Waiting for Godot

     The film version of Waiting for Godot by Samuel Beckett is much different than simply reading the text. Even though Beckett wrote the play as having a very simplistic set with only a tree and a few props, the text is all that is needed. With a theme of time and the act of waiting, Beckett displays each characters personality in its true light, displaying both weaknesses and strengths.

     When reading Waiting for Godot, I did not catch on to the amount of humor within the play. Beckett's humor is not obvious humor, but more so dry humor. When watching the film version of the play, I continued to laugh at parts that at first did not seem very funny. The tone of the characters and their movements exemplify the humor of their lines. Although some of the humor within the play was fairly obvious the first time I read it, it became even more apparent when seeing it acted out. An example of this is when Vladimir and Estragon are having a conversation and Vladimir tells Estragon that he “should have been a poet.” Vladimir who is beneath Estragon sitting on a bench, looks up and says “I was (Gestures towards his rags) Isn't that obvious?” The humor to this particular scene had a lot to do with the props, such as Estragon's attire, as well as the actors facial expressions. An example from the play of not such obvious humor would be when the men discuss committing suicide by hanging themselves. When reading this I thought it was very odd, however, when seeing it performed the humor became much more apparent.

     When first reading the play Waiting for Godot, I thought it had a very slow start and was not exactly sure how Beckett could create an interesting text with so few characters on an empty set. The film version illustrated the humor within the play, which I find to be one of the most important aspects of Beckett's work.