Transcript Lecture 31.ppt

Lecture 31

Beckett's theatre is stark, fundamentally
minimalist, and deeply pessimistic about
human nature and the human situation.


Themes in plays include: mirroring own
search for freedom, revolving around a young
man's efforts to cut himself loose from his
family and social obligations, life means
waiting, killing time and clinging to the hope
that relief may be just around the corner
trades in plot, characterization, and final
solution, which had hitherto been the
hallmarks of drama, for a series of concrete
stage images


language is useless, for he creates a mythical
universe peopled by lonely creatures who
struggle vainly to express the unexpressable
characters exist in a terrible dreamlike
vacuum, overcome by an overwhelming sense
of bewilderment and grief, grotesquely
attempting some form of communication,
then crawling on, endlessly


Waiting for Godot is a two-act stage
drama classified as a tragicomedy. In
1965, critic Martin Eslin coined the term
theater of the absurd to describe Godot
and other plays like it.
As a result, these plays also became
known as absurdist dramas.



A group of dramatists in 1940's Paris believed life is
without apparent meaning or purpose; it is, in short,
absurd, as French playwright and novelist Albert
Camus (1913-1960) wrote in a 1942 essay, "The
Myth of Sisyphus." Paradoxically, the only certainty in
life is uncertainty, the absurdists believed.
An absurdist drama is a play that depicts life as
meaningless, senseless, uncertain. For example, an
absurdist's story generally ends up where it started;
nothing has been accomplished and nothing gained.
The characters may be uncertain of time and place,
and they are virtually the same at the end ofthe play
as they were at the beginning.
The language in an absurdist drama often
goes nowhere.
 Characters misunderstand or misinterpret
one another, frequently responding to a
statement or a question with a non sequitur
or a ludicrous comment.
 The dialogue sometimes resembles the giveand-take of the classic Abbot and Costello
vaudeville routine in which the two
comedians are discussing a baseball game.
 A player named "Who" is on first base. Abbot
does not know the name of the player, so he
asks Costello, "Who's on first?"


The absurdity of the dialogue is the
author’s way of calling attention to the
seeming absurdity of life. For Samuel
Beckett, the world wobbles on its axis,
and the people who inhabit it do not
always think logically or or talk sensibly.



The structure of a typical absurdist drama is like a
spaceship orbiting earth or a Ferris Wheel revolving
on an axle: The spaceship and the Ferris wheel
endlessly repeat their paths. If only the passengers
on the spaceship and the Ferris wheel could break
free and fly off on their own . . . but they cannot.
They are tethered to forces beyond their control. The
same is true of Vladimir and Estragon in Waiting for
Godot. They wait for Godot at the beginning of the
play, wait for Godot in the middle of the play, and
wait for Godot at the end of the play. Godot never
comes.
So Vladimir and Estragon continue to revolve—but
never evolve. They are caught in the absurdity of
continuously moving but never progressing.





Waiting for Godot qualifies as one of Samuel Beckett's most
famous works.
Originally written in French in 1948, Beckett personally
translated the play into English.
The world premiere was held on January 5, 1953, in the Left
Bank Theater of Babylon in Paris. The play's reputation spread
slowly through word of mouth and it soon became quite famous.
Other productions around the world rapidly followed.
The play initially failed in the United States, likely as a result of
being misbilled as "the laugh of four continents." A subsequent
production in New York City was more carefully advertised and
garnered some success.
Act One：
 Vladimir and Estragon are near a tree to wait for Godot.
 Pozzo and Lucky enter. Pozzo talks with Vladimir and
Estragon, Lucky, dancing and thinking, makes them happy.
 After Pozzo and Lucky leave, a boy tells Vladimir that Godot
will not come that evening.
 Vladimir and Estragon decide to leave, but they do not move
as the curtain falls.
Act Two：
 The next day, Vladimir and Estragon again near the tree to
wait for Godot.
 Pozzo and Lucky enter again, but Pozzo is blind and Lucky is
dumb.
 Pozzo does not remember meeting the two men before.
 After they leave, Vladimir and Estragon continue to wait.
 And then the boy enters, he tells Vladimir that Godot will not
come.
 He insists that he did not speak to Vladimir yesterday.
 After he leaves, Vladimir and Estragon decide to leave, but
they do not move again, ending the play.
Dark comedy or Black comedy refers to fictional works that
blend aspects of the genres of tragedy and comedy.
In English literature from Shakespeare's time to the nineteenth
century, tragicomedy refers to a serious play with a happy
ending; however, dark comedy may end up at with a static
plot.
‘If I knew, I would have said so in
play’ [Beckett]


the
The uncertainties and irreducible
ambiguities are an essential element of its
total impact
In Waiting for Godot, the feeling of
uncertainty it produces, the ebb and flow of
this uncertainty – from the hope of
discovering the identity of Godot to its
repeated disappointment – are themselves
the essence of the play


Beckett’s plays lack plot even more
completely than other works of the Theatre
of the Absurd
Instead of linear development, presented is
Beckett’s intuition of the human condition by
a method that is essentially polyphonic

Waiting for Godot does not tell a story; it explores
a static situation

The sequence of events and the dialogue in each
act are different:
- they encounter Pozzo and Lucky under
differing circumstances;
- they attempt suicide and fail, for different
reasons;
- the boy arrives but does not recognise our
protagonists, and tells them Mr Godot can not
come

Variations merely serve to emphasise the
essential sameness of the situation
Analytical Plot




Beckett often focused on the idea of “the suffering of being.”
Most of the play deals with the fact that Estragon and Vladimir are
waiting for something to alleviate their boredom.
Godot can be understood as one of the many things in life that
people wait for.
The play has often been viewed as fundamentally existentialist in its
take on life.




The fact that none of the characters retain a clear
mental history means that they are constantly
struggling to prove their existence.
Waiting for Godot is part of the Theater of the Absurd.
This implies that it is meant to be irrational.
Absurd theater does away with the concepts of drama,
chronological plot, logical language, themes, and
recognizable settings. There is also a split between the
intellect and the body within the work.
Thus Vladimir represents the intellect and Estragon the
body, both of whom cannot exist without the other.
The Theatre of the Absurd and Samuel Beckett
Analytical Setting/structure
•
The play has a circular structure
 it ends almost exactly as it
begins.
•
The two acts are symmetrically
built  the stage is divided into
two halves by a tree, the human
races into two, Vladimir and
Estragon.
Waiting for Godot, London, Peter Hall Co.
•
It is pervaded by a grotesque
humour.
•
Its tone is tragic and desperate.
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


Waiting for Godot consists of two men unable to
act, move, or think in any significant way while
they kill time waiting for a mysterious man,
Godot.
The characters fail to realize that this very act of
waiting is a choice; instead, they view it as a
mandatory part of their daily routine.
Even when these men manage to make a
conscious decision, they can’t translate that
mental choice into a physical act. They often
"decide" to leave the stage, only to find that they
are unable to move.
Such inaction leads to stagnancy and repetition
in the seemingly endless cycle of their lives.
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

What is the barrier between the decision
to act and action itself in Waiting for
Godot? Why are the men unable to move
after they’ve decided to do so?
Are Vladimir and Estragon condemned to
wait for Godot, or is the act of waiting a
choice itself?
Does Lucky’s position as a servant seem
to be a choice on his part?


If Vladimir and Estragon realized they
had the freedom of choice, they could
break their daily cycle of habit and
inaction. The problem is one of
consciousness.
Vladimir and Estragon are fully aware of
their situation and of their ability to
choose, but the uncertainty surrounding
the result of any potential action
prevents them from breaking the
stagnant cycle of their waiting.


Waiting for Godot is hailed as a classic
example of "Theatre of the Absurd,"
dramatic works that promote the
philosophy of its name.
This particular play presents a world in
which daily actions are without meaning,
language fails to effectively
communicate, and the characters at time
reflect a sense of artifice, even
wondering aloud whether perhaps they
are on a stage.




Vladimir and Estragon’s situation is so absurd that it
doesn’t resemble any reality we’re familiar with. How
is it possible, then, that the play can comment on our
own lives? Does Beckett suggest a level of absurdity
in the real world?
Do Estragon and Vladimir recognize that their actions
are absurd? Or does everything seem "normal" to
them?
How do the absurd characters of Pozzo and Lucky
comment on Gogo and Didi? Who seems more
rational?
At one moment is the play meta-fictional? In other
words, where do the characters seem to reveal an
understanding (or at least a suspicion) that they are
part of a contrived reality? How does this affect the
way we see the play?


Waiting for Godot is a play driven by a
lack of truth – in other words,
uncertainty. Characters are unable to act
in any meaningful way and claim this is
so because they are uncertain of the
consequences.
Without the presence of objective truth,
every statement is brought to question,
and even common labels (color, time,
names) become arbitrary and subjective.



The portrait of daily life painted by Waiting
for Godot is a dismal one. It is repetitive and
stagnant. It lacks meaning and purpose and
entails perpetual suffering.
The solution (which none of the characters
take) would seem to be action and choice
despite the ever-presence of uncertainty,
and an awareness of one’s surroundings and
past actions.
As one character says, "habit is a great
deadener" – our actions should stem from
conscious choice rather than apathy.
Time presents a slew of problems in Waiting
for Godot. The very title of the play reveals
its central action: waiting.
 The two main characters are forced to whittle
away their days while anticipating the arrival
of a man who never comes.
 Because they have nothing to do in the
meantime, time is a dreaded barrier, a test of
their ability to endure. Because they repeat
the same actions every day, time is cyclical.
 That every character seems to have a faulty
memory further complicates matters; time
loses meaning when the actions of one day
have no relevance or certainty on the next.

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
Religion is incompatible with reason in
Waiting for Godot. Characters who
attempt to understand religion logically
are left in the dark, and the system is
compared to such absurd banalities as
switching bowler hats or taking a boot
on and off.
Religion is also tied to uncertainty, since
there is no way of knowing what is
objectively true in the realm of faith.
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

Friendship is tricky in Waiting for Godot,
as each character is fundamentally
isolated from every other.
Relationships teeter between a fear of
loneliness and an essential inability to
connect. This tension is central to the
play.
The problems that keep characters apart
vary from physical disgust to ego to a
fear of others’ suffering.
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

Every character in Waiting for Godot
seems to live in a prison of his own
making.
Each is confined to a state of passivity
and stagnancy by his own inability to act.
The one character who is literally the
slave of another is no more restricted
than those who are technically free; in
fact, he may be more free because he is
at least aware of his imprisonment.


Suffering is a constant and fundamental part
of human existence in Waiting for Godot.
Every character suffers and suffers always,
with no seeming respite in sight.
The hardship ranges from the physical to
the mental, the minor to the extreme. It
drives some men to find companionship (so
as to weather the storm together), causes
others to abuse their companions (to lessen
the suffering of the self), and for still others
leads to self-isolation (since watching
people suffer is a kind of anguish on its
own).
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

None of the characters in Waiting for Godot shy
away from the fact that death is inevitable. In
fact, death becomes at times a solution for the
inanity of daily life.
The main characters contemplate suicide as
though it were as harmless as a walk to the
grocery store, probably because there’s nothing
in their life worth sticking around for anyway.
They ultimately do not commit suicide because
they claim not to have the means, but also
because they are uncertain of the result of their
attempt (it may work, it may fail).
Because they can’t be sure of what their action
will bring, they decide on no action at all.
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
Why do Estragon and Vladimir want to
kill themselves?
Why don’t they?
If death is inevitable and everimpending, as Pozzo points out, how do
we live our lives with any sense of
purpose? Does Waiting for Godot
propose a solution to this problem?
Vladimir and Estragon are lowly bums. Their
only material possessions—besides their
tattered clothes—are a turnip and a carrot.

Nevertheless, they have not given up on life;
they do not descend into depression,
pessimism, and cynicism. Even though they
frequently exchange insults, they enjoy each
other’s company and help each other.

Above all, though, they wait.

They wait for Godot. They do not know who
he is or where he comes from. But they wait
just the same, apparently because he
represents hope.

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
Vladimir and Estragon are homeless rovers
attempting to find an answer to a question
all human beings face: What is the meaning
of life? Godot may have the answer for
them.
So they wait. After Godot fails to appear on
the first day, they return to the tree the next
day to continue waiting. He does not come.
Vladimir and Estragon decide to leave the
area. However, the stage direction at the
end of the play says, "They do not move."
Apparently, they plan to continue their
search for meaning by continuing to wait for
Godot.
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
Vladimir and Estragon depend on each other
to survive.
Although they exchange insults from time to
time, it is clear that they value each other's
company. One could imagine Pozzo without
Lucky—until the second act, when the
audience learns he has gone blind.
Unable to find his way, Pozzo is totally
dependent on Lucky. Lucky, of course, is
tied to Pozzo—by a rope and by fear of
being abandoned.


Life is tedious and repetitive for Vladimir
and Estragon. In the first act of the play,
they meet at a tree to wait for Godot.
In the second act, they meet at the same
tree to wait for Godot. Irish critic Vivian
Mercer once wrote in a review of the
play, "Nothing happens, twice."
The Theatre of Absurd and
Samuel Beckett (1906-1989)
The Theatre of the Absurd and Samuel Beckett
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
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Of all the English-language modernists, Beckett's work
represents the most sustained attack on the realist
tradition.
He, more than anyone else, opened up the possibility of
drama and fiction that dispense with conventional plot
and the unities of place and time in order to focus on
essential components of the human condition.
Writers like Václav Havel, John Banville, Aidan Higgins
and Harold Pinter have publicly stated their indebtedness
to Beckett's example, but he has had a much wider
influence on experimental writing since the 1950s, from
the Beat generation to the happenings of the 1960s and
beyond.
1.
2.
3.
Effects of World War II (62
million people killed [37.5
million in WWI];
12 million in concentration
camps;
atomic bomb and the
promise of annihilation)
form and
content
merge to
form a
truer art
(No Exit by Sartre)
absurd content but
rational form or
presentation
Theatre of the
Absurd
Existentialism
The Paradox of
Consciousness


The term "Theatre of the Absurd" was coined by Martin
Esslin in a book of the same name; Beckett and Godot
were centerpieces of the book.
Esslin claimed these plays were the fulfillment of Albert
Camus's concept of "the absurd"; this is one reason
Beckett is often falsely labeled as an existentialist.
 Though
many of the themes are similar,
Beckett had little affinity for existentialism as
a whole.
 Broadly speaking, the plays deal with the
subject of despair and the will to survive in
spite of that despair, in the face of an
uncomprehending
and,
indeed,
incomprehensible world.

The words of Nell—one of the two characters in
Endgame who are trapped in ashbins, from which they
Nothing is funnier
than
unhappiness,
I grant
occasionally
peek their
heads
to speak—can
best you
that. ... Yes,theyes,
it's the
most
comical
thing inmiddle
the
summarize
themes
of the
plays
of Beckett's
world. And we laugh, we laugh, with a will, in the
period:
beginning. But it's always the same thing. Yes,
it's like the funny story we have heard too often,
we still find it funny, but we don't laugh any
more.


The term theater of the absurd derives from
the philosophical use of the word absurd by
such existentialist thinkers as Albert CAMUS
and Jean Paul SARTRE.
Camus, particularly, argued that humanity
had to resign itself to recognizing that a fully
satisfying rational explanation of the
universe was beyond its reach; in that sense,
the world must ultimately be seen as absurd.



The playwrights loosely grouped under the
label of the absurd endeavor to convey their
sense of bewilderment, anxiety, and wonder
in the face of an inexplicable universe.
They rely heavily on poetic metaphor as a
means of projecting outward their innermost
states of mind.
Hence, the images of the theater of the
absurd tend to assume the quality of fantasy,
dream, and nightmare; they do not so much
portray the outward appearance of reality as
the playwright's emotional perception of an
inner reality.

Thus Beckett's Happy Days (1961) expresses
a generalized human anxiety about the
approach of death through the concrete
image of a woman sunk waist-deep in the
ground in the first act and neck-deep in the
second; and Ionesco's Rhinoceros (1960; Eng.
trans., 1960) demonstrates the playwright's
anxiety about the spread of inhuman
totalitarian tendencies in society by showing
the population of a city turning into savage
pachyderms.

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
One of the most important aspects of absurd
drama was its distrust of language as a
means of communication.
Language had become a vehicle of
conventionalized, stereotyped, meaningless
exchanges. Words failed to express the
essence of human experience, not being able
to penetrate beyond its surface.
The Theatre of the Absurd constituted first
and foremost an onslaught on language,
showing it as a very unreliable and
insufficient tool of communication.

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
Absurd drama uses conventionalized speech, clichés,
slogans and technical jargon, which is distorts,
parodies and breaks down.
By ridiculing conventionalized and stereotyped
speech patterns, the Theatre of the Absurd tries to
make people aware of the possibility of going
beyond everyday speech conventions and
communicating more authentically.
Conventionalized speech acts as a barrier between
ourselves and what the world is really about: in
order to come into direct contact with natural reality,
it is necessary to discredit and discard the false
crutches of conventionalized language.

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
Objects are much more important than
language in absurd theatre: what happens
transcends what is being said about it.
It is the hidden, implied meaning of words that
assume primary importance in absurd theatre,
over an above what is being actually said.
The Theatre of the Absurd strove to
communicate an undissolved totality of
perception - hence it had to go beyond
language.

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Absurd drama subverts logic. It relishes the unexpected and
the logically impossible. …In trying to burst the bounds of logic
and language the absurd theatre is trying to shatter the
enclosing walls of the human condition itself.
Our individual identity is defined by language, having a name is
the source of our separateness - the loss of logical language
brings us towards a unity with living things. In being illogical,
the absurd theatre is anti-rationalist: it negates rationalism
because it feels that rationalist thought, like language, only
deals with the superficial aspects of things.
Nonsense, on the other hand, opens up a glimpse of the
infinite. It offers intoxicating freedom, brings one into contact
with the essence of life and is a source of marvelous comedy.


No dramatic conflict in the absurd plays!
Dramatic conflicts, clashes of personalities and
powers belong to a world where a rigid,
accepted hierarchy of values forms a
permanent establishment.
Such conflicts, however, lose their meaning in
a situation where the establishment and
outward reality have become meaningless.


However frantically characters perform, this
only underlines the fact that nothing happens
to change their existence. Absurd dramas are
lyrical statements, very much like music: they
communicate an atmosphere, an experience of
archetypal human situations.
The Absurd Theatre is a theatre of situation, as
against the more conventional theatre of
sequential events. It presents a pattern of
poetic images. In doing this, it uses visual
elements, movement, light.
1. The Theatre of the Absurd and Samuel Beckett
HISTORICAL BACKGROUND
NEW MEANING OF EXISTENCE
FRENCH EXISTENTIALISM
SAMUEL BECKETT
The Theatre of the Absurd: main
features
Vagueness
about time,
place and the
characters.
Absence of a
real story or
plot.
No action since
all actions are
insignificant.
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The value of language
is reduced; in fact,
what happens on the
stage transcends, and
often contradicts, the
words spoken by the
characters.
Incoherent babbling
makes up the
dialogue.
Extensive use of
pauses, silences,
miming and farcical
situations which
reflect a sense of
anguish.
The Theatre of the Absurd: Main
Themes
The sense of man’s alienation
The cruelty of human life
The absence or the futility of
objectives
The meaninglessness of
man’s struggle
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The Theatre of the Absurd: Main Themes
Waiting for Godot
•
No Setting: a desolate country
road and a bare tree.
•
Time: evening.
•
Characters: two tramps,
Vladimir and Estragon, bored by
a day of nothingness; Pozzo and
Lucky.
Loss of the sense of
external meaning
Believes in only that
which we can see, that
which “exists” (e.g.,
Plato’s “essence” and
Spinoza’s “substance”
are out the
philosophical window)
Loss of belief in
reason and faith
The Theatre of the Absurd and Samuel Beckett
New meaning of existence
•
Awareness of man’s propensity to evil and conscience of
the destructive power of scientific knowledge.
•
The lack of moral assurance and the decline of religious
faith.
•
The disillusionment with both the liberal and social theories
about economic and social progress.
•
Mistrust in the power of reason.
A sense of anguish,
helplessness and
rootlessness developed
especially among the
young
French existentialism
•
Existentialism saw man trapped in a hostile world.
•
Human life was meaningless and this created a sense of
confusion, despair and emptiness.
•
The universe was not rational and defied any
explanation.
Jean Paul Sartre (1905-1980)
French existentialism
• The main exponent of this
philosophical current was the
French Jean Paul Sartre.
• Existentialists presented the
absurdity of human condition
by means of a lucid
language and logical
reasoning.
Jean Paul Sartre (1905-1980)
Existentialism states:
“There is, therefore, no preexistent spiritual
realm, no soul…,no cosmic compassion for or
interest in human life, no afterlife, no
transcendence of worldly existence, no cosmic
meta-narrative, no angels and devils…, no
divine will, no preset destiny, no inevitable fate.”
Existentialism believes
•1. life has no
preset or external
meaning of its
own
•2. Life is (without
human creation
of it) meaningless
•3. Humans,
therefore, are
free (free will is
important)
Life is
reflection
the myth of
Sisyphus
free will is
important
•Humanity’s only
chance at dignity
lies in
Truth /Fact
• --“I can’t go on; I must go on; I’m going
the courage to face the
truth, that we are alone in
an uncaring universe
the courage to face the
fact / possibility that life is
meaningless and yet to
still go on
• -- the courage and dignity of Sisyphus when at the
top of the hill he sees the rock roll back and realizes
his meaninglessness and yet still goes down to set to
work again.
There are two possible interpretations of the
existence of human consciousness:
a. A divine gift
b. A cosmic joke
A divine
gift
• fire of the gods, part of the
divine plan, consciousness
brings us all our joy (love, art,
etc.)
A cosmic
joke
• consciousness was never
intended for humans and
brings us only suffering, pain,
and the existence of evil.
form and
content
merge to
form a
truer art
(No Exit by Sartre)
absurd content but
rational form or
presentation
Theatre of the
Absurd
Existentialism
The Paradox of
Consciousness
The Theatre of the Absurd and Samuel Beckett
Beckett: Critical Analysis
Social Acceptance
Beckett
Plot
Obscure, non consequential
Setting
Symbolic, bare
Theme
Meaninglessness of human
experience
Stage Directions
Repetitive, frequent
Language
Everyday, meaningless
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Analytical Mapping of characters
•
Vladimir and Estragon are
complementary.
•
Lucky and Pozzo are linked
by a relationship of master and
servant.
Vladimir and Lucky represent
the intellect.
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Waiting for Godot, London, Peter Hall Co.
Analytical Mapping of characters
•
Estragon and Pozzo stand for the
body.
•
The two couples are mutually
dependent.
The character the two tramps are
waiting for is Godot  Biblical
allusions in this name.
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Waiting for Godot, London, Peter Hall Co.
Estragon





Estragon is one of the two protagonists.
He is a bum and sleeps in a ditch where he is beaten
each night.
He has no memory beyond what is immediately said to
him, and relies on Vladimir to remember for him.
Estragon is impatient and constantly wants to leave
Vladimir, but is restrained from leaving by the fact that
he needs Vladimir.
It is Estragon's idea for the bums to pass their time by
hanging themselves. Estragon has been compared to a
body without an intellect, which therefore needs
Vladimir to provide the intellect.
Vladimir
 Vladimir is one of the two protagonists.
 He is a bum like Estragon, but retains a memory of
most events.
 However, he is often unsure whether his memory is
playing tricks on him.
 Vladimir is friends with Estragon because Estragon
provides him with the chance to remember past
events.
 Vladimir is the one who makes Estragon wait with
him for Mr. Godot's imminent arrival throughout the
play. Vladimir has been compared to the intellect
which provides for the body, represented by Estragon.
Lucky
Lucky is the slave of Pozzo.
He is tied to Pozzo via a rope around his neck and he carries
Pozzo's bags.
Lucky is only allowed to speak twice during the entire play,
but his long monologue is filled with incomplete ideas.
He is silenced only by the other characters who fight with
him to take of his hat. Lucky appears as a mute in the
second act.
a boy
The boy is a servant of Mr. Godot.
He plays an identical role in both acts by coming to
inform Vladimir and Estragon the Mr. Godot will not
be able to make it that night, but will surely come the
next day.
The boy never remembers having met Vladimir and
Estragon before. He has a brother who is mentioned
but who never appears.
Pozzo
• Pozzo is the master who rules over Lucky.
• He stops and talks to the two bums in order to have
some company. In the second act Pozzo is blind
and requires their help.
• He, like Estragon, cannot remember people he has
met.
• His transformation between the acts may represent
the passage of time.