Waiting for Godot

Question 1

Socio-Political Influences (5)

Answer 1

• Aftermath of the second World War
• Despair and waste of human life
• Fear of another nuclear war
• Inhumanity (concentration camps)
• Existentialism

Question 2

Playwright’s intention (3)

Answer 2

• conveying mystery, bewilderment and anxiety (though the inability to find meaning)
• Tragicomedy
• Self assessment and realisation of ones’ existence

Question 3

Style (6)

Answer 3

• metaphorical roots
• Absurd (trying to find meaning in devastation)
• tragedy (deals with serious topics in a serious manner)
• Comedy (deals with humorous topics in an amusing manner)
• Tragicomedy (combination of both)
• WFG (deals with serious topics in humorous ways)

Question 4

Themes (4)

Answer 4

• time (when we are busy we don’t notice the passage of time)
• Religious (uncertainty or hope and salvation)
• Paradox or life and death (the only certain thing in our life is death)
• Hostile Universe (a lack of control in ‘mans’ life)
• breakdown of communication / evaluation of language (meaningless time-filler)

Question 5

symbols (4)

Answer 5

• hats (a symbol of their identities)
• waiting (meaninglessly waiting for something that could never arrive)
• duality (everything that means something comes in pairs)
• the tree (prominent piece of set, also relates to life and death)

Question 6

Characters (5)

Answer 6

• Vladimir (more dominant, more intellectual, better memory and more logical)
• Estragon (inferior, boots hurt him, can be interchangeable at times with Vladimir)
• Pozzo (cruel, tyrannical and self-obsessed)
• Lucky (dehumanised as a slave to be like a dog, bound to a rope, instructed for anything, thinker)
• boy (Godot’s messenger)

Question 7

structure (9)

Answer 7

• what is said links directly to the manner in which it’s said
• Repeated patterns of action (2 acts, verbal exchange)
• no conflict
• no logical time sequences, causes or effects
• arbitrary
• cyclical / circular
• surreal quality
• linear development of events
• repetition

Question 8

setting (5)

Answer 8

• simple and universal
• desolate and barren
• old road
• tree
• rubble

Question 9

presentation

Answer 9

• lighting (gives the set a cold and isolated feel)
• costume (shabby, ‘tramp’ like, as if they have been to war)
• set (windswept tree and rubble)

Question 10

acting style

Answer 10

• rhythms and patterns in language
• hyper concentration (even in static movements)
• emotionally connected with the disillusion and agony of nothing
• carnival acting
• music hall, lauren and hardy, charlie chaplin
• heightened energy, physical comedy, moments of action and stillness
• exaggerated and focused
• representative of mankind in general