KHUDIRAM BOSE CENTRAL COLLEGE

NAME – Gyan Kiran

I would like to express my special thanks of gratitude to my teacher as well as our H.O.D.
who gave me the golden opportunity to do this wonderful project, which also helped me in
doing a lot of Research and I came to know about so many new things. I am really thankful
to them.
Secondly, I would also like to thank my parents and friends who helped me a lot in finishing
this project with in the limited time. I am making this project not only for marks but to also
increase my knowledge.
Thank you again. 
ABSTRACT

The English edition of “Waiting for Godot”, published in 1956 describes the play as a
“tragicomedy” in two acts. There are many dialogues, gestures, situations and actions that
are stuff of pure comedy. All musical devices are employed to create laughter in such a
tragic situation of waiting. The total atmosphere of the play is very akin to dark-comedy. For
example, Vladimir is determined not to hear Estragon’s nightmare. The latter pleads with
him in vain to hear him, saying that there is nobody else to whom he may communicate his
private nightmares.

KEYWORDS
Waiting for Godot, tragic, comedy, absurd
WAITING FOR GODOT AS A TRAGIC COMEDY

In the English version of Waiting for Godot, the play is depicted as a tragicomedy prior to
going on further, it should be clarified what a tragicomedy is and the way that it is not quite
the same as dark comedy. Tragicomedy is a scholarly type that mixes parts of both tragic
and comic structures. Most frequently seen in dramatical literature, the term can differently
depict either a tragic play which contains an adequate comic component to the ease up the
general mind-set or a serious play with a happy ending. A dark comedy is a subgenre of
comedy that downplays awful circumstances. Waiting for Godot never makes light of
terrible aspects life. There are a few notices of death in the play however the characters
never make fun of the death or besides any awful things in the play. However, there are
many incidents in the play that are hilarious and we can laugh watching those hilarious
scenes without having any guilt.
First, we have to know, ‘comic relief’ is something that is different from tragicomedy. Many
people can’t differentiate comic relief from tragicomedy. The play “Dr Faustus” by
Christopher Marlow contains comic relief even then it is a pure tragedy. Hence, comic relief
is entirely different from comedy because it runs side by side along with the play. It has no
impact on the character as well as the plot of the play, therefore, comic relief should not be
confused with comedy.
Beckett's Waiting for Godot is generally termed as the saddest play and yet the funniest.
The play presents the theme of the absurdity of life through a connotation of mimicry and
fooling. absurdity implies atheism, the absence of valid moral categories, the insufficiency of
reason and the need to create one's own standards. It gave priority to existence over
essence then created God; this world come before the word.
But waiting for Godot is not a gabbled piece of nonsense but a careful dramatic writing. it is
true that waiting for Godot contains Estragon's trousers dropping, Vladimir chimney walk.
Exchanging their bowler hats in a complex routine such clowning is undertaken to the
dramatize the theme of nothingness, the all are means to fill the void as they wait for
Godot.
But what does it all mean?" is the most frequent statement heard after one has seen or
finished reading a play from the Theatre of the Absurd movement. Beckett's plays were
among the earliest and, therefore, created a great deal of confusion among the early critics.
No definite conclusion or resolution can ever be offered to Waiting for Godot because the
play is essentially circular and repetitive in nature. Once again, turn to the Dramatic
Divisions section in these Notes and observe that the structure of each act is exactly alike. A
traditional play, in contrast, has an introduction of' the characters and the exposition; then,
there is a statement of the problem of the play in relationship to its settings and characters.
In Waiting for Godot, we never know where the play takes place, except that it is set on "a
country road. “Furthermore, in a traditional play, the characters are developed, and
gradually we come to see the dramatist's world view; the play then rises to a climax, and
there is a conclusion. This type of development is called a linear development. In the plays
of the Theatre of the Absurd, the structure is often exactly the opposite. We have, instead, a
circular structure, and most aspects of this drama support this circular structure in one way
or another. More important than the repetition of setting and time, however, is the
repetition of the actions. To repeat, in addition to the basic structure of actions indicated
earlier — that is:

Vladimir and Estragon Alone

Waiting for Godot” contains many excitements and comic elements but everything is
dependent on the suffering of characters, hence, laughter in this play is bitter which is one
of the fundamentals of a tragicomedy. Samuel Becket has also defined two types of
laughter; one is bitter and the second is ethical. Bitter laughter is when someone is sad yet
he laughs. It does not give that person any excitement. On the other hand, the second type
i.e., ethical laughter contains happiness. There is emotional relief in that sort of laughter.
“Waiting for Godot” falls in the first category and most of the plays that are based on the
genre of tragicomedy contain a bitter laugh, as mentioned.
The play opens with a negative idea -Nothing to be done. From the outset when we see
Estragon struggling with his boots, the sentence seems comical, however as the play
advances and Godot is no place to be seen we gradually grasp the implication of the
sentence- the helplessness of the tramps, their frustrations are all there in that first
sentence itself. Consequently, Beckett capably blends both tragic and comic components
even in the dialogues of the characters. There are numerous ways that Beckett makes
Waiting for Godot entertaining. Once in a while the wit of the characters entertains us.
When Estragon battles with his boots, Vladimir wittily says-"There's man all over you,
blaming on his boots the faults of his feet." This witty single line is capable of eliciting
laughter, more because immediately after saying this Vladimir does almost the same thing
with his hat. Again, the words of the characters are funny to hear. Early in the play Estragon
says that 'it might be better to strike the iron before it freezes" thus giving a twist to the
familiar proverb: 'strike the iron while it is hot". The short sentences, when expressed
swiftly by the tramps are themselves funny regardless of whether there is no comical
element in them-
Vladimir-Charming evening we are having.
Estragon- Unforgettable.
Vladimir- And it's not over
Estragon- Apparently not.
Vladimir- It's only beginning.
Estragon- It's awful.
Vladimir- Worse than the pantomime
Estragon- The circus.
Vladimir- The music hall.
Estragon- The circus.

Frequently, the comedy is alloyed with additional serious ramifications so the all-out air is
nearer to that in dark comedy. For example, when Pozzo and Lucky enter in act-I, Pozzo's
military-style demean or evokes laughter. Anyway, the audience can't burst out laughing as
there is Lucky who is dealt with cruelly by Pozzo in a similar scene. The arrival of Pozzo held
by Lucky on a rope appears to make an opposite picture of the previous circumstance. This
picture carries a specific fulfilment to the crowd. The crowd might chuckle at this inversion
of fortune however they are made very much aware about how flighty fortune can be.
Again, there is a scene which is inspired from circus where Vladimir and Estragon put on and
take off each other's hat as well as that of Lucky again and again. While the act is funny but
our laughter fades away when we finally understand that the scene is actually a comment
on the repetitive and monotonous cycle of life. We are reminded of the myth of Sisyphus.
We can't pass judgment on the line among comedy and tragedy when the cord with the
assistance which the tramps are to commit suicide breaks. The two men are not even
allowed the opportunity to to die in the bleak world where living is a curse. There are
additionally several moments or circumstances in the play which are outright a miserable
with no comic touch in them. In the earliest point of the play, we get to realize that Estragon
is routinely beaten by obscure men. Furthermore, the saddest thing is, Estragon has become
fairly used to this everyday torture. The issues with Estragon's feet and Vladimir's kidneys
don't let them stay in peace. In Vladimir's case, even his laughter hurts him. Theirs is the
world in which there is no hopeful to live for and no device to commit suicide by. The only
comment that sees Ms befitting for this world is "Nothing to be done". The situation of lucky
too is quite pathetic, especially in view of his glorious past, as Pozzo describes it. However,
the most tragic thing in the play is the fact that the tramps must wait in order to evade the
realization that there is actually no Godot, that there is nothing to wait for, that there is no
saving. The conscious realization that they are the ones who have who have invented their
own Godot might just snap the last thread that connects them to the world. Deep down
Vladimir and Estragon know that Godot will never come but to have meaning to their
existence, they have to wait for Godot.
 Comedy in this play is in reverse order. In Act-II, there is less comedy as compared to Act-I
of the play. Hence, despair increases as the play proceed towards the conclusion because of
the unending wait Vladimir and Estragon do for Godot, who never appears on stage nor has
the playwright has introduced it to the audience. Laughter is better observed before it is
revealed to the audience that the folks are waiting for someone. Vladimir suggests that they
should repent, however, Estragon cannot find any reason to repent on except on their birth.
Both of them along with the audience laugh at this joke. Certainly, it is comic for the
audience but the very next moment Vladimir suppresses his laugh because he remembers
the pains of life from his unconsciousness. The Laugh of every character in this play is
mirthless (laughter that contains sorrows).
CONCLUSION

The total effect of the play, "Waiting for Godot", is the co-mingling of tragic and comic
elements, which in turn suggests that Samuel Beckett was a realistic dramatist who looked
at life from a position of a pessimist and an optimist. The form of tragicomedy is highly
suitable to this vision of life. The climax of Beckett’s tragicomedy is the role of Lucky. He is
wearing servant’s vest while holding his master’s overcoat, a basket and a stool. His neck is
tied with one end of the rope. His appearance is not only fantastic but grotesque too. The
moment we realize that he is a half-wit; he becomes an image of man’s misery. We are all
the sorrier for Lucky when it is revealed that Pozzo has learnt all the beautiful things of life
from lucky. But now Pozzo is taking the same person to sell in a fair. The relationship of a
ringmaster and his trained animal, changes into a relationship of an owner and a slave. It is
an exploitation of a man by a man who stops the audience from bursting out into laughter.
Comedy has been checked by tragic element or sentiments, while the effect of tragedy has
been mitigated by farce created through characters, dialogues, gestures and actions. We
can sum up with the remarks of Sean O’ Casey, “Beckett is a clever writer, for within him
there is no hazard of hope; no desire for it; nothing in it but a lust for despair and a crying of
woe, not in a wilderness, but in a garden.”
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