Waiting for Godot As a Tragicomedy

In the English edition of Waiting For Godot, the play is described as a tragicomedy. Before going ahead further, it needs to be made clear what a tragicomedy is and how it is different from dark comedy. Tragicomedy is a literary genre that blends aspects of both tragic and comic forms. Most often seen in dramatic literature, the term can variously describe either a tragic play which contains enough comic elements to the lighten the overall mood or a serious play with a happy ending. A dark comedy is a subgenre of comedy that makes light of terrible situations. Waiting for Godot never makes light of terrible aspects life. There are several mentions of death in the play but the characters never make fun of death or for that matter any terrible things in the play. However, there are many incidents in the play that are hilarious and we can laugh watching those hilarious scenes without having any guilt.

The play opens with a negative thought- Nothing to be done. At first when we see Estragon struggling wit his boots, the sentence appears funny, but as the play progresses and godot is nowhere to be seen we gradually grasp the implication of the sentence- the helplessness of the tramps, their frusttrations are all there in that first sentence itself. Thus Beckett quite skillfully mixes both tragic and comic elements even in the dialogues of the characters. There are many ways that Beckett makes waiting For Godot comical. Sometimes it is the wit of the character that amuses us. When Estragon struggles with his boots, Vladimir wittily says- "There's man all over you, blaming on his boots the faults of his feet." This witty single line is capable of eliciting laughter, more because immediately after saying this Vladimir does almost the same thing with his hat. Again the words of the characters are funny to hear. Early in the play Estragon says that 'it might be better to strike the iron before it freezes" thus giving a twist to the familiar proverb: 'strike the iron while it is hot" The short sentences, when said swiftly by the tramps are themselves comical even if there is no funny element in them-

Vladimir- Charming evening we are having.

Estragon- Unforgettable.

Vladimir- And it's not over

Estragon- Apparently not.

Vladimir- It's only beginning.

Estragon- It's awful.

Vladimir- Worse than the pantomime

Estragon- The circus.

Vladimir- The music hall.

Estragon- The circus.

Often, the comedy is alloyed with more serious implications so that the total atmosphere is closer to that in dark comedy. For instance, when Pozzo and Lucky enter in act-I, Pozzo's military-style attitude elicits laughter. However the audence cannot roar with laughter as there is Lucky who is treated mercilessly by Pozzo in the same scene. The return of Pozzo held by Lucky on a rope seems to create a reverse image of the earlier situation. This image brings a certain satisfaction to the audience. The audience may laugh at this reversal of fortune but they are made acutely aware of how fickle fortune can be. Again there is a scene which is inspired from circus where Vladimir and Estragon put on and take off each other's hat as well as that of Lucky again and again. While the act is funny but our laughter fades away when we finally understand that the scene is actually a comment on the repetitive and monotonous cycle of life. We are reminded of the myth of Sisyphus. We cannot judge the border between comedy and tragedy when the cord with the help which the tramps are to commit suicide breaks. The two men are not even given the chance to die in the bleak world where living is a curse.

There are also several moments or situations in the play which are outright sad without any comic touch in them. In the very beginning of the play we get to know that Estragon is regularly beaten by unknown men. And the most tragic thing is, Estragon has become somewhat used to this daily torment. The problems with Estragon's feet and Vladinmir's kidneys do not let them stay in peace. In Vladimir's case, even his laughter hurts him. Theirs is the world in which there is no hopeful to live for and no device to commit suicide by. The only comment that see ms befitting for this world is "Nothing to be done". The situation of lucky too is quite pathetic, especially in view of his glorious past, as Pozzo describes it. However the most tragic thing in the play is the fact that the tramps must wait in order to evade the realization that there is actually no Godot, that there is npthing to wait for, that there is no saving. The conscious realization that they are the ones who have  who have invented their own Godot might just snap the last thread that connects them to the world. Deep down Vladimir and Estragon know that Godot will never come but to have meaning to their existence, they have to wait for Godot.

          Thus, Waiting for Godot never lets us have an uninhibited laugh at the acts of the tramps.We are constantly reminded of their helplessness, their  circular life and the status quo that they are stuck in. But the comic and farcical elements give us the necessary relief. We never feel heavy with all the philosophical implications of the play because of the hilarious activities of Vladimir, Estragon, Pozzo and Lucky. So to conclude we can say tragicomedy is life enhancing because it tries to “remind the audience of the real need to face existence ‘knowing the worst,’ which ultimately is liberation, with courage and humility of not taking oneself or one’s own pain too seriously, and to bear all life’s mysteries and uncertainties; and thus to make the most of what we have rather than to hanker after illusory certainties and rewards” (Esslin, Theater 47). 

























Sk Marifur Rahaman
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                                                                                                Sources
1. Help BookBy R.K.Jalali

2. Longman Study Edition

3. Neo English System
4. UK Essays