Blurring the Lines: Absurdist Theatre in Waiting for Godot

Extract

[...] Evolution of theatre In the 17th century, theatre was reduced to comedy, targeting a lower social class, and tragedy, a rather higher class. The evolution of theatre since then has seen the disappearance of the system of theatrical genres, comedy and tragedy, in favor of registers, comic and tragic, and the diversity of genres. Seeking to upset the rules and classifications, absurdist theatre, to which authors Samuel Beckett and Eugène Ionesco belong, denies the division between the two traditional theatrical genres of comedy and tragedy. [...]

[...] Moreover, the name 'Pozzo' distorted into 'Bozzo' and repeated three times also plunges the spectator into the world of clowns. Further in Waiting for Godot, Certain lines present both comedy and tragedy. For example, Estragon fails to hang himself because his rope lacks solidity and his pants fall, revealing the ridiculousness of the character in a comedy of gesture. Also, his lack of dignity and his inability to even commit suicide mark the character's inability to act on his own existence, thus distancing himself from the traditional tragic hero. Thus, Beckett transcends traditional theatrical categories and merges them. [...]

[...] 'There are moments when I wonder if we wouldn't be better off parting.' The comedy of words is reflected in the name of one of the two characters; Estragon is an aromatic plant. Vladimir, on the other hand, has a circus name and a nickname that infantilizes him, 'Didi'. Godot, whom they are waiting for, may bring to mind Beckett initially wrote in English; this character who never arrives, there is ultimately no proof that he exists. The comedy of repetition is perceived through the lines that evoke the impossibility of leaving, because the two characters are waiting for Godot. [...]