the Evening Standard Drama Awards were held for the first time ... Feelings ran high and the opposition, led by Sir Malcolm Sargent, threatened to resign if Godot won [The Best New Play category]. An English compromise was worked out by changing the title of the award. Godot became The Most Controversial Play of the Year. It is a prize that has never been given since.”[104] Peter Woodthorpe (September 25, 1931-August 12, 2004) was an English movie, television and voice actor who is best known for supplying the voice of Gollum in the 1978 Bakshi version of The Lord of the Rings and BBCs 1981 radio serial. ... Curtain Call: The Hits will be Eminems fifth major label release. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Kenneth Peacock Tynan (April 2, 1927 - July 26, 1980), was an influential and often controversial British theatre critic and writer. ... Sir Harold Hobson (1904-1992) was an influential English drama critic and author. ... Wikipedia does not yet have an article with this exact name. ... The Sunday Times is a Sunday broadsheet newspaper distributed in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland, published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of News International which is in turn owned by News Corporation. ... Headlines of the Evening Standard on the day of London bombing on July 7, 2005, in Waterloo Station The Evening Standard is a British tabloid newspaper published and sold in London and surrounding areas of southeast England. ... Sir (Harold) Malcolm (Watts) Sargent (April 29, 1895 – October 3, 1967) was a British conductor, organist and composer. ...


Beckett resisted offers to film the play, although it was televised in his lifetime. When Keep Films made Beckett an offer to film an adaptation in which Peter O’Toole would feature, Beckett tersely told his French publisher to advise them: “I do not want a film of Godot.”[105] The BBC broadcast a production of Waiting for Godot on 26th June 1961, a version for radio having already been transmitted on 25th April 1960. Beckett watched the programme with a few close friends in Peter Woodthorpe’s Chelsea flat. He was unhappy with what he saw. “My play,” he said, “wasn’t written for this box. My play was written for small men locked in a big space. Here you’re all too big for the place.”[106] Peter Seamus OToole (Peter James OToole) (b. ... For other uses, see BBC (disambiguation). ... Year 1961 (MCMLXI) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1960 (MCMLX) was a leap year starting on Friday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Statue of Thomas More on Cheyne Walk. ...


Although not his favourite amongst his plays – perhaps because of the way it came to overshadow everything else he wrote – it was the work which brought Beckett fame and financial stability and as such it always held a special place in his affections. “When the manuscript and rare books dealer, Henry Wenning, asked him if he could sell the original French manuscript for him, Beckett replied: ‘Rightly or wrongly have decided not to let Godot go yet. Neither sentimental nor financial, probably peak of market now and never such an offer. Can’t explain.’”[107] Book collecting is what it sounds like, the collecting of books. ...


Related works

  • Racine’s Bérénice is a play “in which nothing happens for five acts.”[108] In the preface to this play Racine writes: “All creativity consists in making something out of nothing.” Beckett was an avid scholar of the 17th century playwright and lectured on him during his time at Trinity. “Essential to the static quality of a Racine play is the pairing of characters to talk at length to each other.”[109]
  • The title character of Balzac's 1851 play Mercadet is waiting for financial salvation from his never seen business partner, Godeau. Although Beckett was familiar with Balzac's prose; he is insistent that he learned of this play after finishing Waiting for Godot. Coincidentally, in 1949, Balzac's play was closely adapted to film as The Lovable Cheat (staring Buster Keaton, whom Beckett greatly admired).
  • The unity of place, the particular site on the edge of a marsh which the two tramps cannot leave, recalls Sartre's striking use of the unity of place in his 1944 play, No Exit. There it is hell in the appearance of a Second Empire living room that the three characters cannot leave. The curtain line of each play underscores the unity of place, the setting of which is prison. The Let’s go! of Godot corresponds to the Well, well, let's get on with it....! of No Exit. Sartre's hell is projected by use of some of the quid pro quos of a bedroom farce, whereas the unnamed plateau – the platter Didi and Gogo are served up on in the French version – evokes an empty vaudeville stage.
  • Many critics regard the protagonists in Beckett’s novel Mercier and Camier as prototypes of Vladimir and Estragon. “If you want to find the origins of Godot,” he told Colin Duckworth once, “look at Murphy.”[110] Here we see the agonized protagonist yearning for self-knowledge, or at least complete freedom of thought at any cost, and the dichotomy and interaction of mind and body. It is also a book that dwells on mental illness something that affects all the characters in Godot. In defence of the critics, Mercier and Camier wander aimlessly about a boggy, rain-soaked island that, although not explicitly named, is Beckett's native Ireland. They speak convoluted dialogues similar to Vladimir and Estragon's, joke about the weather and chat in pubs, while the purpose of their odyssey is never made clear. The waiting in Godot is the wandering of the novel. “There are large chunks of dialogue which he later transferred directly into Godot.”[111]

Jean Racine, in an engraving by Pierre Savart. ... Bérénice is a tragedy by the French 17th-century playwright Jean Racine. ... (16th century - 17th century - 18th century - more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 17th century was that century which lasted from 1601-1700. ... For other institutions named Trinity College, see Trinity College. ... Balzac redirects here. ... 1851 (MDCCCLI) was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Friday of the 12-day-slower Julian calendar). ... Prose is writing distinguished from poetry by its greater variety of rhythm and its closer resemblance to everyday speech. ... Year 1949 (MCMXLIX) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Joseph Francis Kieran Keaton (October 4, 1895 – February 1, 1966) was an Academy Award-winning American silent film comic actor and filmmaker. ... Clifford Odets photographed by Carl Van Vechten, 1937 Clifford Odets (July 18, 1906 - August 18, 1963) was an American socialist playwright, screenwriter, and social protester. ... 1935 (MCMXXXV) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display full calendar). ... Waiting for Lefty is a 1935 play by American playwright, Clifford Odets. ... For other uses, see Capitalism (disambiguation). ... A union organiser is an employee or elected official of a trade union. ... Jean-Paul Charles Aymard Sartre (June 21, 1905 – April 15, 1980), normally known simply as Jean-Paul Sartre (pronounced: ), was a French existentialist philosopher and pioneer, dramatist and screenwriter, novelist and critic. ... Year 1944 (MCMXLIV) was a leap year starting on Saturday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... For other uses, see No Exit (disambiguation). ... This article is about the theological or philosophical afterlife. ... The canonical example of Second Empire style is the Opéra Garnier, in which Neo-Baroque meets Neo-Renaissance. ... A sitting room in the UK. A living room, also known as sitting room (especially in the UK), lounge room or lounge (in the United Kingdom and Australia), is a room for entertaining guests, reading, watching TV or other activities. ... Quid pro quo (Latin for something for something [1]) indicates a more-or-less equal exchange or substitution of goods or services. ... The term may refer to Bedroom farce -- a genre of comedy Bedroom Farce -- a comedy by Alan Ayckbourn. ... For other meanings, see Plateau (disambiguation). ... This page is a candidate to be copied to Wiktionary. ... Please wikify (format) this article or section as suggested in the Guide to layout and the Manual of Style. ... A dichotomy is a division into two non-overlapping or mutually exclusive and jointly exhaustive parts. ... A mental illness or mental disorder refers to one of many mental health conditions characterized by distress, impaired cognitive functioning, atypical behavior, emotional dysregulation, and/or maladaptive behavior. ... Pub redirects here. ...

Works inspired by Godot

  • An unauthorized sequel was written by Miodrag Bulatović in 1966: Godo je došao (Godot Arrived). It was translated from the Serbian into German (Godot ist gekommen) and French. The playwright presents Godot as a baker who ends up being condemned to death by the four main characters. Since it turns out he is indestructible Lucky declares him non-existent. Although Beckett was noted for disallowing productions that took even slight liberties with his plays, he let this pass without incident but not without comment. Ruby Cohn writes: “On the flyleaf of my edition of the Bulatović play, Beckett is quoted: ‘I think that all that has nothing to do with me.’”[112]
  • An unauthorized prequel, of sorts, formed Part II of Ian McDonald's 1991 novel King of Morning, Queen of Day (partly written in Joycean style). Two main characters are clearly meant to be the original Vladimir and Estragon.
  • Another unauthorized sequel was written by Daniel Curzon in the late 1990s: Godot Arrives.
  • A radical transformation was written by Bernard Pautrat, performed at Théâtre National de Strasbourg in 1979-1980: Ils allaient obscurs sous la nuit solitaire (d'après ‘En attendant Godot’ de Samuel Beckett). The piece was performed in a disused hangar. “This space, marked by diffusion, and therefore quite unlike traditional concentration of dramatic space, was animated, not by four actors and the brief appearance of a fifth one (as in Beckett’s play), but by ten actors. Four of them bore the names of Gogo, Didi, Lucky and Pozzo. The others were: the owner of the Citroën, the barman, the bridegroom, the bride, the man with the Ricard [and] the man with the club foot. The dialogue, consisting of extensive quotes from the original, was distributed in segments among the ten actors, not necessarily following the order of the original.”[113]
  • Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead, written by Tom Stoppard and first staged in 1966, contains a set of characters whose dialogue and themes are strongly influenced by the characters in Godot. “With hindsight, we can see that Godot was stylistically rather than philosophically seminal for Stoppard – ping-pong dialogue between opposites, rhythmic pauses between beats, lack of answers to many small questions, lack of dénouement to the large plotline, metaphysics partially camouflaged by farce.”[114]
  • Waiting for Guffman is a film co-written and directed by Christopher Guest. The plots share enough similarities so that a knowledge of Godot will reveal things about Guffman.

For other uses, see Sequel (disambiguation). ... Miodrag Bulatović Miodrag Bulatović (Serbian Cyrillic: Миодраг Булатовић) (born 1930, in Okladi, near Bijelo Polje, Zeta Banovina, Kingdom of Yugoslavia - death 1991, Igalo, Montenegro, SFR Yugoslavia) was a Montenegrin Serb[1] novelist and playwright. ... Serbian (; ) is one of the standard versions of the Shtokavian dialect, used primarily in Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Croatia, and by Serbs in the Serbian diaspora. ... A baker prepares fresh rolls A baker is someone who primarily bakes and sells bread. ... A prequel is a work that portrays events which include the structure, conventions, and/or characters of a previously completed narrative, but occur at an earlier time. ... Ian McDonald at Worldcon 2005 in Glasgow Ian McDonald, born in 1960, is an award-winning British science fiction novelist, living in Belfast. ... This article is about the writer and poet. ... Also: 1979 by Smashing Pumpkins. ... Year 1980 (MCMLXXX) was a leap year starting on Tuesday (link displays the 1980 Gregorian calendar). ... A cutaway diagram of a hangar. ... diffusion (disambiguation). ... Citroën is a French automobile manufacturer, founded in 1919 by André Citroën. ... Pernod Ricard is a French company producing alcoholic beverages. ... Club foot. ... This article is about the play. ... Sir Tom Stoppard, OM, CBE (born as Tomáš Straussler on July 3, 1937)[1] is an Academy Award winning British playwright of more than 24 plays. ... Ping Pong redirects here. ... In literature, a dénouement (IPA: ) consists of a series of events that follow a dramatic or narratives climax, thus serving as the conclusion of the story. ... Plato (Left) and Aristotle (right), by Raphael (Stanza della Segnatura, Rome) Metaphysics is the branch of philosophy concerned with explaining the ultimate nature of reality, being, and the world. ... Look up farce in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Waiting for Guffman is a mockumentary written,starring, and directed by Christopher Guest that was released in 1997. ... DAAS Kapital was a television comedy series written and performed by Australian comedy trio the Doug Anthony All Stars. ... The Doug Anthony All Stars (DAAS) were an Australian musical comedy group comprising Tim Ferguson, Richard Fidler and Paul McDermott. ... Tim Ferguson (born Timothy Dorcen Langbene Ferguson on 16 November 1963 in Sydney, NSW) is an Australian comedian and television presenter. ... Richard Fidler (born November 13, 1964) is a well-known Australian Republican and Australian ABC TV and radio presenter. ...

References in popular culture

Like Orwell's Big Brother before him, Godot has been assimilated into popular culture. Even those unfamiliar with the play are aware that 'waiting for Godot' means waiting for someone or something that will never arrive. Image File history File links Broom_icon. ... Eric Arthur Blair (25 June 1903 [1] [2] – 21 January 1950), better known by the pen name George Orwell, was an English author and journalist. ... Big Brother as portrayed in the 1954 BBC Television adaptation of Nineteen Eighty-Four. ... Popular culture (or pop culture) is the widespread cultural elements in any given society that are perpetuated through that societys vernacular language or lingua franca. ...

  • Alexei Sayle's TV sketch show Alexei Sayle's Stuff (1988-91) included a skit in which Godot (played by Sayle) desperately tries to hitchhike to his waiting friends, but fails to get a lift. Eventually he finds his way to Estragon and Vladimir, but two other Godots arrive at the same time. Estragon says "Typical! You wait ages for Godot and then three show up at once". The joke predates Sayle however and dates back to Tom Johnston.[115]
  • Aspettando Godot – Italian translation of Waiting for Godot – is a well-known song by Claudio Lolli. In this song, Godot impersonates the Communist revolution, that never comes.
  • The main prosecutor in the game Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - Trials and Tribulations is named Godot. Detective Luke Atmey comments that "some people spend their entire lives waiting for him," a reference to the main characters of the play.

Alexei David Sayle (b. ... Sketch Show redirects here. ... The eponymously titled Alexei Sayles Stuff was a comedy sketch show which ran on BBC2 for a total of 18 episodes over 3 series from 1988 to 1991. ... Hitchhiking (also called lifting or thumbing) is a form of transport, in which the traveller tries to get a lift (ride) from another traveller, usually a car or truck driver. ... Doonesbury is a comic strip by Garry Trudeau, popular in the United States and other parts of the world. ... Mike Doonesbury is the main character in Garry Trudeaus comic strip Doonesbury. ... Zonker Harris (his full name is revealed in Doonesbury: A Musical Comedy to be Edgar Zonker Harris) is the stereotypical hippie character in Garry Trudeaus comic strip Doonesbury. ... Mario Matthew Cuomo (born June 15, 1932) served as the Governor of New York from 1983 to 1995. ... The United States presidential election of 1988 featured an open primary for both major parties. ... Year 1990 (MCMXC) was a common year starting on Monday (link displays the 1990 Gregorian calendar). ... Christopher Cerf (born August 19, 1941) is an author, composer-lyricist, and record and television producer. ... For other uses, see Sequel (disambiguation). ... A communist revolution is a proletarian revolution inspired by the ideas of Marxism that aims to replace capitalism with communism, typically with socialism (state or worker ownership over the means of production) as an intermediate stage. ...

References

  1. ^ Berlin, N., ‘Traffic of our stage: Why Waiting for Godot?’ in The Massachusetts Review, Autumn 1999
  2. ^ Ackerley, C. J. and Gontarski, S. E., (Eds.) The Faber Companion to Samuel Beckett (London: Faber and Faber, 2006), p 620
  3. ^ Ackerley, C. J. and Gontarski, S. E., (Eds.) The Faber Companion to Samuel Beckett (London: Faber and Faber, 2006), p 172
  4. ^ The Times, 31st December 1964. Quoted in Knowlson, J., Damned to Fame: The Life of Samuel Beckett (London: Bloomsbury, 1996), p 57
  5. ^ McMillan D. and Knowlson, J., (Eds.) The Theatrical Notebooks of Samuel Beckett, Vol I: Waiting for Godot (London: Faber and Faber, 1993), p xiv
  6. ^ Beckett, S., Waiting for Godot, (London: Faber and Faber, [1956] 1988), p 9
  7. ^ Knowlson, J., Damned to Fame: The Life of Samuel Beckett (London: Bloomsbury, 1996), p 567
  8. ^ Beckett, S., Waiting for Godot, (London: Faber and Faber, [1956] 1988), p 12
  9. ^ Beckett, S., Waiting for Godot, (London: Faber and Faber, [1956] 1988), p 18
  10. ^ Beckett, S., Waiting for Godot, (London: Faber and Faber, [1956] 1988), p 18
  11. ^ Letter from Alan Schneider, 20th March 1971 in Harmon, M., (Ed.) No Author Better Served: The Correspondence of Samuel Beckett and Alan Schneider (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1998), p 251
  12. ^ Beckett, S., Waiting for Godot, (London: Faber and Faber, [1956] 1988), p 21
  13. ^ Beckett, S., Waiting for Godot, (London: Faber and Faber, [1956] 1988), p 23
  14. ^ Cohn, R., From Desire to Godot (London: Calder Publications; New York: Riverrun Press, 1998), p 151
  15. ^ Brown, V., Yesterday’s Deformities: A Discussion of the Role of Memory and Discourse in the Plays of Samuel Beckett, (doctoral thesis), p 92
  16. ^ Cliffs Notes on Beckett’s Waiting for Godot & Other Plays (Lincoln: Nebraska, 1980), p 29
  17. ^ Beckett, S., Waiting for Godot, (London: Faber and Faber, [1956] 1988), p 50
  18. ^ See Clausius, C., ‘Bad Habits While Waiting for Godot’ in Burkman, K. H., (Ed.) Myth and Ritual in the Plays of Samuel Beckett (London and Toronto: Fairleigh Dickinson University Press, 1987), p 139
  19. ^ Webb, E., The Plays of Samuel Beckett (Seattle: Univ. of Washington Press, 1974)
  20. ^ Beckett, S., Waiting for Godot, (London: Faber and Faber, [1956] 1988), p 59
  21. ^ Beckett, S., Waiting for Godot, (London: Faber and Faber, [1956] 1988), p 89
  22. ^ SB to Barney Rosset, 18th October 1954 (Syracuse). Quoted in Knowlson, J., Damned to Fame: The Life of Samuel Beckett (London: Bloomsbury, 1996), p 412
  23. ^ Quoted in Le Nouvel Observateur (26th September 1981) and referenced in Cohn, R., From Desire to Godot (London: Calder Publications; New York: Riverrun Press), 1998, p 150
  24. ^ Cronin, A., Samuel Beckett The Last Modernist (London: Flamingo, 1997), p 382
  25. ^ Letter to Alan Schneider, 27th December 1955 in Harmon, M., (Ed.) No Author Better Served: The Correspondence of Samuel Beckett and Alan Schneider (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1998), p 6
  26. ^ Kalb, J., Beckett in Performance (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1989), p 43
  27. ^ Beckett, S., Waiting for Godot, (London: Faber and Faber, [1956] 1988), p 12
  28. ^ See Brown, V., Yesterday’s Deformities: A Discussion of the Role of Memory and Discourse in the Plays of Samuel Beckett, pp 35-75 for a detailed discusssion of this.
  29. ^ Alvarez, A. Beckett 2nd Edition (London: Fontana Press, 1992)
  30. ^ Gurnow, M., No Symbol Where None Intended: A Study of Symbolism and Allusion in Samuel Beckett's Waiting for Godot
  31. ^ Fletcher, J., ‘The Arrival of Godot’ in The Modern Language Review, Vol. 64, No. 1 (Jan., 1969), pp. 34-38
  32. ^ Duckworth, C., (Ed.) ‘Introduction’ to En attendant Godot (London: George Harrap, 1966), pp lxiii, lxiv. Quoted in Ackerley, C. J. and Gontarski, S. E., (Eds.) The Faber Companion to Samuel Beckett, (London: Faber and Faber, 2006), p 183
  33. ^ Mercier, V., ‘The Uneventful Event’ in The Irish Times, 18th February 1956
  34. ^ Mercier, V., Beckett/Beckett (London: Souvenir Press, 1990), p 46
  35. ^ Mercier, V., Beckett/Beckett (London: Souvenir Press, 1990), pp 47,49
  36. ^ Jean Martin on the World Première of En attendant Godot in Knowlson, J. & E., (Ed.) Beckett Remembering – Remembering Beckett (London: Bloomsbury, 2006), p 117
  37. ^ Wilmer S. E., (Ed.) Beckett in Dublin (Dublin: Lilliput Press, 1992), p 28
  38. ^ Jean Martin to Deirdre Bair, 12th May 1976. Quoted in Bair, D., Samuel Beckett: A Biography (London: Vintage, 1990), p 449
  39. ^ Duckworth, C., The Making of Godot, p 95. Quoted in Bair, D., Samuel Beckett: A Biography (London: Vintage, 1990), p 407
  40. ^ Friedman, N., 'Godot and Gestalt: The Meaning of Meaningless' in The American Journal of Psychoanalysis 49(3) p 277
  41. ^ Gurnow, M., No Symbol Where None Intended: A Study of Symbolism and Allusion in Samuel Beckett's Waiting for Godot
  42. ^ Kalb, J., Beckett in Performance (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1989), p 175
  43. ^ Mercier, V., Beckett/Beckett (London: Souvenir Press, 1990), p 53
  44. ^ Beckett, S., Waiting for Godot, (London: Faber and Faber, [1956] 1988), p 21
  45. ^ Letter to Alan Schneider, 27th December 1955 in Harmon, M., (Ed.) No Author Better Served: The Correspondence of Samuel Beckett and Alan Schneider (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1998), p 6
  46. ^ Barney Rosset to Deidre Bair, 29th March 1974. Referenced in Bair, D., Samuel Beckett: A Biography (London: Vintage, 1990), p 464
  47. ^ Beckett, S., Waiting for Godot, (London: Faber and Faber, [1956] 1988), p 91
  48. ^ Colin Duckworth’s introduction to En attendant Godot (London: George G Harrap & Co, 1966), lx. Quoted in Cohn, R., From Desire to Godot (London: Calder Publications; New York: Riverrun Press, 1998), p 150
  49. ^ Bair, D., Samuel Beckett: A Biography (London: Vintage, 1990), p 405
  50. ^ Interview with Peter Woodthrope 18th February 1994. Referenced in Knowlson, J., Damned to Fame: The Life of Samuel Beckett (London: Bloomsbury, 1996), p 785 n 166
  51. ^ SB to Barney Rosset, 18th October 1954 (Syracuse). Quoted in Knowlson, J., Damned to Fame: The Life of Samuel Beckett (London: Bloomsbury, 1996), p 412
  52. ^ Bair, D., Samuel Beckett: A Biography (London: Vintage, 1990), p 591
  53. ^ Mercier, V., Beckett/Beckett (London: Souvenir Press, 1990), p 87
  54. ^ Ackerley, C. J. and Gontarski, S. E., (Eds.) The Faber Companion to Samuel Beckett, (London: Faber and Faber, 2006)
  55. ^ Cronin, A., Samuel Beckett The Last Modernist (London: Flamingo, 1997), p 60
  56. ^ Hampton, W., Theater Review: Celebrating With 'Waiting for Godot' New York Times, 11th June 2007
  57. ^ Genest, G., ‘Memories of Samuel Beckett in the Rehearsals for Endgame, 1967’ in Ben-Zvi, L., (Ed.) Women in Beckett: Performance and Critical Perspectives (Urbana and Chicago: University of Illinois Press, 1992), p x
  58. ^ The game of changing hats is an echo of the Marx Brothers' film Duck Soup, which features almost the exact exchange of hats. See Knowlson, J., Damned to Fame: The Life of Samuel Beckett (London: Bloomsbury, 1996), p 609
  59. ^ Cronin, A., Samuel Beckett The Last Modernist (London: Flamingo, 1997), p 391
  60. ^ Beckett, S., The Grove Centenary Edition, Vol III (New York: Grove Press, 2006), p 371
  61. ^ An undated interview with Lawrence Harvey. Quoted in Knowlson, J., Damned to Fame: The Life of Samuel Beckett (London: Bloomsbury, 1996), pp 371,372
  62. ^ SB to Thomas MacGreevy, 11th August 1955 (TCD). Quoted in Knowlson, J., Damned to Fame: The Life of Samuel Beckett (London: Bloomsbury, 1996), p 416
  63. ^ Interview with Peter Woodthrope 18th February 1994. Quoted in Knowlson, J., Damned to Fame: The Life of Samuel Beckett (London: Bloomsbury, 1996), pp 371,372
  64. ^ Quoted in Asmus, W., ‘Beckett directs Godot’ in Theatre Quarterly, Vol V, No 19, 1975, pp 23,24. Quoted in Knowlson, J., Damned to Fame: The Life of Samuel Beckett (London: Bloomsbury, 1996), p 607
  65. ^ Irving Wardle, The Times, 19th February 1981
  66. ^ Knowlson, J., Damned to Fame: The Life of Samuel Beckett (London: Bloomsbury, 1996), pp 638,639
  67. ^ Peter Hall in The Guardian, 4 January 2003
  68. ^ Hassell, G., ‘What's On’ London, 2nd - 9th July 1997
  69. ^ Sion, I., ‘The Zero Soul: Godot’s Waiting Selves In Dante’s Waiting Rooms’ in Transverse No 2, November 2004, p 70
  70. ^ Sion, I., ‘The Shape of the Beckettian Self: Godot and the Jungian Mandala’ in Consciousness, Literature and the Arts Volume 7 Number 1, April 2006. See also Carter, S., ‘Estragon’s Ancient Wound: A Note on Waiting for Godot’ in Journal of Beckett Studies 6.1, p 130
  71. ^ Beckett, S., Waiting for Godot, (London: Faber and Faber, [1956] 1988), p 92
  72. ^ Cronin, A., Samuel Beckett The Last Modernist (London: Flamingo, 1997), p 21
  73. ^ Duckworth, C., Angels of Darkness: Dramatic Effect in Samuel Beckett with Special Reference to Eugène Ionesco (London: Allen, 1972), p 18. Quoted in Herren, G., ‘Nacht und Träume as Beckett's Agony in the Garden’ in Journal of Beckett Studies, 11(1)
  74. ^ Cronin, A., Samuel Beckett The Last Modernist (London: Flamingo, 1997), pp 20,21
  75. ^ Knowlson, J., Damned to Fame: The Life of Samuel Beckett (London: Bloomsbury, 1996), p 279. Referenced in Bryden, M., ‘Beckett and Religion’ in Oppenheim, L., (Ed.) Palgrave Advances in Samuel Beckett Studies (London: Palgrave, 2004), p 157
  76. ^ An interview with Tom Driver in Graver, L. and Ferderman, R., (Eds.) Samuel Beckett: the Critical Heritage (London: Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1979, p 217
  77. ^ Bryden, M., Samuel Beckett and the Idea of God (Basingstoke, Hampshire: Palgrave MacMillan, 1998), introduction
  78. ^ Bair, D., Samuel Beckett: A Biography (London: Vintage, 1990), pp 409,410,405
  79. ^ Boxall, P., ‘Beckett and Homoeroticism’ in in Oppenheim, L., (Ed.) Palgrave Advances in Samuel Beckett Studies (London: Palgrave, 2004)
  80. ^ Meeting with Linda Ben-Zvi, December 1987. Quoted in ’Introduction’ to Ben-Zvi, L., (Ed.) Women in Beckett: Performance and Critical Perspectives (Urbana and Chicago: University of Illinois Press, 1992), p x
  81. ^ Knowlson, J., Damned to Fame: The Life of Samuel Beckett (London: Bloomsbury, 1996), p 695
  82. ^ ‘Judge Authorizes All-Female Godot’ in New York Times, 6th July 1991
  83. ^ ‘Beckett estate fails to stop women waiting for Godot’ in The Guardian, 4th February 2006
  84. ^ Cohn, R., From Desire to Godot (London: Calder Publications; New York: Riverrun Press, 1998), p 138
  85. ^ Ruby Cohn to James Knowlson, 9th August 1994. Quoted in Knowlson, J., Damned to Fame: The Life of Samuel Beckett (London: Bloomsbury, 1996), p 378
  86. ^ Knowlson, J., Damned to Fame: The Life of Samuel Beckett (London: Bloomsbury, 1996), p 378
  87. ^ Knowlson, J., Damned to Fame: The Life of Samuel Beckett (London: Bloomsbury, 1996), pp 386,394
  88. ^ Ruby Cohn on the Godot Circle in Knowlson, J. & E., (Ed.) Beckett Remembering – Remembering Beckett (London: Bloomsbury, 2006), p 122
  89. ^ Cohn, R., From Desire to Godot (London: Calder Publications; New York: Riverrun Press), 1998, pp 153,157
  90. ^ Knowlson, J., Damned to Fame: The Life of Samuel Beckett (London: Bloomsbury, 1996), pp 387, 778 n 139
  91. ^ Interview with Jean Martin, September 1989. Referenced in Knowlson, J., Damned to Fame: The Life of Samuel Beckett (London: Bloomsbury, 1996), pp 386,387
  92. ^ Letter from an unnamed Lüttringhausen prisoner, 1st October 1956. Translated by James Knowlson. Quoted in Knowlson, J., Damned to Fame: The Life of Samuel Beckett (London: Bloomsbury, 1996), p 409
  93. ^ Knowlson, J., Damned to Fame: The Life of Samuel Beckett (London: Bloomsbury, 1996), pp 410,411
  94. ^ Ackerley, C. J. and Gontarski, S. E., (Eds.) The Faber Companion to Samuel Beckett (London: Faber and Faber, 2006), pp 620,621
  95. ^ A farmer in Roussillon, the village where Beckett fled during World War II; he never worked for the Bonnellys, though he used to visit and purchase eggs and wine there. See Cronin, A., Samuel Beckett The Last Modernist (London: Flamingo, 1997), p 333
  96. ^ Ackerley, C. J. and Gontarski, S. E., (Eds.) The Faber Companion to Samuel Beckett, (London: Faber and Faber, 2006), pp 622,623
  97. ^ An expression coined by Beckett in which he make the “meaning” less and less clear at each draft. A detailed discussion of Beckett’s method can be found in Pountney, R., Theatre of Shadows: Samuel Beckett’s Drama 1956-1976 (Gerrards Cross: Colin Smythe, 1988) although it concentrates on later works when this process had become more refined.
  98. ^ Bair, D., Samuel Beckett: A Biography (London: Vintage, 1990), p 471
  99. ^ Letter released under the Freedom of Information Act. Quoted by Peter Hall in ‘Godot Almighty’, The Guardian, Wednesday August 24, 2005
  100. ^ Bair, D., Samuel Beckett: A Biography (London: Vintage, 1990), p 613
  101. ^ Peter Woodthorpe on the British première of Waiting for Godott in Knowlson, J. & E., (Ed.) Beckett Remembering – Remembering Beckett (London: Bloomsbury, 2006), p 122
  102. ^ Bull, P., I know the face but …, quoted in Casebook on ‘Waiting for Godot’, pp 41,42. Quoted in Knowlson, J., Damned to Fame: The Life of Samuel Beckett (London: Bloomsbury, 1996), p 414
  103. ^ Knowlson, J., Damned to Fame: The Life of Samuel Beckett (London: Bloomsbury, 1996), p 415
  104. ^ Peter Hall looks back at the original Godot, Samuel-Beckett.net
  105. ^ SB to Jérôme Lindon, 18th April 1967. Quoted in Knowlson, J., Damned to Fame: The Life of Samuel Beckett (London: Bloomsbury, 1996), p 545
  106. ^ Interview with Peter Woodthrope 18th February 1994. Referenced in Knowlson, J., Damned to Fame: The Life of Samuel Beckett (London: Bloomsbury, 1996), pp 487,488
  107. ^ SB to Henry Wenning, 1st January 1965 (St Louis). Quoted in Knowlson, J., Damned to Fame: The Life of Samuel Beckett (London: Bloomsbury, 1996), p 527
  108. ^ Mercier, V., Beckett/Beckett (London: Souvenir Press, 1990), p 74
  109. ^ Cronin, A., Samuel Beckett The Last Modernist (London: Flamingo, 1997), p 60
  110. ^ Cooke, V., (Ed.) Beckett on File (London: Methuen, 1985), p 14
  111. ^ Bair, D., Samuel Beckett: A Biography (London: Vintage, 1990), p 376
  112. ^ Bulatović, M., Il est arrive (Paris: Seuil, 1967). Quoted in Cohn, R., From Desire to Godot (London: Calder Publications; New York: Riverrun Press, 1998), p 171
  113. ^ Murch, A. C., ‘Quoting from Godot: trends in contemporary French theatre’ in Journal of Beckett Studies, No 9, Spring 1983
  114. ^ Cohn, R., ‘Tom Stoppard: Light Drama and Dirges in Marriage’ in Contemporary English Drama (Ed.) Bigsby, C. W. E. (Suffolk: Edward Arnold, 1981), p 114. Quoted in Cohn, R., From Desire to Godot (London: Calder Publications; New York: Riverrun Press, 1998), p 176
  115. ^ See Cohn, R., From Desire to Godot (London: Calder Publications; New York: Riverrun Press, 1998), p 172

Barnet Lee Rosset, Jr. ... Le Nouvel Observateur (often shorten to Le Nouvel Obs) is a weekly French newsmagazine. ... It has been suggested that Irish Times Trust be merged into this article or section. ... Deirdre Bair is an American biographer who has gained acclaim for her biographies of Samuel Beckett, Anais Nin, and Carl Jung. ... The New York Times is an internationally known daily newspaper published in New York City and distributed in the United States and many other nations worldwide. ... Endgame is a one-act play for four characters by Samuel Beckett. ... This article is about the comedian siblings. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Nacht und Träume (Night and Dreams) is a song for voice and piano by Franz Schubert, written some time in the mid-1820s on a text by Matthäus von Collin. ... Over seventy countries around the world have implemented some form of freedom of information legislation. ...

External links

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to:

Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... Wikiquote is one of a family of wiki-based projects run by the Wikimedia Foundation, running on MediaWiki software. ... The Internet Movie Database (IMDb) is an online database of information about movies, actors, television shows, production crew personnel, and video games. ... Radio-Canada redirects here. ... Radio-Canada redirects here. ... Laurel and Hardy, in a promotional still from their 1937 feature film Way Out West. ...

Study Guides


  Results from FactBites:
 
Godot 2006 -- Shows (3550 words)
waiting for godot is justifiably famous in its repudiation of this assumption
waiting for godot is an allegory of french resistance to the germans
waiting for godot is firmly established as one of the seminal texts of 20th
Waiting for Godot (4170 words)
It is possible to stress the for in the waiting for …: to see the purpose of action in two men with a mission, not to be deflected from their compulsive task.
Godot could be a hero, a religious symbol, a role model but most importantly a symbol of hope.
To summarize Waiting For Godot as a display of Beckett's bleak view of life would be a simplistic presumption, as Estragon and Vladimir epitomize all of mankind (as Estragon refers to himself as "Adam",p.37), showing the full range of human emotions.
  More results at FactBites »


 

COMMENTARY     


Share your thoughts, questions and commentary here
Your name
Your comments
Please enter the 5-letter protection code

Want to know more?
Search encyclopedia, statistics and forums:

 


Lesson Plans | Student Area | Student FAQ | Reviews | Press Releases |  Feeds | Contact
The Wikipedia article included on this page is licensed under the GFDL.
Images may be subject to relevant owners' copyright.
All other elements are (c) copyright NationMaster.com 2003-5. All Rights Reserved.
Usage implies agreement with terms.