waiting for godot as an absurd play

 

Waiting For Godot as an Absurd play

waiting for godot as an absurd play 

Waiting for Godot was first performed at the Théâtre de Babylone in Paris in 1953. The play is regarded to be the start of a theatrical genre known as absurd drama. The theatre of the absurd, like any other artistic challenge, cannot be reduced to a single bottom line. It is impossible to define it in a single term or by a single hypothesis. We must look back to events in the spheres of politics, literature, philosophy, and religion throughout the first half of the twentieth century to comprehend the rise, characteristics, and appeal of the absurd play.

Two World Wars erupted in the early twentieth century. It gave rise to two distinct literary styles in literature: modernism and post-modernism. The most significant event in philosophy was the rise of existentialism, and the world witnessed a collapse in men's faith in religion. All of these events set the way for the absurd play. Martin Esslin, a critic, created the word and used it as the title of a book in 1962. The work of these playwrights, according to Esslin, gives creative expression to Albert Camus' concept that life is essentially meaningless, as depicted in his work The Myth of Sisyphus.

Samuel Beckett, Eugene Ionescoe, Jean Genet, Edward Albee, and Harold Pinter are among the writers whose works have become known as ridiculous plays. These playwrights defy all of the long-standing standards by which drama has been judged. They share several theatrical approaches and philosophical ideas as writers. There is no particular effort paid to constructing a recognizable plot, detailed characters, or a clearly defined theme in their plays. The phrase Literature of the Absurd was used to describe this odd rejection of any identifiable pattern or development. Almost all of them share the existentialist philosophy of absurdity and nothingness in terms of philosophy.

Theatrical of the Absurd captures the globe in a state of limbo following the conflicts. The act of eternal waiting by the two tramps in 'Waiting for Godot' depicts this immobility. The tramps are powerless as a result of their ignorance. As the tramps are compelled to remain in a condition beyond their control, they develop a sense of befuddled helplessness. Trifles are only consumed as a means of passing the time. Ignorance and powerlessness have resulted in the waiting. 

The play's title is extremely significant in terms of expressing the Absurd theatre genre.

The play is a masterful depiction of time's overwhelming movement and man's experience of it. Nothing happens in the play, and the transition is an illusion in and of itself. The drama is divided into two acts, the second of which is a repeat of the first. The play is a dramatization of the topics of boredom, monotony, and habit. Out of boredom and monotony 0f waiting in Act 1, Estragon says :

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

In Beckett's Waiting for Godot, the absurd tradition is a prominent motif. The drama lacks story, character, discourse, and setting in the traditional sense.

The play's setting creates an absurdist atmosphere. There is a  barren country road, a ditch, and a leafless tree. Two homeless man are waiting for Godot with whom they have no any appointment.  They're dressed in bowler hats, rags and what appear to be gigantic boots—a hilarious start to a peculiar production. 

The tree, which is generally a symbol of vitality because of its fruit and blossom, or because it suggests spring, appears to be lifeless and dead. But it's also the location to which they believe Godot has summoned them. This could indicate that Godot wishes for the guys to experience infertility in their lives. At the same time, it's possible that they've discovered the wrong tree.

The play's setting evokes the world's post-war state, which brought with it uncertainty, sadness, and new problems for all of humanity. As a rich reward of wars' aftermath, a pessimistic outlook replete with sadism and real brutality. 

The plot follows next. A plot, in the classical sense, is supposed to focus on a single motivated action. And a plot have a beginning, middle, and end. However,  it is a play with no action. It has no form and is not built on any structural principles. It doesn't have an Aristotelian beginning, middle, or end. It appears to begin at an arbitrary point and conclude at an arbitrary point. Beckett, like other playwrights in this form, isn't attempting to "tell a tale." He doesn't provide any immediately recognized answers to problems that have been thoroughly studied; there's  no obvious "message." 

As far as the characterization of the play is concern, the play follows in the absurdist tradition. We find five characters in the play. They are not particularly recognizable as human beings. because they do not engage in any purposeful action. Vladimir and Estragon are waiting for Godot near a tree on a country road. They fight, make up, consider suicide, examine Bible texts, and meet Pozzo and Lucky. A small child appears near the close of the first act with a message from Mr. Godot. The message of Mr. Godot is that he will not arrive today but will arrive tomorrow. The action of the first act is substantially repeated in the second act. There are few differences. the tree now has leaves , Pozzo is blind, and Lucky is on a shorter leash in a 2 Act. The boy delivered the same message of Mr. Godot that he will not arrive today.

The play concludes with a famous exchange:

Vladimir: Well, shall we go?

Estragon: Yes, let’s go.

They do not move.

In a traditional play, the audience is expected to be entertained with logically constructed, humorous dialogue. However, the speech in this play, like any other ludicrous drama, appears to have devolved into meaningless babbling. The characters' conversations are useless banalities. They use language to fill the void between them, to hide the truth that they don't want to converse to each other at all.

The absurd plays explore existentialism's concepts, particularly the existentialist theme of absurdity. Attempts were made by ludicrous playwrights to transfer contemporary existentialist theory into theatre. The absurd playwrights also attempted to depict humanity's chaotic state. The human situation is depicted as bleak and distressing in Waiting for Godot. In a harsh and unsympathetic world, the destitute guy tries to live, or rather, to exist. Man is captivated by a sense of sluggish and bareness. If he tries to assert himself, he is restrained. Human life, according to Beckett, is defined by the ability to endure and tolerate "the boredom of living" "replaced by the anguish of being." These words say eloquently about a philosophy created out of the harsh facts of human life. Vladimir and Estragon are blissfully unaware of their own predicament, which is both delightful and awful. They continue about their daily routines, oblivious to the boredom and imprisonment. They also don't use their minds to ponder or evaluate their own acts and the motivations behind them. In their life, the "compressed vacuum" is continually ignored. The notion that God, fate, or some Supreme Being has power over men's lives is strikingly obvious. Every day, mankind hopes for a sign from God that his suffering will come to an end. And God does not appear every day.

Throughout the play, a potential is given, only to be promptly shattered by its sad opposite. Beckett used this tactic to convey his message that life is uncertain and unpredictable at best, and terrible and interminable at worst. Estragon goes on to say,

"There's no shortage of vacuum"

in life. It doesn't matter where they were the day before because they are surrounded by the same empty vacuum every day. The drama is around absence, emptiness, nothingness, and unsolved mysteries.

As a result, Waiting for Godot has almost all of the elements of an absurd drama. With an element of "metaphysical estrangement and tragic pain," the drama shows life's irrationalism in a grotesquely humorous and insignificant manner. It was originally titled En attending Godot in French. In 1954, the drama was translated into English by the author himself. 

So we can conclude that in "Waiting for Godot," Beckett recreates the habits, boredom, monotony, ignorance and impotence that engulfed the globe after the wars and created a ludicrous existence. The deadening condition of the two tramps in a null and void state without any genuine action was recorded and represented by Beckett. Godot has frequently been understood as a parable in which he represents God, a legendary human person, or the purpose of life, death, or something significant.