DECLARATION

I do hereby declare that the Dissertation entitled “WAITING FOR GODOT AS A RELIGIOUS

PLAY” has carried out by me.

The interpretation put forth are based on my reading and understanding of the text and internet.

This is an authentic work and has not been submitted to another university or institute for the

award of any degree/diploma etc.

The other books and websites which I made use are acknowledged at the respective place in

the text.

CERTIFICATE
This is to certify that Supriya Sharma from GRD Girls Degree College, Dehradun, a student of

MA English 2021, has been working under my supervision and that the accompanied project

entitled “Wating for Godot as a Religious Play” is her work. During this period, her performance

and conduct was found satisfactory.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I wish to sincerely thank all those who have contributed in one way or the other to this study.

Words can only inadequately express my deep gratitude to my guide, Dr. Priyanka Singh for her

care, kindness and generosity. Her fruitful comments and insightful suggestions have been a

crucial formative influence on the present study. She has supported me in every possible way

since the beginning of the study. Her critical and careful reading of the writing has saved me

from a lot of errors. Without her guidance and encouragement, my research would have never
come out in the present from. Furthermore, it has been a memorable and enjoyable experience

for me to work with her.

I sincerely express my deep gratitude to Mr. Vijay Saini for his help and guidance in selecting

topic of my dissertation.

I acknowledge my gratitude to my GRD Girls Degree College who have permitted me to

undergo my research in their college. They have extended their cooperation by participating

actively in the research and process of the dissertation.

I sincerely acknowledge the courtesy of the authority of our college library for their cooperation

needed by permitting me to access data and relevant materials while carrying out the present

research. I would also like to thank my sincere friends from the Department of English for their

encouragement. The various material provided by our library was of great help to me. The

collected matter gave me valuable information regarding my dissertation. I gained a lot of

knowledge from all the textbooks, articles and internet. The library turned out to be a great

source of knowledge to me. All the books helped me in a great way. I have gained great

knowledge through these books.

I would like to thank my parents who helped me a lot directly or indirectly towards the

completion of this project. They have been giving valuable suggestions and this served as the

major contribution towards the completion of this dissertation.

I am thankful to each and every person who helped me in completing my dissertation. I can

never thank them enough. Everyone has lend me their helping hand whenever I needed them.

I offer my sincere appreciation for the learning opportunities provided by the professor who

continued to mound each student to go beyond their limits and to dream for the best. I never

received any negative remarks from all those who helped me.

Supriya Sharma

CONTENTS
 1. Introduction

2. Waiting for Godot as a Religious Play

2.1. Christian mythical interpretations

2.2. Biblical elements in “Waiting for Godot”

2.3. Mr. Godot as Second Coming

2.4. “Waiting for Godot” with Hindu philosophy and ideas

2.5. Religious dilemma in “Waiting for Godot”

3. Conclusion

4. Bibliography

Introduction:

Samuel Beckett (13 April 1906 – 22 December 1989)

Born - Samuel Barclay Beckett 13 April 1906 Foxrock, Dublin, Ireland

Died - 22 December 1989 (aged 83) Montparnasse, Paris, France

Pen name - Andrew Belis

Occupation - Novelist, playwright, poet, theatre director, essayist, literary translator

Language - English, French

Nationality - Irish

Citizenship - United Kingdom

Education - Portora Royal School

Alma mater - Trinity College Dublin

Genres - Drama, fiction, poetry, screenplays, personal correspondence

Notable works – Murphy, Watt, Molloy, Malone Dies, The Unnamable, Waiting for Godot,

Endgame, Krapp's Last Tape, How It Is, Happy Days

Notable awards - Croix de Guerre (1945)

Nobel Prize in Literature (1969)

Years active - 1929–1989

Spouse - Suzanne Dechevaux-Dumesnil

Samuel Beckett is a famous Irish dramatist and novelist, theatre director, poet, and literary

translator. A resident of Paris for most of his adult life, he wrote in both French and English.

Beckett's multi-faceted work offers a bleak, tragi-comic outlook on existence and experience,

often coupled with black comedy and nonsense. It became increasingly minimalist in his later

career, involving more aesthetic and linguistic experimentation. He is considered one of the last
modernist writers, and one of the key figures in what Martin Esslin called the "Theatre of the

Absurd".His best-known work is his 1953 play Waiting for Godot.

Beckett was awarded the 1969 Nobel Prize in Literature "for his writing, which—in new forms for

the novel and drama—in the destitution of modern man acquires its elevation". He was elected

Saoi of Aosdána in 1984

HIS EARLY LIFE

Samuel Barclay Beckett was born in the Foxrock suburb of Dublin on 13 April 1906, the son of

William Frank Beckett (1871–1933), a quantity surveyor of Huguenot descent.

At the age of five, he attended a local playschool in Dublin, where he started to learn music, and

then moved to Earlsfort House School near Harcourt Street in Dublin. The Becketts were

members of the Church of Ireland; raised as an Anglican, Beckett later became agnostic, a

perspective which informed his writing.

Around 1919 or 1920, he went to Portora Royal School in Enniskillen, which Oscar Wilde had

also attended. He left in 1923 and entered Trinity College in Dublin, where he studied modern

literature. A natural athlete, he excelled at cricket as a left-handed batsman and a left-arm

medium-pace bowler. Later, he played for Dublin University and played two first-class games

against Northamptonshire. As a result, he became the only Nobel literature laureate to have

played first-class cricket.

Honours and awards

 Croix de guerre (France)

 Médaille de la Résistance (France)

 1959 honorary doctorate from Trinity College, Dublin

 1961 International Publishers' Formentor Prize (shared with Jorge Luis Borges)

 1968 Foreign Honorary Member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences

 1969 Nobel Prize in Literature

 Saoi of Aosdana (Ireland)

  2016 The house that Beckett lived at in 1934 (48 Paultons Square, Chelsea, London)

received an English Heritage Blue Plaque

 Obies (for Off-Broadway plays):

 1958 Endgame

 1960 Krapp's Last Tape

 1962 Happy Days

“Waiting for Godot” is his master piece. The play is one of the classic works of theatre of absurd.

It is multilayered drama which has many [Link] play seems absurd but with a deep

religious meaning. Though the play commonly interpreted within the context of the theatre of

absurd, existentialist literature, it is also Christian allegory and also interpreted with religious

interpretations.

The play has very strong evidences of theory of existentialism, but still, it can be related with

many other religious interpretations. Like, Christian myth of two thieves, waiting for second

coming of Jesus Christ, Hindu philosophy and its ‘Avatar’ and other interpretations.
 Waiting for Godot as a Religious Play

In an Absurd play the idea of God and religion is conspicuous by its absence. The playwrights

normally emphasize irony and negation, neurosis and despair, a ritual orgy of jabbering, the

infinity of nihilism. They present a hostile universe where man withers like atomic dust. Waiting
for Godot, an absurd drama as it is, has an unmistakably religious element. Not Waiting for

Godot alone, the other plays are also imbued with deep religious fervor. For Beckett God has

not failed. There is religious symbolism throughout. In his novel Molloy, Beckett says: “It was a

cargo of nails and timber, on its way to some carpenter I suppose”. And we all know that

Jesus Christ was a carpenter by profession and helped his father Joseph before he had

undertaken his missionary work. As a matter of fact, Beckett is never tired of referring to Christ

and the salvation of the suffering and penitent man. Suffering is the true badge of honour for a

Christian.

“The suffering that characterizes earthly existence”, says Herst Zeifman, “and the

theological context of that suffering are recurrent leitmotifs in Beckett’s drama. The casual

relationship between divine cruelty and human suffering is perhaps most effectively dramatized

in Beckett’s portrayal of many of his characters as emblematic Biblical sufferers.”

If we regard Waiting for Godot as a Morality play, it naturally becomes a religious play as well.

The Morality play was a medieval forerunner of our modern novel-with-a purpose, as

unconvincingly didactic as instructive. The Morality play may be defined as an attempt to

dramatize a Sermon. The characters in such a play are personified qualities, e.g. vices, mental

attributes, impulses, moods, states of mind, and the like, or of universalized types set in a

framework of allegory. Exactly like the Morality plays, the Theatre of the Absurd, as has been

pointed out by Martin Esslin, is concerned with the ultimate realities of the human condition, e.g.

life, death, isolation and communication. Drama owes its origin to religion. So does Absurd
Drama, in which man has confrontation with ultimate realities, synonymous with religious reality.

In the twentieth century Europe has become a vast and arid waste land, where man is groping

in the dark for light. It is an era of nothingness, of nihilism, and negation of traditional values.

Religion has been weighed in the balance, and found wanting. Christ is being crucified for

umpteen times. Vladimir and Estragon are the representatives of the modern man standing for

hope and light. They are not men of flesh and blood but the concrete shapes of abstract

qualities. There is the reference to Salvation, Judgment and Crucifixion like a recurrent refrain.

In Waiting for Godot, for example, the first clearly explicit reference to salvation is found in

Vladimir’s mention of the two thieves crucified on either side of Christ, one of whom was saved

and the other damned. When asked by Estragon what the thief was saved from, Vladimir replied

that the man was saved from hell. Vladimir wonders that of the four Evangelists, St. Matthew,

St. Mark, St. Luke, and St. John, only one speaks of a thief being saved.

Beckett was fascinated by the idea of salvation, while most people have to suffer damnation.

Ever since the dawn of history there have been millions of persons who had to be damned for

their misdeeds. Only two thieves got the splendid opportunity of being saved. The Sheep and

the Goats or “the Judgment of the Nations” is a pronouncement of Jesus recorded in chapter 25

of Matthew’s Gospel in the New Testament.

While Pozzo tells Vladimir about Lucky: “Remark that I might easily have been in his shoes

and he in mine. If chance had not willed it otherwise”, he might be thinking of the thieves

Man cannot be sure of the Grace of God, which is awarded fortuitously. God willed otherwise,
and, therefore, Pozzo, so long better placed, had to become blind, at the mercy of others. If

Godot is God, he does not bestow favours in a strictly logical manner. For the ways of God are

mysterious and inexorable. Take the case of Cain and Abel, who were siblings and brought up

in the same environments. Abel was saved and Cain damned. There are several other

references to the fortuitous bestowal of divine grace. Two boys serve as the messengers of

Godot- one tends the goats and the other sheep. They are brothers Cain and Abel. But

unpredictably Godot is kind to one who tends the goats, and beats the other who tends the

sheep. When Estragon thinks that Godot is coming, he cries out in fear: I’m accursed!” Estragon

feels that he is in hell. Vladimir, on the other hand, rejoices at what he imagines to be the arrival

of Godot.

Salvation as divine grace is matter of chance, and Beckett reiterates the point. When asked to

think, Lucky gives a demonstration of his thinking and mentions several words, namely ‘apathia’

‘athambia’, and ‘aphasia’. This is not mere rigmarole, and has a philosophical significance, for

apathia means divine apathy; athambia means terror of God, and aphasia means the

speechlessness of God. That is to say, God may be apathetic; God may be speechless; God

has the capacity for terror. God will love and save only a select few.

Tree is the symbol of cross on which Christ was hanged. Few leaves on the tree in second act

indicate the idea of hope. They have hoped that their wait will give them some meaningful

results.
The Boy, a messenger of Godot conveys the message of Godot’s arrival to Vladimir and

Estragon. The boy here is a symbol of hope and better tomorrow.

Vladimir and Estragon are waiting for divine grace. For to wait for Godot is to wait for divine

grace and salvation. Vladimir has consistently practiced Christian tolerance and charity and has

not left his friend even amidst trying circumstances. Beckett has taken infinite pains to

distinguish the two tramps from Pozzo and Lucky. While the tramps have something to wait for,

something to look forward to, Pozzo and Lucky are cast adrift with no objective in view. Pozzo

particularly suffers from the chastisement of hubris, pride, which is one of the Seven Deadly

Sins. He believes that night will never fall upon him. But at the advent of night he becomes blind

and plays the penalty of his overweening confidence

 Christian mythical interpretations:

When someone asked about the theme of “Waiting for Godot”, Beckett is reported to have

referred to the sentence in the writings of St. Augustine,

“Do not despair: one of the thieves was saved. Do not presume: one of the thieves was

damned.”

The theme of the two thieves on the cross, the theme of the uncertainty of the hope of the

salvation and the chance bestowal of divine grace, does indeed pervade the whole play. Two

characters Vladimir and Estragon are shown as tramps or thieves. At the beginning, Vladimir

refers this,“One of the thieves was saved. It’s a reasonable percentage.”

And in the act 1, he refers this several times. Even Vladimir is shown talking about repentance.

He several times says to Estragon to wait for Mr. Godot and when Estragon asks the reason, he

says, Mr. Godot, otherwise punish them!

Beckett, though, wrote these dialogues quite funny and in light mood, it has strong meanings.

“Vladimir: One of the thieves was saved. It’s a reasonable percentage. GogoEstragon: What?

Vladimir: suppose we repented.

Estragon: Repented what?

Vladimir: Oh…we wouldn’t have to go into the details. Estragon: Our being born?”
It means Vladimir has faith in the myth and he is craving for salvation. He wants to be one of the

thieves, who saved.

In the second act, while passing the time, they are thinking and talking about dead voices, it

also

seems that they are thinking about their past acts and evaluating their own deeds. Vladimir and

Estragon talk incessantly because they want to hear the ‘dead voices’ which explore the

mysteries of being and the self to the limits of anguish and suffering.

There is another Christian myth described in the dialogues between the boy and Vladimir. The

boy, who looks after the goats is not beaten but, his brother who looks after Mr. Godot’s ships is

beaten. This incident refers to myth of two sons of Adam Cain and Abel. There too the Lord’s

grace fell on one rather than other without any rational explanation.

Here Godot also acts contrary/similarly to Jesus Christ. It can be interpreted as God’s

punishment or nature of giving punishments. And Vladimir also gives reason to Estragon that if

they don’t wait for Mr. Godot, he will punish them. The act of waiting and Vladimir’s dialogue to

boy, “Tell him that you saw me” seems that he is waiting for damnation. Even the thought of

repentance is also present in the play. Thus, the play has very strong effect of Christian ideas of

salvation, repentance including its myths.

 Biblical elements in “Waiting for Godot”:

As it has many Christian ideas, it is also related with many biblical elements and symbols. At the

beginning of the play, Vladimir asks Estragon, have he read the Bible or not. Throughout the

play, biblical, Christian elements are very much presented with the symbols. The background

image of ‘Tree’ has multiple meanings, and religious interpretation see as it is an image of cross

where Jesus Christ was crucified. Their waiting also reflects the basic biblical idea of Christ’s

returns on the Doomsday. This play has strong religious connections, as it is also known as

religious allegory. As William Mueller observed, “The human predicament described in Beckett’s

first play is that of man living on the Saturday after the Friday of the crucifixion, and not really

knowing if all hope is dead or if the next day will bring the life which has been promised.”
Mr. Godot and Second coming
One popular interpretation of waiting for Godot is the second coming aspect. One meaning of

Mr. Godot is none other but ‘God’ and there are many clues and evidences in the play which

symbolically says, that Mr. Godot is a symbol for God. Religious interpretation posits Vladimir

and Estragon as humanity waiting for the elusive return of a saviour. This interpretation makes

Pozzo into the pope and Lucky into the faithful. Another evidence is the title itself; the name

‘Godot’ also proves it. The name suggests ‘God’-OT it must have some significance. And it must

be interpreted religious way. It is also seen in the dialogues between Vladimir and the boy.

“Vladimir: (softly) has he a beard, Mr. Godot?

Boy: yes, sir.

Vladimir: fair or … (he hesitates)… or black?

Boy: I think It’s white, sir.”

The personality, Beckett describes is much related with image of Christian God. This description

clearly shows that Mr. Godot means God.

Other dialogues between Vladimir and Estragon describe characteristics of Mr. Godot. Let’s

evaluate these dialogues.

“Estragon: And if we dropped him? If we dropped him?

Vladimir: He’d punish us Estragon: And if he comes?

Vladimir: We’ll be saved.”

It means Mr. Godot will give punishment if they leave and Mr. Godot is saviour also, they will be

rewarded, if they wait. As it is already described, the tree symbolises cross where Christ was

crucified and they are waiting there.

Throughout the play, the mute character Godot symbolises God, as we are waiting for God – a

saviour from our sorrows and sufferings. This uncertain, second coming of God is well

presented, who, when, where – questions about God and Godot both are unanswered in reality

as well in the play.

“Waiting for Godot” with Hindu philosophy and ideas:
In Hindu religion, there is also an idea of an ‘Avatar’ for whom people are waiting. Though the

play has not much connection with Hindu religious ideas, it can be interpreted and connected

with some philosophical and spiritual ideas as the play is multi-layered. The concept of

‘Nothingness’ can be interpreted with Hindu philosophy, According to it, the world and

everything, every action is ‘Maya’ has no meaning but only ‘illusion’. Other interpretation of

Hindu philosophy says, ‘karma’, the act must be done. The dialogue of Vladimir, “Let us do

something while we have the chance….Let us make the most of it, before it is too late!”

This ‘per formative’ potency suggests the finally achieved actions means ‘karma’. There are

several other interpretations of Hindu philosophy and spirituality can be possible. The idea of

hope as waiting (without dying) is also a Hindu philosophic idea. Though it has no connection

with Hindu ideas, it is worthy to be studied with many interpretations

Religious dilemma in “Waiting for Godot”:

The play is mostly interpreted as an Existential play. There are many elements which favour

existentialism more than even religious interpretations. But to promote existentialist views and

ideas, and to present religious ideas’ irrationality, Beckett presents religious dilemma, counter

arguments against religion. It becomes very strong, interesting point of discussion and debate in

the play.

The famous myth of two thieves used in the play, is deconstructed by the writer. When Vladimir

says, “One of the thieves was saved. It’s a reasonable percentage.” Later he enlarges on
this subject. He asks why only one of the thieves is supposed to have been saved and other

damned?

He raises questions why only one of four Evangelists speaks of a thief being saved, not other

three. So, it cannot be hundred percent true! He intelligently points out that, it is curious fact that

everybody seems to believe that one witness. This deconstructing point can be seen in

Vladimir’s and Estragon’s [Link]: Who believes him?

Vladimir: Everybody. It’s the only version they know.

Estragon: people are bloody ignorant [Link] speaks, criticizes human mentality, whose

attitude has been one of skepticism throughout the play.

Beckett, very intentionally, created these two characters- Estragon and Vladimir. Among them

Vladimir is shown more intelligent, craving for salvation, moral, religious, and thinker than

Estragon. Estragon seems dumb, irreligious, sleeping-not thoughtful, only craving for necessary

things for body but not interested in spiritual thinking.

Two ideas about existentialism and spiritual/religious waiting clashes in the play. When

Vladimir says to repent, Estragon asks for reason. Two concept of religious and atheist

are put together with these two characters.

Throughout the play, Vladimir is thinking about repentance, salvation, God, Bible and many

other religious things. He, very hopefully, waiting for Mr. Godot to come and to be saved. But

Estragon is very forgetful, he forgets everything, he has no concern with these religious
[Link] of God or Mr. Godot is also questioned in the play. Both characters are

waiting and passing time without doing anything, but Mr. Godot does not come. It can also be

interpreted that, “Nothing to be done” while waiting for god and human being become passive

while [Link] an existentialist idea, they want to die, and wait for another day with hope. It is

quite confusing, they both have hope for God or Godot to come but they find hopelessness or

meaningless to wait, so they die. The play has idea of existentialism as well as religious. And

throughout the play, this dilemma goes on. Perhaps, it shows Beckett’s own dilemma as he is

atheist.

Waiting for salvation

Waiting is the theme throughout the play. Although Godot breaks his promise, the two tramps

have shown perseverance. Despite the heavy blow of painfulness, frustration and
disappointment, they still keeps on waiting because that is their only hope for they believe only

Godot can save them.

How to get salvation?

It is recorded in the Holy Bible that together with Jesus two prisoners were crucified. One of

them said, “You're Christ, aren’t you? You can save us and yourself!” But the other answered,

and rebuking him said, “Do you not even fear God, since you are under the same sentence of

condemnation? And we indeed are suffering justly, for we are receiving what we deserve for our

deeds; but this man has done nothing wrong.” And he was saying, “Jesus, remember me when

You come in Your kingdom!” Jesus said to him, “Truly I say to you, today you shall be with Me in

Paradise.” The thief was saved because of his belief. On the cross, he knew what he had done

was wrong and he believed Jesus would come again. So, Jesus told him just in that day he

could be with Jesus in paradise. People who believe in God can be saved. Waiting is a process

God added for man’s salvation. Suffering means tasting the life. Human beings learn to love

others in this process. In Act I, the two tramps can be seen to have gaps and Lucky is victimized

by Pozzo. Only the boy following Godot lives a life with love. But in Act II, the two tramps

sincerely embrace, and Pozzo becomes particularly dependent on Lucky. Furthermore, the

tramps’ help to Pozzo shows the fraternity among people. Human

beings are changing towards what God want them to be.

Although Godot does not come, hope is still there. The withered tree in Act I has a few leaves in

Act II. Although there are only a few leaves, after all, they are the embodiment of life. The wilting

tree in spring bears some hope for the boring waiting. Human beings’ waiting is no longer

hopeless. Waiting gives significance to existence.

Waiting for Godot expresses the living condition of the Western people who have been out of

contact with God and shows their effort to get rid of the situation. It is an anticipation to rebuild

the meaningful system of the universe.”

(Human beings will be patient to wait on, to wait for the arrival of Godot, and to wait for the

realization of salvation. Beckett expresses his sincere thought of human existence in the play,

which is seemingly absurd.

 1. What does Godot symbolize?

In Samuel Beckett's play Waiting for Godot, this particular word 'Godot' is deeply symbolic.

Godot represents something godly or godlike. He is the 'earthly ideal of a better social order'.

'Godot' also means death or silence and represents the inaccessible self.

2. Who is Godot and what does he stand for?

Godot is 'who' we are waiting for, and in the course of the play that can take on many meanings.

In Christianty, we wait for Jesus, the 'second coming of Christ,' therefore a Christian audience

would view Godot in this way. The Jews on the other hand still await the coming of the Messiah

3. What does Godot represent?

To the two tramps, Godot represents peace, rest from waiting, a sense of having arrived in a

place; that provides shelter and comfort. His coming means that they will no longer be tramps,

homeless wanderers, but will have arrived home. They wait for him even though his coming is

by no means certain

4. What does Waiting for Godot say about religion?

Religion is incompatible with reason in Waiting for Godot. Characters who attempt to

understand religion logically are left in the dark, and the system is compared to such absurd

banalities as switching bowler hats or taking a boot on and off.

 5. What is the religious significance of Godot?

Waiting for Godot is one of the classic works of theater of the absurd. The play seems absurd

but with a deep religious meaning. This text tries to explore the theme in four parts of God and

man, breaking the agreement, repentance and imprecation and waiting for salvation.

CONCLUSION

It is strongly believed that the play has ideas of existentialism. But event to support

existentialism, writer shows religious ideas. And he also tries to deconstruct it. Consciously or

unconsciously, writer presents many Christian myths and Biblical images.

As biography suggests, Beckett knows about all the Christian philosophical, spiritual ideas from

childhood. So, the play has many Christian values like repentance, craving for salvation, faith in

God, fear of God and hope for to be saved, and ‘coming of Mr. Godot’. Even Vladimir’s

character is full with Christian values like he feeds and helps Estragon as true friend, he wants

to help Pozzo and has desire to be saved.

As it is discussed earlier, “Waiting for Godot” has many Biblical, Christian symbols; one of the

interpretations of the play is as ‘religious allegory’. But as the play has many interpretations and

deep layers, it cannot be final and only interpretation.

“Waiting for Godot” shows the genius of Beckett and has very strong literariness that reader can

interpret many meanings out of this small play.

Waiting for Godot is one of the classic works of theater of the absurd. The play seems absurd

but with a deep religious meaning. This text tries to explore the theme in four parts of God and

man, breaking the agreement, repentance and imprecation and waiting for salvation.

BIBLIOGRAPHY
 Beckett, Samuel. (2006). Waiting for Godot. Selected Works of Samuel Beckett.

Trans. By Zhongxian Yu. Changsha:

 Hunan Art Publishing House.

 Sun, Caixia. (2005). Western Modernist Literature and Holy Bible. Beijing: China

Social Sciences Press.

 Canada Xu, Zhiwei. (2006). Introduction to Christian Theology. Beijing: China Social

Sciences.

 Zeng, Chuanhui. (1994). The Stories of Holy Bible. Beijing: China Social Sciences Press

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