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1、Waiting for Godot GraceMavisCarolYvonneImage source:http:/ An Irish playwrightn A novelistn A poetSamuel Beckett1906-1989Image source: http:/www.uni-stuttgart.de/lettres/projekte/galerie/10.htmn1906Samuel Barclay Beckett Born in Dublin, on April 13, 1906. Solitude and loneliness. n1923-1927 French,
2、Italian and English at Trinity College.n1928-1936 In Paris, Beckett was introduced to James Joyce. Ireland, France, England and Germany.Becketts backgroundImage source: http:/www.susa- settled down in Paris.n1947 Beckett began to write in French. n1961 married Suzanne Deschevaux-Dumesnil.n1969 Nobel
3、 Prize for literature. n1989 Becket died in Paris on December 22. Becketts backgroundImage source:http:/www.kennysirishbookshop.ie/categories/nobelprize/nBecketts dramatic works dont reply to the traditional elements of drama. For Beckett, language is useless; he creates a mythical universe peopled
4、by lonely creatures who struggle vainly to express the inexpressible. nhuman nature and human condition.Becketts dramatic worksSamuel Becketts graveSamuel Becketts grave, , MontparnasseMontparnasse Cemetery Cemetery James JoyceJames Joycen1952 written in French, and published.n1953 premiered at the
5、Babylone theater in Paris.n1954 the English translation appeared.Waiting for Godot Image source: http:/ -Estragon calls him Didi, -the boy calls him Mr. Albert -responsible and maturenEstragon -Vladimir calls him Gogo -weak and helpless -has a poor memoryImage source:http:/ passes by the spot where
6、Vladimir and Estragon are waiting and then provides a diversion. -blind, and forgets meeting Vladimir and Estragon before (Act ii).nLucky -Pozzos slave -Carries Pozzos bags and stoolnBoy -Appears at the end to tell Vladimir that Godot wont be coming that night.nGodot -The man that Vladimir and Estra
7、gon wait perpetually. -Never appears in the end of the play. PlotAct 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
8、 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
9、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.Tragi
10、comedy Tragicomedy (or dark comedy or black comedy) refers to fictional works that blend aspects of the genres of tragedy and comedy. In English literature from Shakespeares time to the nineteenth century, tragicomedy refers to a serious play with a happy ending.Tragedy nA tragedy is a drama, movie
11、or sometimes a real world event with a sad outcome.nBased upon Greek tragedies, it is a form of drama characterized by seriousness and dignity, usually involving a conflict between a character and some higher power, such as the law, the gods, fate, or society. ComedynComedy is the use of humor in th
12、e form of theater, where it simply referred to a play with a happy ending, in contrast to a tragedy. A recognized characteristic of comedy is that it is an intensely personal enjoyment. Symbolnhat: reason? intellect?nboot: body? It may suggest that humans try to earn a living and struggle for their
13、life. ntree nature? hope for their future? Image source: www.thomastonoperahouse.org& samuel- ThemeWaiting for something?Two tramps are waiting for Godot. They want to find something to prove their existence. n nFor example, were waiting for nicer weather, the end of exams, etc. Were waiting all the
14、 time. Theater of the absurdWe should create the goal and the value of existence. The Theatre of the AbsurdnThe 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 huma
15、nity 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 Theatre of the AbsurdnThe playwrights loosely grouped under the label of the absurd endeavor to convey their sen
16、se 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 n
17、ot so much portray the outward appearance of reality as the playwrights emotional perception of an inner reality. The Theatre of the AbsurdnThus Becketts 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 g
18、round in the first act and neck-deep in the second; and Ionescos Rhinoceros (1960; Eng. trans., 1960) demonstrates the playwrights anxiety about the spread of inhuman totalitarian tendencies in society by showing the population of a city turning into savage pachyderms. (source)The Theatre of the Abs
19、urdnOne of the most important aspects of absurd drama was its distrust of language as a means of communication. Language had become a vehicle of conventionalised, stereotyped, meaningless exchanges. Words failed to express the essence of human experience, not being able to penetrate beyond its surfa
20、ce. The Theatre of the Absurd constituted first and foremost an onslaught on language, showing it as a very unreliable and insufficient tool of communication. The Theatre of the AbsurdnAbsurd drama uses conventionalised speech, clichs, slogans and technical jargon, which is distorts, parodies and br
21、eaks down. By ridiculing conventionalised 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. Conventionalised speech acts as a barrier between ourselves and what th
22、e 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 conventionalised language. The Theatre of the AbsurdnObjects are much more important than language in absurd theatre: what happens transcends what is bei
23、ng 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. The Theatre of the Abs
24、urdnAbsurd 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 th
25、e 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. No
26、nsense, 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 marvellous comedy. The Theatre of the AbsurdnNo dramatic conflict in the absurd plays! Dramatic conflicts, clashes of personalities and p
27、owers 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. The Theatre of the Absurdn However frantically characters perform, this
28、 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 o
29、f sequential events. It presents a pattern of poetic images. In doing this, it uses visual elements, movement, light. (source)Discussion QuestionsnDiscuss the relationship between Gogo & Didi and Pozzo & Lucky.nHow is the plays title Waiting for Godot related to its theme?nPoint out religious allusi
30、ons and linguistic references in the play.nHow is Waiting for Godot an absurdist play?Works CitednSamuel Beckett. 3 Mar. 2006 .nSamuel Beckett. 3 Mar. 2006 .nSamuel Beckett. 3 Mar. 2006 .nSamuel Beckett. 6 Mar. 2006 . Works CitednSamuel Beckett Resources and Links. 2 Mar. 2006 .nThe Theatre of the Absurd. 2 Mar. 2006 .nWaiting for Godot. E-text. Act 1 . Act 2 .
