Aquinas and of Jean-Paul Sartre, while according to Ruby Cohn, One commentator, a devout and sensitive Roman Catholic, saw the play as a statement in dramatic terms of the wretchedness of Man without God, while another, a sensitive and intelligent Existentialist, insisted that it is a general expression of the futility of human existence when Man puts his hope in a force outside of himself.” Thus Beckett can be presented with equal conviction as a disciple of St. “Those who agreed that Godot had a meaning”, says Alec Reid, “were deeply divided among themselves as to what that meaning was. Since the play defies any definition, critics have, in their own ways, attempted to find out its meaning. In another context he said that the play “is striving all the time to avoid definition“. On another occasion, when asked to explain the significance of Godot, Beckett replied: “If I knew, I would have said so in the play”.

Once asked about the meaning of the plays, Beckett replied : “If I could tell you in a sentence I wouldn’t have written the play”. Although Beckett himself shows a marked reluctance to offer any explanation which might elucidate the meaning of his works, he has said that “Godot is life- aimless, but always with an element of hope.” The central theme of the play appears to be simply ‘waiting’, but what the two bums wait for is not certain, in spite of the numerous critical exegeses provoked by the play. Waiting for Godot is perhaps more lurid than the rest. The Existentialists, the Surrealists and the Absurdists have presented a lurid picture of life. The twentieth century is an era of nightmares. And yet it is a revelation, a play of, vision. Waiting for Godot is a poignant expression of pessimism and despair. Since the Dramatis Personae are drawn from different parts of the world, the play has caught on, and been translate languages and performed all over the world. The five characters in the play are drawn from different nationalities : one Russian, one Spaniard, one Italian, one Anglo-Saxon, and one unnamed. The term “Godot” is apparently a diminutive of God. The play puzzled the readers and the spectators, and had yet an irresistible appeal of its own. Beckett leaped into fame for this play, and, at the same time, because a highly controversial figure in the dramatic world.

Waiting for Godot is one of the most commercially successful plays of the twentieth century.

Samuel godot