This 2004 volume offers a comprehensive critical study of Samuel Beckett's first and most renowned dramatic work, Waiting for Godot, which has become one of the most frequently discussed, and influential plays in the history of the theatre. Lawrence Graver discusses the play's background and provides a detailed analysis of its originality and distinction as a landmark of modern theatrical art. He reviews some of the differences between Beckett's original French version and his English translation, and discusses the liberating influence of Waiting for Godot on such important playwrights as Harold Pinter and Tom Stoppard.
Preface; Chronology; Part I. En attendant Godot/Waiting for Godot: Genesis and Reception: 1. Beckett at the beginning; 2. Paris 1946-8; 3. Godot in Paris, London and New York; Part II. Approaching the Play: 4. The drama of unknowingness; 5. The caged dynamic; 6. Rituals and routines; 7. 'Godet ... Godot ... Godin ... anyhow you see who I mean?'; 8. Pozzo and Lucky; 9. Lucky's 'think'; 10. Enter the Boy; 11. Act I/Act II - 'nothing happens, twice'; 12. Pozzo redux; 13. Vladimir's soliloquy, the boy again, the close of the play; Part III. Godot in French and in English; Part IV. The Presence of Godot ... the Play in the Contemporary Theatre and Elsewhere: 14. The growing myth of Godot; 15. Godot and the popular imagination; 16. Godot and the contemporary theatre; Guide to further reading.
