Deep meaning in nothingness in the play ‘Waiting for Godot’

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Prepared by :  Dipti Vaghela

Paper:  Modernist literature

Roll no: 07

Email id : diptivaghela50@gmail.com

Enrollment no : PG-14101030

Submitted to : Smt. S.B. Gardi Department of English

Maharaja Krishnakumarsinhji

Bhavnagar University

Introduction:

        In modern age there is some different literature like absurd literature. We can see nothing in this type of literature. Samuel Beckett is one of the famous modernist writers. He had born on 13^th April, 1906 in Dublin. His pen name was Andrew Belis. He was novelist, playwright, poet, theatre director, essayist, etc. He is widely regarded as among the most influential writers of the 20^th century. He wrote black tragicomic outlook on human existence. He is considering one of the last modernist writers, and one of the k       ey figures in what Martine Esslin called the “Theatre of Absurd”. He was members of Anglican Church of Ireland.

        There are some notable works of Samuel Buckett as under,

-        Murphy

-        Molloy

-        Malone Dies

-        The Unnamable

-        Waiting for Godot, etc.( Wikipedia)

So, these are some his important works by Beckett. Now let’s know that nothingness in the play.

 No interesting story:

        In this play we can see that nothing like story as Hamlet and in other works. But in this play we can’t fine such a interesting story. It is just time pass done by main two characters nothing else. We can’t found any significant event or story.

~ Limited characters:

        In this play there are only six characters, and among those all main two characters. Astragon and Vladmir, these two characters are in the centre and they doing many worthless things during the play.

~ No beginning, no end:

        In this play there are two acts. It begins with those two characters that are doing nothing. And as same it ends with those two characters. If we put those two acts with replacing each other yet also it doesn’t make any difference. So we can say that in this play there is no beginning, no end.

~ Nothing in this play:

        If we look at it on surface level so we can’t find anything. Both main characters (Estragon, Vladimir) are doing nothing throughout the play. They are just playing with hat and boot or sometime they speak worthless dialogues. And because of these all things we can say that nothing is in the play. They are just time pass.

~ Deep meaning in nothingness:

        In surface level we can’t find any meaning but if we minutely observe this play so we can see deep meaning in nothingness. This play reflects the reality of our human life. Because in our life we are doing same thing as like, Estragon and Vladimir. In the play they are waiting for Godot while in our human life we are waiting for death. And while waiting we are doing something as same those two characters. They are passing their time with hat and boot and some time with each-other. As same we are doing like that throughout our life until death will come.

        In the play they are speaking some dialogue as under,

Vladimir: One out of four. Of the other three, two don’t mention any thieves at all and the third says that both of them abused him.

Estragon: Who?

Vladimir: What?

Estragon: What’s all this about? Absurd who?

Vladimir: The Saviour.

Estragon: Why?

Vladimir: Because he wouldn’t save them.

Estragon: From hell?

Vladimir: Imbecile! From death.

Estragon: I thought you said hell.

Vladimir: From death, from d

In this dialogue we can see that how language used by these two characters. In this dialogue we found nothing. There is no clear meaning of this dialogue and yet from this type of dialogue we get deep meaning. It reflects the reality of our life; in our life also we can see that we are doing same dialogue or things in our life. There is another dialogue as under,

Estragon: Let’s hang ourselves immediately!

Vladimir: From a bough? (They go towards the tree.) I wouldn’t trust it.

Estragon: We can always try.

Vladimir: Go Ahead.

Estragon: After you.

Vladimir: No no, you first.

Estragon: Why me?

Vladimir: You're lighter than I am.

        In this dialogue they are speaking about to hang their selves but in real they can’t do it. They are just speaking and as same in our life also we are doing same thing. We are just speaking and doing nothing. There is another dialogue which reflects something.

Estragon: The tree?

Vladimir: Do you not remember?

Estragon: I’m tired.

Vladimir: Look at it. They look at the tree.

Estragon: I see nothing.

Vladimir: But yesterday evening it was all black and bare. And now it’s covered with leaves.

Estragon: Leaves?

Vladimir: In a single night.

Estragon: It must be the Spring.

        In this dialogue we can see that they are speaking about tree and leaves of tree that how suddenly it comes out on the tree. And as same in this dialogue throughout the play they are doing same thing nothing else. And as same in our life also we are doing same. Every day we wake up eating and sleeping, nothing else. Yester day, today, tomorrow we are doing just same thing nothing else.

~ Conclusion:

        So, after all we can say that there is deep meaning in the play. It reflects great philosophy of our life. Or we can say that the reality of our life. In our life we are doing same things. We are waiting for death and we are just time pass with those worthless things. And after all we meet to death nothing else. So in this play we can see our self, and after reading this play we look at inside and think that we are also doing the same things throughout our life. And it is the reality of our life. 

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Works Cited

Wikipedia contributors. "Waiting for Godot." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 11 Oct. 2015. Web. 31 Oct. 201