Waiting for Godot - Samuel Beckett. task activity

• Waiting for Godot is a play by Samuel Beckett in which two characters, Vladimir (Didi) and Estragon (Gogo), wait for the arrival of someone named Godot who never arrives, and while waiting they engage in a variety of discussions and encounter three other characters. 
• Waiting for Godot is Beckett's translation of his own original French play, En attendant Godot, and is subtitled in English only "a tragicomedy in two acts".

• Q 1) What connection do you see in the setting (“A country road. A tree.Evening.”) of the play and these paintings?

• In this setting there is symbolic representation longing for nature and as well as absurdity of life. Evening suggest that next day will come and their waiting will have end. Tree symbolize hopefulness of them.

• Q 2) The tree is the only important ‘thing’ in the setting. What is the importance of tree in both acts? Why does Beckett grow a few leaves in Act II on the barren tree -The tree has four or five leaves - ?

• In act 1 barren tree suggest absurdity in life and death of hope. It also shows the impact of world war ll. Society turns into ditch.  in Act II on the barren tree because   in second act the tree grown some leaves its shows archetypal idea about life,death and reborn. nature is cycle of life .

• Q 3)  In both Acts, evening falls into night and moon rises. How would you like to interpret this ‘coming of night and moon’ when actually they are waiting for Godot?

• .moon shows the light of positiveness and hope for new day come with new things and full fill our wishes of life.it also reflected meaninglessness of waiting.

• Q4) The director feels the setting with some debris. Can you read any meaning in the contours of debris in the setting of the play?
• In the movie version director showing debris .it's like absurdity,and humans predicament, also debris is totally useless but it will be recycle if someone think over it so that debris also in same condition for waiting for processing of recycle as over body in aged time become totally weak ,useless so death come and our soul converted into new body it is spiritual ideas from indian myth and religion . So in same way biblical belief for recycle of body.so director vision to show that kind of idea it is combination of both characters is debris kind of lifestyle because they are useless.

• Q5)  The play begins with the dialogue “Nothing to be done”. How does the theme of ‘nothingness’ recurs in the play?
• Samuel Beckett comes with idea ‘ Nothingness’ in the play, but it leads to the Something else.   Play opens with ‘Nothing to be done.’ But here nothingness is means that something to be done so nothing itself is action. It recalls the line of T.S.Eliot’s ‘nothing’ means ‘something’. Repetition of the word nothing to be done.
  
   In order to better understand how nothingness creates everything in the play we can compare Waiting for Godot with The Spanish Tragedy and Hamlet. In these two plays, the central motive is revenge. In fact, everything is structured by this revenge motive. But in Waiting for Godot, where there is no motivated action, the sense of nothingness play the pivotal role in determining the every aspect of the play. So, nothingness creates everything in Waiting for Godot.

• Q6. )  Do you agree: “The play (Waiting for Godot), we agreed, was a positive play, not negative, not pessimistic. As I saw it, with my blood and skin and eyes, the philosophy is: 'No matter what— atom bombs, hydrogen bombs, anything—life goes on. You can kill yourself, but you can't kill life." (E.G. Marshal who played Vladimir in original Broadway production 1950s)?
• Yes, I agree to the point of E.G Marshal that the play waiting for Godot is positive play in the sense of life is goes on we can not stop or kill the time. If we commit suicide or stop our breath it doesn't matter for life. We kill ourselves not the life, it must go on. So, we can say that life is meaningless though we have to live life, this lesson make us positive

• Q7) How are the props like hat and boots used in the play? What is the symbolical significance of these props?
• Here we interact that one who is busy with his boots and other one is busy on thinking. it show their identity what they are .  The hats and boots are playing vital role in this play. Here it is presented symbolically. The symbol of boot presented with the character of Estrogen that shows the lower order thinking as he has also had less memory. His thinking does not represent any logical dialogues throughout the play. Boots here may relate with the body and it shows the material thing.
•  Hat also play vital role in the play. It is related with the character of Vladimir, the hat also shows the higher order thinking and logical connection. In the play we may observe that there also the mind power of the answer of Vladimir. It shows the spirituality of the life.

• Q8)Do you think that the obedience of Lucky is extremely irritating and nauseatic? Even when the master Pozzo is blind, he obediently hands the whip in his hand. Do you think that such a capacity of slavishness is unbelievable?
• for this things I want to say that  “Why” the playwright uses Lucky, the obedient servant. Means “Why” he doesn’t use any animal but a man and shows how a master treats him as an animal. Calling him “Pig”, sometimes we also behaves same with other human beings and with other natural things. For us only our Existence matters, it’s Worthy for us. And sometimes we became so selfish. And sometimes we cannot realize it that process, same way after being treated by Pozzo as an animal, perhaps Lucky is not able to think like that. So he is obeying, and it’s irritating.

• Q 9)Who according to you is Godot? God? An object of desire? Death? Goal? Success? Or  . . .

• According to me, Godot is the an object of desire. We constantly thinking about the meaning of life, we want to achieve goals, become successful. But the the ultimate end is death, so everyone wanted that we all are become free from the meaningless life. So, the Godot is our medium to reach the celestial city, in which the journey of body to soul.

• Q10) “The subject of the play is not Godot but ‘Waiting’” (Esslin, A Search for the Self). Do you agree? How can you justify your answer?

• Here waiting is endless because, we constantly waiting for Godot and he will never come, he sent his messenger as in the play, Godot sent the boy, to says that he will come tomorrow. As it is we keep waiting for Godot and our ultimate aim is waiting, to the last breath. So, the subject of the play is not Godot but 'waiting'.

• Q11 )   Do you think that plays like this can better be ‘read’ than ‘viewed’ as it requires a lot of thinking on the part of readers, while viewing, the torrent of dialogues does not give ample time and space to ‘think’? Or is it that the audio-visuals help in better understanding of the play?
• It is true that audio and visuals are helping in the understanding of the play, but when we read the play it requires lots of thinking. If we read the play it gives different imagination, which is our own thinking process. And when we take a help of audio and visuals the characters are given their own imagery and we learnt the expression of the characters. So, the audio and visuals are quite helpful to understand the play and characters as well.

• Q12) Which of the following sequence you liked the most.
• Vladimir – Estragon killing time in questions and conversations whilewaiting
•  Pozzo – Lucky episode in both acts
•  Converstion of Vladimir with the boy

• I like the conversation between Vladimir and Estragon for killing time. They both doing very interesting thing to asking questions each other rather than blaming each other. They both ask each other question about everything. It consider as a intellectual conversation.

• Q13) Did you feel the effect of existential crisis or meaninglessness of human existence in the irrational and indifference Universe during screening of the movie? Where and when exactly that feeling was felt, if ever it was?
• There is effect of existential crisis and meaninglessness , we find when nothing happens by the time. Vladimir and Estragon waiting for Godot but boy said that he will come tomorrow not today. Ultimately waiting is the meaningless act. It will not be fruitful at all. Life itself is nothing our existence is absurd and our waiting for death. So in play theme of nothingness creates effect of existential crisis.

• Q14) Vladimir and Estragon talks about ‘hanging’ themselves and commit suicide, but they do not do so. How do you read this idea of suicide in Existentialism? 
• Vladimir  says that they will hang themselves tomorrow unless Godot comes to solve them. They doing the fun to kill the time. As I have seen the video in the context of suicide, this line is very significant, “An elegant suicide is an ultimate work of art” it’s an art, so here Vladimir and Estragon talks about commit suicide but they do not do that, and keep postponing in the wait of Godot.

• Q15). Can we do any political reading of the play if we see European nations represented by the 'names' of the characters (Vladimir - Russia; Estragon - France; Pozzo - Italy and Lucky - England)? What interpretation can be inferred from the play written just after World War II? Which country stands for 'Godot'?
• If we do the politically reading of  the play Vladimir - Russia ,Estragon - France, Pozzo - Italy and Lucky – England then Godot can be considered as Germany and Hitler. It also suggest it's capitalism. Like Godot Germany also ruled over the world. All the country inferior under the rule of Hitler.

• Q16.) So far as Pozzo and Lucky [master and slave] are concerned, we have to remember that Beckett was a disciple of Joyce and that Joyce hated England. Beckett meant Pozzo to be England, and Lucky to be Ireland." (Bert Lahr who played Estragon in Broadway production). Does this reading make any sense? Why? How? What?
• Yes, we can interpret the political reading in which Vladimir stand for Russia, Pozzo stand for Italy, Lucky stand for England and Estragon stand for France. So, we can connect this to the world war in which these all countries destroyed by Godot means Germany that is why Vladimir asked to the boy that is Godot beating? Then boy replied yes. So we connect Godot with Germany means Hitler, who destroyed many countries and killed thousands of people. And other interpretation of Pozzo and Lucky master and slave in which we connect Pozzo with England and Lucky with Ireland, so in this matter Ireland struggling a lot with England and recently we have seen Brexit pact.
• 
  
• 
  

  Q 17 ) The more the things change, the more it remains similar. There seems to have no change in Act I and Act II of the play. Even the conversation between Vladimir and the Boy sounds almost similar. But there is one major change. In Act I, in reply to Boy;s question, Vladimir says: 

  
  

  "BOY: What am I to tell Mr. Godot, Sir?

  
  

  VLADIMIR: 

  
  

   Tell him . . . (he hesitates) . . . tell him you saw us. (Pause.) You did see us, didn't you?

  
  

  How does this conversation go in Act II? Is there any change in seeming similar situation and conversation? If so, what is it? What does it signify?

• In the Both acts boy and Vladimir do same conversation. In act 1 Vladimir told boy to tell Godot that you saw us. But in act 2 Vladimir told boy to tell that you saw me. So in act one he cares about Estragon but in second act he become self center person who doesn't care about Estragon. It shows how situation changes the mindset and behaviour of the person.

Thank you. ...... ...