The Represantation of Existentail Anguish in Absurd Drama as Reflected in Beckett’s Play: Waiting For Godot

Year 2017, Volume: 3 Issue: 6, 73 - 97, 10.12.2017

Özlem Asker

Abstract

This article intends to analyse the play Waiting for Godot by Samuel Beckett in
terms of Existentialism within the genre of the Theatre of Absurd by
investigating through the setting, context and use of language. It is argued in
this thesis that as Samuel Beckett is concerned about human beings’ problems of
existence in the world in his plays, most of the time, he portrays the
representation of human condition which makes his plays to be interpreted in
the light of Existentialism.  In the
thesis, Existentialism as a philosophical movement has been introduced with its
prominent names and examples, also the Theatre of the Absurd is explained in
detail with its basic qualities to shed a light on how the characters’
dialogues, monologues construct their existential anguish through the play
while arguing that there are many existentialistic qualities in the play such
as characters’ searching for meaning and realizing the meaninglessness of the
world and nothingness in the process of their waiting for Godot.

Additionally, the link between Existentialism and The
Theatre of Absurd is illustrated with a view of the play to prove that Waiting for Godot carries the traces of
both Existentialism and The Theatre of the Absurd while the characters suffer
from the existential anguish. More specifically, this study tries to reveal the
fact that Vladimir and Estragon, the main characters in the play Waiting for Godot suffer from
existential anguish and basically explores how the existential anguish is
reflected through the analysis of the characters’ language by means of
dialogues, choice of words, repetitions and silences.

Keywords

Existentialist Philosophy, Existential Anguish, Meaninglessness, Nothingness

References

• Bair, Deirdre. Samuel Beckett: a biography. Simon and Schuster, 1990.
• Beckett, Samuel. Endgame & Act Without Words 1. Grove, 1957.
• Beckett, Samuel. Waiting for Godot. Faber and Faber, 1965.