The play Waiting for Godot is a
representative of the theater of the absurd, which is a movement that is borne from the
philosophy of existentialism. If you take a close look, the subtitle of the play is "A
tragi-comedy in two acts." Hence this is one of the points that tells us that the play
will show pieces of satire and sadness in one same
plot.
Moreover, the characters of Godot do show a sense of
satire for common situations. There is plenty of black humor to support the argument
that it could very well be an existentialist way to mock life. The black humor comes
from the fact that the play aims to make jokes of moments of intense
pain.
An example of this black-humored mockery is the
relationship between Pozzo and Lucky. This is mockery because it satirizes the
oppression of the upper classes against the destitute. It mocks it further giving the
unhappy, hopeless man in the duo the ironic name of "Lucky". Additionally, the way in
which Lucky is inhumanely treated produces a movement of the scene that makes the
characters sloppy, blunt, and silly. This is a type of vaudeville humor as
well.
Another example is the conditions that the characters
suffer. Estragon is spaced-out, forget full, has smelly feet, and is a mocked as a
simpleton. Vladimir has kidney problems, bad breath, and is over sensitive. Pozzo is
extremely cruel and abusive, but his abusive techniques are somewhat funny in that they
are pointless. Lucky is just a poor soul that depends on Pozzo for subsistence. But
every time he is asked to entertain and we picture him dancing at Pozzo's command it is
hard not to laugh. This is how this humor is considered "dark", or "black"- because it
is creepy and subtle.
Concisely, you can conclude that
Waiting for Godot, as a tragi-comedy, will show episodes of mockery
in the form of black humor and satire. Therefore, it does mock the main characters
because this is another way to mock the trivialities of life and
society.
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