TRABAJO 1

In this work I´m going to do a comparative study of two theatre plays: “Look Back in

Anger” by John Osborne and “Waiting for Godot” by Samuel Beckett.

The two plays include five characters in their plots. In Osbone´s play, Jimmy, one of

the main characters, seems to be affected by his dad´s death after the war (he explains

that in page 57).

We can analyze him like an angry young man that uses his bad temper with his wife,

Allison. She tolerates her husband´s comments but she recieves Cliff´s support. He is

understanding and loving with Allison, and he sometimes tries to mediate in the

arguments.

Helena is another character, she is Allison´s friend and she is stronger than Allison.

(we can see that when she answers Jimmy in the second act. “If you come any

nearest, I will slap you” page 56).

In Beckett´s play, the characters are more incoherent and they have got hardly

psycological definition.

These characters, Vladimir and Estragon, are waiting for somebody that they have

never seen, Godot. But he doesn´t appear in the play.

Later Pozzo and Lucky appear ,this is a slave and he is very ridiculous.

This play would be include in a style of theatre called “theatre of the absurd” because a

lot of sentences seems incoherent.

We can see the psycology in the characters because in one play, for example; in

Osborne´s play the characters speak a lot and we can see their feelings.

In Beckett´s play, the characters haven´t got long sentences and they are

incoherent. With that, Beckett tries to transmit his obsession and his topic: “the

incapacity of human comunication”.

The characters in this play are forgetful because they sometimes can´t remember things

that they did the last day.( conversation in page 61. Vladimir: “the tree, look at the tree.

Estragon: was it not there yesterday. Vladimir: yes, of course it was there.Do you not

remember...”)

The language of the characters in both plays is very common and everybody can

understand what they say.

In my opinion, for these reasons, the characters have more psychological definition in

Osborne´s play.

But not everything is different, the two plays take place only in one place.

In “Look Back in Anger”it is in the room of a flat in the Midlands and in “Waiting for

Godot”it is under a tree near a way.

It is useful because it is easier to perform a play without a lot of changes of stages.