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    Pairings in "Waiting For Godot"

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    Ridvana Bećirbašić
    Waiting for Godot is an absurdist play by Samuel Beckett, in which two characters, Vladimir and Estragon, wait endlessly and in vain for the arrival of someone named Godot.

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    Pairings in "Waiting For Godot"

    Uploaded by

    Ridvana Bećirbašić
    2K views2 pages
    Waiting for Godot is an absurdist play by Samuel Beckett, in which two characters, Vladimir and Estragon, wait endlessly and in vain for the arrival of someone named Godot.

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    Pairings in “Waiting for Godot“

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    Waiting for Godot is an absurdist play by Samuel Beckett, in which two characters, Vladimir and Estragon, wait endlessly and in vain for the arrival of someone named Godot.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as docx, pdf, or txt
    2K views2 pages

    Pairings in "Waiting For Godot"

    Uploaded by

    Ridvana Bećirbašić
    Waiting for Godot is an absurdist play by Samuel Beckett, in which two characters, Vladimir and Estragon, wait endlessly and in vain for the arrival of someone named Godot.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as docx, pdf, or txt
    of 2

    Pairings in Waiting for Godot

    Waiting for Godot is an absurdist play, meaning that it focuses on the experiences of
    characters in a situation where they cannot find any inherent purpose in life, most often
    represented by ultimately meaningless actions. In order to start discussion about pairings in
    the play and why is everything paired except Godot, we need to analyse characters.
    Waiting for Godot is full of duality, as the two acts of the play itself there are
    Vladimir and Estragon, the two thieves, the Boy and his brother, Pozzo and Lucky, Cain and
    Abel. Even the tone of Waiting for Godot is filled with duality: two person arguments,
    back-and-forth questions, disagreement-agreement, questions and (often inadequate)
    answers. It is truly interesting how paired they are in the play. If one lacks something, the
    other has it. They are so different but yet so perfect for each other. Perhaps most important is
    that these men have very different types of intelligence; Vladimir is the more intellectual,
    Estragon the more emotional. Vladimir tries to function on a logical base, Estragon has
    clearly given that up long ago. Thus we can say that they cannot exist without each other,
    because one represents body and one mind.
    Both pairs depict strong connection, in which they could not work without each another,
    meaning that Valdimir and Estragon get along and Pozzo and Lucky are slave and master so
    of course slave must obey and thus complement each other. Pozzo and Lucky are a pair
    which complement each other. Pozzo symbolizes the sadist; Lucky the masochist.
    Materialistic man rejecting and suppressing his spiritual and cultural side. Pozzo needs Lucky,
    and even so, he is dying and withering.
    Both pairs struggle with the question of whether they are better with or without each other,
    and neither comes to any sort of real conclusion.
    These are facts of their relationship and pairing. The relationship between Vladimir (Didi)
    and Estragon (Gogo) are:
    Interdependent: they are waiting for Godot and suffer "humanity" together.
    Human like: Estragon (Gogo) represents human body because he always wants to eat and
    sleep; Vladimir (Didi) represents human mind because he is rational.
    Savior- survivor: Vladimir saved Estragon from Rhone fifty years ago.
    Teacher/student, leader/follower, boss/servant, head (mind)/body relationship
    Interchangeable: they always exchange/switch lines (and hat). They are like one person.
    Some critics have suggested that Vladimir and Estragon remain together because of their
    complementary personalities, arguing that each fulfils the qualities that the other lacks,
    rendering them dependent on each other.
    Also another pairing if we can call is a boy who appears in the play, but we may not be
    certain if its the same boy because both boys act the same polite.
    As said in the essay every pair in the play has connection and cannot function without
    each another, whether one is intelligent and one is not they seem to fulfil each another like
    two sides of one coin.

    Reference:
    - Waiting for Godot, A Brief Overview,
    (wtp://www.ibiblio.org/schools/rls/garner/britishlit/overview.pdf)
    - Waiting for Godot, (http://www.eng.fju.edu.tw/iacd_2003S/c_20th_lit/godot.htm)
    - WHO IS WAITING FOR GODOT ABOUT, ANYWAY?, (http://www.samuelbeckett.net/Penelope/Godot.html)

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