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| "Two Men Contemplating the Moon" By: Caspar David Friedrich |
Waiting for Godot has always held a special place in my heart. Not only was it the first Beckett work that I ever read, but it was also the first Theatre of the Absurd piece that I ever saw live. After that I was hooked. I think what drew me in the most was the simplicity of the piece. Most shows have so many characters that you need a list to keep up with them all. This is not the case in Waiting for Godot. It doesn't have any excess fluff either. Every word is there for a reason. It is not a show that most people would go see for an evening of lighthearted entertainment. Instead it makes you think.
However, Waiting for Godot is not lacking in humor. You don't even have to look that hard for it. You can find plenty of examples of slapstick comedy throughout the show. My favorite example is right near the end of the play. The two men are contemplating suicide, but they don't have anything to hang themselves with. Then they realize that Estragon is wearing a belt. The stage directions say, "Estragon loosens the cord that holds up his trousers which, much too big for him, fall about his ankles. They look at the cord." This moment is not only a perfect example of slapstick comedy, but also of the dark humor that runs throughout Beckett's work. Here are two men discussing a very serious and morbid topic, and then suddenly one of the men is in his underwear. It's a beautiful juxtaposition. What makes this moment even better is the fact that neither one of the men seems to notice or care that Estragon's pants have fallen down. Instead they just look at the cord. Life goes on whether you are wearing pants or not. Sometimes all you can do is keep moving towards the future. Even if the future is uncertain, it's how you get there that is really important.
Here is my favorite parody of Waiting for Godot:
This was a pretty fair post and did an excellent job looking at the humor and how it is executed in "Waiting for Godot." This was done especially well in looking at the suicide scenes and how the attire of Estragon goes unnoticed just like many of the actions in the play. You are absolutely right in saying every word has a meaning which is what makes understanding this play so hard since one has to look at everything to comprehend what is going on. I really enjoyed the Muppet video at the end and defiantly does great in parodying Godot. I would like if you would had gone into some more slapstick scenes, but you made an excellent choice at looking at the shocking reality of the morbid decisions these men make.
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