Beckett Quotes - EAG

Question 1

The setting (nihilism):

Answer 1

First stage direction: “Route à la campagne, avec arbre” (9) - nihilist barren setting given right at the start.

Stage direction: “Il regarde au loin” (15)
E: “Endroit délicieux, aspects riants…” (translates to: charming spot, inspring prospects).

E: “Tu es sûr que c’est ici?”
V: “Il [Godot] a dit devant l’arbre” (16)

E: “Où sont des feuilles?”
V: “Il doit être mort [l’arbre]”

V: “Vous allez dans le mauvais sens”

E: “A cet endroit?”, V: “Oui, tu ne reconnais pas?” E: “Reconnais! Qu’est-ce qu’il y a à reconnaître! J’ai tire ma roulure de vie au milieu des sables”. (82)

V: (regard circulaire) - “On ne peut pas le décrire. Ça ne ressemble à rien. Il n’y a rien. Il y a un arbre.” (119)

Question 2

Interdependency (+ Tragicomedy):

V + E: Eiffel Tower Suicide

Answer 2

V: “La main dans la main on se serait jetés en bas de la Tour Eiffel” (10)

They are interdependent even to the death.

Question 3

Interdependency (+ Tragicomedy):

V + E: Suicide on the tree

Answer 3

E: “Gogo léger, branche pas casser, Gogo mort. Didi lourd, branche casser, Didi seul”. (22)

They can’t even kill themselves as they are afraid of being alone.

Question 4

Interdependency:
V + E can physically leave each other, but don’t
Critic: Renée Riese Hubert

Answer 4

Hubert: “Since they are both waiting for Godot, since this is their only raison d’être, their solid acceptance of the situation makes them essentially alike”.

Question 5

Interdependency:

What they do in response to loneliness:

Answer 5

E: “Je dormais, pourquoi tu ne me laisses jamais dormir?”
V: “Je me sentais seul”
E: “Je fait un rêve”
V: “NE LE RACONTE PAS!”
E: “A qui veux-tu que je raconte mes cauchemars privés, sinon à toi”.

E: "Pourquoi tu ne me laisses jamais dormir?"
V: "Je me sentais seul"
E: "Je rêvais que j'étais heureux"
V: "Ça a fait passer le temps".
(124)

Question 6

Hegel’s master slave dialectic:

V + E “sans moi…”

Answer 6

V: “sans moi…tu ne serais plus qu’un petit tas d’ossements”. (10)

Question 7

Hegel’s master slave dialectic:

P + L: Physically connected by rope

Answer 7

(stage directions): “Entrent Pozzo et Lucky, Lucky dirige au moyen d’une corde” (28).

Pozzo: “Debout charogne … arrière … arrêt! … tourne” (P as a megalomaniac).

P: “C’est pour m’impressionner, pour que je le garde” (39)

P: “Il faudrait les tuer” (Lucky pleure) (about killing Lucky) - he has such little conscience about killing.

Question 8

Stasis and decay: Physical decay

P + L decay in Act 2

Answer 8

P: “Je suis aveugle” (119)
P: “Il est muet” (about Lucky) (126)

This shows decay, but also more interdependency on each other. Lucky is not even more futile, as he is the slave of a master that cannot punish him.

Question 9

Stasis and decay: Mental decay

V + E: Remember less as the play goes on.

Answer 9

V: “Ç’est long, mais il sera bon” qui disait ça? (11)

E: “Il s’appelle Godot?” (26)
V: “Je crois”

E: “C’est la corde” (32)
V: A force de frotter … trailer un homme de cette façon, c’est une honte!” - in Act 1, they begin as feeling bad for Lucky, and then they start beating him too.
Then:
E: “Fumier!” (swine - to Lucky) (43)

E: “Je ne les connais pas” (about P and L) (63)
V: “Et vous, vous êtes Pozzo?” (124)
E: “Tu-es sûr qu’il s’appelle pozzo?” (108)

Also, Lucky represents mental decay
P: “Il ne peut pas penser sans chapeau” (54)

E: “Et tu dis que c’était hier, tout ça?”
V: “Mais oui, voyons”. (82)

E: “C’est Godot! Nous sommes sauvés!” (they think Pozzo is Godot) (101).

E: “Peut-être que l’autre s’appelle Caïn” V: “Il est tout l’humanité” (E is convinced Pozzo and Lucky are Cain and Abel, and they say all of humanity are represented by Cain and Abel (the good and the bad)) (114).

Question 10

Stasis and decay: Empty language

V + E: End of each Act

Answer 10

E: “Allons-nous-en”
V: “On ne peut pas”
E: “Pourquoi?”
V: “On attend Godot”

E: Alors, on y va?
V: Allons-y
“Ils ne bougent pas” (70)

Or:
E: “On ferait mieux de séparer” V: “Tu dis toujours ça, et chaque fois tu reviens”.

V: “C’est-à-dire -“ (V says ‘the point is’ and then nothing).

V: “Qu’est-ce qu’on fait maintenant?” (20)
E: “On attend”
V: “Oui, mais en attendant?”
(Then they talk about hanging themselves)

V: “Je suis content”, E: “Je suis content”, V: “Moi aussi”, E: “Moi aussi”, V: Nous sommes contents”. (81)

Question 11

Stasis and decay: Empty language (+ Tragicomedy):

V + E: suicide that doesn’t happen:

Answer 11

E: “Pendons-nous tout de suite” (21)

P: “Pense, porc” (55), ordering someone to think takes the meaning out of thought (and Lucky’s logorrhoea certainly is). This is empty language followed by empty words, but also tragicomic as P treats him so badly.

V: “Traiter un homme de cette façon…c’est une honte!, E: un scandale” (35, about Lucky).
This shows both interdependency as they mimic each other, and also emptiness of language as later they treat Lucky the same.

Question 12

Critic quote on empty language:

Answer 12

Stephen M Holloran: “If we say of Waiting for Godot, that it is not convincing, we state a self-evident fact”.

Question 13

Tragicomedy:

Critic N.F. Lowe:

Answer 13

“We feel guilty at being amused” - N.F. Lowe

(Also V’s song about the dogs and their perpetual deaths in Act 2 reflects their situation, whilst seeming like pointless nonsense).

Question 14

Stasis and decay: Empty language

V + E: We are not alone…

Answer 14

V: “Nous ne sommes pas seuls, à attendre la nuit à attendre Godot” (109)

E: “Allons-nous-en”, V: On ne peut pas, on attend Godot” (16)

P + V: “Et merci, merci à vous, de rien, mais si, mais non, mais si, mais non” (62)
P + V + E: “Adieu, Adieu, Adieu, Adieu…” (62)

Question 15

Stasis and decay: Passing the time

V + E: Start of the play

Answer 15

E: “Rien à faire” (9)

V: “Ça a fait passer le temps”, E: “Il serait passé sans ça”, V: Oui, mais moins vite” (62)

V: “Cette histoire de larrons, tu t’en souviens? Tu veux que je te la raconte?”
E: “Non”
V: “Ça passera le temps” (14)

V: Tout le soirée nous avons lutté, livrés à nos propres moyens. Maintenant c’est fini, nous sommes déjà demain!” (106) (they struggled for a few moments and think it took the whole night).

Question 16

Humour (meaningful):

V + E suicide is made funny:

Answer 16

V: “Ce serait un moyen de bander” (21)

V to E: “Il n’y a jamais que toi qui souffres!” (sarcasm - tragicomedy) (11)

Humour is not only meaningful, but also the most rational response to their situation.

Question 17

Humour (meaningful):

V + E entertainment with P + L

Answer 17

V: “C’est Pozzo ou Bozzo?… j’ai connu une famille Gozzo”. (30)

V: “On pourrait jouer à Pozzo et Lucky”.

E: “Peut-être qu’il voit clair dans l’avenir” (110) (asks Pozzo if he can see in the future as he is blind).

Question 18

Humour (meaningful):

Clownish entertainment:

Answer 18

V: Relève ton pantalon, RELÈVE ton pantalon”

Question 19

Entertainment (meaningful):

Examples:

Answer 19

The hat game
Play acting Pozzo and Lucky
Carrots and Radishes (E: “Donne-moi une carotte. Merci. Ah, c’est un navet” (24))
Estragon struggles to remove his boots at the start
They make Lucky dance (V: “danse porc!”)

Question 20

Meta-theatre

V + E examples:

Answer 20

V: “Garde ma place”
V: “On se croirait au spectacle, E: Au cirque, V: Au music-hall E: Au cirque” (45)

E: “Allons-y, rasseyez-vous, monsieur, je vous en prie” (46) - He asks P to sit down like one would in the theatre.

Question 21

Meta-theatre:

Pozzo attention seeking:

Answer 21

“Tout le monde me regarde?” (38)

Question 22

Existentialism:

V + E questioning their existence:

Answer 22

V: “Tu lui diras que tu m’as vu” (telling the boy to tell Godot he say them, confirming their existence and keeping their raison d’être for tomorrow).

V’s song about the dogs, perpetually dying, is on one level drivel, but on a deeper level, it is a representation of the perpetual cycle of death and meaningless life (reflects their nihilist situation).

V: “Si on se repentait?” (12)
E: “De quoi?, d’être né?”
This is the religious symbolism, paired with the part about ‘les larrons’ and E only remembering the pictures from the bible. They are saying they are in such dire circumstances, they should repent for being born.

E: “On trouve toujours quelque chose Didi, pour nous donner l’impression d’exister?” (94)

P: “Elles accouchent à cheval sur une tombe, le jour brille un instant, puis c’est la nuit à nouveau”. (P’s existentialist speech about the human condition) (125)

V: “Est-ce que j’ai dormi, pendant que les autres souffraient? Est-ce que je dors en ce moment? Demain, quand je croirai me réveiller, que dirai-je de cette journée?” (V’s existentialist rant about really existing, really living, really sleeping, etc - he is questioning reality).

Question 23

Ambiguity of time:

V + E forgetting time

Answer 23

E: “Nous sommes déjà venus hier? V: Ah non, là tu te goures” (17)

E: “Mais quel samedi, ou lundi, ou vendredi?” (17)

V: “Ils ont beaucoup changé” (62) (between the acts)

E: “Il n’était pas là hier?” (78)

E: “De feuilles!, V: Dans une seule nuit!” (92)

V: “Ça recommence” (63) - about the boy, it has happened many times (time is a spiral)

E: “Et s’il [Godot] ne vient pas?”
V: “Nous reviendrons demain”
E: “Et puis après-demain, et ainsi de suite”.

V: “La nuit ne viendra-t-elle jamais?”

V: “Comment le temps passe quand on s’amuse!” (104)