WAITING FOR GODOT

How It All Goes Down

Waiting for Godot begins with two men on a barren road by a leafless tree. These
men, Vladimir and Estragon, are often characterized as "tramps,"and we soon
see that the world of this play is operating with its own set of ruleswhere
nothing happens, nothing is certain, and theres never anything to do.

Sound boring? Surprise: it's anything but.

Vladimir and Estragonwho are also called Didi and Gogo, respectivelyare
waiting for Godot, a man (or perhaps a deity). The tramps cant be sure if theyve
met Godot, if theyre waiting in the right place, if this is the right day, or even
whether Godot is going to show up at all. While they wait, Vladimir and Estragon
fill their time with a series of mundane activities (like taking a boot on and off)
and trivial conversations (turnips, carrots) interspersed with more serious
reflection (dead voices, suicide, the Bible).

The tramps are soon interrupted by the arrival of Lucky, a man/servant/pet with a
rope tied around his neck, and Pozzo, his master, holding the other end of the
long rope. The four men proceed to do together what Vladimir and Estragon did
earlier by themselves: namely, nothing.

(The members of the audience, meanwhile, scratch their heads and look around
to see if everyone else gets whats going on. At least, we guess that they do. We
sure did the first time around.)

Lucky and Pozzo then leave so that Vladimir and Estragon can go back to doing
nothing by themselves. Vladimir suggests that this is not the first time hes met
with Lucky and Pozzo, which is surprising, since they acted like strangers upon
arrival. (Then again, Estragon cant even remember a conversation ten lines after
it happens, so were not going to depend on memory in this play.)

The nothingness is interrupted by the arrival of the Boy, who reports to Vladimir
that Godot isnt coming today, but will be there tomorrow. Yippee! Except not,
since Vladimirs comments suggest that the Boy has said this before.

Estragon and Vladimir talk about suicide some more and then resolve to leave
the stage, since its nightfall and they no longer have to wait for Godot. Of
course, having resolved to leave, neither man moves, and the curtain closes on
Act I.

The curtain opens for Act II, which you will soon see is remarkably like Act I. The
men still sit around waiting for Godot and try to fill the idle hours in the
meantime. Lucky and Pozzo show up, only this time Lucky has gone mute and
Pozzo is blind. They putz around the stage for a while, and Pozzo declares that,
having lost his eyes, he now has no sense of time. Lucky declares nothing,
because hes mute.
Vladimir gets rather poetic in the meantime, wondering if maybe hes sleeping,
agreeing with Pozzos claim that life is fleeting, and concluding that habit is the
great deadener of life. Pozzo and Lucky leave again, just in time for the Boy to
show up and tell Vladimir that Godot isnt coming today, but will be there
tomorrow.

Vladimir and Estragon contemplate suicide, but have no rope (they think to hang
themselves from the barren tree, since its the only prop around that could lend
itself to such an endeavor). The men resolve to leave, since its nightfall and they
no longer have to wait for Godot, but neither man moves and the curtain falls.

The play ends, but we think everyone knows what happens next. And after that.
And after that. Et cetera.

Where It All Goes Down - PURGATORY

A Country RoadUnknown Time and Place

This ain't an ornate set, guys. Andapart from a pretty dismal treethere isn't a
lot to look at.
We're never really sure whether Act 1 and Act 2 take place in the same location,
other than the fact that Beckett describes it as such in the stage directions. We
also dont know what lies offstage, since Vladimir and Estragon are always forced
back onto the stage in some form or another.
Depending on the design of the production, the set is more or less ornate.
Sometimes there is literally nothing else onstage but the actors and the tree. The
effect of Becketts minimally described set is that we have absolutely no idea
where Vladimir and Estragon are, either in time or in place. The past? The future?
Earth? An imaginary place in one of their heads? We just dont know.
Uncertainty is a huge theme in the play, and we as the audience experience it
the same way Vladimir and Estragon do... with very little window-dressing.

It's also important to note the fact that the two men are on a road together.
Where does this road lead? Again, we dont know. But it might as well be to
nowhere since it becomes pretty clear that Estragon and Vladimir arent making
any progress along it. This is sad. Possibly even tragic(omic).

The presence of the tree and a rock of some sort is apparently important, at least
according to Beckett the setting, he says, is complete with animal, vegetable,
and mineral. This lends a high sense of contrivance to the play. Weve already
seen the meta-fictional quality of Waiting for Godot in certain key lines (like
Pozzos question of whether or not this is the Board, or stage), so this sort of
artificiality fits right in.
Having all three elements presentanimal, vegetable, and mineralwould seem
to suggest that the world of Waiting for Godot is a complete one. Nothing is
missing, everything is present, and yet still the world is barren and empty. Still
the world is without purpose because characters fail to provide it with meaning
through their actions.
Drama, Modernism, Philosophical Literature, Surrealism,
Tragicomedy
Ooof. With a list like that, we sure have our work cut out for us. But you can't just
fit Waiting For Godot into one genre because this brilliant, game-changing play
breaks the whole dang genre mold.

So let's break this bad boy down.

Drama is an easy one, since the work is a play and the conflict is entirely
expressed in emotion-revealing drama.

The labels of both "Modernism" and "Surrealism" have to do with the plays lack
of a real plot and its break from narrative traditions... you know, the things that
making Waiting for Godot so Waiting for Godot-errific. Waiting for Godot is
Modernist in the sense that it defies classic standards, and it's Surrealist in that
Vladimir and Estragons world has no clear system of logic or rules. Remember
that line when Vladimir wonders aloud if hes sleeping and merely under the
illusion of consciousness? Thats Surrealism in a nutshell.

The label "tragicomedy" is in the title, so you know it's a biggie. Also, check out
the fact that Gogo and Didis exchanges vacillate between absurdly comic
discussions of turnips and horrible, tragic, vague suspicions that life is
meaningless. The bowler hats even remind us of Charlie Chaplin, who's the
ultimate tragicomedian.

Lastly, Waiting for Godot is most definitely a work of philosophical literature,

exploring the arguments of the absurd (that the universe is irrational and without
meaning) and existentialism (that the solution to such irrationality is to become
conscious of ones freedom and live life anyway through a series of choices and
actions). Notice we said that Waiting for Godot explores these themeswhether
or not it agrees with them is totally subject to debate.

Bleak, Comic
Yes, both these adjectives are simultaneously possible. Thats why they call it
a tragicomedy. But whats interesting about the tone is that isnt just
bleak and comic; its bleak because it is comic, and it is comic because it is bleak.
The common factor here is absurdity. Life is comic because of the absurdity of
talking about turnips and carrots:

ESTRAGON
Fancy that. (He raises what remains of the carrot by the stub of leaf, twirls it
before his eyes.) Funny, the more you eat the worse it gets.
VLADIMIR
With me it's just the opposite. (1.278-9)

But it's also bleak because men waste away their days talking about turnips
and carrots.
Even though the drama is divided into two acts, there are other natural divisions.
For the sake of discussion, the following, rather obvious, scene divisions will be
referred to:
ACT I:
(1) Vladimir and Estragon Alone
(2) Arrival of Pozzo and Lucky: Lucky's Speech
(3) Departure of Pozzo and Lucky: Vladimir and Estragon Alone
(4) Arrival of Boy Messenger
(5) Departure of Boy Messenger: Vladimir and Estragon Alone
ACT II:
(1) Vladimir and Estragon Alone
(2) Arrival of Pozzo and Lucky
(3) Departure of Pozzo and Lucky: Vladimir and Estragon Alone
(4) Arrival of Boy Messenger
(5) Departure of Boy Messenger: Vladimir and Estragon Alone
The above divisions of the play are Beckett's way of making a statement about
the nature of the play that is, the play is circular in structure, and a third act
(or even a fourth or fifth act, etc.) could be added, having the exact same
structure. For further discussion, see the section on Circular Structure.