1. Waiting for Godot Analysis
The Absurdity

2. What is unusual and symbolic about the scenery used in the play?

3. What are the basic differences between Estragon (Gogo) and Vladimir (Didi)?

4. Who is Godot?

5. Why is the idea of suicide important in the play?

6. What is the significance of the moments of silence in the play?

7. What is the significance of Estragon’s eating a carrot?

8. Compare and contrast the roles of Pozzo/Lucky and Vladimir/Estragon.

9. What is the significance of Lucky’s speech and philosophy?

10. What does Vladimir mean when he says “What is terrible is to have thought”?

11. What is the Christian imagery in Vladimir and Estragon’s “relationship” with Godot?

12. What other aspects of the play can be interpreted as Christian symbols?

13. What is the significance of Pozzo’s blindness and Lucky’s muteness in Act II?

14. Discuss Beckett’s “world view.”

15. Discuss characteristics of “theatre of the absurd.”

16. Why is it that in Act II--on the second evening Vladimir and Estragon wait-- the tree has leaves, Pozzo is blind, and Lucky is mute? Why do things change so drastically?

17. What is the function of the boy in Waiting for Godot
What is the function of the boy in Waiting for Godot? Please note that I am not asking for a summary of what he does, but of what his significance is for the play. Why is he--and what he does-- important?

18. One critic of Godot has observed that the boy's response to Vladimir's question about what Godot does is "He does nothing, Sir," and has concluded that "Godot, by implication, lives in the same condition, the same spiritual insomnia, agony, limbo, the same despair of one's failing powers which has hung over the play." Agree, disagree, or otherwise comment on this analysis (with evidence from the play, please).

19. Discuss the function of the audience in Waiting for Godot
Discuss the function of the audience in Waiting for Godot. After all, do we not wait with Didi and Gogo? Are we not caught up in their dilemmas? Are we not as uncertain about Pozzo and Lucky as they? Are we not as confused? Is Beckett, then, using us? How? and to what end?