Department of English

Faculty of Arts, Chulalongkorn University

Waiting for Godot

(1956)

Samuel Beckett

(April 13, 1906 – December 22, 1989)

Notes

Waiting for Godot was first written in French as En attendant Godot in 1948. It premiered in 1953 at the Théâtre de Babylone in Paris.

Estragon: French for the aromatic herb tarragon (Artemisia dracunculus), also called dragon's wort, dragon herb, dragon sagewort, green sage, and silky wormwood

• Matthew 27:38, 44: Then were there two thieves crucified with him, one on the right hand, and another on the left. [...] The thieves also, which were crucified with him, cast the same in his teeth.
  
• Mark 15:27: And with him they crucify two thieves; the one on his right hand, and the other on his left.
• Luke 23:32–33, 39–43: And there were also two other, malefactors, led with him to be put to death. And when they were come to the place, which is called Calvary, there they crucified him, and the malefactors, one on the right hand, and the other on the left. [...] And one of the malefactors which were hanged railed on him, saying, If thou be Christ, save thyself and us. But the other answering rebuked him, saying, Dost not thou fear God, seeing thou art in the same condemnation? And we indeed justly; for we receive the due reward of our deeds: but this man hath done nothing amiss. And he said unto Jesus, Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom. And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, Today shalt thou be with me in paradise.
  
• John 19:18: Where they crucified him, and two other with him, on either side one, and Jesus in the midst.
  

Review Sheet

Characters

Estragon, Gogo, Adam  –

Vladimir, Didi –

Pozzo –

Places 

a country road –

tree – 

Time 

evening – 

Sample Student Responses to Samuel Beckett's Waiting for Godot

Response 1: 

Reference

Reference

Beckett, Samuel. Waiting for Godot: A Tragicomedy in Two Acts. London: Faber and Faber, 1986. Print.

Further Reading

Ackerly, C. J., and S. E. Gontarski. The Grove Companion to Samuel Beckett: A Reader's Guide to His Works, Life, and Thought. New York: Grove, 2004. Print.

Bair, Deirdre. Samuel Beckett: A Biography. Rev. ed. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1990. Print.

[CL 848.914 B396B]

Beckett, Samuel. Collected Shorter Plays. New York: Grove, 1984. Print.

[CL 822.912219 B395C]

Gontarski, S. E., ed. A Companion to Samuel Beckett. Chichester: Wiley-Blackwell, 2010. Print.

Knowlson, James R. Damed to Fame: The Life of Samuel Beckett. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1996. Print.

McMillan, Dougald, and James Knowlson, eds. The Theatrical Notebooks of Samuel Beckett: Waiting for Godot. New York: Grove, 1993. Print.

[CL 842.914 B396T]

Pilling, John. The Cambridge Companion to Beckett. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1994. Print.

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Last updated March 30, 2012