Waiting for Godot
by Samuel Beckett
" Ever tried? Ever failed? No matter. Try Again. Fail again. Fail better." -- Samuel Beckett
Index
Waiting for Godot has been called 'the greatest play of the 20th century' by someone far more knowledgeable than I. Unfortunately, I cannot remember that person's name.
Waiting for Godot is quite simply a great play, and short to boot. It, as a play, is almost entirely unique and original, and that is a hard thing to have been accomplished by a 20th century playwright.
(Translated by myself from the back cover of En Attendent Godot, published by Les Editions de Minuit. Also from the Grove Press english edition of the play.)
Samuel Beckett (1906-1989) was born in Dublin. He went to Portora Roay School at Enniskillen, County Fermanagh (Oscar Wilde's school). He studied at Trinity College, Dublin, from which he graduated in 1927 with a B.A. in French and Italian. From 1928-1930 he was a professor of english at l'Ecole normale superieure, in Paris. His first book, Whoroscope, a long poem, was published in 1930 by Hours Press. In 1930, he returned to Trinity College, as a professor of French, and he earned his M.A. At that time his study of Proust was published by Chatto and Windus. In 1932 he resigned his post as lecturer and spent the next four years in London, France, and Germany, traveling and writing. The book on Proust was followed by a collection of short stories, More Pricks than Kicks, also published by Chatto and Windus, and some poems, Echo's Bones, published by Europa Press, London.
In 1937 he settled in Paris but was still writing in
English; Routledge printed Murphy, a novel, in 1938. During the war he
lived in Paris until 1942 and translated Murphy into
French. From
1942 to 1944 he was in the unoccupied zone and there finished his last work in
English, Watt, a novel, published by Collection Merlin in 1953. In 1945-6
he worked as storekeeper and interpreter with the Irish Red Cross Hospital at
St. Lo.
The French translation of Murphy was published in 1947, the same year he returned to Paris. Since then, he wrote all his works in French.
His book Molloy, published in 1951, was followed a year later by Malone Meurt, and that was followed after a year by Linnommable. d'En attendent Godot (Waiting for Godot) was published later that year. Beckett later translated Godot into English himself. All these were published by Les Editions de Minuit, and in the US by Grove Press.
Since d'En attendent Godot, Beckett has written two plays, Fin de Partie and Krapp's Last Tape. Beckett's short stories have been published in many magazines of import.
Samuel Beckett received the
Nobel Prize for literature in 1969.
from: The Merriam-Webster Encyclopedia of Literature , April 1, 1995
Tragicomedy in two acts by Samuel Beckett, published in 1952 in
French as En attendant Godot and
first produced in 1953. Waiting for Godot was a true innovation
in drama and the Theater of the
Absurd's first theatrical success. The play consists of
conversations between Vladimir and Estragon,
who are waiting for the arrival of the mysterious Godot, who
continually sends word that he will
appear but who never does. They encounter Lucky and Pozzo, they
discuss their miseries and their lots
in life, they consider hanging themselves, and yet they wait.
Often perceived as being tramps, Vladimir
and Estragon are a pair of human beings who do not know why they
were put on earth; they make the
tenuous assumption that there must be some point to their
existence, and they look to Godot for
enlightenment. Because they hold out hope for meaning and
direction, they acquire a kind of nobility that
enables them to rise above their futile existence.
A classic of modern theatre and perennial favorite of colleges
and high schools. "One of the most noble
and moving plays of our generation . . . suffused with tenderness
for the whole human perplexity . . .
like a sharp stab of beauty and pain".--The London Times.
--This text refers to the hardcover edition
of this title
Certainly greater men than I could give greater insight into this work than I,
but I will give it a go anyway. This is, quite obviously, a story that is almost
completely metaphorical. The plot, the characters, all are meaningless; it is
only in what they represent that we find meaning.
Estragon and Vladimir represent all of humanity. They cannot stand to be together, and yet cannot bare to be apart. There is no logic, nor any reason for any of the things they do. They are comic figures, and yet once in a while they will utter something profound. They are treated cruelly by others, and treat others cruelly. And yet, they are basically good.
They await the coming of Godot. Godot is God. He has cast humanity aside, and though he promises to come back each day, he fails in his promises, and the unjust world goes on. And even Godot is capricious; he beats one of his servants.
What is the theme of Godot? It is that humanity needs to stop waiting for God to manifest himself, stop waiting to discover the meaning of life, the universe, and everything (which, by the way, is 42). Because no matter how long we wait, it will not come. The truth, that life is essentially meaningless, is too hard for us to bare, so we believe in our own Godot, who will someday save us from this earthly hell.
So why even live? Why not hang ourselves like Vladimir and Estragon thought of doing? Because life is meaningful. But we make the meaning. Once we stop waiting for a grand meaning to manifest itself, and start living life, the meaning of life will become apparent.
"Every moment stands upon the need to justify itself." -- Michael
Swanwick, in Jack Faust
The Samuel Beckett On-Line Resources
and Links Page
This is a good site with many, many links to other sites, well
organised.
This site has everything you could possibly want to know about
Samuel Beckett's life.
Beckett's Godot: "A bundle of broken mirrors" [Paper, © 1996 Robert D. Lane]
This is a paper on Waiting for Godot. I have not read it.
Essay on Waiting for Godot by Michael Sinclair
I think that this is a very well-written essay.
Buy Godot from Amazon.com
Navigate GodotWeb
Home > Waiting for Godot