While waiting for Godot

While waiting for Godot is a Play into two acts, French and Prose, written in 1948 by Samuel Beckett, and published in 1952 with Paris with the Éditions of Midnight.

It belongs to the mobility of the Theater of the absurd.

Creation took place the January 23rd 1953 with the Théâtre of Babylon, Mise in scene by Roger Blin which played itself the role of Pozzo. It was accompanied by Pierre Latour, Lucien Raimbourg, Jean Martin and Serge Lecointe.

Summary

The part made scandal at the time: two wandering, Vladimir and Estragon, are found on Scène, a withdrawal of case (“Route of Campagne with Arbre”) to await mysterious “the Godot”, a man who promised to them to help them, a hope of change.

Concerns are born: Is this the good day or the good place? Perhaps did it already pass? What to make while waiting? In the middle of the first act, another couple enters in scene: Pozzo and Lucky, the first being a very authoritative man, the owner of the places if one believes his speech of them; the second, a kind of slave, a held subman leaves some, that Pozzo orders tyrannically. The play continues some time; after famous the Monolog of Lucky, dumb man the remainder of the time, but which launches out in a tirade of several pages, parcelled out and inintelligible, the two newcomers disappear.

Godot still did not come. A young boy appears: it is sent by the absent one to say that it will come tomorrow.

End of act I. the light of the scene is re-ignited on same the Décor. Only the tree changed appearance (it has some Feuille S). The first act rejoue with identical, faster and with some variations: Tarragon does not remember the first act, Pozzo became blind. The end of the part does not hold any surprise: the same boy of act I comes to deliver the same message. The two accomplices consider Suicide R in during with the tree. Tarragon unties its belt, its pants fall. They give up it because as they do not have that only one belt, they will have to hang one after the other, and they want to die at the same time. Lastly, a last exchange: “Allons-y” known as Estragon. “They do not move” specifies Beckett in Didascalie.

Analyzes

It is surely the most famous work of the Irish playwright, and that which made run the most ink: many books and articles tried to discover which was Godot. Often, it is explained that it is the mixture of the word English “ God- ” (God) and of a popular Suffixe French “- ot”, which would give a dimension Métaphysique at piece-rates: the two characters await the arrival of a transcendent figure to save them, but it never comes. “Misery of the men without God”.

Beckett always refused this interpretation (" If I had wanted to make hear that, I would have called it God, not Godot") , and even showed that there was a plurality of possible interpretations: “Of the remainder there exists a street Godot, a runner cyclist called Godot; as you see the possibilities are almost infinite”. Moreover Beckett specifies in January 1952 in a letter with Michel Polac:

I do not know more about this part that which arrives at the lira with attention. I do not know who am Godot. I do not even know, especially not, if there exists. As for wanting to find with all that a broader direction and more raised, to carry the spectacle, with the program and the eskimos, I am unable to see the interest of it. But it must be possible.

One can quite simply admit that Godot is the engine of this new theater: its arrival would put an end to waiting of Didi (Vladimir) and Gogo (Tarragon), with this waiting which creates the play. However, the title announced the color: While waiting for Godot , it is to say that what account is waiting itself, the duration of waiting implied by the Gérondif. The force of Beckett is to refuse the arrival of Godot, therefore the fence: this refusal plunges us in a spiral of waiting, in a repetition without exit. The two vagrants will still return still and… They are there probably still per hour that it is!

The part begins one evening, reference ironic to the Règle of the three units (of time, place and action) which, at the time traditional, expected that the action was to begin the morning, to be spread out over all the day to finish the evening. However the part of Beckett begins the evening, which, upon the departure, clearly known as that it will not occur anything. The inaction which one does find throughout the part (“One goes there? Allons-y. They do not move. ”) is thus present from the beginning.

This part is moreover one analysis of the human condition, namely continuously to await something which one is unaware of. We await happiness and when this one comes, we await death without knowing what to make " I am content - I am content - we are content - And what is it made now that one is content? ".

Anecdotes

the first weeks of representations, half of the room left before the end act I. other aggravated spectators remained to oppose the play of the actors while hooting, and by making noise. Godot started each evening of the pitched battles between the defenders of the part and the dissatisfied ones. The situation degenerated one evening in a brawl and the curtain bent down at the beginning of act II. It is also what made it famous: people moved to live the scandal, more than to discover a young author.

the actor who played Estragon, Pierre Latour, did not want to lower its pants at the end of the part, because it found that ridiculous. By learning that, Beckett wrote in Blin to explain to him why the fall of the pants was one of the most important things of the part. After long negotiations, Latour accepted. The pants fell. The produced effect was rather unexpected: it was one of the rare moments of Godot where nobody laughs.

In 1953, the expression “to await Godot”, i.e. to hope for the impossible one, was rather widespread.

the principal protagonist of the Televised series Code Quantum is called Samuel Beckett, just like the author of this part. They have all two receipt a Nobel Prize (of physical for the character, of literature for the author). The character of the series Voyage in time, jumping from time in time and place in place, but without having control of it; he hopes with each jump in time to return at the present, but without never arriving there, just like Vladimir and Estragon await a Godot who will never arrive. Lastly, it forms to him also a duet with another character. Certain spectators of the series saw in these similarities of the references at piece-rates.

One of the characters of the Video game Gyakuten Saiban 3 is called Godot, in reference to this play.

External bonds

a summary on the site Biblioweb
January 23rd, 1953 /Creation of '' While waiting for Godot ''

Be-X-old: УчаканьніГадо

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