In Waiting for Godot, a tragicomedy in two serves by Samuel Beckett, two heroes unconsciously point out the sombre emptiness in life by comical means. At face value it is funny and light-hearted, yet a second glance at the concealed metaphoric and symbolic devices unveils a forbidden garden blooming with tragedy. Both genres complement each other, humour creating tragedy, tragedy creating humour. Indeed, it is this peculiar pairing that qualifies the play both in essence and as a pun: a tragicomedy. At a superficial glimpse, the play seems full of un-humanlike action and harbours an inane sense of humour. The supposed communication of the motif is unclear and many of the characters are still left covered in darkness amidst a huge appearance of dialect that is comical at the surface. This suggestions at the idea that a skinny blanket of clear humor is utilised to disguise the best tragedy present in mind. This tragedy is carried forth via a splattering of motifs, such as time, interpretation and presence, and God. By checking out this romantic relationship, a cohesive knowledge of the comical and tragic elements becomes possible, allowing us to decipher the jobs they play in the play. As such, will elucidate that Looking forward to Godot does contain more components of tragedy, and their value and meaning are much larger than any of this play's comedic value.
II. Analysis
In order to research both the comedic and tragic elements, a knowledge of how they are used in conjunction is essential. In other words, we must first know very well what a tragicomedy includes. By meaning, a tragicomedy is a dramatic work including both tragic and comic elements. However, this denotation does bit more than restate that which you already know. In fact, the meaning of any tragicomedy has morphed over time. It was primarily coin by Plautus, a Roman dramatist in the 2nd hundred years B. C. E. as a play where gods and men, experts and slaves change the roles traditionally given to them, gods and heroes acting in comic burlesque and slaves implementing tragic dignity. Then during the Renaissance, tragicomedy became a genre of play that blended tragic elements into drama that was mainly comic. With all the arrival of realism later in the 19th hundred years, tragicomedy underwent yet another revision. Whilst still combining the two elements, comic interludes now highlighted the ironic counterpoints natural in a play, making the tragedy seem to be even more damaging. In this way, it could be said tragicomedy is a more important and serious existence than traditional tragedy. Last but not least, modern tragicomedy is sometimes used synonymously with Absurdist play, which suggest that laughter is the one response still left to man when he's confronted with the tragic emptiness and meaninglessness of existence.
The last two classifications are the most relevant explanations and I really believe those to be identical to Beckett's knowledge of tragicomedy when he labelled his play as such during his translation. Certainly, there exists comic interlude like the discussion that occurs between Vladimir and Estragon in Act II during Pozzo's cries for help "We have to ask him for the bone first. Then if he refuses we'll leave him there" (p89), which illustrates the tragic declare that Pozzo is through their comically serious bout about if to help him and certainly there too is an exploration of the emptiness and meaninglessness of existence, which is fundamentally the actual theme of the complete play.
A bleak and tragic shade permeates the atmosphere at the start of the play. The level is empty besides from a bare tree and two ragged tramps, Estragon and Vladimir. The start of play commences with the narrative, "Estragon, sitting on a minimal mound, is wanting to remove his shoe. He pulls at it with both hands, panting. He gives up, exhausted, rests, tries again. As before. " (p2). Immediately after, Estragon, who offers up just as before, speaks the famous words "Almost nothing to be done", arguably the defining method of the entire play. The encompassing circumstances of the people emanate an alien disconnection to the planet and leave the audience utterly perplexed and bewildered by the relatively nonexistent purpose of the people. The tragic elements are seen in the circumstances of the heroes, their physical disabilities, their lost sense of their time and greatest futility, their doomed presence where "Nothing at all happens and nothing at all can be carried out, and the empty stage as the comic elements revolve around the games the individuals invent, their relationships with one another, and the vaudevillian exercises.
Vladimir and Estragon are portrayed as homeless tramps without purpose, as highly recognized by their paralysis, "Well, shall we go? Yes, let's go. They do not move. " In quite similar way, other individuals, such as Pozzo and Blessed, are characterized too as directionless pairs, symbolized by their deafness and muteness in Action II ". . . Pozzo is blind. . . "(p87). From simply analyzing the character types, we can see that they, like all human beings, have the potential to be "better" individuals with "better" common sense. Our explanation of normal and expected human behaviour might just as well be non-applicable to the environment of the play, hence the usage of "better" is questionable. Our expected definition of tragedy may be considered a derivation of our very own encounters. When someone falls into a situation that, because of this of societal conformation, causes us to develop certain feelings, we feel for his or her loss or misfortune. However, the framework of "Looking forward to Godot" places us in a world so undesirable, because underneath the initial intentional comedy lies a aspect of tragedy that people cannot clearly relate with, defining itself as delusional even to the point of becoming troubling. The inane dialogue and personalities of the play's subject matter sets a predicament so capricious that the restrictions of evaluation must be broadened to accept such ideas of human being behaviour before it is possible to understand Beckett's note and embrace the idea that one can be so unresponsive with an apparently interminable hold out. By taking advantage of the predetermined perspectives of the audience, their activities become an absurd funny that contributes to the tragic tone of the complete play.
The unchanging "Nothing to be achieved" (p2) reinforces helplessness and utter desperation in lieu of the protagonists. Their physical disabilities are the tragic circumstances that baffles the audience even though making us laugh, shows us the meaninglessness of these existence, such as Vladimir's bladder problems, hinted at when "advancing with short, stiff strides, legs extensive apart" (p2), and Estragon's problems with his legs, disturbed recovery, and abuse by individuals he has no memory of, spending the night time "in a ditch" and remarks that " 'they' beat me", where 'they' is never determined Such dialogue can be labelled as tragic as their own distinct personalities and personal problems lead to the initial, main point that humor only shrouds the tragedy.
An excellent exemplory case of such a scenario can be seen on (p85) when Vladimir and Estragon spontaneously use into unanimous, unprecedented debate and mark one another with insults such as "Ceremonious ape!" and "Punctilious Pig!" After the banter, "They accept. They split. " (p86). While at the surface this field may be deemed comedic due to the spontaneous outburst, if we bring ourselves to look past this, we see that it is tragic when they reconcile. The tragedy is out there in their romantic relationship. They both agree that each would be better off by itself, as Estragon says "You piss better when I'm not there. " (p64) and Vladimir replies, "I missed you. . . and at exactly the same time I got happy. " (p64). Despite this, they continue to stay together, being unsure of why. Because of this, it can be said that it's tragic how Vladimir and Estragon haven't any control over themselves nor the exterior factors impacting them. What is even more tragic is the futility of their wait. The fact that Godot will not ever arrive and that there is nothing achieved with the obvious passing of time as symbolized on (p62) by the statement that "The tree has 4 or 5 leaves" establish the apparently meaninglessness with their "goal". This notion of eternally unproductive progress proves to show a tragic image in the thoughts of the audience.
Right after this picture is another just like tragic in mind. Estragon commences by questioning, "What do we do now?" (p86) to which Vladimir responds "We're able to do our exercises" (p86). This is followed by a series of exaggerated actions and comically tires Estragon out after a straightforward hop "That's enough, I'm fatigued. " (p86). This once again shows their failure to do what they want, a concept that is stopped at once more by the end of the play on (p109) when Vladimir questions, "Well? Shall we go?" to which Estragon responds, "Yes, let's go. " but both do not move. This inability to perform such simple actions can be regarded tragic, and questions the purpose of their lifetime. "We always find something, eh Didi, to give us the impression we are present?" (p77). Note that Estragon uses the word impression, implying they are alert to the meaninglessness and futility with their wait. Something must happen yet nothing at all must happen when waiting around and Beckett skilfully achieves this balance. It isn't only the general act of ready that is tragic, but also the things Estragon and Vladimir do during their hang on that is tragic. True to the substance of the play, lots of the comical actions are combined with tragedy. The two insult the other person and then reconcile. "Vermin! Abortion!. . . Now let's constitute!. . . "(p85) which is quite amusing, except that we once again forget the tragedy: throwing insults at each other because they have got nothing to do. Vladimir loses his sense of your time, a continuing motif, after having regained a bit of it "You're sure you saw me, you will not come and inform me tomorrow that you never noticed me!" (p106) and "Was I long asleep? I have no idea. " (p107). His doubt is humorous, but the same uncertainty creates a sense of disarray. What this multitude of examples indicate is mankind's inexhaustible search for so this means, to which Beckett believes leads nowhere but tragedy, and this comedy, imbued with tragedy, is tragedy itself. Through this, real human life, its so this means and existence, as shown in Waiting for Godot, concludes in tragedy.
Vladimir and Estragon aren't the only personas used to express tragedy. Another match exists, plus they play equally as crucial a role as others. Pozzo and Blessed are portrayed so that it is hard to assume that Lucky was once Pozzo's mentor, and is currently treated such as a slave. Masters and slave reversed the assignments traditionally designated to them. He is depicted as the utmost intellectually vacuous persona, yet it's advocated that he has a past which hints at the actual fact that Lucky can think, recite, and sing, highly strengthened by his lengthy, complicated, and almost nonsensical talk: "Given the presence. . . unfinished. . . " (p45-47). However, I find it doubtful that Beckett would devote so much words into a talk if its singular purpose was to confuse. Lucky's speech discloses that he must have spent many hours discovering the deplorable human situation. By meticulously breaking down Lucky's outburst, one will see that, just like Beckett has covered tragedy inside humor, there is a deeper meaning concealed within the talk and its purpose is not exclusively comedic.
Reasonably speaking, Lucky's conversation during the play appears completely disoriented, a chaotic mass of incoherent terms, given the brief amount of time the audience must process each clause. But heading past this comical veil of nonsense, a spectacular construction come up with as meticulously as the play itself materializes. The talk has three specific parts. The first part of the monologue starts by presuming the presence of a God as a given and then explaining him. Taking away extra phrases, we get roughly ". . . with white beard. . . outside time without expansion who. . . loves us dearly with some exceptions for reasons unknown. . . are plunged in torment. . . in hearth. . . whose fire. . . will flames firmament that is to say blast hell to heaven so blue still and calm. . . " (p45) God is described as a paradoxical fatherly number always present irrespective of time, whom may be affectionate, but at the same time states that if it is, many are excluded. That those beings are sent into hell, symbolizing globe, into flame, whose flame will demolish the blue and relaxed vault of the sky (firmament), which is a contrast between tranquility and human suffering. Then there too is the reference to divine apathia, divine athambia, and divine aphasia. Divine refers to God. Apathia is apathy and means the absence of passion, feelings, or exhilaration. Athambia is imperturbability, to be incapable of being annoyed or agitated and not easily thrilled, and aphasia is an inability to vocalize. These three Greek words serve three purposes. The foremost is that they have characterized the impuissance of Christianity as today's religion. God is apathetic: he will not intervene. God is imperturbable: he has never been reached by living humans. And God is aphasic: he has never spoken, even to establish his individual existence. With this sense, Blessed, who in this case signifies the literary embodiment of Beckett, is rejecting the presence of a God, by stating that even if he does can be found, he has deserted us, leaving only despair.
The three words also provide as Beckett's take on what the way society as a whole is going towards. That we are steadily becoming wrapped in apathy: we do not look for others; wrapped in athambia: others cannot reach us; and wrapped in aphasia: there is absolutely no more voice, with the introduction of Internet and interpersonal marketing communications/networking. Finally, the three words identify Lucky's deterioration. It expresses, in turn, his lack of emotion, followed by an oblivious knowing of his surroundings, and lastly, whenever we next meet him, his tone. This perhaps, assists as a metaphor for the decrease in the individuals quality, alarming and appalling. It could appear then, that this first part of Lucky's talk hides a dreary and tragic firmness within the torrent of disorientated words.
The second part of his talk becomes ever more difficult to decipher. You can find many more interruptions and repetition of phrasing, obscuring the message. This perhaps may be on purpose, as Beckett could be expressing the repetitiveness of life and its own lack of meaning. Condensing recurring phrases and removing interruptions, I get "and considering what is more that consequently of the labours remaining unfinished. . . the labours of men. . . set up beyond all uncertainty. . . that man. . . wastes and pines. . . in spite of. . the practice of activities. . . of all sorts. . . concurrently. . . time will inform. . . fades away. . . the fatality of Bishop Berkeley being to the melody of one in. four ounce per head. . . no matter what. . . the facts are there" (p45-46) The concept here says that, to add onto the absence of God as recently stated (hence labours unfinished), it is affirmed, without a doubt, that man is within circumstances of decrease, despite technological advancements (labours of men) and physical exercise (practice of sports). Bishop Berkeley's loss of life marked the beginning of this fall season. With all this happening at once, only time will inform when we will eventually fade away. Lucky endeavors in his talk to recreate Berkeley's harmonization of God and knowledge, but ends up doing the opposite. By associating each brain with "one inches four ounce", it quantifies life and hence devalues humans, slowly reducing us to the execrable state. It becomes obvious that the comedy of Lucky's speed is merely a hide, the real note can be an appalling and tragic commentary on real human progress.
The increased entropy in Lucky's conversation is reflective of his life. He was once very intellectual and experienced great mental capacity, but exactly like man, has degraded. This third and last part of his conversation can only just be referred to as chaotic and stressed, accumulating towards a climax. "and considering what is much more grave that in the light of the labours lost. . . in the plains in the mountains by the seas by the streams. . . running fire. . . the fantastic cold the great dark. . . the earth abode of rocks. . . I continue the skull fading. . . the flames the tears the rocks. . . the skull the skull the skull the skull. . . alas alas abandoned unfinished the skull the skull. . . the rocks. . . so calm. . . unfinished. . . " (p46-47) These ideas describe that consequently of this decline (labours lost), grave outcomes appear, in the plains, mountains, seas, and streams. Running hearth symbolizes common chaos, accompanied by frigid desolate despair, by themselves. The planet earth becomes reduced to stones, and skulls, representing the loss of life of men, wastes away. Chaos tears through the earth, and fatality is rampant. As God has abandoned men, remaining them unfinished, fatality continues on the planet, and there is quiet because - unfinished. He is take off with "unfinished" as his previous word, discussing the incomplete talk and shrinking of mankind. With the final outcome of the final part of Lucky's speech, it becomes noticeable that while it indeed fulfills its role as amusing humour, the true meaning is cataclysmic, and the fact that we are laughing at it is dramatically ironic.
Lucky's talk has much regarding time, with justification. The play has some occasions where time appears to be moving at a crawl, if at all. It really is something a lot more complicated than it may look. On the top, time is a numerical where growth is assessed. On a more deeply level, time can be very difficult to explain. Through the entire play, the primary concept of what time is really, is evaluated.
In the context of what has took place or exactly what will happen, time can be categorized nearly as good or bad. In Looking forward to Godot, the strain of holding out makes time pull. If time is exactly what growth is measured by, if nothing changes, did time really cross? In the play, we await change, looking forward to Godot. Yet, in certainty, things change as a continuing, where we don't realize we are ready. It is only when change is gradual to come when we realize that were in circumstances of inaction. It really is during this realization that brings a source of pain to the average person. Vladimir and Estragon constantly strive to be spontaneous and strong in order to ensure change, but always come to the unavoidable realization that they were waiting. Attribute of the play, we often notice them say "Let's go. We can not. You will want to? We're looking forward to Godot. " It really is comical how Estragon seems to forget their purpose, and is continually reminded, but moreover, this shows their rapid realization of these expectation of change. Yet Godot himself never appears in the play. His individuality is irrelevant, what's important is the action of looking forward to someone or something that never occurs. He is the essence of change and a final solution. The repetition of his name impresses after the audience the same sense of anticipation. It really is tragic as the play concludes that Godot never will arrive, demonstrating that both functions are but a slice of a routine, or of two mirrors reflecting endlessly. The end of the play can be matched up to the start. Nothing has transformed, little identity development is made and what little changes that have occurred have reverted back again to original, such as Vladimir's epiphany where he proclaims: "Let us not squander our time in idle discourse!. . . " p(91) and coerces the audience into thinking that perhaps, finally, some semblance of development can look. Alas, the powerful soliloquy extends to an anticlimax, interrupted by the constant change of topic natural in the play. Time is apparently circular, instead of linear. The latter has divided, because occurrences do not develop into progress and change. The guy returns bearing equivalent information, Godot never comes and tomorrow never appears to occur. Vladimir mentions that "time has ended" (p37).
Estragon and Vladimir, throughout their finite lifestyle, are moving relentlessly towards a presumably unobtainable event. It really is as an asymptotic curve, always getting closer to a value, but never achieving it. Estragon expresses this tragic destiny of uneventful repeated lifestyle as he exclaims, "Nothing at all happens, no one comes, nobody runs, it's dreadful!" (p43). The realization that there won't be a finish to the waiting is evidence because of their contemplation of suicide, as Estragon says, "How about dangling ourselves?" (p12). Once the audience has grasped this, various ideas emerge. Some are associated with other styles in the play, such as the meaningless in ready, because it halts time and improvement, whilst the repetition of the setting emphasizes the repetition of life. Thus as we've seen, while the play retains a humorous shell, as it progresses, the audience begins to feel sympathetic. The time that Vladimir and Estragon put in collectively was comedic, but after peeling apart this shell and revealing to us their consciousness, without time, we will see naught but woeful anguish.
VI. Conclusion
The comedy within Waiting for Godot becomes tragedy at the instance the audience recognizes the helplessness of Vladimir and Estragon. Unhappiness is one of the funniest things we as humans see, but at exactly the same time, it is despairing. The way Pozzo treats Lucky is entertaining, to both the reader and audience. Lucky is constantly jerked around by his rope which exaggerated action creates humour, but at the same time, we overlook the cruelty that is so certainly implied. It is tragic how exactly we so quickly accepted this treatment, so when the play persists, laugh at it even more. This signifies an integral part of Beckett's view of human nature, that it's not until it becomes personal do we start caring about the tragic tones and implications.
Comedy has been suppressed by the tragic elements. The play becomes a tragedy imbued with tragedies. The tiny, easily discovered tragic happenings donate to a greater, deeper despair. Such as for example Estragon suggesting loss of life as an escape. It is sad to see one suggest any such thing, yet additionally it is funny due to nonchalant light-hearted way he implies it, as well as the talk that ensues. The two tramps engage in meaningless, pointless activity to move the time, waiting for something that never comes. This absurdity is a fundamental way to obtain tragedy. However, what is absolutely tragic is that in the long run, they cannot make a decision, to reside in or perish and because of this of the hesitation, are permanently frozen in progress. This essentially shows their paralysis of your energy and continuity. Didi and Gogo are stuck, day in day out, looking forward to Godot to no avail. This work of waiting around is the very thing Beckett is trying to portray. It is merely during lapses doing his thing, where were waiting, that people begin to understand the meaninglessness of whatever we are doing. An mind-boggling sense of despair washes on the audience in this instant of realization, and all sense of humour is gone. All that is remaining is a mixture of anxiety, confusion, and hopelessness.
