Lecture Drama II - Modern drama: Lecture 18 - Dr Irum Zulfiqar - Trường Đại học Công nghiệp Thực phẩm Tp. Hồ Chí Minh

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DRAMA II

MODERN DRAMA

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SYNOPSIS

1.

Waiting for Godot Symbolism, Imagery &

Allegory

2.

Setting

3.

Waiting for Godot Genre, TONE, STYLE &

Title

4.

Waiting for Godot as Booker’s Seven Basic

Plots Analysis: Tragedy Plot

5.

Social Acceptance of

<i>Waiting for Godot</i>

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WAITING FOR GODOT 

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Duality

Symbolism, Imagery, Allegory

 <i>Waiting for Godot</i> is chock-full of pairs. There’s Vladimir and

Estragon, the two thieves, the Boy and his brother, Pozzo and

Lucky, Cain and Abel, and of course the two acts of the play itself.

 With these pairs comes the repeated notion of arbitrary, 50/50

chances. One thief is saved and other damned, but for no clear
reason.

 If Vladimir and Estragon try to hang themselves, the bough may or

may not break. One man may die, one man may live. Godot may or
may not come to save them.

 In the Bible, Cain’s sacrifice was rejected and Abel’s accepted for

no discernible reason. It’s minor, but check out Estragon’s line in
Act I: "My left lung is very weak […].

 But my right lung is sound as a bell!" More pairs, more arbitrary

damnation.

 Even the tone of Waiting for Godot is filled with duality: two person

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The Tree

Symbolism, Imagery, Allegory

 The tree is the only distinct piece of the setting, so we’re

pretty sure it matters.

 (Also, if you check out the painting that inspired Beckett,

you’ll see that a big tree features prominently.) Right off the
bat you’ve got the biblical stuff; J esus was crucified on a

cross, but that cross is sometimes referred to as a "tree," as
in, "J esus was nailed to the tree."

 That Vladimir and Estragon contemplate hanging themselves

from the tree is likely a reference to the crucifixion, but it also
parodies the religious significance. If J esus died for the sins
of others, Vladimir and Estragon are dying for…nothing.

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The Tree

Symbolism, Imagery, Allegory

 But you can also think of the two men not as J esus, but rather as

the two thieves crucified along with J esus.

 This fits quite nicely with gospel’s tale as Vladimir tells it; one thief is

saved and the other damned, so Didi and Gogo are looking at a
fifty-fifty chance. (Duality! Again.)

 The uncertainty that stems from inconsistency between the four

gospels is fitting, too, since Vladimir can’t be certain if Godot is
coming to save either one of them. (Uncertainty! Again.)

(Repetition! Again.)

There’s more. Vladimir reports that he was told to wait for Godot by
the tree.

 This should be reassuring – it means the men are in the right place.

Right? Wrong.

 As Estragon points out, they’re not sure if this is the right tree. And,

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The Tree

Symbolism, Imagery, Allegory

 Now what we find to be completely baffling is the
tree’s random sprouting of leaves in between Act I
and Act II.

 This is regeneration – it is hopeful, it is growth, it
is life! And that doesn’t sound anything like

<i>Waiting for Godot</i>, especially when you look at

how everything else degenerates from Act I to Act
II (we’re thinking in particular of Pozzo’s going

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The Tree

Symbolism, Imagery, Allegory

 So what gives? Take a look at Vladimir’s line early
in Act I, when he says, "Hope deferred maketh the
something sick, who said that?" As we’ve

mentioned, Vladimir is referring to the biblical
proverb that goes a little something like this:

"Hope deferred makes the heart sick; but a desire
fulfilled is a tree of life." (Proverbs 13:12)

See that? <i>Tree</i> of life. So the tree’s random

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The Tree

Symbolism, Imagery, Allegory

 Of course, as far as we can tell, no desires have
been fulfilled. At all. This could mean that the

proverb is completely without truth and reason,
which fits with Godot’s general stance on religion.

 Then again, the tree’s sprouting leaves could be

an ironic symbol pointing out that, far from fulfilled

desires, hopes have been deferred yet another

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Nightfall and the Ris ing Moon

Symbolism, Imagery, Allegory

 While Vladimir and Estragon wait for Godot, they also wait for

nightfall. For some reason (again, arbitrary and uncertain), they
don’t have to wait for him once the night has fallen.

 The classic interpretation is that night = dark = death. The falling of

night is as much a reprieve from daily suffering as death is from the
suffering of a lifetime.

There’s also the issue of the moon, as its appearance in the sky is
the real signal that night has come and the men can stop waiting for
Godot.

 Estragon, in one of his "wicked smart" moments, comments the

moon is "pale for weariness […] of climbing heaven and gazing on
the likes of us." Though the man remembers nothing of yesterday,
he does in this moment seem to comprehend the endless repetition
of his life.

 And if the moon is weary just from watching, imagine what that says

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Vladimir's  Song that Never Ends

Symbolism, Imagery, Allegory



Repetition, banality, and a comically macabre

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The Carrot

Symbolism, Imagery, Allegory

 Carrots and turnips are in one sense just a gag

reel for Vladimir and Estragon’s comic bits. But we
were interested in their disagreement over the

vegetable: "Funny," Estragon comments as he
munches, "the more you eat, the worse it gets."
 Vladimir quickly disagrees, adding that, for him,

it’s "just the opposite." On the one hand, this

could be a completely meaningless conversation
– the point is simply that Vladimir is in

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The Carrot

Symbolism, Imagery, Allegory

 On the other hand, the carrot could be about the

meaning of life. Exclamation point! OK, so the carrot

probably isn’t about the meaning of life.

 But it could be a hint as to the differences between the

way Vladimir and Estragon live their lives. Vladimir’s
subsequent comment, an addendum to his carrot

claim, is that he "get[s] used to the muck as [he goes]
along." He resigns himself to banality.

 Estragon, on the other hand, wearies as time passes

– much like the weary moon he observes in Act II.
When Pozzo later dishes about smoking, he claims

that a second pipe is "never so sweet [as the first]. But
it’s sweet just the same."

 This is a third and distinct answer to the carrot

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Lucky's  Dance

Symbolism, Imagery, Allegory



When Lucky is commanded to dance in Act I,

Pozzo reveals that he calls his dance "The

Net," adding, "He thinks he’s entangled in a

net."



You would think a guy tied up on a rope leash

would feel confined enough. Of course, the

image of Lucky writhing in an imaginary net is

a lasting image for the play as a whole, and

especially for the plight of Vladimir and

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The Hats , The Boots , The 

Vaporizer

Symbolism, Imagery, Allegory

 There seems to be no shortage of inane props in

Waiting for Godot, and these three have one thing
in common: they are all absurd objects on which
the men have developed irrational dependences.
Lucky cannot think without his bowler.

 Pozzo needs his vaporizer to speak. Estragon

seems condemned to forever take his boots on
and off, as does Vladimir with his hat.

 This is another great combination of the tragic and
the comic; the situation is hilarious for its

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Smell

Symbolism, Imagery, Allegory

 Estragon is repeatedly repelled by smells in

<i>Waiting for Godot</i>. Vladimir stinks of garlic, Lucky
smells like who knows what, and Pozzo reeks of a
fart in Act II.

 It seems every time Estragon tries to get close to
a person, he is repelled by their odor.

 It looks to us like smells represent one of the

barriers to interpersonal relationships. Estragon
isn’t just repelled by odors – he’s repelled by the
visceral humanity of those around him.

 There’s something gritty and base about the odor

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SETTING

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