Waiting for Godot Group

Question:

user21
user21
Student
College - Freshman

In Waiting for Godot," why does the playwright name a character "Lucky" when he isn't?

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Posted by user21 on Wednesday February 27, 2008 at 5:03 AM and tagged with characters, irony, lucky, style, waiting for godot.

Answers:


  1. bmadnick Teacher
    High School - 11th Grade

    eNotes Editor

    Lucky is anything but lucky. Many times an author will name his character something that indicates the opposite of the character's circumstances. But we do it in real life. A really big man is sometimes called Tiny. It is ironic because Tiny would indicate someone who is tiny, but instead, it's the opposite. Lucky is the same kind of thing. Instead of being lucky, he's an abused slave who communicates a sadness throughout the play.

    Sources:
    http://www.enotes.com/waiting-godot

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    Posted by bmadnick on Wednesday February 27, 2008 at 5:32 AM


  2. linda-allen Teacher
    High School - 10th Grade

    eNotes Editor

    Waiting for Godot is absurdist drama, in which nothing is what it seems to be. The world cannot be explained logically. This form of drama was at first a reaction to the atrocities of World War II and the existentialist philosophical movement: Life has no other meaning than we are born and then we die.

    "Absurdist Theatre" discards traditional plot, characters, and action to assault its audience with a disorienting experience. Characters often engage in seemingly meaningless dialogue or activities, and, as a result, the audience senses what it is like to live in a universe that doesn't "make sense." Beckett and others who adopted this style felt that this disoriented feeling was a more honest response to the post World War II world than the traditional belief in a rationally ordered universe. Waiting for Godot remains the most famous example of this form of drama.

    Visit the links below for more information.

    Sources:
    http://www.enotes.com/absurdism
    http://www.enotes.com/existentialism
    http://www.enotes.com/waiting-godot/style

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    Posted by linda-allen on Wednesday February 27, 2008 at 6:09 AM