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The Absurdity in Waiting for Godot Essay

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In Waiting for Godot, Beckett often focused on the idea of "the suffering of being." Most of the play deals with the fact that Estragon and Vladimir are waiting for something to relieve them from their boredom. Godot can be understood as one of the many things in life that people wait for. Waiting for Godot is part of the ‘Theater of the Absurd’. This implies that it is meant to be irrational and meaningless. Absurd theater does not have the concepts of drama, chronological plot, logical language, themes, and recognizable settings. There is also a split between the intellect and the body within the work. Vladimir represents the intellect and Estragon the body, both cannot exist without the other. In the beginning we are thrown into the …show more content…

ESTRAGON:Unforgettable.
VLADIMIR:And it's not over.
ESTRAGON:Apparently not.
VLADIMIR:It's only beginning.
ESTRAGON:It's awful.
VLADIMIR:Worse than the pantomime.
ESTRAGON:The circus.
VLADIMIR:The music-hall.
ESTRAGON:The circus

It makes an interesting point since neither of them aren't saying anything new, it's like having a conversation with a parrot who only knows a few words, so he continuously repets the same words over and over even though the dialogue changes slightly, they are still saying the same thing. When Estragon and Vladamir continuously repeat their actions day after day and unable to go about life as they please, Estragon finally asks:
ESTRAGON:(chews, swallows). I'm asking you if we're tied.
VLADIMIR:Tied?
ESTRAGON:Ti-ed.
VLADIMIR:How do you mean tied?
ESTRAGON:Down.
VLADIMIR:But to whom? By whom?
ESTRAGON:To your man.
VLADIMIR:To Godot? Tied to Godot! What an idea! No question of it. (Pause.) For the moment.
ESTRAGON:His name is Godot?
VLADIMIR:I think so.

Since they are tied to Godot they cannot leave the scene like Estragon wants to do throughout the whole play. Even if they could go it is doubtful that they will since both scenes end the same way:
VLADIMIR:We can still part, if you think it would be better.
ESTRAGON:It's not worthwhile now.
Silence.
VLADIMIR:No, it's not worthwhile now.
Silence.
ESTRAGON:Well, shall we go?
VLADIMIR:Yes, let's go.
They do not move.

Seeing as they never actually

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