Waiting for Godot: A Tragicomedy in Two Acts

Waiting for Godot (originally published in French as En Attendant Godot) is a great book. Although Waiting for Godot isn't the greatest book of all time, it should be read by every serious reader. I am a bit biased. Here's why: During my junior year of college, our French department held an artistic competition. My instructor in intermediate French (I was a history major) encouraged me and a classmate to do a scene from the book (in French, of course!). We probably did the first third of Act II. Anyway, I happened to be Vladimir, so I would open our skit with the song (the start of Act II). My classmate and I took the assignment seriously. We memorized our lines, and I came up with a simple melody for the song. My recollection is that we were a hit and landed first prize in the competition (ahead of all the participating French majors!). First prize was a nice art book. That was many years ago. I don't remember my classmate's name or my instructor's name. However, I do remember the words to the song (in French) as well as the melody.

After reading the screenplay of Waiting for Godot I did many things. I laughed, I scratched my head, I wondered who this Godot was and I tried to find the elusive plot and meaning of it all. In all, maybe it was Mr. Beckett's primary intention to have all the theater goers go mad! The essence of this two act play revolves around two longtime friends by the names of Vladimir and Estragon who are in search of a character called Godot. The reader or theater goer never really knows who Godot is. Is it the search for God? Could be but who knows. Godot could represent anyone or anything. Beckett gives the impression that Vladimir and Estragon are hobo-like characters who wear bowler's hats and carry on a most nonsensical and repetitious continuing conversation. In fact most of their dialogue is very much like Abbot and Costello's Who's On First. The dialogue goes in circles much like Abbot and Costello. Also another comedy team comes to mind as I read on in what can only be called a farce of a play dominated by absurd allusions. As Vladimir and Estragon continue with their absurd conversations along comes two other characters which add more speculation into what seems to be like the rabbit in Alice In Wonderland added confusion and wonderment in that rather absurd tale. These characters named Pozzo and Lucky add their own comedic scheme to this rather confusing and jumbled tale. When the seemingly intellectually challenged Lucky, who has the IQ of Rocky Balboa, breaks into an outright intellectual diatribe it made me laugh so hard like I remember when I watched old Laurel and Hardy routines as a young boy. The play's meaning and plot is an open book. It can mean anything to anybody. It is full of symbolism and begs for a solid debate. To me it represents life and that life in and of itself at times lacks meaning, shows comedy and can be disappointing and hard to really understand. After seeing this play on February 2, 2014 on Broadway I can compare the play to one TV Series that being "Seinfeld" and the classic movie titled "Groundhog's Day." These are the current comparisons but in the end this play represents a mystery for us to interpret. I'll stick with Groundhog's Day!!! For some reason this play should probably be read and seen multiple times to gain what was in Beckett's mind. I can see why this play is considered a classic. It has all the elements of what the word classic is all about.

When I first decided to read "waiting for Godot", I did so with some trepidation. I had heard of the play before, of course, usually as a byword for the absurd, the highbrow- even the pretentious. I expected to struggle with a complex, long-winded text. Nothing could be further from the truth. "Waiting for Godot" flows with a smooth rhythm that borders on the hypnotic. Though surrealistic to the extreme, the apparent lack of purpose does nothing to dampen the quick wit and easy dialogue. The characters, such as they are, display more emotion in the simple actions and with the minimalistic props than you will find in many long novels. I am sure it is a gold mine for students of the modern drama. But it is also one of those rare classics that has as much to offer the casual reader as the dedicated scholar.

Because I watched performances by dancers that made me think of this play, I re-read it for the first time since high school. By the end of the work, I felt a sense of hollowness because it makes me think of the question of how much time do we waste thinking that we are in action but yet that actually never takes us anywhere? I feel like this is an ultimate question that much of humanity could easily ask and ponder. After re-reading this work as an adult, I have a greater appreciation for the theater of the absurd. I don’t think I fully understood that genre of work when I was a teenager. I highly recommend this work if you are a person who is interested in thinking about how the individual perception of spirituality, time and identity impact life.

I did not find “Waiting for Godot” to be a particularly compelling play despite its fame; maybe the abstract structure is just not for me. I’m glad to have been exposed to it. though, and I look forward to discussing it in class. My copy did arrive slightly damaged but it did not affect readability

This play is "Excellent". I recommend this for any Gen X individual who has found themselves waiting, but not quite sure what. As I write this review, Keanu Reeves and Alex Winter just wrapped up performing "Waiting for Godot" on Broadway in January 2026.

Re-reading this play 45 days before I turn 80 years old provides insights I certainly missed when I was 17.

The recent Roundabout Theater production of Beckett's "Waiting for Godot" -- with Nathan Lane, Bill Irwin, John Goodman...-- was a once in a lifetime experience. If "...Godot" is not the best play ever written, then it is certainly one of the top ten. A recently viewed video production (from Netflix) showed that the play can be produced to yield a range between its comic and tragic tendencies, when compared to the Roundabout version. This is not surprising, but it created a need to read the text, which is a translation from the original French. For me, the Roundabout production was the most illuminating, but the text of the play yielded insights that can come only from seeing words arranged on a page. Read the play and see it in many productions (live and video), in any order, and allow yourself to laugh out loud as your heart breaks.

Very thought provoking as well as inspiring to stay alive for the lost causes of a progressive life. Though formatted as drama but very much a poem of life.

Sehr guter Zustand! Hatte oft von dem Stück gehört, jedoch nicht gelesen. Jetzt doch und habe es genossen.

Sempre libri perfetti, imballo ok e tempi rapidissimi. Lo consiglio

Ingeniosamente gracioso.

A play wrote by a man who is trying to make sense on the horrors of WW2 and the different facets of the human condition. Read it slowly and carefully. A few times.