FREE ESSAY ON GODOT AND REPITITION

GODOT AND REPITITION

"Nothing to be done," is one of the many phrases that is repeated again and again
throughout Samuel Beckett's Waiting For Godot. Godot is an existentialist play that reads
like somewhat of a language poem. That is to say, Beckett is not interested in the reader
interpreting his words, but simply listening to the words and viewing the actions of his
perfectly mismatched characters. Beckett uses the standard Vaudevillian style to present
a play that savors of the human condition. He repeats phrases, ideas and actions that has
his audience come away with many different ideas about who we are and how beautiful our
human existence is even in our desperation. The structure of Waiting For Godot is
determined by Beckett's use of repetition. This is demonstrated in the progression of
dialogue and action in each of the two acts in Godot. 
The first thing an audience may notice about Waiting For Godot is that they are
immediately set up for a comedy. The first two characters to appear on stage are Vladimir
and Estragon, dressed in bowler hats and boots. These characters lend themselves to the
same body types as Abbot and Costello. Vladimir is usually cast as tall and thin and
Estragon just the opposite. Each character is involved in a comedic action from the plays
beginning. Estragon is struggling with a tightly fitting boot that he just cannot seem to
take off his foot. Vladimir is moving around bowlegged because of a bladder problem. From
this beat on the characters move through a what amounts to a comedy routine. A day in the
life of two hapless companions on a country road with a single tree. Beckett accomplishes
two things by using this style of comedy. Comedy routines have a beginning and an ending.
For Godot the routine begins at the opening of the play and ends at the intermission.
Once the routine is over, it cannot continue. The routine must be done again. This
creates the second act. The second act, though not an exact replication, is basically the
first act repeated. The routine is put on again for the audience. The same chain of
events: Estragon sleeps in a ditch, Vladimir meets him at the tree, they are visited by
Pozzo and Lucky, and a boy comes to tell them that Godot will not be coming but will
surely be there the following day. In this way repetition dictates the structure of the
play. There is no climax in the play because the only thing the plot builds to is the
coming of Godot. However, after the first act the audience has pretty much decided that
Godot will never show up. It is not very long into the second act before one realizes
that all they are really doing is wasting time, "Waiting for...waiting." (50) By making
the second act another show of the same routine, Beckett instills in us a feeling of our
own waiting and daily routines. What is everyday for us but another of the same act.
Surely small things will change, but overall we seem to be living out the same day many
times over.
Another effect of repetition on the structure of Godot is the amount of characters in the
play. As mentioned before, the play is set up like a Vaudeville routine. In order to
maintain the integrity of the routine, the play must be based around these two
characters. This leaves no room for extra characters that will get in the way of the act.
To allow for the repetition of the routine to take place the cast must include only those
characters who are necessary it. 
The idea that the two characters are simply passing time is evident in the dialogue. The
aforementioned phrase, "Nothing to be done," is one example of repetition in dialogue. In
the first half-dozen pages of the play the phrase is repeated about four times. This
emphasizes the phrase so that the audience will pick up on it. It allows the audience to
realize that all these two characters have is the hope that Godot will show up. Until the
time when Godot arrives, all they can do is pass the time and wait. The first information
we learn about the characters is how Estragon was beaten and slept in a ditch. We get the
sense that this happens all the time. This is nothing new to the characters. They are
used to this routine. The flow of the play is based around this feeling that the
characters know where each day is headed. The audience feels that the characters go
through each day with the hope that Godot will come and make things different. 
In at least three instances in the play characters announce that they are leaving and
remain still on the stage. These are examples of how the units of the play are effected
individually by repetition. Again, Becket emphasizes this for a reason. This is best
shown in the following beat:
Pozzo: I must go.
Estragon: And your half-hunter?
Pozzo: I must have left it at the manor.
Silence
Estragon: Then adieu.
Vladimir: Adieu.
Pozzo: Adieu. 
Silence. No one moves.
Vladimir: Adieu.
Pozzo: Adieu.
Estragon: Adieu.
Silence.
Pozzo: And thank you.
Vladimir: Thank you.
Pozzo: Not at all.
Estragon: Yes yes.
Pozzo: No no.
Vladimir: Yes yes.
Pozzo: No no.
Silence.
Pozzo: I don't seem to be able...(long hesitation)...to depart.
Estragon: Such is life.(31)
The last two pieces of the excerpt is very literal. The idea that going someplace is
doesn't matter, because there is really nowhere to go. All you can do is find someplace
else to wait. Also repeated in the beat is the stage direction for silence. Silence
occurs in life and theater is just a reflection of our lives. It is, in effect, a line of
dialogue. Repeated silence outlines the awkwardness of the beat. The repetition then
creates the tone of the beat. Many of the play's beats are comprised of some type of
repetition. 
"All I know is that the hours are long, under these conditions, and constrain us to
beguile them with proceedings which-how shall I say-which may at first sight seem
reasonable, until they become a habit."(52) Here Beckett has a character state flat out
what is happening in the play. The plot of the play is based around repetition. All the
pieces of their lives have become habit. When at first they were ways to pass the days
they have become repeated, and through this repetition they have become unreasonable. The
habit that controls our lives is the same habit that fuels the characters in Godot. The
same habit that makes the structure of Godot a repetition in itself. In the first act,
the goings-on in the play may seem reasonable to the audience. Merely a way for these two
people to pass the hours of their particular day. By making the second act the same
routine, the tragic humor of their situation is revealed. Estragon and Vladimir are stuck
in this way of life. Bound to making each day more of the same, because they can find no
other way to deal with their lives then to try to pass the time. All the ideas of the
play and all the questions that are raised are highlighted through the use of repetition.
Therefore, the structure of the play is dominated by this single characteristic of the
play.