The Christian Explanation of Samuel Becketts Waiting for Godot :: Waiting for Godot Essays

The Christian Explanation of Waiting for Godot The benevolent predicament described in Becketts first mutant is that of man nutriment on the Saturday after the Friday of the crucifixion, and not really knowing if all take to is dead or if the next day will bring the conduct which has been promised. --William R. Mueller In the five decades since Waiting for Godots publication, many of the countless attempts to explain the dictation have relied on some variation of this religious motif proposed by William Mueller. Though Becketts open textual matter invites the reviewer to hunt for an interpretation, statements as peremptory as this one overstep the search and leave little way for any other possibility. His root has a compelling textual basis, exclusively its finality violates the spirit of the play. Kenneth Tynan suggests that Becketts Waiting for Godot is a dramatic vacuum...It has no plot, no climax, no denouement no beginning, no middle, and no end. Such an idea forces a ny analyst of this enigmatic masterpiece to tread lightly and makes clear criticism nearly impossible. Before examining an history as conclusive as Muellers we must acknowledge that we cannot hope to determine the meaning of this play. Neither the text nor its author makes a claim to any intrinsic meaning, yet a new meaning is born each time a reader or viewer partakes of the play. With such cautions in mind, we can now court Muellers religious hypothesis with a safe detachment. The first utterance of Godot phonetically brings God to mind, and evidence throughout the play assures the reader that this path is a valid one to follow. On the most mundane level, Vladimir supports Muellers premise with his shooter at the timeframe of the play He said it was Saturday. I think(10). We discover, however, that however this statement hides beneath the uncertainty as Estragon challenges, But what Saturday? And is it Saturday? Is it not rather Sunday? Or Monday? Or Friday? (11). His quest ioning reasserts that this work defies explanation and reminds us that we are following only one possible radical to an unsolvable problem. If we read this drama with the intention of fitting Muellers theory to the play (or perhaps the play to his theory), a vast number of previously unremarked interpretive opportunities arise. Though the nondescript tree can be universally symbolic, when viewed from a religious standpoint it conjures an image of Christs cross.