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Visions of Absurdism in Samuel Beckett's Waiting for Godot

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Visions of Absurdism in Samuel Beckett's Waiting for Godot PEOPLE’S DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF ALGERIA MINISTRY OF HIGHER EDUCATION AND SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH UNIVERSITY OF MOHAMED BOUDIAF FACULTY OF LETTERS AND FORIENG LANGUAGES DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH Visions of Absurdism in Samuel Beckett’s Waiting for Godot A Dissertation Submitted to the Department of English in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master in Literature Candidates Mr. Chawki Moussa Aouina Mr.Yassine Sahraoui Board of Examiners Mrs. LAOUIDJI Karima University of M’sila Chairperson Mr. Mohammed SENOUSSI University of M’sila Supervisor Dr. MIHOUBI Houria University of M’sila Examiner 2019 PEOPLE’S DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF ALGERIA MINISTRY OF HIGHER EDUCATION AND SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH UNIVERSITY OF MOHAMED BOUDIAF FACULTY OF LETTERS AND FORIENG LANGUAGES DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH Visions of Absurdism in Samuel Beckett’s Waiting for Godot A Dissertation Submitted to the Department of English in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master in Literature Candidates Mr. Chawki Moussa Aouina Mr.Yassine Sahraoui Board of Examiners Mrs. LAOUIDJI Karima University of M’sila Chairperson Mr. Mohammed SENOUSSI University of M’sila Supervisor Dr. MIHOUBI Houria University of M’sila Examiner 2019 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS First of all we would like to acknowledge the assistance of our supervisor Mr. Mohammed Senoussi for his patience, support, guidance and valuable instructions throughout the course of this research and his encouragement that helped us finish this work. We also thank our teachers for their valuable courses throughout the year, which were beneficial and we had really enjoyed. Special thanks for the honourable board of examiners who accepted to read and evaluate this study. Last but not least, great thanks to our families and friends for the huge support that they have given us Abstract Philosophical ideas diversified and multiplied to a great extent within the chronology of literary discourse, that they grew much dependent upon each other, for instance, existentialism and absurdism. And the present case study of Samuel Beckett's waiting for Godot is one example of this intertwinement. Samuel Beckett’s dramatic work Waiting for Godot (1952) is one of the most enigmatic plays of the modern era, and an embodiment of the twentieth century philosophies, it is a play where nothing happens twice. Hence, the purpose of the present research is to examine the visions of the absurd and futility of human situation in a world devoid of eternal values .it analysis Samuel Beckett’s Waiting For God both thematically and stylistically, From what was demonstrated in the sociohistorical context to the work of Beckett and how it represents the philosophy of the absurd form on side and existentialism from the other. This leads us to study the play thematically and stylistically thorough the examination of the idea of death and suicide as an answer to the absurd. The intermingled presence of religious themes within a discourse full of uncertainty. Moreover, it focuses on the meaning behind the title and how waiting makes the whole play, rather than Godot. It also examines how language fails to convey any meaning. Last but not least it points out symbolic elements lying in the play settings.As a result, we conclude that waiting for Godot is much more than a play where nothing happens. It is a work of an inquisitive mind that portrays the human condition and hopelessness of any system of thought that can provide a definitive answer to what does it mean to exist. Key terms: Absurdism, Existentialism, Theatre Of The Absurd, Postmodernism, Modernism. TABLE OF CONTENT INTRODUCTION ………………………………………………………………………….1 1. Statement of the purpose…………………………………………………………...2 2. Objective of the study…………………………………………………………….. .3 3. Research Question………………………………………………………………….3 4. Literature review………………………………………………………………… . 3 5. Methodology Justification……………………………………………………….....5 6. Research Plan………………………………………………………………….........6 CHAPTER ONE: SOCIO-HISTORICAL CONEXT 1. The Notion Of The Absurd………………………………………………………….8 1.1 Language and the Absurd………………………………………………..........9 1.2 The Absurdity of Religion …………………………………………………....10 1.3 Absurdity and Suicide……………………………………………………........12 2. The Socio-Historical Context 2.1 Modernism..........................................................................................................14 2.2 Post-Modernism..................................................................................................15 3. Existentialism as a Way of Philosophising……………………………………….….17 4. Existentialists and absurdist from Dostoyevsky to Sartre………………………... 18 4.1Albert Camus: Absurdism Inside Out.................................................................19 4.2Fyodor Dostoyevsky: The Underground Man....................................................21 4.3soron Kierkegaard: The Insider’s Perspective....................................................24 4.4Frederick Nietzsche: God Is Dead.....................................................................26 4.5 Martin Heidegger: Existentialism Systematized.............................................27 4.6Jean Paul Starter: Existence Precedes Essence................................................29 5. Existential Themes and Concepts 5.1 Angst, Dread and Boredom.............................................................................31 5.2 Freedom and Responsibility ...........................................................................33 5.3 Authenticity ......................................................................................................35 5.4 Alienation .........................................................................................................35 5.5 Death..................................................................................................................37 CHAPTER TWO: WAITING FOR GODOT A POST-MORTEM 1 Philosophy of the Absurd 1. Philosophical Suicide Disguised As Death ................................................................39 2. Boredom the Spring of Creativity or Lethal Poison.................................................43 2.1 Instances of Boredom through Heidegerian Lens...................................................46 3. Religion and the Irreligious .........................................................................................49 3.1 Godot OR God? ..........................................................................................................50 3.2 Waiting for Salvation ..................................................................................................52 3.3 The Tree Of Life and Death .......................................................................................53 3.4 Time and Memory in Waiting for Godot...................................................................54 2. PLOTTING THE ABSURD IN WAITING FOR GODOT 2.1 The Title ................................................................................................................57 2.2 The Futility of Language......................................................................................60 3. Symbolism 3.1duality ....................................................................................................................64 3.3 The Hats and Shoes ............................................................................................66 3.4 The Boy...................................................................................................................68 3.5 Pozzo and Lucky....................................................................................................69 GENERAL CONCLUSION...................................................................................................71 SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY ......................................................................................77 Introduction Waiting for Godot stands as a literary work that epitomise the absurdity of Modern and Post-Modern era. As well as, the reality of a falling world and reason that are stretched to their ends, this masterpiece captures the meaningless of meaning and the absurdity of the world, of a generation that lost faith after two world wars that brought chaos and wreaked havoc of which their repercussion are still felt today. A generation utterly hopeless and desperate, yet strives to create and find meaning for its life. The 20th century witnesses an upsurge in the works that tried to examine the existence of man in the world, where man is left alone to determine which path he will choose and what meaning to impart on his life, this can be conspicuous in the works of many writers like: Dostoevsky, Kafka, Jean Paul Starter, Martin Heidegger, Samuel Beckett and Albert Camus. All this momentum in existential works is drivenpartly by the atrocities of a turbulent age, and the impending fear that the human existence is threatened under such circumstances. Absurdism as philosophy systematized in a form of philosophical reflections by Albert Camus in which he states that the individual should embrace the absurdity of the world and should always seek meaning. Absurdism was embodied in a form of Drama in 1960' and was called ''the theater of the absurd’’, a term coined by Martin Esslin, The Theatre of the Absurd demonstrate the world as an inconceivable place. The audience see the happenings on the stage entirely from the outside, without ever comprehending the full meaning of these bizarre patterns of event. Both Beckett’s life and work are the product of
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