Overview of Three Interpretations of Samuel Becketts...

Samuel Beckett wrote Waiting for Godot between October 1948 and January 1949. Since its premiere in January of 1953, it has befuddled and confounded critics and audiences alike. Some find it to be a meandering piece of drivel; others believe it to be genius. Much of the strain between the two sides stems from one simple question. What does this play mean? Even within camps where Waiting for Godot is heralded, the lack of clarity and consensus brings about a tension and discussion that has lasted over sixty years. I will look at what I have determined to be the three most predominant interpretations of the play, including anti-Christianity, existentialism, and nihilism. By also examining Beckett’s life and influences, I believe†¦show more content†¦ESTRAGON. From hell? VLADIMIR. Imbecile! From death. ESTRAGON. I thought you said hell. VLADIMIR. From death, from death. ESTRAGON. Well what of it? VLADIMIR. Then the two of them must have been damned. ESTRAGON. And why not? VLADIMIR. But one of the four says that one of the two was saved. ESTRAGON. Well? They dont agree and thats all there is to it. VLADIMIR. But all four were there. And only one speaks of a thief being saved. Why believe him rather than the others? ESTRAGON. Who believes him? VLADIMIR. Everybody. Its the only version they know. ESTRAGON. People are bloody ignorant apes. (Beckett, Act I) Furthermore, Basaninyenzi writes a fairly common claim. He says, â€Å"Godot, as many critics maintain, is a diminutive of God. He is a supremely powerful being, for it is he who holds in his hand the future of mankind – Vladmir and Estragon (Basaninyenzi 70).† Godot is an entity who is ever-present, but is never explicitly there and yet controls the entire movement – or lack thereof – in the show stands directly parallel to God as a spiritual entity. Basaninyenzi believes that based on these two similarities that Waiting for Godot is an inherently anti-Christian text. Ashkan Shobeiri agrees to an extent, but takes his stance a bit further. In his article for the International Journal of Humanities and Social Science, Shobeiri provides a reason as to why Beckett could be so anti-religion, with specialShow MoreRelatedSamuel Becket s Waiting On Godot1861 Words   |  8 Pagesagain, but taken to the extreme. This was known as the postmodern era and writers began to use their works to convey their sense of how strange the world around them was. The works that will be discussed are Samuel Becket’s Waiting on Godot, a play about two friends who wait for the titular Godot over two day with the second questioning the existence of the first. House of Leaves, by Mark Danielewski, is a cult classic about man trying to understand a manuscript about a movie about a family who moves