Waiting for Godot Symbolism, Imagery & Allegory

Waiting for Godot is chock-full of pairs. There’s Vladimir and Estragon, the two thieves, the Boy and his brother, Pozzo and Lucky, Cain and Abel, and of course the two acts of the play itsel...

The tree is the only distinct piece of the setting, so we’re pretty sure it matters. (Also, if you check out the painting that inspired Beckett, you’ll see that a big tree features prom...

While Vladimir and Estragon wait for Godot, they also wait for nightfall. For some reason (again, arbitrary and uncertain), they don’t have to wait for him once the night has fallen. The clas...

Repetition, banality, and a comically macabre subject matter? We think you can handle this one on your own.

Carrots and turnips are in one sense just a gag reel for Vladimir and Estragon’s comic bits. But we were interested in their disagreement over the vegetable: "Funny," Estragon comments as he...

When Lucky is commanded to dance in Act I, Pozzo reveals that he calls his dance "The Net," adding, "He thinks he’s entangled in a net." You would think a guy tied up on a rope leash would fe...

There seems to be no shortage of inane props in Waiting for Godot, and these three have one thing in common: they are all absurd objects on which the men have developed irrational dependences. Luck...

Estragon is repeatedly repelled by smells in Waiting for Godot. Vladimir stinks of garlic, Lucky smells like who knows what, and Pozzo reeks of a fart in Act II. It seems every time Estragon tries...