Entrapment in Waiting for Godot and Existence and Existents
Samuel Beckett's play Waiting for Godot has been criticized as a play in which nothing happens-twice. Not only are Vladimir and Estragon, the two primary characters, unable to change their circumstances in the first act, the second act seems to be a replay of this existential impotence.
Vladimir's remark "Nothing to be done," at the opening of the play, may be said to characterize the whole. Estragon complains that "Nothing happens, nobody comes, nobody goes, it's awful!" (Beckett 27).
Ostensibly, the play is a series of meaningless conversations on subjects of no importance. One wonders, then, if it isn't true that nothing happens in this play and, hence, if the play has my real artistic merit. But something is happening. The characters are struggling to free themselves from a treadmill of an existence in which they are trapped-a struggle that is, perhaps, significantly like our own.
Let us first consider the role of time in the play. Vladimir and Estragon want time to pass but are forced to acknowledge that even when it does, nothing changes. In other words, the time they recognize offers them no genuine future. On the contrary, it promises them more of the same:
Estragon:
We came too soon.
Vladimir:
It's always at nightfall.
Estragon:
But night doesn't fall.
Vladimir:
It'll fall all of a sudden, like yesterday.
Estragon:
Then it'll be night.
Vladimir:
And we can go.
Estragon:
Then it'll be day again. (Pause. Despairing.) What'll we do, what'll we do! (Beckett 45-
46)
If night would only come there would be an end to this day. But that is no hope since another day ...
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In contrast to Stoppard’s play ‘Waiting for Godot’ is much bleaker in the respect that Vladimir and Estragon seem to have no purpose or direction in their lives. Their only hope rests on the mysterious Godot who never comes, however they do remain alive at the end. This leads the reader to question which pair of characters are the most unfortunate. Rosencrantz and Guildensten may not have been saved from death but they have been saved from the futility of life which Vladimir and Estragon exclaim: “We can’t go on like this” yet ironically they are left to do so.
...ession, Hamm and Clov act the class roles of bourgeoisie and proletariat though it defies meaningful progress. Through this Beckett implies that the political systems we create are nothing more than an attempt to stave of the nothingness that really exists. More of the play could be analyzed regarding the delusion of Marxism, especially with regards to the characters of Nagg and Nell. Further study might include also the consideration of the authors time period and how historicism is tied into the meaning of the play.
I love thee, I think this is because she wants to show not only the strength of her love but also her passion and dedication for him as she constantly repeats herself.
abandoned the conventions of the classical play to concentrate on his important message to humanity. Using his pathetic characters, Estragon and Vladimir, Beckett illustrates the importance of human free will in a land ruled by science and technology. He understood the terrors of progress as he witnessed first hand the destruction caused by technologically-improved weapons working as a spy during WWII. In his tragicomedy, Estragon and Vladimir spend the entire time futilely waiting for Godot to arrive. They believe that this mysterious Godot will help them solve their problems and merely sit and wait for their solution to arrive. Beckett utilizes these characters to warn the reader of the dangers of depending on fate and others to improve one's existence. He supports this idea when Estragon blames his boots and not himself for the pain in his feet, and Vladimir responds, "There'...
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Irish-born French author Samuel Beckett was well known for his use of literary devices such as black comedy in his various literary works. Written during late 1948 and early 1949 and premiered as a play in 1953 as En attendant Godot, Beckett coupled these devices with minimalism and absurdity in order to create the tragicomedy known to English speakers as Waiting for Godot. True to its title, Waiting for Godot is the tale of a pair of best friends known as Vladimir (Didi) and Estragon (Gogo) who are waiting for the character the audience comes to know as Godot to appear. Throughout Beckett’s play Waiting for Godot, Samuel Beckett alludes to the monotheistic religion of Christianity through symbols, dialogue, and characters to reveal the heavy invisible influence of God in the daily life of man.
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The use of figurative language and imagery in the two sonnets “How do I love thee” by Elizabeth Browning, and “Shall I compare Thee to a summer’s day” by William Shakespeare, convey complex emotions pertaining to love. The way that Shakespeare describes his feelings toward his significant other, suggests that he desires for the love he shares with his possible mistress to transcend death and last eternally. Mrs. Browning’s use of figurative language is more apparent, as she describes the various ways that she loves this particular person, expressing the extent of her intense unconditional love. Shakespeare uses personification of the Sun, during a summer’s day, to determine whether a summer’s day actually captures the essence of this individual that he loves so dearly. Shakespeare’s sonnet asks a question that he answers when he writes this person into an existence that will last for an eternity, which a limited summers day cannot. Shakespeare’s use of imagery and figurative language is more effective.
This themes of beauty is closely related to the overall immortality theme. Sonnet Eighteen is ultimately a response to the question posed in the first line. “The speaker answers this question in the negative, suggesting that the object of his affection is ‘more lovely and more temperate’ than a mere summer’s day. Though summer days are pleasant, they are neither perfect nor everlasting. Their finiteness and propensity for bad weather make them, the speaker argues, as poor comparison with the object of his affection (Napierkowski and Ruby).” The speaker’s use of ‘temperate’ spoken in three syllables is significant, because he will continue to praise the qualities of endurance and consistency over those of change. The speaker uses extreme to emphasize the beauty of the subject: ‘more lovely,’ ‘all too short,’ and ‘too hot,’ but at no point describes the subject’s actual physical features. We are never told any specifics about the subject’s appearance, instead we are told that their beauty is greater than that of a summer’s day and the sun. Then, the speaker gives us a twist by stating that the subject is not as good as a summer’s day, but even better. Shakespeare continues to reinforce this by listing the flaws of summer; the season that has ‘too brutish winds to shake the darling buds of May.’ We are also told how summer is ‘too short,’ thus enforcing an impending mortality in contrast to the immortality being extended to the subject who is being immortalized within the poem. Beauty can fade by chance or through the course of nature. The repetition of ‘fair’ highlights fate’s inescapable hold over everything that possesses beauty. The speaker reaffirms that his subject’s beauty will never fade, but will be preserved within this poem. This self-assured claim leads us to the point that this poem was not actually to pay a beloved a
“Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day” a poem written by William Shakespeare, is the eighteenth sonnet by this famous writer and a poet. Shakespeare, a popular english poet had written fifty four sonnets. “Shall I compare thee to summer’s day” is the most popular of all the fifty four sonnets which emphasized Shakespeare’s love poem with the theme of love. The poem, “If thou must love me” is also a popular poem and a sonnet (number fourteen) written by Elizabeth Barrett Browning. Browning’s poem revolves around the theme of love towards her expectations from her lover to be. Both shakespeare’s and Browning”s poems are completely two different poems but still they share some literary terms in common. Both poems dealt with the same subject matter even though the both described love in their different point of view. Both speakers expresses true natural love and the eternity of true love.
Shakespeare's sonnets are a romantic and charming series of poems. His use of rhyme and passionate, eloquent language serve to illuminate his strong feelings. These techniques were probably the most fluent way for such a writer as him to express the immeasurable love that he obviously felt for his mysterious lady. Examining the numerous ways Shakespeare found to describe it, the reader believes that this love was undoubtedly lasting and authentic. He often made heart-felt comments about his emotions that could also suit lovers in the present day. Because of this, and the fact that people read them yet, Shakespeare's sonnets are timeless and universal, just like the concept of love itself.