Waiting for Godot is Not an Absurdist Play
Samuel Beckett's stage plays are gray both in color and in subject matter. Likewise, the answer to the question of whether or not Beckett's work is Absurdist also belongs to that realm of gray in which Beckett often works. The Absurdist label becomes problematic when applied to Beckett because his dramatic works tend to overflow the boundaries which scholars attempt to assign. When discussing Beckett, the critic inevitably becomes entangled in contradiction. The playwright's own denial "that there is a philosophical system behind the plays" and his explicit refusal "to reduce them to codified interpretations" suggests, one could argue, that to search for such systems or interpretations in Beckett's work is, at best, a fruitless endeavor (Beckett quoted. in McMillan 13). Let me suggest, however, that Beckett's own statements and criticisms not be taken as a deterrent to the study of his work. His objections threaten only those interpretations which "reduce" his work. The challenge for the critic, then, is to evaluate and analyze Beckett in such a way that his works are not reduced but enhanced.
The problem with designating Beckett's work as Absurdist is, precisely, that this interpretation reduces his work. When a critic describes a work as "Absurd," she does not simply mean that the work is "outrageous" or "nonsensical" or merely silly. Coined by American critic Martin Esslin, the term "theater of the Absurd" can be defined as a kind of drama that presents a view of the absurdity of the human condition by the abandoning of usual or rational devices and by the use of nonrealistic form....Conceived in perplexity and spiritual anguish, the theater of the absurd portrays not a series of connected incidents telling a story but a pattern of images presenting people as bewildered beings in an incomprehensible universe. (Holman 2)
In the introduction to The Theatre of the Absurd, Martin Esslin provides a comprehensive explanation of "Absurdist" theater. He quotes Albert Camus' jThe Myth of Sisyphus:
A world that can be explained by reasoning, however faulty, is a familiar world. But in a universe that
is suddenly deprived of illusions and of light, man feels a stranger. His is an irremediable exile,
because he is deprived of memories of a lost homeland as much as he lacks the hope of a promised
Visualize this: A man is trapped inside a world he never made. This world begins with the conventions of tragedy through fiction. By the end this masterpiece, the flashing, delving presence of his mind and sprit has been transformed. It becomes the real world. In the real world, appearance and reality is a hard thing to differentiate. Appearance "is" reality in William Shakespeare's Hamlet. Appearance (insanity) is used as a disguise, an excuse for his free will and a costume for Hamlet. This is proven by the nature of Hamlet's true thought process, why he feigns insanity, and, proof that Hamlet was not crazy.
Chekhov is the true precursor of the theater of the absurd. Before the beckettian "waiting" there was the continuous "waiting" of the three sisters who never live for Moscow. Chekhov developed an aesthetic principle, according to which tragic and comic are not separated by an impassable wall but represent two sides of the same phenomenon of life, which can be viewed both in terms of tragedy and in terms of comedy.
McNamara, D. S., & Healy, A. F. (1996). Verbal learning and memory: does the modal model
William Shakespeare’s dramatic and poetic techniques and his use of hyperbole are used to describe the characters emotions and weaknesses. The use of dramatic irony is used to create personal conflict. This is done throughout the play to describe the characters concerns and their situations.
...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.
The Myth of Sisyphus is the most revealing commentary on Albert Camus’ reasoning. Defining the absurd as arising from the meeting of two elements: the absence of meaning in the natural world, and mankind’s inherent desire to seek out meaning. The author projects his philosophy of devoid from religious belief and middle-class morality through an unremarkable protagonist throughout the novel. Sisyphus, an absurd hero due to embracing his ludicrous task and chooses to find meaning in rolling a huge stone uphill only to have it to roll back to be pushed up the hill. The face of the Absurd feels that the world becomes strange and inhuman. No longer recognizing the beauty in nature but instead, views the world for what it is – strange and incoherent.
While Beckett’s works are often defined by their existentialist themes, Endgame seems to offer no solution to the despair and melancholia of Hamm, Clov, Nagg, and Nell. The work is replete with overdetermination that confounds the efforts of critics and philosophers to construct a single, unified theme for the play. Beckett resisted any effort to reconcile the problems of his world, offer solutions, or quench any fears overtly. However, this surface level of understanding that aligns Beckett with the pessimism of the Modernist movement is ironically different from the symbolic understanding that Beckett promotes through his characters and the scene. Beckett’s work does not suggest total hopelessness, but rather that the fears of change, self-centeredness, and despair of Hamm and Clov contribute to their miserable existence. He opposes the Modernist attitude of focus on the subjective, internal state, and reveals the soul of the Modernist to be shallow and starving.
...the WMM only focuses on the short-term memory or working memory, where as the MSM focuses on all parts of memory.
The play defies easy definition and various critics have labeled it variously as absurdist, existentialist, comical, burlesque, metaphorical or grim. The playwright on the other hand maintained that all through the creation of his work he strove to bring in the comic element and any tragedy that seems part of the play, may have crept in inadvertently and whenever it has been staged as a serious play, audience reaction to it has been cold.
...equipment to which they are connected. The $50 to $100 saved on an inferior cable can cost a consumer thousands in damaged HD equipment.
Memory is a process by which we learned are stored for future use. Like the computer, researchers have characterized human memory as an information processing system that has three separate stages during which an already stored memory is called in consciousness. This is called model memory. Once a computer has been named and stored, we can “call it up” by its name and use it again. Human memory works much in the same way. When we recall or bring a memory into consciousness, we have retrieved it. This process is known as memory retrieval. Sensory memory is a very but brief but extensive memory for sensory events. Short term memory is more limited in capacity than sensory memory but lasts longer. Proactive interference occurs when old materials learned more recently. Retroactive interference occurs when recently learned materials interferes with the retrieval of material learned earlier. The initial 10 to 20 second STM period often leads to a second phase, working memory, during which attention and conscious effort are brought to bear on the material at hand. Long-term memory is the memory stage that has a very large capacity and capability to store information relatively permanently. We use maintenance rehearsal when we want to save or maintain a memory for a short period. People who are instructed to remember a list use elaborative rehearsal, which adds meaning to material that we want to remember. These are the models of memory.
It is the ability to store and use information” (CITATION). Memory has long-term storage, short-term storage and sensory memory; this is the three-stage model of memory. Sensory memory is the information we obtain from its sensory formed for a very brief period, usually about half a second or less (Feist & Rosenberg, 2012). “Wave your hand in front of your face. The faint trace that remains after your hand is gone, a remnant of the event just past, is visible evidence of sensory system” (Norman 1982, p. 5). When using sensory, the experiences they use is the sense of smell, taste, feel, see, and hear. Sensory memory is made up of brief traces of a sensation left by firing of neurons in the brain (AUTHOR, 272, PG NUMBER). They leave traces about 2-3 seconds. Sensation is the first step of a long-term
Theater of the Absurd applies to a group of plays with a certain set of characteristics. These characteristics convey a sense of bewilderment, anxiety, and wonder in the face of an unexplainable feeling. These plays all have unusual actions and are missing a key element that would clearly define other pieces of literature. Language and actions differ from the usual and sometimes cannot be explained in the Theater of the Absurd. In the works of Albee and Ionesco language, behavior, and structure are abnormal if compared to other plays. Language is a key factor that is presented as a weak form of communication throughout “The Future is in Eggs,” “The Zoo Story,” “The American Dream,” and “The Leader.”
Some of the information learned include the knowledge and skills acquired over a period of time. The main memory settings include the working and long-term memories. The process of keeping information in the memory is called storage and the subsequent taking information from the memory is called retrieval. The process of retrieval may be easy or may require some effort depending on the relevance, attitude, and amount. However, the memory can be divided into sensory memory that is used to keep information in an unencoded form for easy
Squire, Larry R.. "Short-term and Long-term Memory Processes." Memory and brain. New York: Oxford University Press, 1987. 134-145. Print.