Ava Paul

THE 101-FY49
Waiting for Godot Essay
November 27th, 2018
Elements of a Play

Throughout the play Waiting for Godot one is left unfinished. There’s no end to this play.

There is a constant objective of waiting for Godot and a constant urge to distract oneself to

survive.

The driving element is Waiting for Godot is the lack of time. Reading this play, there is

no knowledge or way to completely nail down what year it is or the time span of the play; the

only way to know is by asking Beckett. The reason why time is the driving element is because

there’s a pattern to theses characters of: trying to distract themselves, the distraction, forgetting

why they distracted themselves, then ultimately forgetting what distracted them. The whole play

is distraction and one can say that distraction is a pattern used, but ultimately time is the driver.

For example, at the beginning of the first act the tree has no leaves. At the beginning of the

second act, there are 4 to 5 leaves on the tree. However, the characters have no idea how much

time has passed. They act as if it is the next day, when really they have been doing this, in my

opinion, for years; this may even be their hell.

The setting of this play is unknown, yet I believe that it takes place in hell. Some people

believe that hell is full of flames and demons torturing you. In my opinion, or at least what it

seems to be, hell is the repetition of your misery. Misery means different things to each

individual. Perhaps for Estragon and Vladimir waiting for the unknown is their misery.

The styles used by Samuel Beckett were monologues, repetition, pattern, and silence. In

the text there are many “silences” mentioned in the stage directions. Also by solely reading the

text, one can feel the pauses and the breaks; especially in the scene right after Lucky gives his
speech: “His hat!” “Vladimir seizes Lucky’s hat. Silence of Lucky. He falls. Silence. Panting of

the victors”(Beckett 1153). In this instant, we feel the silence and we feel the heat coming from

Lucky. He just emptied out an entire monologue of what some critics think of as nonsense.

Perhaps, it is nonsense, because not once is there a period or any punctuation. For example,

Lucky says,

“…that man in Essy that man in short that man in brief in spite of the strides of

alimentation and defecation wastes andpineg wastes and pines and concurrently

simultaneously what is …”(Beckett 1152).

Lucky’s monologue is a stream of consciousness, repetition. He repeats the words “that”, “man”,

“in”, “and” to continue his thought. Also, he uses repetition to show how Lucky is spinning in

his mind; trying to find what words go together and what he can say next. This monologue is

nonsense, but to the other characters it is wisdom. In fact, too much wisdom and too much

talking that they try and find a way to stop him. Therefore, what does that say about what the

other characters think or say throughout the play? What is relevant? What is wisdom? Another

example of a monologue is Vladimir when he is wearing the hat that belonged to Lucky, “

Let us not waste our time in idle discourse…What are we doin here, that is the question.

And we are blessed in this…We have kept our appointment and that an end to

that. We are not saints, but we have kept our appointment.”(Beckett 1175).

This monologue is very different from Lucky’s because there is no stuttering in his thoughts, and

there is some meaning to what he is saying, purpose. In Lucky’s monologue, there was a stream

of consciousness, basically words pasted together. On the other hand, Vladimir has sentences and

punctuation, a clear purpose of trying to justify why he and his friend are waiting for Godot.
Another element of language is pattern; the pattern seen throughout this play is the constant

forgetting of what or who they are waiting for. For example, “

What do we do now?

I don’t know.

Let’s go.

We can’t.

Why not?

We’re waiting for Godot”(Beckett 1155).

No matter how long they wait for him, they still forget the reason why they are waiting in the

first place. However, the reason they are waiting for Godot is never given. We don’t know why

they have to wait for him or if they are getting something from him. All we know is what they

know, which is not much.

In the play there is a use of jargon, slang, questions, and rhythm. Some slang that is said

during the play are “crablouse” and “pig.” The slang is used to make another character feel bad

or to belittle them. Vladimir calls Pozzo a “crablouse” and Pozzo calls Lucky “pig.” Also, the

Boy that comes and talks to Estragon and Vladimir has a certain rhythm and jargon to his speech.

For example, “

Mister…Mister Albert…

Off we go again. Do you not recognize me?

No Sir.

This is your first time?

Yes Sir.”(Beckett 1183).

“No Sir.” This is the only language given to the boy to use with the two men. The rhythm to his

responses are “Start and Stop, Start and Stop”, like a machine. This character, the Boy, creates an

eerie mood, because of his presence and answers: ask him the right question to get the answer

you are looking for. One of the many questions asked in the play is, “Why don’t we hang

ourselves?”(Beckett 1184). This question is at the very end of the play, also mentioned earlier,

because they both can’t take waiting anymore. They’ve both been waiting for Godot for ages, but

they don’t even really know how long. Also, Estragon asks the question because they both have

tried to entertain themselves for the longest time, but time seems almost up. The trouble is, there

is not enough rope to kill themselves and there never will be.

The overlaying theme of this play power. One of the themes in this play is power because

of the relationship between Pozzo and Lucky. The slave and master relationship is brutal and

hard to read because of the yanking and jerking and whipping. The rope between them, this

visual element, is the power. The same power that the rope would give to Estragon and Vladimir

to kill themselves. There comes a time where the power runs out, and Lucky leaves Pozzo. The

rope is a metaphor for power in this play, whoever has the rope has the power. Also the hat is a

visual element as well, because it is a metaphor for knowledge; whoever wore it, had to power or

eloquence to speak. Another strong visual was the tree. The tree emphasized the change in time

and set the mood for the play. An empty tree is not warm, not protected by the leaves, bare,

hollow, which give the mood of mysterious and supernatural to the play.

In the play Waiting for Godot there are some aural elements that help intensify the words

said by actors and also gives emphasis to other silent moments. The character Vladimir sings a

song at the beginning of Act II, which gives a solemn beginning, a tone, to the second act.
Making Vladimir sing a song, was a very deliberate choice, because he could have just recited it

as a poem. The song brings an aural element that makes the audience become familiar with a

certain melody. As Vladimir sings the song he continuously stops to “brood”, but also because

he keeps forgetting what line comes next. He keeps repeating the same words and melody that

makes the audience want to finish it for him. Also, the audience becomes familiar with the song

and then are frustrated that he doesn’t finish it. During the song he clears his throat, and tries to

find the strength to sing; the clearing of the throat is another aural element, because it could

make the audience feel like their own throat is dry or some discomfort in the way. Another

element of sound is when Pozzo and Lucky enter or exit the stage, because Lucky carries a lot

for Pozzo. Every time Lucky puts something down or drops it, there is a loud clunk or clack that

disrupts the silence on stage. For example, right before the first meeting of Pozzo and Lucky, “A

terrible cry, close at hand. Estragon drops the carrot…Crack of whip…”(Beckett 1138). The

noise of a cry puts the audience on the edge of their seats. All of a sudden the mood is uneasy,

because something ominous is approaching. Due to the fact that there is so much silence in the

play, the slightest sound that is different makes an impact on the audience. Also, the sound of a

whip can startle the audience and make the reader or theatergoer wince at the sound.

An effect needed to take place in this play is a suitable rope worn for Lucky. The rope

needs to be safe for the actor who plays Lucky, because Pozzo jerks him all the time. There

needs to be a way that it looks like Pozzo is really jerking Lucky, but safely.

While reading the play there is a remarkable amount of stage directions. The stage

directions are so descriptive and are almost on every line in the script. Samuel Beckett must have

had a very clear vision that he didn’t want tampered with. Beckett went so far as to almost

scoring the script for the actors. For instance, “

It hurts?

(angrily) Hurts! He wants to know if it hurts!…

(stooping) True…

(musingly) The last moment”(Beckett 1130).

Just from this, one can see that Becket has a clear vision.This almost helps the actors see his

perspective on how one should deliver the line. However, does it allow for there to be room for

interpretation? Beckett left room for interpretation of the setting and time, but he made sure that

the actors would understand the meaning behind the words in the script.

The play Waiting for Godot includes the use of the elements Language, Music, and

Spectacle through jargon, slang, rhythm, monologues, silence, themes, and questions, to tell a

story of waiting.