Reality and Vision of Suicide in Samuel Beckett's Waiting for Godot and Act without Words I

Mr. Subrata Biswas Ph.D. Research Scholar Department of English, University of Calcutta, West Bengal, India

Abstract

In Waiting for Godot and Act without Words I none of the characters commits suicide, though it is frequently discussed and attempted by Gogo and Didi. They are between eros and thanatos; they cannot determine what is to be chosen — life or death. Their inability to commit suicide gives way to their inability to do anything. This paper examines how suicide functions as vision and diversion in Beckett’s plays, exploring the ontological problem at the heart of these works.

Suicide as Diversion in Waiting for Godot

Vladimir and Estragon never think of suicide in a realistic context. Throughout the play they invent many devices to prove their existence and to pass the time. They never search for other devices and processes for committing suicide. Suicide for them is just another diversion of fantasy — a strong consolation that helps them to forget the boredom of everyday life. Their view of life is not to resign from life but to resume it. Moreover, suicide itself may be considered as a vigorous aspect of life — Didi tells Gogo that hanging would give them an erection.

Act without Words I

In Act without Words I, the only character is captured in the dust, symbolic of the uncomfortable life. Unlike Vladimir and Estragon, he has all the tools to kill himself — tree, rope and noose, and box to stand on. Yet he cannot commit suicide because whenever he needs the tools they somehow become unreachable. The man’s effort to commit suicide is not a vision; rather he tries to escape a life that seems to be a nightmare. Act Without Words I is a microcosm of the hell illustrated in Jean-Paul Sartre’s Huis-Clos.

Works Cited

  • Camus, Albert, The Myth of Sisyphus. London: Penguin, 2000.
  • Beckett, Samuel. The Complete Dramatic Works. Noida: Penguin Books, 2003.
  • Beckett, Samuel. Waiting for Godot: A Tragicomedy in Two Acts. Ed. GVJ Prasad. Noida: Faber and Faber, 2004.
  • Sartre, Jean-Paul. Huis Clos and Other Plays. London: Penguin Books. 2000.
  • Esslin, Martin, ed. Samuel Beckett: A Collection of Critical Essays. Englewood Cliffs: Prentice Hall, 1965.
  • Gordon, Lois. Reading Godot. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2002.
  • Ben-Zvi, Linda. Samuel Beckett. Boston: Twayne, 1986.