Waiting for Godot by Samuel Beckett (Book Analysis): Detailed Summary, Analysis and Reading Guide

By Bright Summaries

Unlock the more straightforward side of Waiting for Godot with this concise and insightful summary and analysis!

This engaging summary presents an analysis of Waiting for Godot by Samuel Beckett, a play which follows a pair of tramps over two days of their lives as they wait for a mysterious man called Godot. Nothing else really happens, and that is exactly the point of play: through the somewhat ridiculous protagonists and the complete lack of action in Waiting for Godot, Beckett points out that life itself has no meaning, and we spend most of it waiting for something – or someone – to come along and change this. Premiered in Paris in 1953, Waiting for Godot met with astonishing success, and has since been the subject of various different interpretations and even been voted “most significant English language play of the 20th century” according to a poll conducted by the British Royal National Theatre. Although Beckett wrote the French version of his play before its English counterpart, he was actually born in Ireland. He spent most of his life in Paris, and is regarded as one of the most prominent writers of the 20th century, as well as one of the most important dramatists of the Theatre of the Absurd.  

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This in-depth and informative reading guide brings you:
• A complete plot summary
• Character studies
• Key themes and symbols
• Questions for further reflection

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• Language: English
• Publisher: BrightSummaries.com
• Release date: Dec 21, 2015
• ISBN: 9782806294951

Book preview

Irish novelist, poet and dramatist

Born in Dublin in 1906.

Died in Paris in 1989.

Notable works:

Molloy (1951), novel

Waiting for Godot (1952), play

Endgame (1957), play

Samuel Beckett was an Irish writer who was born in Dublin in 1906. He taught English at the École Normale Supérieure in Paris from 1928-29, and later settled in the city in 1938. In 1945, he began to write in French, which led to his novel Molloy (1951) and his play Waiting for Godot (1952).

Awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1969, Beckett is one of the major writers of what is called the ‘Theatre of the Absurd’, a type of theatre which portrays modern man’s decline and idleness with very black humour. He died in 1989.

The absurd: modern man’s condition

Genre: Theatre of the Absurd

Reference edition: Beckett, S. (2012) Waiting for Godot. London: Faber and Faber.

1st edition: 1952 (first performed in 1955)

Themes: waiting, inactivity, searching for meaning, despair

Waiting for Godot is Beckett’s most famous play. It was published in 1952 and first staged at the Théâtre Babylone in Paris by Roger Blin in 1953. The play revolves around two men, Vladimir and Estragon, who are waiting for a certain Godot who never comes. They go round