Samuel Beckett and Themes of Time
An Analysis of Beckett's Use of the Present in Waiting for Godot
“Finished, it’s finished, nearly finished, it must be nearly finished” claim the opening words of Beckett’s Endgame; words that refer explicitly, and paradoxically, to an ending. Here lies the complex and apparently pessimistic philosophy that saturates much of Beckett’s work: life is a long, boring interminable wait for a climax that can never be consciously experienced.
Bleak words indeed. Waiting for Godot seems to be equally bleak at a first glance. The play’s protagonists, Vladimir and Estragon, await the enigmatic Mr Godot, who never arrives. Neither understands why they must wait, but since they don’t know what else to do, they talk, about everything from inanities to existential dilemmas. Their clown-like activity, entertaining patter, and interactions with another pair of comedic characters, Pozzo and Lucky, comprise the action of the play with its two acts bearing remarkable similarities in plot and dialogue.
Mirroring the Present
Derek Jarman once wrote that “without the past the future cannot be reflected: the past is our mirror” (letter to The Independent, May 1993). Beckett is certainly masterful in his use of mirrors; the symbiotic twinning of his characters and the symmetry of acts in Waiting for Godot inspired Vivian Mercier’s now famous description, “nothing happens, twice!”
While certainly entertaining, the inescapable and exasperating repetition of events denies both past and future, trapping the characters and drama firmly in the present. The past is a hazy memory; indeed, the master narrative of the original meeting with Mr Godot, is unreliable, for Vladimir can remember very little about it: “he said Saturday [pause], I think”. And Beckett’s naming of Mr Godot, literally ‘little God’, diminishes the prospect of an afterlife, a future.
And yet, humour is present in the clowning and verbal exchanges. In the midst of Beckett’s nihilism, there is a sense of liberation. Without past or future, the protagonists commit to the present and somehow find enough enjoyment to sustain life. The audience similarly commits to finding enjoyment in the absurdity of a play that repeats in cycles, having neither a definite beginning nor any kind of denouement.
The Consolations of Companionship
According to Jarman, without the past the future cannot be reflected; yet in the relationship between Beckett’s characters a future, of sorts, becomes clear. Their ability to entertain, assist and provide for each other, despite their ceaseless ability to frustrate and irritate, lights the interminable Beckettian tunnel. Their interactions range from inane joking to existential debate; in the bleak and timeless landscape the friends mirror each other, providing both validation and recognition and becoming purpose and guide. The pairs themselves reflect each other too. This mirroring provides meaning that the world around them cannot.
In this way, in Waiting for Godot the present acts as a pair of mirrors reflecting infinitely into the past and into the future. In companionship consolation is found, and poignantly so:
Estragon: [on one leg]. I’ll never walk again!
Vladimir: [tenderly]. I’ll carry you. [Pause]. If necessary.
Bleak beauty
The challenge for both audience and characters is to tolerate desolation without meaning, a present without future, and then to find meaning in the desolation. Whilst Beckett often appears to despair at the human condition, in fact he often pays tribute to it, by showing his characters’ will to continue existing despite their situations, and by giving glimpses into their capacity for tenderness. Like the symbolic tree of Godot’s minimalist set design, these consolations suddenly, magically and almost imperceptibly blossom, lending chronological direction to a timeless landscape.
Source:
- Beckett, S. Waiting for Godot. 2nd ed (reset). London: Faber and Faber, 2000.
Waiting for Godot book cover
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