He continues to do this repeatedly and then Estragon begins to do the same with his boot. The action signifies basic human nature. Beckett, through the behavior of the characters, puts the importance on the mundane, immaterial things in life by making them more exaggerated. He shows the importance we place on actions that in the whole context of things are not really as important as we think they are. It is our nature as human beings to ritualistically perform actions that are not really of any significance in our everyday lives.
One practitioner who was very interested in Ritual Theatre was Antonin Artaud, who was concerned with physicalising theatre more, rather than using words. His theory seems to be explored in Waiting For Godot through the character of Estragon. Estragon seems to have difficulty in expressing himself through words, and so he uses gestures to convey how he is feeling. This is most evident towards the end of the play when he is woken up, ‘(wild gestures, incoherent words. Finally). Why will you never let me sleep?’ (Pg 89)
Through the use of physicalisation and incoherent words, (perhaps sounds originating from a particular part of the body) Estragon can show the anger he is feeling more powerfully than through words, as it comes from within.
The characters of Estragon and Vladimir seem to play archetypal roles. Vladimir being the optimist and the rescuer, and Estragon the more fearful of the two and the victim. The pattern seen here describes many of the relationships in the “real world”, a ritual form of human behavior.
However, it is not only what actually goes on in the play that conveys a sense if ritual, but also what is used in the play and how it is set. The set itself is very simple in appearance with a road, a tree and a mound. The tree is almost oriental in the simplicity and is metaphorical in its meaning. It has a deeply religious meaning (a theme that is explored through the play) so not only does it signify the Tree of Knowledge, and life as we know it, but it represents the idea of death and the cross of Jesus. The tree suggests the changes that human’s go through, birth, changes we experience as we grow – indeed, one day the tree is bare, and the next day leaves are sprouting (Pg57) – and death. The tree reverberates symbolically the themes of the play.
One other characteristic of Ritual theatre is that it does not have a specific beginning, middle, or end, and this seems to be true in Waiting for Godot. The road implies destination, and yet the characters do not move. The stage is therefore circular, as whatever happens, the characters seem to end in the same place they started. Also the play is written in two acts but they appear to mimic one another in that Vladimir and Estragon are still waiting for Godot. No information is given to the audience to help us contextualise it. There is no sense of location or time, and the characters appear to be ageless, both young and old. However, if a time, location and age was given to the audience the play would lose the universality that Beckett was trying to achieve. Stripped of naturalistic detail it allows for a ritualistic presentation of the characters, where patterns of human behavior can be seen.
One of the impulses to use ritual in performance is that of the extra-ordinary. The familiar becomes the unfamiliar. In Waiting For Godot the familiarity of everyday human activity and belief in God becomes unfamiliar when Godot never comes, and Vladimir and Estragon begin to realise that their lives are meaningless. One aim of Ritual Theatre is to try and find the truth of a situation and to re-assess the way in which we live. Indeed, this seems to be reflected at the end of the play when Vladimir realises that they will always be waiting for Godot because he is just a distraction from their everyday, mundane lives. Human instinct is to believe in something bigger than ourselves, and we need to put our faith in something. As humans we are always waiting for something to happen. Through Waiting For Godot, and showing ritual as a key element in his writing, Beckett shows that just as his play has no orderly time sequence or meaning, human existence is the same, but we will always create ritualistic distractions to make up for this. It is human nature.
Again, in Beckett’s later play Endgame the audience sees his interpretation of human nature achieved through ritualistic means. Although the play does not have a religious theme as such, it is concerned with the futility of life.
Throughout the play Beckett uses the characters of Clov and Hamm, and the language they use, to portray his ideas. The play opens with Clov:
“Clov goes and stands under the window left. Stiff, staggering walk. He looks up at window left. He turns and looks at window right. He goes and stands under window right. He turns and looks at window left.” (Pg 11)
The setting, though different from that of Waiting for Godot appears to be very minimal suggesting a universality, but also quite domestic. The fact that it is so domesticated and the actions of Clov reflect this, showing that ritual is going to be a key element in Endgame aswell. Beckett takes a mundane, everyday situation and activity and through physicalising it achieves an intensity in the action. Clov repeatedly continues the action of looking out of the window for Hamm throughout the play, but his response when asked what he sees is, ‘Zero…zero…and zero.’ (Pg 25). The use of repetition here shows the audience that something is compelling Clov to repeat the action. There is a sense that both characters are waiting for something to happen all through the play (as in Waiting for Godot) and the window, and the outside will notify them of any change. The audience comes to realise that this change is the end of the world, and the setting for the play is somewhere between life and death. The action, although repeated many times, is never completed showing it to be circular and continuous. From what Clov says, the repetition conveys the sense of the end of the world. “Zero” portrays an image of desolateness and nothingness, and a picture of sorrow and despair is painted. This feeling is repeated at several stages throughout the play:
“CLOV: Finished, it’s finished, nearly finished, it must be nearly finished.” (Pg 12)
Key themes are emphasized. However, it is not just the idea of the end of the world that is explored, but death in general and life, as we know it, and the strong physicalisation of the characters helps to portray these ideas. Hamm and Clov are totally isolated from the outside world. The movement Hamm makes is when Clov moves him from the centre of the room, around the room (so he can check the walls for any change) and back to the exact centre of the room again. There is a great sense of routine and ritual here, and, as said before, it can also be seen in Clov’s movements. Clov is seen to move from Hamm, to the kitchen, to the ashcans and back to Hamm. The play seems concerned with if Clov will leave. That impression is given at the end of the play, although it is not made entirely clear. If Clov does leave, not only does it mean there is a link with the outside world (and possible death), but it means that Hamm no longer has an audience, and so the repetition and ritual is broken, and it is therefore the symbolic death of Hamm.
Repetition is not only used through actions but also through language. In Endgame repetition is used to convey the emotions of the characters. At one point Hamm asks Clov to go and fetch the oilcan:
“HAMM: Go and get the oilcan.
CLOV: What for?
HAMM: To oil the castors.
CLOV: I oiled them yesterday.
HAMM: Yesterday! What does that mean? Yesterday!
CLOV: (Violently). That means that bloody awful day, long ago, before this bloody awful day.” (Pg 32)
At one moment there is nothing really happening, and then the next moment there is a sudden explosion of anger. The emotion of anger and aggression is evident from the language used, but the use of repetition amplifies the emotion even more. The instability in the moods of the characters exaggerates the feeling of moving from complete despair to animosity.
In conclusion, I feel Waiting for Godot and Endgame are very stylised forms of writing as they are both deviations from naturalism. Both plays have patterns running throughout and the dynamics focus on life rhythms. In Waiting For Godot repetition is mainly used to show human nature, and how we will create distractions to divert us from our daily lives; whereas the repetition in Endgame is used to show the idea of death and human life. Beckett uses key elements of ritual such as repetition and circular plots to create an appearance of powerful rhythmic cycles that highlights time, and in short, portrays a realistic insight into the lives we lead as human beings.
BILBLIOGRAPHY
Atkinson, Brooks, Beckett’s Endgame. (NYTimes.com Wireless Services)
Beckett, Samuel, Waiting for Godot. (London: Faber and Faber. 1965)
Beckett, Samuel, Endgame. (London: Faber and Faber. 1964)
Kalb, Jonathan, Beckett In performance. (Cambridge: University Press. 1991)
Sinclair, Michael, Essay on Waiting for Godot. ()
Stapleton, Michael, The Cambridge Guide to English Literature. (Somerset: Book Club Associates. 1983)
Ritual Theatre Course Booklet