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A Lot About Nothing At All
Some think Waiting for Godot is an argument for existentialism. Others believe it is about man's eternal struggle for the answer to the ultimate question. Neither seem correct.
In short, this is a play for those who prefer to strip everything down to the most basic form of language, to strip life down to a mere game of waiting. That is, in essence, what this is all about. We have two characters, Vladimir and Estragon, who both wait for a man who may or may not ever show up. They don't know why. They don't know exactly when he will be there. Still they wait, eternally, by the tree, by wherever they think he said he would show.
This isn't an absurdist play, although it has been labeled as such. Absurdism, though, seems such an insulting way of labeling such a masterpiece. We oftentimes go thorugh our readings with the idea that everything has to be complex, that there has to be a theme placed deep within a convoluted story, but with Waiting for Godot, we have a simple theme: waiting.
The two characters symbolize nothing. They are, quite simply, not waiting to be analyzed. They become, in effect, victims of Samuel Beckett's own game: they are his quotation, and he only says what needed to be said at the time, and so he wrote it, whether people would catch on or not, whether they would label it absurdism or not.
If you were to take every line of this play and utter it aloud, very slowly, word by word like a robot in a very monotone fashion, you would probably capture the idea. If it's any indication, he wrote everything in French first--his second language--and then translated it in to English, just so it can be simple. I don't assume, of course, that this work should be cherished simply because it's an exercise in simplicity. But I submit that it should be cherished because it's a genuine, themeless--somehow--masterpiece about two people waiting for the most unimportant, unknown thing that may or may not ever come. It is frequently hilarious and constantly frivolous, but somehow, it manages to charm. It is like one of those songs that you can listen to over and over again, and it has no lyrics, and no meaning--as far as you know--but it still makes you feel good under glaring adversity.
Absurdity
I'm not a big fan of existentialism to start out with, but I began this play expecting at least to find an interesting theme or philosophy concerning the nature of life and existence. This work, however, is pure tripe. Critical appraisal should not even be attempted for this drivel- it's akin to the random scribblings of a two-year old or a mud-splattered canvas. The drawing on the front cover has more artistic value than this play. In my mind, it doesn't merit serious consideration and analysis, because it is by nature pure absurdity and nonsense. Beckett sure accomplished his goal though- look how many reviewers commented on the "extremely difficult themes" and "brilliant artistry" of the play.
The Last Masterpiece
WAITING FOR GODOT is somewhat akin to a conceptual artwork, in which the concept behind the artwork is more important than the sensual aesthetic experience or the entertainment value. In this case, however, what is behind the artwork is a non-concept, the impossibility of creating a masterpiece. After the monumental impossibility of Joyce's FINNEGANS WAKE, what remains for the serious artist? WAITING FOR GODOT is about the impossibility of a masterpiece in the modern world. In that sense, this play is the last masterpiece of "high art." The torch has now passed to movies and popular forms.
Many critics have tried to convince us that WAITING FOR GODOT is very funny and entertaining. I remain skeptical. There are a few moments of wry humor, but not enough to make up for the emptiness of "waiting." There is literally "Nothing to be done" in this play. "Waiting" is a non-action. What's interesting about the play is that the inconsequential dialogues and trivial actions are presented as significant; there's something like an "alienation effect," or a "defamiliarization," as we are invited to ponder how and why this drama is meaningful.
Why is there "Nothing to be done"? Is it simply because it's all been done before? Or is it because life in the modern world is without any serious purpose or meaning? In many ways, WAITING FOR GODOT is a reaction to the Holocaust and Hiroshima. The characters who have "something to do" in this play are Pozzo and Lucky, who by their stupidity illustrate the futility of action in the modern world.
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