1

Waiting ?! Fo

r.....

Godot

Whitney hsu

The Author

2

Samuel Beckett

Birth: 1906 13 April

Born in Dublin Irish

Died in 1989

Samuel Beckett

3

Born in Irish and write his works both English and French

Faced world war two times. Worked in the Red Cross in Irish

joined the antinazi party and being hunted by the gestapo

Samuel Beckett

4

his work was divided into two category the novel and the play

In his early work he depicted the anxiety ,confusion, uncertainty and loneliness in modern people.

in his novel, there are symbolism and stream of consciousness.

Samuel Beckett

5

his novel: murphy Summary:

The plot of Murphy follows an eponymous "seedy solipsist" who, urged

to find a job by his lover Celia Kelly, begins work as a male nurse at the

Magdalen Mental Mercyseat, and finds the insanity of the patients an

appealing alternative to conscious existence.

Samuel Beckett

6

Samuel Beckett

7

His play-----------absurdism the theater of the absurd

The Theater of the Absurd

8

The Theatre of the Absurd is a designation for particular

plays written by a number of primarily European

playwrights in the late 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s, as well as

to the style of theatre which has evolved from their work.

Playwrights commonly associated with the Theatre of the

Absurd include Samuel Beckett, Eugène Ionesco, Jean

Genet, Harold Pinter, Tom Stoppard

The Theater of the Absurd

9

The style:

tragicomedy

Surrealism, and Dadaism

Relationship with Existentialism

Formal experimentation

Samuel Beckett

10

His play-----------absurdism

the three play:

Waiting for Godot

Oh Happy day

Endgame

Samuel Beckett

11

his legacy------------------

Also he won a Nobel Prize in 1969

The play

12

Waiting for Godot

published in 1948

debut on 1953

written in French

The play

13

The play

14

Estragon <Gogo>He is a bum and sleeps in a ditch where he is

beaten each night. He has no memory beyond what is immediately said to him, and relies on Vladimir to remember for him. Estragon is impatient and constantly wants to leave Vladimir, but is restrained from leaving by the fact that he needs Vladimir. It is Estragon's idea for the bums to pass their time by hanging themselves. Estragon has been compared to a body without an intellect, which therefore needs Vladimir to provide the intellect.

The play

15

Vladimir <didi> Vladimir is one of the two protagonists. He is a bum

like Estragon, but retains a memory of most events. However, he is often unsure whether his memory is playing tricks on him. Vladimir is friends with Estragon because Estragon provides him with the chance to remember past events. Vladimir is the one who makes Estragon wait with him for Mr. Godot's imminent arrival throughout the play. Vladimir has been compared to the intellect which provides for the body, represented by Estragon.

The play

16

Pozzo

Pozzo is the master who rules over Lucky. He stops

and talks to the two bums in order to have some company.

In the second act Pozzo is blind and requires their help.

He, like Estragon, cannot remember people he has met.

His transformation between the acts may represent the

passage of time.

The play

17

Lucky

Lucky is the slave of Pozzo. He is tied to Pozzo via

a rope around his neck and he carries Pozzo's bags. Lucky

is only allowed to speak twice during the entire play, but his

long monologue is filled with incomplete ideas. He is

silenced only by the other characters who fight with him to

take of his hat. Lucky appears as a mute in the second act.

The play

18

The BOY

The boy is a servant of Mr. Godot. He plays an

identical role in both acts by coming to inform Vladimir and

Estragon the Mr. Godot will not be able to make it that

night, but will surely come the next day. The boy never

remembers having met Vladimir and Estragon before. He

has a brother who is mentioned but who never appears.

The ?

19

WHO IS GODOT??

WHO IS Godot?

20

Is he God??

Does he even exist?

WHO IS Godot?

21

Beckett is believed to have said that the name Godot comes from the French "godillot" meaning a military boot. Beckett fought in the war and so spending long periods of time waiting for messages to arrive would have been commonplace for him. The more common interpretation that it might mean "God" is almost certainly wrong. Beckett apparently stated that if he had meant "God," he would have written "God".

WHO IS Godot?

22

The weird point

Buckett stated that he didn’t mean God while in act one in the beginning he used a story from the bible.Which is very “odd”!!

And another point is that he claimed that the Godot was not God. However, almost every expert in playwright studying said that Godot refers to God. Was it implied? Or the author just left us a question ?

WHO IS Godot?

23

Or, perhaps

It is just a name!!!!

We can use our imagination to portrait the look of Godot!!!

24

25

26

Act 1: a scene

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WoC9Kx5QvK0