Waiting for Godot Literature & Language Essay Paper (Essay Sample)

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MARXISM IN SAMUEL BECKETT’S PLAY WAITING FOR GODOT
Samuel Beckett’s Waiting for Godot is a play that has two acts. Act I commences on a country under a tree. It is evening and an old man who is identified as Estragon sits on a stumpy hump attempting to take out his boot. Vladimir joins him and they start talking. They have been friends for a long time, they seem to have been decent once but are now weakened, homeless, and frequently suicidal. They marvel out loud why they did not commit suicide years back and keep considering it. They are waiting for somebody named "Godot". As they wait they talk about memories and food.
Two other men arrive on the scene, Pozzo and his slave Lucky. The slave is commanded to dance and think out loud to entertain the rest until he is hushed by force. After Pozzo and Lucky leave, a boy comes in and informs Estragon and Vladimir that Godot will not show up today but the next day. He departs and the men keep waiting. Act II is almost similar to act I only that they notice that the tree now has leaves, they argue and talk about Estragon’s dependency on Vladimir. Pozzo and Lucky appear again but this while Pozzo is blind and defenseless, and Lucky is dumb. After a conversation, Pozzo and lucky leave the two again. Another boy arrives, but the men already know what the boy has to say that is Godot will come tomorrow. Estragon and Vladimir are again left to wait for Godot.
Marxism denotes the political and economic philosophies of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels and was later advanced by their followers to create the foundation of communism. Marxism presented notions such as Alienation, Dialectical Materialism, and Economic Determination. Marxism trusts that capitalism can solitary flourish on the abuse of the working class and that economic struggle creates divisions (rich, middle, and poor). This essay applies Marxism to deconstruct Samuel Beckett’s play Waiting for Godot
In Waiting for Godot the setting is simple, there are only two apparent visual items on stage separately from the actors, the tree and the road. This setting has ghostly alienation, it could be in any location in the world, there are no noticeable horizons nor pointers of civilization. The characters are the only resources that enable one to understand the play. In this isolated setting, food is rare and it becomes the most desired commodity for the characters. Estragon hungrily borrows Pozzo’s chicken leftovers but Pozzo asks him to ask Lucky because they belong to him:
ESTRAGON: (timidly). Please Sir . . .
POZZO: What is it, my good man? ESTRAGON: Er . . . you've finished with the . . . er . . . you don't need the . . . er . . . bones, Sir?
VLADIMIR: (scandalized). You couldn't have waited?