Mannerism In Waiting For Godot

Although Waiting For Godot is a play that is, in essence, absurd, between the lines of what appear to be illogical events and a complete lack of meaning can be read a sincere, and, at times, profound depiction of human nature. The stripped-down, unembellished style of the play makes its episodes appear universal, unrestrained by the confines of the specific scenarios they occur in and representative of general human existence, examples of ubiquitous facets of modern life. Although there is often a dissonance between the words spoken by the characters and the reality that they depict, the actions of Vladimir and Estragon are often very human, even in their absurdity, and their relationship can appear sincere and, at times, quite touching.

Performances

Instead, it is dominated by Pozzo, a character dramatically different from the main two. Being in an obviously higher social class, he continuously demonstrates his power in an exaggeratedly pompous, affected manner, a parody of the proud and egocentric rich and powerful. His mannerisms are often played up for comedic effect— evident in the episode with the chair, for example, in which he requires Estragon to beg him to sit down in a mockery of the superficial insincerities common in polite society. It is obvious to all involved that his statements are insincere, cries of “No, no, I wouldn’t think of it!” only said as a show of manners for his own benefit, immediately followed by “Ask me again” (37). This humor, however, is distinctly unlike the humorous scenes between Estragon and Godot found earlier in the book, which ridicule humanity in a relatable, human way. Pozzo, rather, represents someone whom the viewer mind find more antagonistic than a reflection of themselves. As distinguished in the article on comedy, his presence often creates more tragedy than comedy, especially as his more human qualities disappear, such as when his indifference to Estragon’s pleas for money paint him in a cruel light. He is funny only while he shows traits shared by most of humanity; when he waxes superior

In our performance, we tried to highlight this isolation by having the characters stand independently of one another, hardly moving around the space or interacting. Pozzo, sitting in the center, separated Estragon and Vladimir, as if further breaking up the relationships in the group. While Estragon spends the scene going along with Pozzo’s mannerisms, humoring him in asking him to sit down, Vladimir spends the majority of the scene waiting for night to fall and wishing to leave, and largely ignores Pozzo’s affectations. Pozzo, however, remains ignorant of Vladimir’s indifference; instead, he launches into a monologue so as to explain the concept of nighttime to him— a notion that is both patronizing and superior. His description of the nighttime is an attempt at poetic speech, yet fails repeatedly when he interrupts his own grandiose language with technical details and specifications. This misguided attempt to express understanding with the others only further illustrates the type of person that Pozzo is meant to represent, one who sees any conversation topic only as a means to draw attention to one’s own dramatic orations, and one who sees such orations as a gift to their listeners— Pozzo later included “I had explained the twilight” (40) in his list of things he’d done