Waiting for GodotGrace Mavis Carol Yvonne Image source:http://www.timil.com/tft2/godot/Godot.jpg Samuel Beckett 1906-1989 An Irish playwright A novelist A poet Image source: http://www.uni-stuttgart.de/lettres/projekte/galerie/10.htm Beckett’s background 1906~Samuel Barclay Beckett ． Born in Dublin, on April 13, 1906. ． Solitude and loneliness. 1923-1927 French, Italian and English at Trinity College. 1928-1936 ． In Paris, Beckett was introduced to James Joyce. ． Ireland, France, England and Germany. Image source: http://www.susa-literatura.com/emailuak/beckett/godo03.htm Image source:http://www. 1989 Becket died in Paris on December 22. 1969 Nobel Prize for literature. 1961 married Suzanne Deschevaux-Dumesnil.kennysirishbookshop. 1947~ Beckett began to write in French.ie/categories/nobelprize/ .Beckett’s background 1937 settled down in Paris. language is useless.Beckett’s dramatic works Beckett’s dramatic works don’t reply to the traditional elements of drama. For Beckett. human nature and human condition. . he creates a mythical universe peopled by lonely creatures who struggle vainly to express the inexpressible. Samuel Beckett’s grave . Montparnasse Cemetery James Joyce . and published.Waiting for Godot 1952 written in French. 1953 premiered at the Babylone theater in Paris. Image source: http://www.prancyhorse.com/estuff/booklist/details/388. 1954 the English translation appeared.html . com/dtf/gallery1/images/DTF-20_jpg. -the boy calls him Mr.jpg .Characters Vladimir -Estragon calls him Didi. Albert -responsible and mature Estragon -Vladimir calls him Gogo -weak and helpless -has a poor memory Image source:http://www.bobbushnell. and forgets meeting Vladimir and Estragon before (Act ii).passes by the spot where Vladimir and Estragon are waiting and then provides a diversion. Pozzo . Lucky -Pozzo’s slave -Carries Pozzo’s bags and stool . -blind. Boy -Appears at the end to tell Vladimir that Godot won’t be coming that night. . Godot -The man that Vladimir and Estragon wait perpetually. -Never appears in the end of the play. Plot Act One： Vladimir and Estragon are near a tree to wait for Godot. Pozzo and Lucky enter. After Pozzo and Lucky leave. . Lucky. dancing and thinking. Vladimir and Estragon decide to leave. Pozzo talks with Vladimir and Estragon. a boy tells Vladimir that Godot will not come that evening. makes them happy. but they do not move as the curtain falls. Act Two： The next day. . ending the play. Vladimir and Estragon continue to wait. but Pozzo is blind and Lucky is dumb. Vladimir and Estragon decide to leave. but they do not move again. Pozzo and Lucky enter again. After he leaves. Vladimir and Estragon again near the tree to wait for Godot. And then the boy enters. Pozzo does not remember meeting the two men before. He insists that he did not speak to Vladimir yesterday. After they leave. he tells Vladimir that Godot will not come. tragicomedy refers to a serious play with a happy ending. .Tragicomedy Tragicomedy (or dark comedy or black comedy) refers to fictional works that blend aspects of the genres of tragedy and comedy. In English literature from Shakespeare's time to the nineteenth century. the gods. fate. such as the law. Tragedy . movie or sometimes a real world event with a sad outcome. it is a form of drama characterized by seriousness and dignity. A tragedy is a drama. Based upon Greek tragedies. usually involving a conflict between a character and some higher power. or society. A recognized characteristic of comedy is that it is an intensely personal enjoyment.Comedy Comedy is the use of humor in the form of theater. . in contrast to a tragedy. where it simply referred to a play with a happy ending. tree nature? hope for their future? Image source: www.net .hat: reason? intellect? boot: body? Symbol It may suggest that humans try to earn a living and struggle for their life.thomastonoperahouse.org& samuel-beckett. we're waiting for nicer weather.Waiting for something…? Two tramps are waiting for Godot. the end of exams. ↓ Theme ↓ For example. . etc. We’re waiting all the time. ↓ We should create the goal and the value of existence. ↓ Theater of the absurd . in that sense. particularly.The Theatre of the Absurd The term theater of the absurd derives from the philosophical use of the word absurd by such existentialist thinkers as Albert CAMUS and Jean Paul SARTRE. . argued that humanity had to resign itself to recognizing that a fully satisfying rational explanation of the universe was beyond its reach. the world must ultimately be seen as absurd. Camus. The Theatre of the Absurd The playwrights loosely grouped under the label of the absurd endeavor to convey their sense of bewilderment. and nightmare. They rely heavily on poetic metaphor as a means of projecting outward their innermost states of mind. anxiety. Hence. . the images of the theater of the absurd tend to assume the quality of fantasy. dream. they do not so much portray the outward appearance of reality as the playwright's emotional perception of an inner reality. and wonder in the face of an inexplicable universe. (source) . and Ionesco's Rhinoceros (1960.The Theatre of the Absurd Thus Beckett's Happy Days (1961) expresses a generalized human anxiety about the approach of death through the concrete image of a woman sunk waist-deep in the ground in the first act and neck-deep in the second. 1960) demonstrates the playwright's anxiety about the spread of inhuman totalitarian tendencies in society by showing the population of a city turning into savage pachyderms. trans. Eng.. The Theatre of the Absurd constituted first and foremost an onslaught on language. . stereotyped. meaningless exchanges. not being able to penetrate beyond its surface. showing it as a very unreliable and insufficient tool of communication.The Theatre of the Absurd One of the most important aspects of absurd drama was its distrust of language as a means of communication. Words failed to express the essence of human experience. Language had become a vehicle of conventionalised. The Theatre of the Absurd Absurd drama uses conventionalised speech. the Theatre of the Absurd tries to make people aware of the possibility of going beyond everyday speech conventions and communicating more authentically. Conventionalised speech acts as a barrier between ourselves and what the world is really about: in order to come into direct contact with natural reality. By ridiculing conventionalised and stereotyped speech patterns. clichés. parodies and breaks down. it is necessary to discredit and discard the false crutches of conventionalised language. . which is distorts. slogans and technical jargon. implied meaning of words that assume primary importance in absurd theatre. . It is the hidden. over an above what is being actually said.The Theatre of the Absurd Objects are much more important than language in absurd theatre: what happens transcends what is being said about it. The Theatre of the Absurd strove to communicate an undissolved totality of perception .hence it had to go beyond language. on the other hand. . It offers intoxicating freedom. Nonsense. only deals with the superficial aspects of things. brings one into contact with the essence of life and is a source of marvellous comedy. like language. It relishes the unexpected and the logically impossible. having a name is the source of our separateness .The Theatre of the Absurd Absurd drama subverts logic. Our individual identity is defined by language. …In trying to burst the bounds of logic and language the absurd theatre is trying to shatter the enclosing walls of the human condition itself. the absurd theatre is anti-rationalist: it negates rationalism because it feels that rationalist thought. In being illogical. opens up a glimpse of the infinite.the loss of logical language brings us towards a unity with living things. however. Such conflicts. accepted hierarchy of values forms a permanent establishment. clashes of personalities and powers belong to a world where a rigid. lose their meaning in a situation where the establishment and outward reality have become meaningless. .The Theatre of the Absurd No dramatic conflict in the absurd plays! Dramatic conflicts. it uses visual elements. as against the more conventional theatre of sequential events. Absurd dramas are lyrical statements. very much like music: they communicate an atmosphere. this only underlines the fact that nothing happens to change their existence. an experience of archetypal human situations. It presents a pattern of poetic images. movement.The Theatre of the Absurd However frantically characters perform. In doing this. The Absurd Theatre is a theatre of situation. light. (source) . How is Waiting for Godot an absurdist play? . How is the play's title "Waiting for Godot" related to its theme? Point out religious allusions and linguistic references in the play.Discussion Questions Discuss the relationship between Gogo & Didi and Pozzo & Lucky. cn/Article_Show. 2006 <http:www.wikipedia.fli. Samuel Beckett. 2006 <http://en. 2006 <http://www. 6 Mar.html>.sparknotes.html>.com. 3 Mar. 3 Mar.com/weu2005/godot-note-05.Works Cited Samuel Beckett. Samuel Beckett.asp?ArticleI D=433>. . Samuel Beckett.com/lit/godot/index.org/wiki/Samuel_Beckett>. 2006 <http://brainstorm-services. 3 Mar. gla.net/Waiting_for_Godot_Part1. E-text.ac.uk/Slavonic/Absurd.html>.htm>.net/Waiting_for_Godot_Part2. The Theatre of the Absurd. Waiting <http://samuel-beckett. . Act 1 <http://www.net/>.Works Cited Samuel Beckett Resources and Links. 2006 <http://samuel-beckett.html>. Act 2 <http://samuel-beckett. 2006 for Godot. 2 Mar. 2 Mar.arts.