Play Drama

Waiting for Godot

Author First Performed Original Language
Samuel Beckett 1953 French

THEMES

Nothing Matters The tragicomedy Waiting for Godot was the first truly successful play
in the genre called Theatre of the Absurd. Like other absurdist plays,
it asks a serious question: Does the human condition have meaning?
The conversations of the main characters, Vladimir and Estragon,
are ridiculous, their actions pointless. Godot never comes.

Folly of Seeking
Meaning
Vladimir and Estragon wait, hoping
for meaning and direction, but
Godot never arrives.

Absurdity of Existence
Nothing is worthwhile, so
Vladimir and Estragon agree
Purposelessness of Life to leave. But they never move,
and nothing changes.
Vladimir and Estragon realize there
is nothing to do, and Pozzo and
Lucky are just as lost.

Main Characters

Estragon/Gogo Lucky
A man Leashed and
burdened man

Vladimir/Didi Pozzo
A man Pompous man;
believes he has control
over circumstances

Boy
Godot's messenger

Symbols

Leafless Tree
Represents lack of
vitality and meaning

Pozzo's Rope
Represents the impediments
to freedom that make up
the human condition

Lucky's Baggage
Symbolizes the burdens
humans carry and
can't put down

Waiting for Godot

Author
by the Numbers

2 1
Acts in Waiting for Godot Rank of Waiting for Godot in a
National Theatre survey
of the most significant
English-language plays SAMUEL BECKETT
1906–89

The Irish playwright's works

~2
Years Beckett spent away
from his Paris home to
avoid the Nazi Gestapo
during World War II
in both French and English
concentrate on the basic
dilemmas and anguish of
human experience and explore
75 identity and purpose. Beckett
generally avoided public
Seats for Waiting for appearances, even declining to
Godot's 1953 Paris world give the traditional acceptance
premiere production speech after being awarded
the Nobel Prize in Literature
for 1969.

othing happens, nobody comes, nobody goes,

it's awful!
Estragon, Act I

Sources: Encyclopaedia Britannica, The Independent,

Merriam-Webster’s Encyclopedia of Literature, Samuel-Beckett.net

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