Characters

THEME

Виталий Сергеевич Чирков

Римма Валерьевна Сметанина

Людмила Васильевна Николаева

Наталья Вячеславовна Макарова

Олеся Юрьевна Лимаренко

Светлана Владимировна Егоренкова

Наталья Владимировна Гольцова

Безопасность развития личности в процессе социализации: Словарь-справочник

Под редакцией профессора В.Г.Маралова

и профессора Н.В.Гольцовой

Each moment of life is dictated by chance and circumstance, bestowing fortune on some while misery on others. In Samuel Beckett's Waiting for Godot Beckett represents the world of Vladimir and Estragon as one of chaos, devoid of any meaningful structure or pattern. Time cannot be applied in this world where day can end without notice and where one cannot remember their actions from the previous day. Time is essentially meaningless, as it is only experienced by a terminal repetition of waiting with no end in sight, except death. J MAC

Two tramps, Vladimir and Estragon, who call each other Gogo and Didi, meet near a bare tree on a country road. They wait for the promised arrival of Godot, whose name could refer to 'God'

April 20, 1956

Beckett's 'Waiting for Godot'

By BROOKS ATKINSON

Literally, the play consists of four raffish characters, an innocent boy who twice arrives with a message from Godot, a naked tree, a mound or two of earth and a sky. Two of the characters are waiting for Godot, who never arrives. Two of them consist of a flamboyant lord of the earth and a broken slave whimpering and staggering at the end of a rope. Since "Waiting for Godot" is an allegory written in a heartless modern tone, a theatre-goer naturally rummages through the performance in search of a meaning. It seems fairly certain that Godot stands for God. Those who are loitering by the withered tree are waiting for salvation, which never comes. The rest of the symbolism is more elusive. But it is not a pose. For Mr. Beckett's drama adumbrates-- rather than expresses--an attitude toward man's experience on earth; the pathos, cruelty, comradeship, hope, corruption, filthiness and wonder of human existence. Faith in God has almost vanished. But there is still an illusion of faith flickering around the edges of the drama. It is as though Mr. Beckett sees very little reason for clutching at faith, but is unable to relinquish it entirely.

..............................

Harding, James Martin. "Trying to Understand Godot". Adorno

and "A Writing of the Ruins": Essays on Modern Aesthetics and Anglo-American Literature and Culture. Albany, New York: State University of New York

Press, 1997. Pages 51-64.Beckett, Samuel. Waiting for Godot.

New York: Grove Press Inc., 2002.

The first pair of characters who exemplify Harding's point, Pozzo and Lucky, are the most apparent example of slave and

master in Waiting for Godot. At first, Lucky is obviously the slave. He is attached with a rope to Pozzo, who is mistaken

at first for Godot. Like the typical master-slave relationship, Lucky is obviously treated with disrespect. He has many sores

on his body, and Pozzo essentially treats Lucky like an animal. Lucky, in turn, blindly follows Pozzo's orders, no matter how cruelly they are issued.

The second, and more interesting, example of the lord and slave dialectic is Didi, Gogo and Godot. "The relationship Didi

and Gogo have to Godot corresponds with the irresolvable subservience which the Jews [...] had to their law" (52).

Harding uses the widely believed idea that Godot represents God, and supposes that Didi and Gogo, like many religious

people, follow their God without discrimination, much like a slave follows its master. Harding "examines the structure of

the Jewish version of the same dialectic represented in Didi and Gogo's relation to Godot" (53), and connects the theme

of waiting to the historical conflict. Much like followers of the Jewish religion blindly wait for a Savior, Didi and Gogo blindly

wait for Godot. Even when night approaches, and Didi or Gogo propose to leave throughout the act, "they do not move" (Beckett 59). The plot centers on waiting, which "assumes a peculiar historical status throughout the play. It falls further and further into the play as the play progresses without synthesis" (Harding 52). Although "the comings and goings of Didi and Pozzo mediate the status of Gogo and Didi and their waiting" (Harding 53), the lack of movement in the play is obvious. Waiting, as it applies to the historical dialectic of God (as the master) and followers (as the slaves) also connects to the fact that the play's plot really goes nowhere. Gogo himself says that "nothing happens, nobody comes, nobody goes, it's awful!" (Beckett 43).

..............................

Vladimir - One of the two main characters of the play. Estragon calls him Didi, and the boy addresses him as Mr. Albert. He seems to be the more responsible and mature of the two main characters.

Vladimir

Vladimir is one of the two protagonists. He is a bum like Estragon, but retains a memory of most events. However, he is often unsure whether his memory is playing tricks on him. Vladimir is friends with Estragon because Estragon provides him with the chance to remember past events. Vladimir is the one who makes Estragon wait with him for Mr. Godot's imminent arrival throughout the play. Vladimir has been compared to the intellect which provides for the body, represented by Estragon.

Estragon - The second of the two main characters. Vladimir calls him Gogo. He seems weak and helpless, always looking

for Vladimir's protection. He also has a poor memory, as Vladimir has to remind him in the second act of the events that happened the previous night.

Estragon

Estragon is one of the two protagonists. He is a bum and sleeps in a ditch where he is beaten each night. He has no memory beyond what is immediately said to him, and relies on Vladimir to remember for him. Estragon is impatient and constantly wants to leave Vladimir, but is restrained from leaving by the fact that he needs Vladimir. It is Estragon's idea for the bums to pass their time by hanging themselves. Estragon has been compared to a body without an intellect, which therefore needs Vladimir to provide the intellect.

Pozzo - He passes by the spot where Vladimir and Estragon are waiting and provides a diversion. In the second act, he is

blind and does not remember meeting Vladimir and Estragon the night before.

Pozzo is the master who rules over Lucky. He stops and talks to the two bums in order to have some company. In the second act Pozzo is blind and requires their help. He, like Estragon, cannot remember people he has met. His transformation between the acts may represent the passage of time.

Lucky - Pozzo's slave, who carries Pozzo's bags and stool. In Act I, he entertains by dancing and thinking. However, in Act II, he is dumb.

Lucky is the slave of Pozzo. He is tied to Pozzo via a rope around his neck and he carries Pozzo's bags. Lucky is only allowed to speak twice during the entire play, but his long monologue is filled with incomplete ideas. He is silenced only by the other characters who fight with him to take of his hat. Lucky appears as a mute in the second act.

Boy - He appears at the end of each act to inform Vladimir that Godot will not be coming that night. In the second act, he insists that he was not there the previous night. Godot - The man for whom Vladimir and Estragon wait unendingly. Godot never appears in the play. His name and character are often thought to refer to God.

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. The boy never remembers having met Vladimir and Estragon before. He has a brother who is mentioned but who never appears.

Дата добавления: 2015-06-27