How we cite our quotes: (Act.Line) Every time a character talks counts as one line, even if what they say turns into a long monologue.
Quote #1
VLADIMIR
I'm glad to see you back. I thought you were gone forever.
ESTRAGON
Me too. (1.4-5)
The ambiguity of Estragon’s reply (in one of the earliest lines of the play) sets us up for a central uncertainty in regards to this friendship. His response "Me too" could refer to Vladimir’s claim that he’s glad to see him, or it could refer to the comment that he thought Estragon was gone forever. We are forever unsure as to whether these two men achieve a friendship or are emotionally isolated from each other.
Quote #2
VLADIMIR
Together again at last! We'll have to celebrate this. But how? (He reflects.) Get up till I embrace you.
ESTRAGON
(irritably) Not now, not now. (1.6-7)
This early exchange also established an important dynamic in Waiting for Godot; one man attempts to get closer while the other pulls back. This motif will repeat itself, though Estragon and Vladimir will frequently switch roles.
Quote #3
ESTRAGON
(feebly) Help me!
VLADIMIR
It hurts?
ESTRAGON
(angrily) Hurts! He wants to know if it hurts!
VLADIMIR
(angrily) No one ever suffers but you. I don't count. I'd like to hear what you'd say if you had what I have.
ESTRAGON
It hurts?
VLADIMIR
(angrily) Hurts! He wants to know if it hurts! (1.23-28)
One of the barriers preventing an authentic friendship between these two men is that neither can truly understand what it means for the other to suffer. This sounds a lot like the primary thesis of The Plague, the existentialist work of fiction published just one year before Beckett wrote Waiting for Godot.
Quote #4
ESTRAGON
(restored to the horror of his situation) I was asleep! (Despairingly) Why will you never let me sleep?
VLADIMIR
I felt lonely.
ESTRAGON
I had a dream.
VLADIMIR
Don't tell me!
ESTRAGON
I dreamt that—
VLADIMIR
DON'T TELL ME!
ESTRAGON
(gesture toward the universe) This one is enough for you? (Silence.) It's not nice of you, Didi. Who am I to tell my private nightmares to if I can't tell them to you?
VLADIMIR
Let them remain private. You know I can't bear that. (1.146-153)
Here we see the incredibly contradictory nature of Vladimir’s relationship with Estragon. He wakes him up for company, but can’t commit emotionally to listening to the workings of Estragon’s subconscious (i.e., his dreams).
Quote #5
ESTRAGON
(coldly) There are times when I wonder if it wouldn't be better for us to part.
VLADIMIR
You wouldn't go far. (1.154-5)
Vladimir speaks repeatedly of Estragon’s dependence on him. At times this seems warranted, but at other times we wonder whether he isn’t just assigning a physical dependence to Estragon when he himself is emotionally dependent on the presence of another.
Quote #6
ESTRAGON
(gently) You wanted to speak to me? (Silence. Estragon takes a step forward.) You had something to say to me? (Silence. Another step forward.) Didi . . .
VLADIMIR
(without turning) I've nothing to say to you.
ESTRAGON
(step forward) You're angry? (Silence. Step forward.) Forgive me. (Silence. Step forward. Estragon lays his hand on Vladimir's shoulder.) Come, Didi. (Silence.) Give me your hand. (Vladimir half turns.) Embrace me! (Vladimir stiffens.) Don't be stubborn! (Vladimir softens. They embrace. Estragon recoils.) You stink of garlic! (1.164-7)
This time Estragon takes the step forward in their friendship. But we find yet another barrier in the way, this time smell. Throughout the play Estragon will repeatedly cite smell as the reason he cannot get close to another, almost as if he is disgusted by others’ visceral humanity.
Quote #7
ESTRAGON
Let's hang ourselves immediately!
[…]
ESTRAGON
After you.
[…]
VLADIMIR
You're lighter than I am.
ESTRAGON
Just so!
VLADIMIR
I don't understand.
ESTRAGON
Use your intelligence, can't you?
Vladimir uses his intelligence.
VLADIMIR
(finally) I remain in the dark.
[…]
VLADIMIR
You're my only hope.
ESTRAGON
(with effort) Gogo light—bough not break—Gogo dead. Didi heavy—bough break—Didi alone. Whereas—
VLADIMIR
I hadn't thought of that. (1.174-189)
This is an interesting exchange. At nearly every other instance in the play, Vladimir is the more intellectual of the two men. Yet here, he needs Estragon to walk him through the scenario. Also, check out the line "I remain in the dark." On the one hand, Vladimir is confessing his ignorance; he remains in the dark cerebrally because he can’t figure out what Estragon is talking about. But his response "I remain in the dark" is also the answer to the problem Estragon has proposed: what happens if Estragon goes first? Then the bough holds up and Estragon dies hanging. Then, when Vladimir tries, he is heavier and breaks the bough—leaving him alone and, in a sense, in the dark. This isolation for Vladimir would be a worse fate than death.
Quote #8
POZZO
(halting) You are human beings none the less. (He puts on his glasses.) As far as one can see. (He takes off his glasses.) Of the same species as myself. (He bursts into an enormous laugh.) Of the same species as Pozzo! Made in God's image! (1.314)
Pozzo here admits that, at least biologically, he is exactly the same as Vladimir and Estragon. This seems incompatible with his status as a God, or his belief that he is somehow above these two men (and above Lucky, who is also clearly a human being). Just like Didi and Gogo, Pozzo struggles between a desire to get close to others and a belief that he is somehow separate from them.
Quote #9
POZZO
(He jerks the rope.) Up pig! (Pause.) Every time he drops he falls asleep. (Jerks the rope.) Up hog! (Noise of Lucky getting up and picking up his baggage. Pozzo jerks the rope.) Back! (Enter Lucky backwards.) Stop! (Lucky stops.) Turn! (Lucky turns. To Vladimir and Estragon, affably.) Gentlemen, I am happy to have met you. (Before their incredulous expression.) Yes yes, sincerely happy. (He jerks the rope.) Closer! (Lucky advances.) Stop! (Lucky stops.) […] (Pozzo finishes buttoning up his coat, stoops, inspects himself, straightens up.) Whip! (Lucky advances, stoops, Pozzo snatches the whip from his mouth, Lucky goes back to his place.) Yes, gentlemen, I cannot go for long without the society of my likes (he puts on his glasses and looks at the two likes) even when the likeness is an imperfect one. (He takes off his glasses.) Stool! (Lucky puts down bag and basket, advances, opens stool, puts it down, goes back to his place, takes up bag and basket.) (1.336)
Notice the same sort of conflict here; Pozzo alternates between treating Lucky as scum and declaring that he cannot be without others for company. He is obsessed with what he considers his superiority, but he can’t deal with the loneliness and isolation that superiority brings.
Quote #10
VLADIMIR
(exploding) It's a scandal!
Silence. Flabbergasted, Estragon stops gnawing, looks at Pozzo and Vladimir in turn. Pozzo outwardly calm. Vladimir embarrassed.
POZZO
(To Vladimir) Are you alluding to anything in particular?
VLADIMIR
(stutteringly resolute) To treat a man . . . (gesture towards Lucky) . . . like that . . . I think that . . . no . . . a human being . . . no . . . it's a scandal!
ESTRAGON
(not to be outdone) A disgrace!
He resumes his gnawing. (1.386-9)
Estragon’s chiming in here is a brilliant addition to the exchange; he clearly holds no genuine concern for Lucky, as he’s busy eating his bones while the man is abused. Vladimir, too, is aghast at Pozzo’s treatment of Lucky, but wait a bit and watch him berate Lucky for mistreating Pozzo. There’s no logic or consistency in his concern, so his attempt at sympathy is negated by its absurdity.
Quote #11
VLADIMIR
I'm going.
POZZO
He can no longer endure my presence. I am perhaps not particularly human, but who cares? (1.401-2)
Pozzo directly contradicts his earlier statement that he is just like Estragon and Vladimir—that they all are made in God’s image. He thinks of himself as somehow above mere humans, perhaps even divine. But the line "who cares?" is an interesting one. He may mean to say that he can still relate to the men despite his not being "particularly human," but we can interpret this in another, less optimistic way: it could be that, since men can’t connect to one another anyway, it doesn’t matter whether or not Pozzo himself is human. He’s going to be isolated either way.
Quote #12
VLADIMIR
Who told you?
POZZO
He speaks to me again! If this goes on much longer we'll soon be old friends. (1.403-4)
Pozzo defines friendship by mere interaction. Communication—even poor communication—is enough to break isolation, at least in his mind.
Quote #13
ESTRAGON
Why doesn't he put down his bags?
POZZO
I too would be happy to meet him. The more people I meet the happier I become. From the meanest creature one departs wiser, richer, more conscious of one's blessings. Even you . . . (he looks at them ostentatiously in turn to make it clear they are both meant) . . . even you, who knows, will have added to my store.
ESTRAGON
Why doesn't he put down his bags? (1.405-7)
Pozzo’s lines are highly ironic here. He is busy declaring how much he benefits from personal interaction while he directly ignores 1) Estragon’s attempts at communication and 2) the suffering of his slave, Lucky, who is still holding the heavy bags. The way his comment is couched in Estragon’s repeated lines is a great example of how structure complements and builds meaning in Waiting for Godot.
Quote #14
POZZO
Good. Is everybody ready? Is everybody looking at me? (He looks at Lucky, jerks the rope. Lucky raises his head.) Will you look at me, pig! (Lucky looks at him.) Good. (He puts the pipe in his pocket, takes out a little vaporizer and sprays his throat, puts back the vaporizer in his pocket, clears his throat, spits, takes out the vaporizer again, sprays his throat again, puts back the vaporizer in his pocket.) I am ready. Is everybody listening? Is everybody ready? (He looks at them all in turn, jerks the rope.) Hog! (Lucky raises his head.) I don't like talking in a vacuum. Good. Let me see.
He reflects. (1.426)
Pozzo is arguably the loneliest character in Waiting for Godot. While he makes a big show out of interacting with others and praising the benefits of human connection, he is always focused on himself, not on others. When he says "I don’t like talking in a vacuum," it’s clear that his concern is with his own ego, not in whether others hear or benefit from what he is saying.
Quote #15
POZZO
I do. But instead of driving him away as I might have done, I mean instead of simply kicking him out on his arse, in the goodness of my heart I am bringing him to the fair, where I hope to get a good price for him. The truth is you can't drive such creatures away. The best thing would be to kill them.
Lucky weeps. (1.450)
This brings us back to the earlier exchange in which Vladimir and Estragon debate killing themselves. It became clear then that isolation was a worse fate than death, and Pozzo reiterates that here. Lucky’s response—weeping—is unclear. Does he weep at the thought of being driven away? Or of being killed? Or is he simply distraught that Pozzo no longer wants his company?
Quote #16
POZZO
Make haste, before he stops. (Estragon approaches Lucky and makes to wipe his eyes. Lucky kicks him violently in the shins. Estragon drops the handkerchief, recoils, staggers about the stage howling with pain.) (1.454)
This is a perfect example of the way isolation works in Waiting for Godot. One man makes an attempt to connect to another, and the second man violently pushes him away.
Quote #17
ESTRAGON
(on one leg) I'll never walk again!
VLADIMIR
(tenderly) I'll carry you. (Pause.) If necessary. (1.459-460)
And yet another example; Vladimir begins to express his feelings of friendship for Estragon, but, perhaps embarrassed, quickly pulls back.
Quote #18
ESTRAGON
Wait! (He moves away from Vladimir.) I sometimes wonder if we wouldn't have been better off alone, each one for himself. (He crosses the stage and sits down on the mound.) We weren't made for the same road.
VLADIMIR
(without anger) It's not certain.
ESTRAGON
No, nothing is certain.
Vladimir slowly crosses the stage and sits down beside Estragon.
VLADIMIR
We can still part, if you think it would be better.
ESTRAGON
It's not worthwhile now.
Silence.
VLADIMIR
No, it's not worthwhile now. (1.854-9)
Estragon and Vladimir ask this question repeatedly in Waiting for Godot: whether or not they would be better off alone than they are with each other. The answer never seems to change, and is always passive or indecisive in nature. Or, in Estragon’s earlier words, they don’t do anything because they believe "it’s safer." Too uncertain to part, and too hesitant to have a real friendship, the men are left in constant limbo.
Quote #19
ESTRAGON
Don't touch me! Don't question me! Don't speak to me! Stay with me! (2.5)
Look at the tension in this one line of Estragon’s—he needs Vladimir close, but he can’t handle any sort of genuine friendship with him.
Quote #20
They look long at each other, then suddenly embrace, clapping each other on the back. End of the embrace. Estragon, no longer supported, almost falls. (2.8)
Estragon, who, moments before, hesitated to even look at Vladimir, can now no longer stand without him. He is dependent on Didi, but certainly not by choice.