My opinion about Waiting for Godot

Here is the link of the worksheet on Waiting for Godot:

http://dilipbarad.blogspot.in/2013/09/worksheet-film-screening-harold-pinters.html

Waiting for Godot

The purpose of human life is an unanswerable question. It seems impossible to find an answer because we don’t know where to begin or whom to ask. Existence, to us seems to be something imposed upon us by an unknown force. So, waiting for Godot is an existentialist play, which deals with the meaninglessness of life. The word ‘existentialism’ stands for one’s awareness of one’s bigness. It stands for a vital principal of life. So, this play unfolds the absurdity and nothingness which is the reality of human existence as no one come in the play to the end. Therefore, the waiting becomes the ultimate way of humans. 

Here, myth of Sisyphus can be found because Sisyphus is more famous for his punishment in the underworld. Then for what he did in his life. According to Greek myth Sisyphus is condemned to roll a rock - up to the top of a mountain, and the rock roll back down to the bottom every time, Every time he reaches at the top hence, Sisyphus does this thing which has a no meaning as well as purpose and in Waiting for Godot no one come, no one goes too. Estragon and Vladimir are waiting for Godot but Godot never comes. So by this play Samuel Beckett conveys his idea about meaninglessness of life. 

To answer the question of setting here, Beckett used the same painting which was used by Casper David so it can be interpreted that Beckett took inspiration from Caspar David’s Painting and we know that the painting is either “men and women contemplating the moon” or “two men contemplating the moon” so this connection can be observed in the setting of the play. 

In this play tree has its own significance because Estragon and Vladimir wait for Godot, But Godot never appears in the play. So in the first act the tree is barren, while in the second act a few leaves grow. So these leaves symbolized for the hope. Therefore, here some question which aroused in my mind 

1) Is it coming back to life?

2) Is to simply to signify a lot of time has passed?

So Beckett puts a few leaves in the second act on the tree arouse a hope for the life and this can be a symbol of nature and life.

Waiting for Godot possesses multi-layered meaning, Here when evening falls in to night and moon rises at that time it can be said that night symbolizes nothingness in the life and moon is symbolized as a hope for Vladimir and Estragon who are waiting for Godot to come.