WAITING FOR GODOT
Author: Samuel Beckett
Title and subtitle: Waiting for Godot, A tragicomedy in two acts.
Editorial and year / place of publication: Faber and Faber, 1956, the first performance in Great Britain was given at the Arts Theatre London.
“Dramatis personae”: In this play there are five characters, Vladimir, Estragon, Lucky, Pozzo and a Boy. In accordance with the play, Vladimir an Estragon are friends. Vladimir seems to be more intelligent than Estragon and Estragon looks like “silly”. They do not know what they do in their lives. Pozzo is a man who carries with a rope to Lucky, his robot. And the last character is a boy who we do not know his name and almost nothing.
Plot: Vladimir and Estragon were friends, they were waiting for Godot (that they did not know) next to a tree. While they were waiting, they talked about the religion, about if the tree was a willow or a shrub… But when was night, Pozzo and Lucky arrived at the place, Pozzo carried with a rope to Lucky, Lucky was a robot, and he carried the luggage its owner carried anything. They talked with Pozzo and Lucky, if they was Godot, why Lucky did not give the luggage on the floor, and if Lucky may be hurt since it is tied to its owner… when they come back, one little boy appeared saying that Godot come tomorrow. Vladimir and Estragon thought about come back at their houses but they kept waiting. The next day the action was repeated nevertheless, when Pozzo and Lucky arrived they did not remember that they knew the day before. And furthermore, there was changed something, for example Pozzo was blind…, and the same happened with the boy, he did not remember that he came the day before, and he said the same, Godot is coming tomorrow.
Space and time: The action takes place in a countryside so we can say that is an open, rustic space and therefore, since the action happens in the same place is single. The action occurs for two days.
The language that he used in his play is colloquial. There are some idioms and swearwords. The play is written in prose. When Lucky speaks its dialogue is without sense, incoherent, pages 42, 43, 44: “Given the existence as uttered forth in the public works of Puncher and Wattman of a personal God quaquaquaqua with white beard quaquaquaqua outside the time without extension who from the heights of divine apathia divine athambia divine aphasia love us early with some exceptions for reasons unknown (…) Connemara in spite of the tennis the labours abandoned left unfinished graver still abode of stones in a word I resume alas alas abandoned unfinished the skull the skull in Conmemara in spite of the tennis the skull alas the stones Cunard tennis…the stones… so calm… Cunard …. Unfinished…” . and sentences do not follow any sequence, they have no order, there are repetitions.
Others aspects: We can see that there are a bit characters and the space is only decorated with a tree, so we can say that the play did not cost quite money (economic and technician aspect, because there are a bit characters and to perform is not difficult, I think) And also we can see that Pozzo use at his robot like a slave.
In my opinion, I think that this play is quite difficult to understand specially the Lucky’s speech since the words do not mean what we expect.