1、Waiting for Godot -Samuel BeckettlSamuel BeckettlText analysislThemeSamuel BeckettbackgroundBiography12Father of modern linguistics Noam Chomsky BiographySamuel Beckett was born on Good Friday,13 April 1906.At the age of five,Beckett attended a local playschool,where he started to learn music,and th
2、en moved to Earlsfort House School in the city centre near Harcourt StreetBeckett excelled at cricket as a left-handed batsman and a left-arm medium-pace bowler.Later,he was to play for Dublin University and played two first-class games against Northamptonshire.As a result,he became the only Nobel l
3、aureate to have an entry in Wisden Cricketers Almanack,the bible of cricket.Beckett studied French,Italian,and English at Trinity College,Dublin from 1923 to 1927(one of his tutors was the eminent BiographyIn 1929,Beckett published his first work,a critical essay entitled Dante.Bruno.Vico.Joyce.In 1
4、930,Beckett returned to Trinity College as a lecturer.In November 1930,he presented a paper in French to the Modern Languages Society of Trinity on the Toulouse poet Jean du Chas,founder of a movement called le Concentrisme.A literary parody,Confined to a nursing home and suffering from emphysema an
5、d possibly Parkinsons disease,Beckett died on 22 December.In January 1938 in Paris,Beckett was stabbed in the chest and nearly killed when he refused the solicitations of a notorious pimp(who went by the name of Prudent).Joyce arranged a private room for Beckett at the hospital.Waiting for Godot Wai
6、ting for GodotWaiting for Godot is an is an absurdist playabsurdist play by Samuel Beckett,in by Samuel Beckett,in which two characters,Vladimir and Estragon,which two characters,Vladimir and Estragon,wait endlessly wait endlessly and in vain for the arrival of someone named Godotand in vain for the
7、 arrival of someone named Godot.Godots absence,as well as numerous other aspects of the Godots absence,as well as numerous other aspects of the play,have led to many different interpretations since the play,have led to many different interpretations since the plays 1953 premiere.It was voted plays 1
8、953 premiere.It was voted the most significant the most significant English language play of the 20th centuryEnglish language play of the 20th century.Waiting for GodotWaiting for Godot is Becketts translation of his own is Becketts translation of his own original French version,original French vers
9、ion,En attendant GodotEn attendant Godot,and is,and is subtitled(in English only)a tragicomedy in two acts.The subtitled(in English only)a tragicomedy in two acts.The original French text was composed between 9 October 1948 and original French text was composed between 9 October 1948 and 29 January
10、1949.The premire was on 5 January 1953 in the 29 January 1949.The premire was on 5 January 1953 in the Thtre de Babylone,Paris.The production was directedThtre de Babylone,Paris.The production was directed by Roger Blin,who also played the role of Pozzo.by Roger Blin,who also played the role of Pozz
11、o.text analysis of Waiting for GodotAct IAbsurb The plot is absurb It has no tortuous plots,attractive scenes,exciting actions or words.Any progress or change of characters,surroundings and the whole story can not be seen in the disorderly play,which is very repetitive such as the ending is a repeti
12、tion of the beginning,The play lacks of conflicts or fierce words but is full of scattershot dialogue and absurd episodes.At the opening of the play,the two tramps have been waiting for Godot for several days,while at the ending,the waiting is still kept on.To audience,it seems that nothing has happ
13、ened on the stage,no beginning,no ending,and what merely left on the stage is endless waiting.What do they talk about?P273Paragraph 1-4 talk about where His Highness spent the nightParagraph 15-21talk about hurtP274paragraph 10talk about thievesillogicalincoherenceirrelevantthe dialogue is absurbP27
14、2-P274paragraph 4 (He takes off his hat,peers inside it,feels about inside it,shakes it,puts it on again.)(He takes off his hat again,peers inside it.)(He knocks on the crown as though to dislodge a foreign body,peers into it again,puts it on again.)paragraph 10 (He takes off his hat again,peers ins
15、ide it,feels about inside it,knocks on the crown,blows into it,puts it on again.)Vladimir(Didi)p274 (about his hat)What do they do Estrangon(Gogo)(about his boot)P272,paragraph 1 He pulls at it with both hands.tries again.P274,paragraph 9 (examining his foot)P274,paragraph10 (Silence.Vladimir deep i
16、n thought,Estragon pulling at his toes.)P273,paragraph13 (Estragon tears at his boot.)P274,paragraph 4 (Estragon with a supreme effort succeeds in pulling off his boot.He peers inside it,feels about inside it,turns it upside down,shakes it,looks on the ground to see if anything has fallen out,finds
17、nothing,feels inside it again,staring sightlessly before him)repet meaninglesslack of purposeboringGogo is pulling at his boot,but for no reason or just air for it a bit.Didi feels funny with his hat,and puts it off again and again Their behaviour is absurbWhy their talks and behavious are so illogi
18、cal and absurd it is due to unrest of their society and pain on their spirit and soulthey believed the original sin(原罪).From the dialogue,Didi suggested to repent(忏悔).P274paragraph11-14 ESTRAGON:What?VLADIMIR:Suppose we repented.ESTRAGON:Repented what?VLADIMIR:Oh.(He reflects.)We wouldnt have to go
19、into the details.religionsome random discussions involving philosophyExampleP274 paragraph 2VLADIMIR:(musingly).The last moment.(He meditates.)Hope deferred maketh the something sick,who said that?ESTRAGON:Why dont you help me?希望迟迟不来，苦死了等的人希望迟迟不来，苦死了等的人Beckett thinks that the world is absurd,irratio
20、nal.S o that people cannot communicate with each other through rational words.In Waiting for Godot,the words dont have exact meaning.Its just a tool to past time.In order to get rid of solitude,they catch every chance to talk to each other.Page275-276eg:VLADIMIR:You should have been a poet.ESTRAGON:
21、I was.Isnt that obvious?VLADIMIR:Where was I.Hows your foot?(They are talking about the maps of the Holy Land.But then,they continue to talk about Estragons foot.Theres no logical relations between their conversation)VLADIMIR:Itll pass the time.(Thats the purpose of their talk.)(In the following tex
22、t,POZZO and LUCKY show up.LUCKY is a slave of POZZO.He suffers a lot just like VLADIMIR and ESTRAGON.)They talk about two thieves and their Saviour.They are crucified at the same time.VLADIMIR:Then the two of them must been damned.ESTRAGON:And why not?VLADIMIR:But one of the four says that one of th
23、e two was saved.Waiting for GodotThey raise Lucky,hold him up.Their action is similar to the theives and the Saviour.The three are suffering.AlthoughLUCKY is not like the Saviour,but to Vladimir and Estragon,he is lucky.He has a spiritual support-POZZO.Although Pozzo is an evil.In my view,their talk
24、s about the theives and their reaction to LUCKY are related.They are like the theives.Vladimir says:one of the two was saved.From this word,I think he is still hold some hope in his mind.Ahough it is so little.Some random discussion involving philosophyVLADIMIR:But one of the four says that one of t
25、he two was saved.ESTRAGON:Well?They dont agree and thats all there is to it.VLADIMIR:But all four were there.And only one speaks of a thief being saved.Why believe him rather than the others?ESTRAGON:Who believes him?VLADIMIR:Everybody.Its the only version they know.ESTRAGON:People are bloody ignora
26、nt apes.Here,writer use metaphor to describe people,comparing human to ape.At that time,people are ignorance and stupid.They dont know how to be a real person.They just hope that the God will save them,so they dont helpthemsleves from suffering.Theyjust wait.Wait till die.Estragon is a French name,s
27、hortened form in the play is Gogo.For an English-speaking person,it means constantly moving around and something about restlessness and anxiety.Vladimir:A Russian name which remind us of a prominent Russian Imperial Vladimir,abbreviation:Didi.For French-speaking viewers,the pronunciation of “Didi”is
28、 similar to“Die”,which means talking endlessly.By coincidence,both refer to similar to the pronunciation of Chinas brother and younger brother,so they just like a pair of fellow sufferers.Page 277-279ESTRAGON:Charming spot.(He turns,advances to front,halts facing auditorium.)Inspiring prospects.(He
29、turns to Vladimir.)Lets go.VLADIMIR:We cant.ESTRAGON:Why not?VLADIMIR:Were waiting for Godot.(page 277)(Godot is the person that they are waiting for,but they do not know who he is or where he comes from,but they wait just the same,apprently because Godot represents hope in this irrational,cruel,and
30、 pointless universe)ESTRAGON:(despairingly).Ah!(Pause.)Youre sure it was here?VLADIMIR:He said by the tree.(They look at the tree.)Do you see any others?(page277)ESTRAGON:In my opinion we were here.VLADIMIR:(looking round).You recognize the place?ESTRAGON:I didnt say that.Uncertainty/vagueness of pl
31、ace The place where they wait for Gotdot is not typical and certain;Its just a place that can exist at anytime and it can be big or small.But they argue for that,which indicates they are puzzled and their anxiety of existenceWhere ESTRAGON:Youre sure it was this evening?VLADIMIR:What?ESTRAGON:That w
32、e were to wait.VLADIMIR:He said Saturday.(Pause.)I think.ESTRAGON:You think.(page 278)(Those words show the vagueness about time)“Saturday”is created by human beings,so waiting for Godot is to wait for God.When ESTRAGON:That would be too bad,really too bad.(Pause.)Wouldnt it,Didi,be really too bad?(
33、Pause.)When you think of the beauty of the way.(Pause.)And the goodness of the wayfarers.(Pause.Wheedling.)Wouldnt it,Didi?(Extensive use of pauses and silences that inflects a sense of anguish(痛苦),and it also shows that their language is boring,fragmented and incoherent)VLADIMIR:I felt lonely.ESTRA
34、GON:I had a dream.VLADIMIR:Let them remain private.You know I cant bear that.（From those dialogues,on one hand,we can see their coldness to each other;on the other hand,we can see that the two persons depend on each other to survive.Although they exchange insults（侮辱）from time to time,it is clear tha
35、t they value each other company.)In the play Beckett is discussing the absurdity of human life.He is exploring an answer to such questions as“Who am I?”,or“What am I living for?”but in this world of absurdity he cannot find the answer.The theme of the play is waiting for hope.Nobody knows whether Go
36、dot exists.Like the hope,no one can sure it exists.Hope is the inspiration that makes people to live on,like Godot is the reason why Gogo and Didi dont suicide.They are waiting for Godot,and Godot is the hope.However they are just waiting for his coming,never want to seek him.So they can never Godot.
