The Element of ‘ Time’ In Waiting for Godot
Table of contents:-
Personal Information
Assignment Details
Abstract
Keywords
Introduction
Overview of the Play
The Element of ‘ Time’ In Waiting for Godot
Conclusion
References
Personal Information:-
Name:- Divya Bharatbhai Jadav
Batch :- M.A.sem 2 ( 2023- 2025)
Email Address:- divyajadav5563@gmail. com
Roll number:- 7
Assignment Details:-
Topic:- The Element of Time in ‘Waiting for Godot’
Paper:-107: The Twentieth Century Literature: From World War II to the End of the Century
Subject code:- 22400
Submitted to:- Sujata Binoy Gardi, Department of English, MKBU, Bhavnagar
Date of Submission:- 26 April 2024
About Assignment:- In this assignment I will try to define The Element of ‘Time’ in Waiting for Godot
Abstract:-
Samuel Beckett's Waiting for Godot(1952)is one of the most puzzling plays of the modern era. It is a play where nothing happens twice. Hence, the purpose of this research writing is to explore the element of time in Beckett's masterpiece Waiting for Godot tragicomedy. The play is part of the Theatre of Absurd' and being an absurdist playwright. Beckett tends to explore the internal states of an individual's mind. It also explores the absurdity of modern man, how they are dwelling in a twilight state and unaware of their surroundings. This work is based on the belief that the universe is irrational, meaningless and the search for order brings the individuals into conflict with the universe. The study investigates existentialist's point of views. In the play Time represents a dominating force as well as a tormenting tool to its characters.
Waiting,Time,Absurdism,Loneliness,Existentialism,Nothingness
Samuel Beckett's Waiting for Godot is a well-known drama of twentieth-century literature. He created a completely new kind of play and exhibits the trepidation of human beings using comic style. The play Waiting for Godot is considered a landmark in modern drama. The title suggests itself that the play deals with prolonging the wait for Godot. Beckett's characters use ordinary words and short sentences and his work is often filled with emptiness. His characters struggle to find existence, but they always fail. They wait for an answer that never comes. His characters live in pain and also confront death, anxiety, despair and physical suffering. They are dwelling in the twilight states and have no awareness of whether it is daytime or nighttime
Waiting for Godot is a famous play that explores the time factor up to a great extent. The play is full of absurd things and shows. the forgetful nature of human beings. As drama is the literature genre, it represents human nature and the prevailing incidents that we come across in our daily life, which shows social factors and dimensions. As we see different elements of the related age. In Beckett's works, and in modern literature, we come across elements like confusion, communication gap. fear of food, fear of shelter, and fear of security that arise from the World Wars. Beckett is one of the famous writers in what Martin Esslin called 'Theatre of Absurd'. Theatre of Absurd' expresses the belief that human existence has no meaning and it is futile. Human beings. are dwelling in a state of absurdity and they are unconscious about their existence. The point of absurdity makes the tramps unable to do anything. There are several instances of conflict between what the character says and what he does.
Overview of the Play:-
Waiting for Godot, a play by Irish playwright Samuel Beckett, premiered in French in 1953 and later published in 1954. Waiting for Godot" is a masterpiece of 20th-century theatre that revolutionised the way we perceive drama. Set against a desolate landscape with a single tree, the play unfolds over two acts, each depicting Vladimir and Estragon's endless wait for the elusive Godot.The play delves into the existential angst of its characters, Vladimir and Estragon, who pass the time with philosophical discussions, absurd antics, and mundane activities while anticipating the arrival of Godot, a figure they believe will bring meaning to their lives. Throughout their interactions, they grapple with questions of identity, purpose, and the nature of existence.Their wait is punctuated by encounters with other characters: Pozzo, a pompous landowner, and his subservient slave, Lucky. These interactions add layers of complexity to the play, exploring themes of power dynamics, dependency, and the degradation of humanity.Despite their anticipation, Godot never arrives, leaving Vladimir and Estragon in a perpetual state of uncertainty and longing. The play's open-ended conclusion invites audiences to interpret its meaning, with theories ranging from religious allegory to a commentary on the human condition and the futile search for meaning in a chaotic world.
The Element of ‘ Time’ In Waiting for Godot:-
The element of Time' in Waiting for Godot plays an important role. Time in the play produces boredom. Beckett was of the view that humans pass the time to overcome the dilemma of anxiety of their existence. In the play, both of the characters Estragon (Gogo) and Vladimir (Didi) pass the time to stop themselves from thinking too deeply. The tramps do not live in the present time and instead of enjoying it, they are waiting perpetually for a mysterious person named Godot. What distinguishes Waiting for Godot from all other plays is the absence of almost any action of any kind. Therefore, all the absurdist activities they are engaged in are just a waste of time. Khalid and Ali are of the view that "both life and time are controlled by circumstances'' . Time is the indication of the duration of events. It plays an important role in the human lifespan. Time passes so fast and swiftly that we cannot perceive the exact state of our life. We neither can control time nor can we stop it. Time is not a tangible commodity. It is just a concept through which we visualise past events or situations. Time is cyclic and shows its repeatability like the rising and falling of the waves, the passing seasons, etc. The study of Waiting for Godot goes beyond the limits of human knowledge and tries to display the nature of existence, truth and knowledge. In this paper, the researcher digs out those elements which keep the characters busy waiting for Godot. There is no progression in the play until the end and things move in a circular direction.
Wating:-
The act of waiting is an essential element of human's nature. It is due to waiting that we experience the flux of time. To wait means simply to experience the flow of time. The tramps are confronted with the action of time. Therefore, all the useless activities they are indulged in are just a waste of time. For instance, the dialogue "it's a carrot" is said by Estragon. These two vagabonds were hungry and there was a quarrel among them about whether this was a turnip or a carrot. It is also human's psychology that they fight for minute things. They are unaware of the fact that how long one can beg or bargain for the things of this world. The dialogue "you gave me a fright is also said by Estragon. The relationship between Estragon and Vladimir presents a glimpse of light to this bleak universe. They do absurd activities to frighten each other to pass the time. The dialogue "you won't be wanting the bones?" is said by Estragon. This shows the cruel attitude of masters toward their slaves. The slaves are at the mercy of their masters and they are being treated so poorly.
The dialogue "Waiting? So you were waiting for him?"
Pozzo, and the discussion was going on about Godot's arrival. After learning from a boy that Godot is not coming today.
Time:-
The element of time in Waiting for Godot plays an important role. Time in the play produces boredom, anxiety, despair and so on. Obviously, the tramps, Vladimir and Estragon, pass the time to cope with the dilemma of anxiety of their existence. Both characters. pass the time to stop themselves from thinking too deeply, and that is why they indulge themselves in absurd activities. All the absurdist activities in which they are engaged are to waste time. The tramps do not live in the present time and instead of enjoying the present time, they are waiting for an unknown person named Godot. Thus, the notion of time is continually analysed. Characters question the flux and importance of time:
Vladimir: Will the night never come?
Vladimir: Let us not waste our time in idle discourse.
Pozzo: What time is it?... Is it evening?
Absurdism:-
The idea of the absurd consists of that there is no meaning to live in this world. As in the opening scene of Act one, three elements are introduced. A country road. A tree. An evening. The reason behind writing this barren play is connected to the post-war atmosphere. Waiting for Godot belongs to the movement of 'Theatre of Absurd and due to absurdity, anything can happen to anyone at any time. The idea of the absurd had been popular in twentieth-century literature. Camus is of the view that human existence is absurd. "We value our lives and existence so greatly, but at the same time we know we will eventually die, and ultimately our endeavours are meaningless" Camus asserts that there are two convictions in human life, we exist and we will die. The rest is an illusion. We can only identify the world in its parts but not as a whole.
Thus, many of the literary works of Jean-Paul Sartre, Albert Camus, and Samuel Beckett contain the description of the absurdity of the human condition in this world. The Second World War was the reason that ultimately brought absurdity to human life and the absurdity of the human condition best portrayed in the play Waiting for Godot that subverts logic. At first, the writer talks about the setting of the drama , that there is a natural setting of Waiting for Godot and its contribution to the meaning of the drama. Later on, in the same work, he turns towards the importance of the element of time in understanding drama.
Existentialism:-
In the play, existentialism is also present and it indicates the habitual existence of both the characters that come every day in search of Godot's arrival. In fact, they do not know what he looks like, Godot is like an imaginary character, for which Vladimir and Estragon are waiting and hoping that Godot will come and give meaning to their lives. When Godot, which is a symbol of the meaning of life, does not show up, it depicts that if one does not find meaning in life, one is captivated and surrounded by the illusion of nostalgia and meaning.
Nothingness:-
Time plays an important role in the play. It expresses the idea that time does not reproduce and the tramps do not know the importance of time. In Waiting for Godot, the situation remains static from beginning till end. As Estragon says "Nothing happens, nobody comes, nobody goes, it's awful!"
Conclusion:-
The present paper concludes that the play presents essential characteristics of the human situation, emphasising absurdity. nothingness and suffering of human existence. As Esslin asserts, "The Theater of the Absurd shows the world as an incomprehensible place" . The play also shows class relations in the depiction of the master-slave relationship between Pozzo and Lucky, which is a bleak reference to the exploiting and exploited classes in the modern world. However, this play has said that nothing happens twice in the play. Beckett to make the readers experience the same thing as Vladimir and Estragon do.
References:-
https://www.academia.edu/43307495/Time_in_Waiting_for_Godot
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/329913457_Time_and_Narrative_in_Samuel_Beckett's_Waiting_for_Godot_and_Endgame_1
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