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A review by sidharthvardhan
Waiting for Godot by Samuel Beckett
5.0
“Nothing happens. Nobody comes, nobody goes. It's awful."
God and Shoes
'Waiting for Godot' is one of those art works that draws out life in its rudest form. It is stripped down to its bones and thus is often skinned into various interpretations.
Most common one being that it is an Allegory on Christianity.Two lead characters are two schools of Christianity, Lucky is Christ, Pozzo corrupted form of religion and Godot is God. There is a lot of Christianity in the play to back this interpretation.
Beckett himself never backed this interpretation. According to him, the name Godot suggested itself to him by the slang word for boot in French, godillot, godasse because feet play such a prominent role in the play. (quoted from wiki)
“There’s man all over for you, blaming on his boots the faults of his feet.”
Symbiosis
The other interpretations include - Freudian, Jungian, political ... don't ask me how, they are all there on net.
All this misunderstanding irritated Beckett. He himself never threw any clues except for once when he told one of his acters that it is about symbiosis. It displays two relationships, the one between two lead characters is of two equal friends while one between Pozzo and Lucky is of slave-master relationship. Seen from this angle, there is much in it. Vladimir and Estragon have a strange relationship between them. They live a very empty life and have nothing to give to each other, except the rescue from loneliness.
Also this could explain why there are no women or even mention of women in the play. Game Theory writers seems to dislike women (just kidding) - the later mess up their systems and equations.
“Did I ever leave you?"
"You let me go.”
Life and death
"What do they say?"
"They talk about their lives."
"To have lived is not enough for them."
"They have to talk about it.”
Of course, after once it is out of hands of author -the play is liable to whatever interpretation reader like to put on. I won't try to put one but one more thing I can't help mentioning is portrayal of life in the play. I say forget Lucky, let us just talk about Vladimir and Estragon.
The lives of these two like the play is stripped down to bones. They seems to have no relation of any kind (wife, women, family) except their mutual friendship. (Although at times they want to desert each other, their indecisiveness stop them from doing that.) They probably are uneducated and ignorant of anything that can be called knowledge except a few fragments here and there.
One of the reasons why this play could go on for long and produce nothing is the absentmindedness of these two. They can't focus on what is going on or build a meaningful conversation. The lack of focus is because of lack of interest. Because nothing makes them happy, so nothing interests them. They have a strange memory and they are so very entirely indecisive. They are lacking some essential quality necessary for a meaningful life - some spark or something. Religion seems to offer nothing to their torn out minds. They are suffering with meaninglessness of life and suffering so much they are regularly seen 'to-be-or-not-to-be'-ing, of course, we need not fear their committing suicide given their indecisiveness. Also of course, they have each other and that seems enough to keep them going.
(looking at the tree) Pity we haven't got a bit of rope.
God and Shoes
'Waiting for Godot' is one of those art works that draws out life in its rudest form. It is stripped down to its bones and thus is often skinned into various interpretations.
Most common one being that it is an Allegory on Christianity.Two lead characters are two schools of Christianity, Lucky is Christ, Pozzo corrupted form of religion and Godot is God. There is a lot of Christianity in the play to back this interpretation.
Beckett himself never backed this interpretation. According to him, the name Godot suggested itself to him by the slang word for boot in French, godillot, godasse because feet play such a prominent role in the play. (quoted from wiki)
“There’s man all over for you, blaming on his boots the faults of his feet.”
Symbiosis
The other interpretations include - Freudian, Jungian, political ... don't ask me how, they are all there on net.
All this misunderstanding irritated Beckett. He himself never threw any clues except for once when he told one of his acters that it is about symbiosis. It displays two relationships, the one between two lead characters is of two equal friends while one between Pozzo and Lucky is of slave-master relationship. Seen from this angle, there is much in it. Vladimir and Estragon have a strange relationship between them. They live a very empty life and have nothing to give to each other, except the rescue from loneliness.
Also this could explain why there are no women or even mention of women in the play. Game Theory writers seems to dislike women (just kidding) - the later mess up their systems and equations.
“Did I ever leave you?"
"You let me go.”
Life and death
"What do they say?"
"They talk about their lives."
"To have lived is not enough for them."
"They have to talk about it.”
Of course, after once it is out of hands of author -the play is liable to whatever interpretation reader like to put on. I won't try to put one but one more thing I can't help mentioning is portrayal of life in the play. I say forget Lucky, let us just talk about Vladimir and Estragon.
The lives of these two like the play is stripped down to bones. They seems to have no relation of any kind (wife, women, family) except their mutual friendship. (Although at times they want to desert each other, their indecisiveness stop them from doing that.) They probably are uneducated and ignorant of anything that can be called knowledge except a few fragments here and there.
One of the reasons why this play could go on for long and produce nothing is the absentmindedness of these two. They can't focus on what is going on or build a meaningful conversation. The lack of focus is because of lack of interest. Because nothing makes them happy, so nothing interests them. They have a strange memory and they are so very entirely indecisive. They are lacking some essential quality necessary for a meaningful life - some spark or something. Religion seems to offer nothing to their torn out minds. They are suffering with meaninglessness of life and suffering so much they are regularly seen 'to-be-or-not-to-be'-ing, of course, we need not fear their committing suicide given their indecisiveness. Also of course, they have each other and that seems enough to keep them going.
(looking at the tree) Pity we haven't got a bit of rope.