from the tree is likely a reference to the crucifixion, but it also parodies the religious significance. If J esus died for the sins of others, Vladimir and Estragon are dying for…noth[r]
Trang 1DRAMA II
MODERN DRAMA
Lecture 17
Trang 21. Waiting for Godot Symbolism, Imagery &
Allegory
2. Setting
3. Waiting for Godot Genre, TONE, STYLE &
Title
4. Waiting for Godot as Booker’s Seven Basic
Plots Analysis: Tragedy Plot
5. Social Acceptance of Waiting for Godot
Critical Analysis
Trang 3SYMBOLISM, IMAGERY & ALLEGORY
Trang 4Sometimes, there’s more to Lit than meets the eye.
Trang 7Symbolism, Imagery, Allegory
Waiting for Godot is chock-full of pairs There’s Vladimir and
Estragon, the two thieves, the Boy and his brother, Pozzo and
Lucky, Cain and Abel, and of course the two acts of the play itself
With these pairs comes the repeated notion of arbitrary, 50/50
chances One thief is saved and other damned, but for no clear
reason
If Vladimir and Estragon try to hang themselves, the bough may or may not break One man may die, one man may live Godot may or may not come to save them
In the Bible, Cain’s sacrifice was rejected and Abel’s accepted for
no discernible reason It’s minor, but check out Estragon’s line in Act I: "My left lung is very weak […]
But my right lung is sound as a bell!" More pairs, more arbitrary
damnation
Even the tone of Waiting for Godot is filled with duality: two person arguments, back-and-forth questions, disagreement-agreement, questions and (often inadequate) answers.
Trang 8Symbolism, Imagery, Allegory
The tree is the only distinct piece of the setting, so we’re
pretty sure it matters
(Also, if you check out the painting that inspired Beckett,
you’ll see that a big tree features prominently.) Right off the bat you’ve got the biblical stuff; J esus was crucified on a
cross, but that cross is sometimes referred to as a "tree," as
in, "J esus was nailed to the tree."
That Vladimir and Estragon contemplate hanging themselves from the tree is likely a reference to the crucifixion, but it also parodies the religious significance If J esus died for the sins
of others, Vladimir and Estragon are dying for…nothing
(There’s that pesky "nothing" word again You just can’t get rid of it in this play.)
Trang 9Symbolism, Imagery, Allegory
But you can also think of the two men not as J esus, but rather as the two thieves crucified along with J esus
This fits quite nicely with gospel’s tale as Vladimir tells it; one thief is saved and the other damned, so Didi and Gogo are looking at a
fifty-fifty chance (Duality! Again.)
The uncertainty that stems from inconsistency between the four
gospels is fitting, too, since Vladimir can’t be certain if Godot is
coming to save either one of them (Uncertainty! Again.)
(Repetition! Again.)
There’s more Vladimir reports that he was told to wait for Godot by the tree
This should be reassuring – it means the men are in the right place Right? Wrong
As Estragon points out, they’re not sure if this is the right tree And, come to think of it, they can’t even be sure if this is a tree or not It kind of looks like a shrub.
Trang 10Symbolism, Imagery, Allegory
Now what we find to be completely baffling is the tree’s random sprouting of leaves in between Act I and Act II
This is regeneration – it is hopeful, it is growth, it
is life! And that doesn’t sound anything like
Waiting for Godot, especially when you look at
how everything else degenerates from Act I to Act
II (we’re thinking in particular of Pozzo’s going
blind and Lucky mute, as well as Gogo and Didi’s increasing uncertainty and suffering)
Trang 11Symbolism, Imagery, Allegory
So what gives? Take a look at Vladimir’s line early
in Act I, when he says, "Hope deferred maketh the something sick, who said that?" As we’ve
mentioned, Vladimir is referring to the biblical
proverb that goes a little something like this:
"Hope deferred makes the heart sick; but a desire fulfilled is a tree of life." (Proverbs 13:12)
See that? Tree of life So the tree’s random
blooming would suggest that it is something of a tree of life And, according to the proverb, that
means a desire has been fulfilled
Trang 12Symbolism, Imagery, Allegory
Of course, as far as we can tell, no desires have been fulfilled At all This could mean that the
proverb is completely without truth and reason,
which fits with Godot’s general stance on religion
Then again, the tree’s sprouting leaves could be
an ironic symbol pointing out that, far from fulfilled desires, hopes have been deferred yet another
day – much like Vladimir’s ironic claim in Act II
that "things have changed here since yesterday" when, clearly, nothing at all has Or it could be
something else all together
Trang 13Nightfall and the Ris ing Moon
Symbolism, Imagery, Allegory
While Vladimir and Estragon wait for Godot, they also wait for
nightfall For some reason (again, arbitrary and uncertain), they
don’t have to wait for him once the night has fallen
The classic interpretation is that night = dark = death The falling of night is as much a reprieve from daily suffering as death is from the suffering of a lifetime.
There’s also the issue of the moon, as its appearance in the sky is the real signal that night has come and the men can stop waiting for Godot
Estragon, in one of his "wicked smart" moments, comments the
moon is "pale for weariness […] of climbing heaven and gazing on the likes of us." Though the man remembers nothing of yesterday,
he does in this moment seem to comprehend the endless repetition
of his life
And if the moon is weary just from watching, imagine what that says about the predicament of the men themselves.
Trang 14Vladimir's Song that Never Ends Symbolism, Imagery, Allegory
Repetition, banality, and a comically macabre subject matter? We think you can handle this one on your own
Trang 15Symbolism, Imagery, Allegory
Carrots and turnips are in one sense just a gag
reel for Vladimir and Estragon’s comic bits But we were interested in their disagreement over the
vegetable: "Funny," Estragon comments as he
munches, "the more you eat, the worse it gets."
Vladimir quickly disagrees, adding that, for him,
it’s "just the opposite." On the one hand, this
could be a completely meaningless conversation – the point is simply that Vladimir is in
disagreement, playing at opposites, adding to the bickering duality between himself and Gogo
Trang 16Symbolism, Imagery, Allegory
On the other hand, the carrot could be about the
meaning of life Exclamation point! OK, so the carrot probably isn’t about the meaning of life
But it could be a hint as to the differences between the way Vladimir and Estragon live their lives Vladimir’s subsequent comment, an addendum to his carrot
claim, is that he "get[s] used to the muck as [he goes] along." He resigns himself to banality
Estragon, on the other hand, wearies as time passes – much like the weary moon he observes in Act II
When Pozzo later dishes about smoking, he claims
that a second pipe is "never so sweet [as the first] But it’s sweet just the same."
This is a third and distinct answer to the carrot
question.
Trang 17Lucky's Dance
Symbolism, Imagery, Allegory
When Lucky is commanded to dance in Act I, Pozzo reveals that he calls his dance "The
Net," adding, "He thinks he’s entangled in a net."
You would think a guy tied up on a rope leash would feel confined enough Of course, the
image of Lucky writhing in an imaginary net is
a lasting image for the play as a whole, and especially for the plight of Vladimir and
Estragon, who, as we’ve said before, are
confined in a prison – or perhaps a net – of
their own imaginations.
Trang 18The Hats , The Boots , The
Vaporizer
Symbolism, Imagery, Allegory
There seems to be no shortage of inane props in Waiting for Godot, and these three have one thing
in common: they are all absurd objects on which the men have developed irrational dependences Lucky cannot think without his bowler
Pozzo needs his vaporizer to speak Estragon
seems condemned to forever take his boots on
and off, as does Vladimir with his hat
This is another great combination of the tragic and the comic; the situation is hilarious for its
absurdity, but dismal at the same time
Trang 19Symbolism, Imagery, Allegory
Estragon is repeatedly repelled by smells in
Waiting for Godot Vladimir stinks of garlic, Lucky
smells like who knows what, and Pozzo reeks of a fart in Act II
It seems every time Estragon tries to get close to
a person, he is repelled by their odor
It looks to us like smells represent one of the
barriers to interpersonal relationships Estragon isn’t just repelled by odors – he’s repelled by the visceral humanity of those around him
There’s something gritty and base about the odor
of a human body, and for Estragon it’s too much
to handle
Trang 20Where It All Goes Down