Subject :- The theatre of absurd with reference to Waiting for Godot.
Name: Himanshi Parmar
paper: 22400 Paper 107: The Twentieth Century Literature: From World War II to the End of the Century.
Roll no: 08
Enrollment no : 4069206420210025
Email id: himanshiparmar3004@gmail.com
Batch : 2021-2023(M.A sem 2)
submitted to: S. B. Gardi Department of English, maharaja Krishnakumarsinhji bhavnagar University
Definition/ meaning / Origin :-
Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines the term as,
‘Theater that seeks to represent the absurdity of human existence in a meaningless universe by bizarre or fantastic means.’
The word absurd means strange. The word 'Absurd' also refers to a literary genre and style which focuses on the meaninglessness of life. And questioning over human existence and humanity's attempts to make sense of it.
The term theatre of absurd is simply used for a literary movement made up of many diverse plays, most of which were written between 1940 and 1960. The term theatre of absurd originated in Paris and then spread to New York city during the mid twentieth century. The gener was inspired by philosophy and was first mentioned in an essay of a great philosopher Albert Camus titled 'The Myth of Sisyphus'. In that essay Camus discussed human existence and the meaninglessness of the world.
The term theatre of Absurd was first coined by Critic Martin Esslin in 1965. In his book "Absurd Drama". In which he says that Absurd plays are not only about plot, characters, development, realism and traditional technique of writing plays. But instead of that Theatre of absurd focuses on the state of mind of its characters as they’re trapped in illogical and incomprehensible situations.Samuel Beckett, Eugène Ionesco, Jean Genet, Arthur Adamov, Harold Pinter are some of the key figures of theatre of Absurd.
Characteristics of the theatre of Absurd :-
Here are some of the characteristics. But it must be noted here that all these characteristics cannot necessarily be found in all the absurdist plays because it is not necessary that the playwright must have used all. The characteristics are,
1 - Questions of Existence.
2 - Distrust in Language.
3 - Illogical Speeches and Meaningless Plots.
4 - Re-establishment of man’s communion with the Universe.
5 - Vagueness about Time, Place and Character.
6 - Lack of communication amid characters.
1 - Questions of Existence :-
Absurd plays raise some questions like why do we exist? What is our significance? Life is meaningless? For what purpose were we born here? Samuel Beckett, a one of the great absurdist wrote that,
"Nothing is more real than nothing " - Samuel Beckett.
Which shows nothingness in life and in the world and says that life is full of boredom. And that is the key characteristic of Absurd play.
2 - Distrust in Language :-
Language of absurd play seems like meaningless communication. Though it is a very important part of absurd play.
According to Aristotle : plot is the soul of play.
According to Samuel Beckett : Dialogues are the soul of play.
The entire play is mainly about dialogues. And its interpretation by the audience. These kinds of plays do not give any morals as the traditional plays do. But it leaves it to the audience what meaning, what interpretation they want to take from the play. The absurd play is full of dialogues which at one point seem like meaningless and boring but at another point lots of hidden meanings are there and one can understand it by their sense of presence and intelligence.
3) Illogical Speeches and Meaningless Plots :-
Illogical speeches and meaningless plots are the core of absurd play. There is no structure clearly explored in most of the absurd plays. Mostly the plays have no beginning and no ending. It seems like it ends where it started. Like if we see a play of Harold Pinter named The Birthday party, it is so confusing and has no clear indications of what is happening and why such absurd activities are running by all the characters. Stanley is the main character of the play, and the two men come to where he is living and try to beat him, take him away, sometimes treat him well and sometimes so rudely and why are they doing such absurd behaviors? That is not clearly indicated in the play. The plot is full of confusion and the speeches given by all the characters also seem so illogical, but it has deep meanings but not all are able to understand that. By illogical speeches and meaningless plots, they wish to establish a feeling of freedom to make their own worlds. Dr. Culik says,
“Rationalist thought, like language, only deals with the superficial aspects of things, Nonsense, on the other hand, opens up a glimpse of the infinite.”
4) Re-establishment of man’s communion with the Universe :-
Sometimes through Absurd plays, playwrights try to re - establish the value of morals and ethics in life and showing what life will be if there is no value and no morals. Also it is trying to show the importance of myth and rituals in life.
5 - Vagueness about Time, Place and Character.
There is no clear indication we find in absurd play. No clarification about time, place and character. If we see The birthday party by Harold pinter, there is no indication of time. What time is it according to history? Why is that time chosen? Also the place and characters seem so unreliable. That all characters age wise are not appropriate, also not nature wise seems normal.
6 - Lack of communication amid characters :-
There is proper communication that takes place in play. All the dialogues look meaningless and babbling. It is always confusing about what they are talking about and why they are discussing the points which are not necessarily relevant with the subject of their previous talks. And also there are very few characters used in comparison to traditional plays. That thing also makes absurd play very different.
Waiting for Godot as a Absurd play :-
Waiting for Godot is considered as a great Absurd play by Samuel Beckett. The play has no story, no characterization, no beginning nor any end, unexplained themes, imitation of dreams and nightmares and above all it contains useless dialogues.
1- No story or plot :-
The play waiting for godot does not have any plot and does not follow any structure. The play starts with waiting and ends with waiting. Characters also stand and talk, doing nothing more than conversation. Vladimir and Estragon both are the main characters, just standing near the country road and waiting for an unknown person named godot. Whom they never met before and even not know anything about them. Their waiting is useless and the play ends with waiting only.
In the play, we have two parts, but if we read the first part second and second part first, it makes no difference. That is showing its absurdity. In the entire play the two men just wait for an unknown man Godot, also meet some strangers like Lucky and Pozzo and meaningless conversion with them take place. Except for that, nothing much happens. This dialogue of Samuel Beckett is very much related with this point,
“Nothing happens, nobody comes … nobody goes, it’s awful!”.
2 - Useless Dialogues :-
Absurd play is all about useless dialogues. Waiting for Godot based on delivery of dialogues but most of them have no apparent meanings. Every dialogue is full of symbols. If we analyse the play We find that rarely one or two dialogues are written in more than a sentence. It is very short but full of hidden meanings. According to Aristotle : plot is the soul of play. And According to Samuel Beckett, Dialogues are the soul of play. And that thing he proves in the play waiting for Godot By using many of symbolic dialogues.
Also the play does not giving any meaning or moral but Beckett leave it on audience that how they interpret the play by their own sense of humor.that's why he wrote that,
"Nothing is more than nothing ". - Samuel Beckett.
3 - Unexplained Themes :-
Unclear themes also make “Waiting for Godot” a play of absurd theater. Audience do not observe any obvious theme in the play. It is a very rare theme used in the play. And if there are more themes available than that all are hidden. Moreover, it presents an individualistic vision of the writer. There is an effect of alienation in the play with respect to themes.
4 - Question of existence :-
Waiting for godot raises a question of existence. For example in the play there is two main characters Vladimir and Estragon. Both are looking like traps but who they really are not clearly mentioned. Here,we find questions on their existence and along with them the question of human existence. Why are we living? What purpose survived us in this meaningless world that always remains a question.
Conclusion :-
Thus to conclude we are able to say that Absurd theatre is a revolution against the traditional way of writing plays. It is a strange and absurd play which creates boredom among the audience. But the play is full of meanings and hidden symbols. Though it has no proper beginning, ending, plot, characters, and seems meaningless , it is still very meaningful if one can interpret it in a correct way. The absurd play is all about interpretation of the audience and their vision of presence. Waiting for Godot is an absurd play.
References :-
“Theatre of the Absurd: 6 Absurdist Plays - 2022.” Edited by MasterClass staff, MasterClass, MasterClass, 28 Sept. 2021, https://www.masterclass.com/articles/theatre-of-the-absurd#:~:text=Theatre%20of%20the%20Absurd%20is%20a%20theatre%20genre%20that%20originated,that%20absurdism%20defined%20human%20existence.
Sarkar, Somnath, et al. “Theatre of the Absurd: Definition, Examples, Characteristics, History.” All About English Literature, 14 Feb. 2022, https://www.eng-literature.com/2021/05/theatre-of-the-absurd-definition-examples-characteristics.html.
Askliterature. “‘Waiting for Godot’ as an Absurd Play: Absurd Theater Characteristics.” ASK LITERATURE, 20 Nov. 2021, https://askliterature.com/drama/samuel-beckett/waiting-for-godot/waiting-for-godot-as-an-absurd-play/.
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