Is Waiting For Godot an Existentialist play?

Topic :- IS WAITING FOR GODOT AN EXISTENTIALIST PLAY?

Name :- Chauhan Sejal Arunbhai

Subject :- The Modernist Literature.

Paper :- 9

Roll No :-26

M.A. PART-II SEM-III

Year- 2013-15

Submitted to :- Dr.Dilip.Barad

Smt.S.B.Gardi

Department of English

M.K.Bhavnagar University.

IS WAITING FOR GODOT AN EXISTENTILIST PLAY?

        As we know that the play, Waiting for Godot is centred around two men , Estragon and Vladimir who are waiting for Mr.Godot of whom they know little. Estragon admits  himself that he may never recognize Mr.Godot,

“ Personally I wouldn’t know him if I ever saw him.”

Estragon also remarks, “…….we hardly know him.” Which illustrates to an audience that the identity of Mr.Godot is irrelevant, as little information is ever given through the play about this indefinable Mr.X. What is an important element of the play is the act of waiting for someone or something that never arrives Western readers may find it natural to speculate on the identity of Godot because of their inordinate need to find answers to questions Beckett however suggests that the identity of Godot is in itself a rhetorical question. It is possible to stress the for in the waiting for the sea the purpose of action in two men with a mission, not to be deflected from their compulsive task.

“ Estragon: …..Let’s go.

Vladimir: We can’t.

Estragon: Why not?

Vladimir: We’re waiting for Godot.”

             The essence of existentialism concentrates on the concept of the individual’s freedom of choice, as opposed to the belief that humans are controlled by a pre-existing omnipotent being, such as God. Estragon and Vladimir have made the choice of waiting without instruction as Vladimir says,

“ He didn’t say for sure he’d come but decides to

“  wait till we know exactly how we stand.”

               Albert Camus, an existentialist writer, believed that boredom or waiting, which is essentially the breakdown of routine or habit, caused people to think seriously about their identity, as Estragon and Vladimir do. In The Plague, Camus suggests that boredom or inactivity causes the individual to think with clarity. Camus and other existential writers, suggested that attempting to answer these rhetorical questions could drive someone to the point of insanity. The tramps continually attempt to prove that they exist, in order to keep their sanity:

“ We always find something, eh Didi, to give us the impression that we exist?”

                  Waiting in the play induces boredom as a theme. Ironically Beckett attempt to create a similar nuance of boredom within the audience by the mundane repetition of dialogue and actions Vladimir and Estragon constantly ponder and ask questions , many of which are rhetorical or are left unanswered. During the course of the play certain unanswered questions arise:

Who is Godot?

Where are Gogo and Didi?

Who beats Gogo?

All of these unanswered questions represent the rhetorical questions that individuals ask but never get answer for within their lifetime .

Vis a vis is there a God?

Where do we come from?

Who is responsible for our suffering?

The German existentialist philosopher Martin Heidegger expressed clearly that human beings can never hope to understand why they are here. The tramps repetitive inspection of their empty hats perhaps symbolizes mankind’s vain search for answers within the vacuum of a universe.

                  Jean Paul Sartre, the leading figure of French existentialism declared that human beings require a rational basis for their lives but are unable to achieve one and thus human life is a futile passion. Estragon and Vladimir attempt to put order into their lives by Waiting for a Godot who never arrives. They continually subside into the futility of their situation reiterating the phrase” Nothing to be done.” Vladimir also resolves with the notion that life is futile or nothing is to be done at the beginning replaying.

“ All my life I’ve tried to put it from me… And I resumed the struggle.”

              Estragon’s questions is left unanswered by Vladimir. Note that these questions seem to bring pain or anxiety to Estragon. Beckett conveys a universal message that pondering the impossible questions that arise from waiting cause pain, anxiety, inactivity and destroy people from within. Note that both Vladimir and Estragon ponder suicide, by hanging themselves from the tree, but are unable to act through to anxiety, as Estragon states,

“ Don’t let’s do anything. It’s safer.”

“ Estragon: Well, shall we go?

Vladimir: Yes, let’s go.

They do not move.”

                Beckett infers that humans ‘pass time’ by habit or routine to cope with the existentialist dilemma of the dread or anxiety of their existence Beckett believes that humans basically alleviate the pain of living or existence substantiates Sartre’s view that humans require a rational base for their lives. Beckett feels that habit protects us from whatever can neither be predicted or controlled, as he wrote about the theme of habit in his published essay concerning Proust:

“ Habit is a compromise effected between the individual and his environment, or between the individual and his own organic eccentricities, the guarantee of a dull inviolability, the lightening-conductor of his existence. Habit is the ballast that chains the dog to his vomit. Breathing is habit. Life is habit.”

Estragon and Vladimir constantly ‘pass the time’ throughout the entire play to escape the pain of waiting and to possibly to stop themselves from thinking or contemplating too deeply. Vladimir expresses this idea at the end of the play,

‘ Habit is a great deadener’, suggesting that habit is like an analgesic numbing the individual.  The play is mostly ritual  with Estragon and Vladimir filling the emptiness and silence. “ It’ll pass the time,” explain Vladimir, offering to tell the story of the crucifixion passing the time is their mutual obsession, as exhibited after the first departure of Pozzo and Lucky:

“ Vladimir: That passed the time.

Estragon: It would have passed in any case.

Vladimir: Yes, but not so rapidly.”

Estragon also joins in the game “ That’s the idea, let’s make a little conversation.” The rituals by which Estragon and Vladimir combat silence and emptiness are elaborate, original an d display Beckett’s skill as a writer. In the play Beckett echoes pattern of question, answer and repetition which is his alternative to all the flaccid chat and triviality of the conventionally ‘well structured play’. Gogo and Didi frequently repeat phrases, such as, “ Nothing to be done”. Their actions consist of ritually inspecting their hats. Nothingness is what the two tramps are essentially fighting against and reason why they talk. Beckett suggests that activity and inactivity oppose one another thought arising from inactivity and activity terminating thought. In the second Act they admit that habit suppresses their thoughts and keeps their minimal sanity:

“ Estragon:……..we are incapable of keeping silent.

Vladimir: You’re right we’re inexhaustible.

Estragon: It’s so we won’t think.”

                  As we know that Estragon and Vladimir symbolize the human condition as a period of waiting. Most of society spend their lives searching for goals, such as exam or jobs, in the hope of attaining a higher level or advancing. Beckett suggest that no one advances through the inexorable passage of time Vladimir states this,

“ One is what one is ………….The essential doesn’t change.”

This may be a mockery of an human endeavour, as it implies that mankind achieves nothing and is ironically contradictory to Beckett’s own endeavour . The tragicomedy of the play illustrates this, as two men are waiting for a man of whom they no little about. The anticlimaxes within the play represent the disappointment of life’s expectations. For example POZZO AND LUCKY’s first arrival is mistaken for the arrival of Godot. These points reinforce Kierkagaard’s theory that all life will finish as it began in nothingness and reduce achievement to nothing.

                   A process of dying seems to take place within all four characters, mentally and physically. Estragon and Vladimir may be pictured as having a great future behind them Estragon may have been a poet, but he is now content to quote and adapt, saying,

“ Hope deferred maketh the something sick.”

The something being the heart from a quote from the Bible . Vladimir may have been a thinker, but finds he is uncertain of his reasoning, as when questioned by Estragon about their whereabouts the day before replies angrily,

“ Nothing is certain when you’re about.”

Time also erodes Estragon’s memory, as shown here:

“ Vladimir : what was it you wanted to know?

Estragon: I’ve forgotten. That’s what annoys me.”

Time causes their energies and appetites to ebb. The fantasized prospect of an erection a by product of hanging makes Estragon ‘ highly excited ’. The dread of nightmares plague Estragon during the day ailments and fears become more agonizing. It is an example of Beckett using ‘ordinary’ images to depict mankind’s decay. Time destroys Pozzo’s sight and strips the previous master of almost everything. Beckett’s bitterness towards  time is illustrated by Pozzo’s bleak speech:

“ (suddenly furious) Have you not done tormenting me with your accursed time!... One day I went blind….one day we were born, one day we shall die, the same day, the same second, is that not enough for you?. (calmer) They give birth astride of a grave, the light gleams an instant, then it’s night once more.”

When the structure of action is closing in through the course the play, with the past barely recognizable and the future unknown , the here and now of action, the present acting on stages becomes all important. Existentialist theories propose that the choices of the present are important and that time causes perceptional confusion. Note how shadowy the past becomes to Estragon, as he asks questions such as, “what did we do yesterday?” Moreover, all the characters caught in the deteriorating cycle of events do not aspire to the future.

Estragon portrays the horror of their uneventful repetitive existence:

“ Nothing happens, nobody comes, nobody goes, it’s awful!”

The fact that Estragon and Vladimir never seem to reach an event or end is the reason for them wanting to control the end themselves, as Estragon says, “ Like to finish it?” The ‘leaf motif’ is an existentialist theory inferring that life repeats itself with a slight change. Estragon highlights the ‘leaf motif’ theory, saying that a similar person with smaller feet will fill his boots:

“ Another will come, just as …as….as me, but with smaller feet.”

The endless eternal return theory is vividly portrayed at the beginning of the second act:

“ Then all the dogs come running

And dug the dog a tomb

He stops, broods, resumes:

Then all the dogs come running

And dug the dog a tomb.”

                       The play is deliberately unnatural and abstract because it is intended to have universal meaning. The world of Estragon and Vladimir is fragmented of time and place and is submerged with vague recollections of culture and the past. For example Estragon remembers the Bible with uncertainty:

“ I remember the maps with of the Holy Land. Coloured they were.”

                        Estragon and Vladimir talk to each other and share ideas, but it is clear that both characters are self-absorbed and incapable of truly comprehending each other. Estragon and Vladimir regularly interrupt one another with their own thoughts showing their individual self-absorption. Estragon admits,

“ I can’t have been listening.”

And Vladimir says,

“ I don’t understand.”

      Displaying the failures of language as a means of communication .

                           Beckett portrays the human condition as a period of suffering. Heidegger theorized that humans are thrown into the world and that suffering is part of existence.

                            Estragon injects bathos into the serious debates about the thief who was saved by Christ by declaring with bluntness a reductive statement. “ People are bloody ignorant apes.” Estragon and Vladimir often behave comically, finding interest in the banal reducing human experience to the mundane. The tramps comic, banal behavior is very similar to the behavior of another pair of comic characters Laurel and Hardy:

“ Vladimir: Pull on your trousers.

Estragon: What?

Vladimir: Pull on your trousers.

Estragon: You want me to pull off my trousers?

Vladimir: Pull ON your trousers.

Estragon: (realizing his trousers are down) True. (He pulls up his trousers).”

                   At the end we summarize Waiting For Godot as a display of Beckett’s bleak view of life would be a simplistic presumption, as Estragon and Vladimir epitomize all of mankind, showing the full range of human emotions. Estragon and Vladimir do suffer but equally show glimpses of happiness and excitement. They are excited by Pozzo’s arrival and Estragon is “ highly excited” about the prospect of an erection. Equally, as acts of random violence and anger are committed signs of affection are displayed between the characters. Gogo and Didi are the affectionate names Estragon and Vladimir call each other. Didi apologizes for his behavior and displays affection:

“ Forgive me…….Come, Didi…..Give me your hand ……. Embrace me!”

Even brief signs of happiness are portrayed, as Gogo finds Lucky amusing, “ He’s a Scream……..”.

                              Although Gogo and Didi fear being ‘tied’ or dependent on each other. This can be seen as either positive or negative. The pessimistic view is that they cannot escape waiting for Godot, from each other or from their situation in general. The optimistic view of the play shows a range of human emotion and the need to share experiences alongside the suffering of finite existence governed by the past, acting in the present and uncertain of the future.