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The introduction includes the historical background, the concepts of modernity and modernism and the term the “Theatre of the Absurd.” -Historical Background The historical twentieth century witnessed the two world wars. The brutalities and fascist horrors of the First and the Second World Wars led to an understandable emotional hopelessness in different societies. The people found themselves in the grip of pessimism. This pessimism is apparent in the works of literature and art. The war events made an indelible impact on the minds of people and writers. That is why the post-war characters in literature are faced with the dilemma of not knowing what the future held. Essentially, the fear and uncertainty led to a crisis of ideas and thoughts, which later enabled the writers to situate themselves in the world they had trouble understanding. Various forms of art, such as poetry, fiction and painting, helped writers to process the self-evaluation journey they were on. John Horn states: “it was surprising to find just how widespread was the feeling among writers, artists and intellectuals that war, or the warlike cataclysm, was in the offing” (1997:21). - Modernity and Modernism Modernism refers to the early twentieth-century works of art. The writers and artists consciously drifted away from tradition by using new experimental ways of expression. These writers adopted the contemporary or modern way of articulating thoughts and feelings. The modern way of writing was the time for writers to revisit classical literature and myths to write literature about the present. The purpose was to incorporate and develop new writing styles and techniques to capture new ways of perceiving and interpreting events occasioned by new technological development. Modernism was also a result of pessimism in society caused by industrialization and the world war. To present an authentic picture of the changed scenario, the artistic works had to be written in a different manner to capture the life of the new urban and rural masses. The role of the individual had improved and changed, and the new modern art had to acquire social purposes. Modernist writers more or less adopted a change in language that acted as a mirror towards society. Ultimately, the writers explored new realities; they used irrationality as a source of knowledge and creativity. Moreover, in the post World War times, the writers tried to comprehend destruction by using themes of loss. The language and techniques they used to express senses of social instability, frailty and uncertainty moved to conform to the change in their environment.

1. The study titled ‘Essence or Existence: Existentialist Reading of Samuel Beckett´s Waiting for Godot’ by Aliakbar Pormouzeh is concerned with the philosophy of Christian existentialism of Sartre and Kierkegaard. However, both philosophies are used as a tool by the author to examine the two main characters of the play, Vladimir and Estragon, to establish if one ought to perceive them as existentialists or essentialists (2019:24). In the introduction, the author discusses the background of the play of Beckett. It positions Waiting for Godot as an existentialist play because of the characters’ lack of rational insight into the world and the absurdity within the play. 

2. The paper titled "Samuel Becketts Waiting for Godot: A Postmodernist Study" by Pouria Torkamaneh and Noorbakhsh Hooti also deals with the play using a different frame of reference. The paper begins by introducing post-modernism, where the author positions modernism and post-modernism in the philosophy of history. Moreover, it explains the international movement of post-modernism in the aftermath of the Two World Wars, which led to the questioning of rationality and validity (2011: 40). 

3. The paper titled "Waiting for Godot: A Disparate Text" by Javed Akhter revolves around the different facets and meanings in Samuel Beckett´s play. It focuses on the multiple occurrences of conflicting and contradictory meanings within the text. The aim of his paper is to find out how the significant gaps, silences, and absences of the play reflect the presence of the late modernist bourgeois ideology (2015: 3). 

Textual Analysis

Waiting for Godot is an intricate, complex and puzzling play. It offers a variety of interpretations and meanings. The critics, scholars and audiences have approached it differently and interpreted it in various ways. Yet, it offers multiple opportunities to the researchers and scholars to interpret and reinterpret it. This multiplicity of meanings is to be further discussed for an in-depth understanding of the play. The textual analysis, thus, will help us to comprehend various themes and issues of the play Waiting for Godot. It would also support the view that the play is a picture of humanity at large.

Like other absurd plays, Waiting for Godot is a picture of the pointlessness of human life. According to this approach, the play is a fable about a kind of life that no longer has any point. The playwright wishes to say that there is no connection between human beings and the world around them. The two heroes and anti-heroes of the play seem to be alive, but in a real sense, they are dead. They feel uprooted and keep on waiting for Godot, who may come to their rescue. They are symbols of the modern men who have begun increasingly to feel that they live in a world in which they do not or cannot act but are simply acted upon. The two tramps are informed that Mr. Godot, with whom they believe they have an appointment can not come but he will surely come tomorrow. This makes them to leave the place but they do not move. At the end of Act 1 Estragon asks Vladimir ‘shall we go?’ Vladimir answers ‘let’s go.’ but they do not leave the place. Estragon and Vladimir are dimly aware of the lack of action in their lives and of the pointlessness of their existence. However, they still wish to go on living. In today's world, people do not give up living despite life's pointlessness and meaninglessness. In the words T.Z. Lavine: “all of us live in anxiety and despair. This is the universal human condition”(1984). Like the two trams of the play, the human beings of the modern world have nothing to do in their life. There is no beginning, middle and end for them in the drama of lie. Hence, according to this interpretation, the play creates a picture of the pointlessness of human life.

Next, the play represents waiting, ignorance and boredom in life. In this world, people go on waiting for something or the other. They wait for a job, a friend, a love letter, a reunion with a divorced wife, riches, and so on. An indefinite waiting of Vladimir and Estragon without any substantial result, thus, symbolizes the millions of human beings who wait for something or the other without achieving it. It shows that the play has general validity. However, the trial of waiting is not the only issue of the play. The two tramps do not know who Godot is. Moreover, they are not sure that they are waiting at the right place or on the right day. The following dialogue shows their state of mind:

Estragon: Charming spot. [He turns, advances to front, halts facing auditorium.] 

                  Inspiring prospects. [He turns to Vladimir.] Let’s go.

Vladimir: We can’t.

Estragon: Why not?

Vladimir: We are waiting for Godot.

Estragon: [Despairingly] Ah! [Pause.] You are sure it was here? (p.6)

The two tramps lack the essential wisdom, and, thus, they are immature and ignorant. Being ignorant, they cannot act. In this way, the tramps evoke in us a sense of a confusing situation which we do not comprehend and over which we have no command. All that they do is to strive for ways to pass the time in a crisis in which they find themselves. They narrate stories, sing melodies, play verbal games, and engage in physical exercises. However, all these actions are mere stop-gaps functioning only to pass the time. Here then, we have the very essence of boredom. Vladimír and Estragon have moved towards total nihilism, though they have not fully achieved it. They are in a mental state, position and place where nothing happens and time stands still. If Godot arrives, a new reality may be introduced into their existence, whereas if they leave, they will miss him. Their waiting, therefore, contains an aspect of vague hope.

 Another interpretation says that the play depicts the meaninglessness of life. The way the two tramps follow to pass the time is expressive of the boredom and triviality of human actions and existence. Estragon and Vladimir counter each other, question, abuse each other, and become reconciled without any serious purpose or intention. All these devices are adopted to make their waiting for Godot less painful. Surprisingly, Estragon takes off his boots and shakes them, expecting something to fall out of them, but nothing happens. Vladimir does the same action with his hat but in vain. This utter lack of meaning drives Estragon and Vladimir to the thought of suicide, but the world of this play is one in which no meaningful action is permitted; therefore, even suicide is not within their reach. 

Waiting for Godot also shows that suffering is an inseparable part of the human condition. Vladimir and Estragon suffer intensely and perpetually. Vladimir cannot even laugh without suffering unbearable pain. Estragon's life also becomes a kind of torture for him. He does not get peace and comfort in his life. Both Estragon and Vladimir have nowhere to rest their head. More than this, Estragon is beaten daily by some gang of ruffians without provocation from his side. They have nothing to be reminded of except the days when they did not look so messy that they could go up the Eiffel Tower and jump to their deaths from there:

Vladimir: Hand in hand from the top of the Eiffel

                 Tower, among the first. We were presentable in those

                   Days. Now it is too late. They wouldn’t even let us up (p.2).

The climax occurs when all the four characters fall to the ground upon one another, creating an amorphous mass from which Vladimir's voice emerges, saying: "We are men !" 

1.Akhter, J. (2015)."Waiting for Godot: A disparate text." International Journal of Research in Social Sciences and Humanities 5.2. 2.Beckett, S. (2008). Waiting for Godot. United Kingdom: Faber & Faber, Limited. 3.Esslin, M. (1960). “The Theatre of the Absurd.” The Tulane Drama Review, vol. 4, no. 4, JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/1124873. 4.Horn, J., Winter, J. & Kennedy, P. (1997). State, Society and Mobilization in Europe During the First World War. United Kingdom: Cambridge University Press. 5.Hooti, N., and Pouria T. (2011). "Samuel Becketts Waiting for Godot: A Postmodernist Study." English Language and Literature Studies 1.1 (2011): 40. 6.Lavine, T.Z. (1984). From Socrates to Sartre: The Philosophic Quest. United States: Bantam Books, A Division of Random House Publishing Group. 7.Pormouzeh, A. (2019). Essence or Existence: Existentialist Reading of Samuel Becketts Waiting for Godot. MS thesis. Khatam University.