Waiting for Godot
Camus and the Absurdity of Existence in Waiting for Godot
Angela Hotaling SUNY Oneonta (Oneonta, NY)
Abstract: Albert Camus’ argues in The Myth of Sisyphus that human life is absurd and purposeless. Humans grapple with becoming conscious of the absurdity of existence, and this realization causes one to suffer. Basically, with the Death of God, men are deserted from God, and all of the meaning that God gives. One has to unhinge oneself from the desire for life with a meaning, and live amidst the absurdity. In this paper, I compare Camus’ views in The Myth of Sisyphus to Samuel Beckett’s play, Waiting for Godot. I also mention Nietzsche’s contribution to the existential tradition and how it sets up the dilemma of human existence that Camus is attempting to discuss. Man’s desire for a meaningful life is present in Waiting for Godot, and I explore the many forms in which this desire for meaning can consume one’s existence.
“Waiting for Godot” is a play written by Samuel Beckett. The play is classified by Grove Press as a tragic comedy, and additionally is seen by critics such as Martin Esslin, in his book The Theatre of the Absurd, to be part of the “theatre of the absurd.” To me it seems to parallel existential thought and themes throughout the existential tradition. The scenery of the play is simple, consisting of only a tree. The exact location is unknown and it appears that the characters are placed in some “distant region” that could be anywhere. The simplicity of the scene in which both acts of the play take place seems to symbolize a much more complicated and absurd existence located in space and time. The play has two acts, the first which spans a day and the second which is the next day. The characters in “Waiting for Godot” and their location represent man suffering from Albert Camus’ concept of nostalgia. (The Myth of Sisyphus by Albert Camus in Basic Writings of Existentialism edited by Gordon Marino) The setting that Beckett creates for the characters
Angela Hotaling SUNY Oneonta (Oneonta, NY)
Abstract: Albert Camus’ argues in The Myth of Sisyphus that human life is absurd and purposeless. Humans grapple with becoming conscious of the absurdity of existence, and this realization causes one to suffer. Basically, with the Death of God, men are deserted from God, and all of the meaning that God gives. One has to unhinge oneself from the desire for life with a meaning, and live amidst the absurdity. In this paper, I compare Camus’ views in The Myth of Sisyphus to Samuel Beckett’s play, Waiting for Godot. I also mention Nietzsche’s contribution to the existential tradition and how it sets up the dilemma of human existence that Camus is attempting to discuss. Man’s desire for a meaningful life is present in Waiting for Godot, and I explore the many forms in which this desire for meaning can consume one’s existence.
“Waiting for Godot” is a play written by Samuel Beckett. The play is classified by Grove Press as a tragic comedy, and additionally is seen by critics such as Martin Esslin, in his book The Theatre of the Absurd, to be part of the “theatre of the absurd.” To me it seems to parallel existential thought and themes throughout the existential tradition. The scenery of the play is simple, consisting of only a tree. The exact location is unknown and it appears that the characters are placed in some “distant region” that could be anywhere. The simplicity of the scene in which both acts of the play take place seems to symbolize a much more complicated and absurd existence located in space and time. The play has two acts, the first which spans a day and the second which is the next day. The characters in “Waiting for Godot” and their location represent man suffering from Albert Camus’ concept of nostalgia. (The Myth of Sisyphus by Albert Camus in Basic Writings of Existentialism edited by Gordon Marino) The setting that Beckett creates for the characters