In the late 1940's Samuel Beckett wrote a play, “Waiting for Godot” in which two men wait endlessly for a character named Godot. The play was first performed in 1953 and its uniqueness has prompted numerous interpretations over the years. It certainly was not a musical.
With vague memory, I remember tackling the play in a foreign language class in high school. At that time and age, most of us probably missed the meaning of the play as we were more interested in sports, dating and fast cars. We were waiting for no one!
In a brief summary, Vladimir and Estragon meet near a tree and share with each other that each is waiting for a man named Godot. While waiting, they are joined by two others who act, sing and dance, but then disappear.
Later a young boy arrives and says that he has a message from Godot. The boy tells the two that Godot will not be joining them this evening, but that he will be there tomorrow. The two continue their discussion and the scene ends.
The next night (Act II) the men meet again at the tree. They are joined by the other two men from the previous night, but this time the others are very old and do not remember ever meeting Vladimir and Estragon. They depart as they did the night before, leaving Vladimir and Estragon silently waiting for the arrival of Godot.
The young boy again arrives and announces that Godot will not be coming. When questioned why after being told the night before Godot would be there, the boy insists that he had not spoken to them before and did not know who they were.The play ends.
Over the years the play has been analyzed, interpreted and analyzed again in an attempt to discover Beckett's meaning and purpose. Some have suggested its political overtones while others its religious and spiritual meaning. When it appeared in the theaters in the 1950's and 60's it was seen as an 'existential masterpiece', written, in part, to encourage people to extend beyond the boundaries of everyday life.Today that is called 'thinking outside the box.' The search for its meaning still goes on today as characters act out the roles and emotions on the stages in the small off-beat theaters across the country.
It has been a long time since I read the play back in high school. I didn't really understand its meaning then and not sure I do today. Perhaps it might be worth my time and curiosity to read it again, now that I am older and wiser.
Instead of asking the simple question...”what's this all about?..I might understand that the play is a reflection of people looking to understand life. Perhaps I would understand that most of us go through life waiting for something to happen 'to us', like winning the lottery or having the perfect job offered to us rather than going out and taking personal responsibility to make something happen, being proactive. Perhaps I would better understand the difference between 'waiting' and 'doing'.
Viewing the play again might help me understand why people appear to go through life aimlessly, walking up and down the shopping aisles of a store or sitting on the front steps of a building watching life pass by, still hoping to meet someone who will change life for them. In reality the only people most meet are much like themselves, people looking, waiting and hoping.
There have been times that I have 'waited for Godot', waited for someone to walk up to me with the hopes and promises that might change my life, But as in the play, Godot never arrives. Like the little boy who keeps coming back time after time with the promise that Godot would arrive tomorrow, it turns out to be nothing more than time spent waiting.
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