Waiting For Godot

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  • Created by: Anna
  • Created on: 15-05-16 21:58
What religion was Samuel Becketts family?
Protestant in a Catholic country.
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What year was the Easter rising?
1916
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What was the theatre called that was a landmark in Irish arts?
Abbey theatre.
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What year did Ireland gain independence?
1922
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Where did Beckett go to university?
Belfast.
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Who was his hero?
James Joyce.
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When he stopped imitating Joyce, what style of writing did Beckett adopt?
He wanted to master minimalism. Where Joyce was the master of excess and lots of meaning, Beckett wanted to be the master of no meaning.
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Why did Beckett have to go into hiding in WWII?
He wore a star of David to show solidarity with his Jewish friends. He was wanted for sympathising with the Jews.
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Why did Beckett write firstly in French and then translate it to English?
He believed that it made him think about every word choice. Also he said "It's easier to write without style in French."
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What was the original French title for the play?
En Attendant Godot
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What year was it first performed?
1953
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With which two theorists did the idea of existentialism begin?
Kierkegaard and Nietzsche in the nineteenth century
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What is the theory of existentialism?
It is about what makes a man and how one should be content with life's inherent meaninglessness.
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What was John Paul Satre's thinking?
He believed that you 'are' because you exist and that is you, you do not need a relationship to exist. When you are isolated you are somehow perfect.
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What is the myth of Sisyphus?
Sisyphus has to push a boulder to the top of a hill everyday for eternity, but at the end of each day it rolls back down the hill again. This repetitiveness is frustrating but Sisyphus finds pleasure in being active and doing something.
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What is absurdism?
It is theatre about how things have no purpose but that is okay
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When did the idea of absurdism come about?
in the late 1950's.
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What is the time order of the play?
It's chronology is messy, time goes fast and then backwards. In the second act there is a leaf on the tree.
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What choice do the characters make?
They have to decide whether they should stay or if they should go. But they never decide. Killing themselves is easier than this decision.
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Who are Vladimir and Estragon representative of?
Everyone, anyone and no one. They have no specific qualities.
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What does Beckett say when people search for meaning in Waiting For Godot?
He says that searching for meaning is not a worthy pursuit. There is no correct meaning.
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How does the play identify with Ireland?
The play could represent Ireland with its barren setting and a single tree. There are also irish colloquialisms in the text.
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How can you read the text in a marxist way?
Estragon is the proletarian, Vladimir is the intellectual, Pozzo is the landed gentleman and Lucky is the policeman or fool.
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What relationship do Pozzo and Lucky represent?
Master and slave
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Who has authority in this play?
Godot has supreme authority over every character in the play
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Are there any references to religion?
Estragon idealises the bible, they also discuss christ and the two thieves.
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Who does the boy represent?
The boy could represent a prophet or a messenger. It is unclear when he comes back again if he is the same person or his brother.
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Could Godot represent God?
Beckett says if he meant God he would have wrote God not Godot. But there are a lot of similarities. Also the French word for God is different.
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If Beckett wasn't religious, why are there so many religious connotations?
Beckett said that "Christianity is a mythology with which I am perfectly familiar so naturally I use it."
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How do Estragon and Vladimir refer to each other?
By their nicknames, Gogo and Didi.
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They are waiting for Godot, but when will he come?
After waiting all day, they are always told that Godot will come tomorrow
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What countries do the names of the characters come from and what does this signify?
Estragon is French, Vladimir is Scandinavian, Pozzo is Italian and Lucky is English. This gives a global identity to the characters, they could be anyone from anywhere.
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Why do Vladimir and Estragon improvise?
They have no pre-existing plot to fit into. The metaphor of the absent author and the absent God.
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How is the characters conversation absurb?
They talk about mundane things such as carrots and boots but quickly switch to talking about profound things like suicide and religion.
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Other cards in this set

Card 2

Front

What year was the Easter rising?

Back

1916

Card 3

Front

What was the theatre called that was a landmark in Irish arts?

Back

Preview of the front of card 3

Card 4

Front

What year did Ireland gain independence?

Back

Preview of the front of card 4

Card 5

Front

Where did Beckett go to university?

Back

Preview of the front of card 5
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