Nonsense talk: Theatre

of the Absurd
Akvilė Lesutytė
2020
Content
• Theatre of the Absurd;
• Existential philosophy;
• Relation with Shakespeare;
• Theatrical features;
• Samuel Beckett;
• The years after World War II;
• “Waiting for Godot“;
• ‟Waiting for Godot”: characters;
• ‟Waiting for Godot”: analysis;
• Conclusions;
• List of references.
Theatre of the Absurd

• World War II left the entire world in a state of confusion and

depression. Human life seemed defenceless and meaningless. The
Theatre of the Absurd was born from this notion;
• While its roots took hold in Europe during the 1920s and 1930s, it
wasn't until after World War II, in Paris during the 1950s and 1960s
that the Theatre of the Absurd began to develop;
• When first performed, these plays shocked their audiences as they
were absolutely different than anything that had been previously
staged;
• In an attempt to clarify and define this radical movement, Martin
Esslin coined the term “The Theatre of the Absurd”.
Theatre of the Absurd (II)

• Essentially, each play present man’s existence as illogical, and

moreover, meaningless;
• The five defining playwrights of the movement are:
1. Eugène Ionesco;
2. Samuel Beckett;
3. Jean Genet;
4. Arthur Adamov;
5. Harold Pinter.
Existential philosophy

• Absurdist Theatre was heavily influenced by Existential philosophy;

• The existentialist believes that man starts life with nothing. His life
is made up of acts; through the process of acting man becomes
conscious of his original nothingness;
• In Albert Camus’ essay “The Myth of Sisyphus“ (1942) Camus
attempts to present a reasonable answer as to why man should
not commit suicide in face of a meaningless, absurd existence.
Relation with Shakespeare
• The morality plays of the Middle Ages may also be considered
a predecessor to the Theatre of the Absurd presenting
archetypal characters and allegorical or existential problems
(Esslin, “The Theatre of the Absurd“, 1960, p. 14);
• Esslin also cites William Shakespeare as an “influential
precurso“. His tragicomedies are considered as a major impact
on absurdist writing, as they often are logical and realistic;
• Esslin states that “Shakespeare’s plays are loaded with a
similar type of inverted logical reasoning, false conclusions,
free associations, real or pretended madness and the
combination of comedy and tragedy“.
Theatrical features

• Two themes that reoccur frequently throughout absurdist dramas

are a meaningless world and the isolation of the individual;
• The characters in Absurdist drama are lost and floating in an
incomprehensible universe. Absurd characters lack the motivation
found in characters of realistic dramas, highlighting their
purposelessness;
• The moments when characters resort to nonsense language or
clichés are when words appear to have lost their main function,
thus creating misunderstanding among the characters;
• Language frequently gains a certain phonetic, rhythmical and
almost musical quality.
Samuel Beckett
• Samuel Barclay Beckett was born in Dublin, Ireland on
April 13, 1906;
• Beckett entered Trinity College in October 1923.
Secured the prestigious lectureship at the college in
Paris;
• While living in Paris, Beckett’s poem “Whoroscope“ was
published in 1930;
• Beckett returned to Dublin and was given an
appointment as a lecturer in French at Trinity College;
• In 1932, Beckett decided to return to Paris in an attempt
to find publishers and recognition for his works. https://sites.udel.edu/britlitwiki/samuel-beckett/
Samuel Beckett (II)
• During this time he began to work on his first novel “Dream of Fair to
Middling Women“ (1932);
• Beckett was soon forced to return to Dublin, as he could no longer
support himself;
• He published a book of poems while in Dublin entitled “Echo’s Bones“
and “Other Precipitates“ (1935) and began working on another novel
“Murphy“, which was eventually published in 1938;
• Beckett moved back to Paris in October of 1937.
The years after World War II
• Within a few short years, he produced a trilogy of novels:
“Molloy“ (1951), “Malone Dies“ (1951) and “The Unnamable“
(1953);
• It took just four months for him to complete “Waiting for Godot“
(1953);
• Beckett subsequently published many more plays, such as,
“Endgame“ (1957), “Krapp’s Last Tape“ (1958), and “Happy
Days“ (1960);
• In 1969, Beckett was honoured with a prestigious award–the
Nobel Prize for Literature;
• Beckett died on December 22nd, 1989 at the age of 83.
‟Waiting for Godot”

• Tragicomedy in two acts by Irish writer Samuel Beckett,

published in 1952 in and first produced in 1953;
• The play consists of conversations between Vladimir and
Estragon, who are waiting for the arrival of the mysterious
Godot, who continually sends word that he will appear but who
never does;
• Unlike traditional plays that are linear in form, Beckett’s Waiting
for Godot is like a circle: one of the primary points of the play
centres on the idea that all of this has happened over and over
numerous times.
‟Waiting for Godot”: characters
• Vladimir is one of the two main characters of the play. He is the
one who makes Estragon wait with him for Mr. Godot's arrival
throughout the play;
• Estragon is the second of the two main characters. Estragon is
impatient and constantly wants to leave Vladimir, but is
restrained from leaving by the fact that he needs Vladimir;
• Pozzo is the master who rules over Lucky. He stops and talks
to the two bums in order to have some company;
• The boy is a servant of Mr. Godot. He plays an identical role in
both acts by coming to inform Vladimir and Estragon the Mr.
Godot will not be able to make it that night, but will surely come
the next day.
‟Waiting for Godot”
‟Waiting for Godot”
‟Waiting for Godot”
‟Waiting for Godot”
‟Waiting for Godot”: analysis
• Estragon. (giving up again). Nothing to be done.
The first line “noting to be done” sum up the play as a whole:
nothing meaningful ever happens, and nobody ever takes any
meaningful action. At first, it seems that Estragon is simply talking
about his boot, but Vladimir's response that he is "beginning to
come round to that opinion" but hasn't "yet tried everything"
makes it a broader philosophical statement;
• Vladimir. And they didn’t beat you? Estragon. Beat me?
Certainly they beat me. Estragon, sitting on a low mound, is
trying to take off his boot.
The beginning of the play introduces the audience to the
characters' bleak world, which is filled with all kinds of suffering,
from the more trivial to the more serious.
‟Waiting for Godot”: analysis
• Vladimir. It hurts? Estragon. (angrily). Hurts! He wants to
know if it hurts!
This textual repetition will be found throughout the play as an
indicator of the repetitiveness of life in general for Vladimir and
Estragon;
• Estragon. (feebly). Help me! Vladimir. (he takes off his hat
again, peers inside it). Funny. (He knocks on the crown as
though to dislodge a foreign body, peers into it again, puts it on
again.) Nothing to be done.
The characters' absurd behaviour is never explained. Vladimir
ignores Estragon's pain, and repeats Estragon's words that there
is nothing to be done: they are not only bored, but in able to do
anything at all.
‟Waiting for Godot”: analysis
• Estragon. The Bible… (He reflects.) I must have taken a look
at it.
The Christian idea of repentance (ripentanc) no longer has any
real value for Vladimir and Estragon. Estragon's comment
underscores the uneasy quality of the play's humour;
• Estragon. I remember the maps of the Holy Land. Coloured
they were. Very pretty. The Dead Sea was pale blue. The very
look of it made me thirsty. That’s where we’ll go, I used to say,
that’s where we’ll go for our honeymoon. We’ll swim. We’ll be
happy./ Estragon. I was. (Gesture towards his rags.) Isn’t that
obvious?
Estragon's stance toward Biblical tradition is not reverenced or
special. It is unclear whether Estragon's absurdly abrupt
statement that he was a poet is to be taken seriously or not.
‟Waiting for Godot”: analysis
• Vladimir. Ah yes, the two thieves. Do you remember the story? Two
thieves, crucified at the same time as our Saviour. One is supposed to
have been saved and the other… (He searches for the contrary of
saved)… damned.
The Biblical story introduces the idea of redemption into the play. But in
the Modern-Postmodern world of the play there is no God by whom the
characters hope to be saved, only Godot. But we can notice parallel
between Godot and God. Estragon, meanwhile, is bored even by his
friend's conversation;
• Vladimir. And yet... (Pause.)... how is it– all four Evangelists were
there. And only one speaks of a thief being saved. Why believe him
rather than the others? Estragon. People are bloody ignorant apes.
Vladimir is sceptical of the Bible and points out its self-contradictions.
Estragon's comment shows the bleak status of humanity in the play.
While he compares humans to apes.
Conclusions
• The Theatre of the Absurd was born from Human life which
seemed defenceless and meaningless;
• Each play present man’s existence as illogical, and moreover,
meaningless;
• Two themes that reoccur frequently throughout absurdist
dramas are a meaningless world and the isolation of the
individual;
• Beckett breaks away from the traditional play and asserts the
uniqueness of his own circular structure.
List of references
• Martin Esslin, The Theatre of the Absurd, 1960;
• Deborah B. Gaensbauer, The French Theater of the Absurd, 1991;
• M. Bennett, Reassessing the Theatre of the Absurd, 2011;
• https://www.grin.com/document/346459
• https://sites.udel.edu/britlitwiki/the-theatre-of-the-absurd/
• https://sites.udel.edu/britlitwiki/samuel-beckett/
• https://
www.cliffsnotes.com/literature/w/waiting-for-godot/critical-essays/samu
el-beckett-and-the-theater-of-the-absurd
• https://www.biography.com/writer/samuel-beckett
• https://www.coursehero.com/lit/Waiting-for-Godot/act-1-estragon-and-
vladimir-summary
/
• https://www.sparknotes.com/lit/godot/section1/
Thank you!