Abstract illustration of two hats under a leafless tree in black and white

Waiting for Godot

by Samuel Beckett

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Discussion Topic

The significance and symbolism of the hat in Waiting for Godot

Summary:

In Waiting for Godot, the hat symbolizes identity and the futility of human actions. The characters frequently exchange hats, reflecting the interchangeable and uncertain nature of their identities. This act also underscores the absurdity of their situation, as they seek meaning and purpose in a seemingly purposeless world.

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What is the significance of the hat action in Act II of Waiting for Godot?

The significance of the hat-swapping in Act II is usually attributed to Beckett's admiration of the famous Laurel and Hardy routines in Vaudeville.  In a true representation of the Theatre of the Absurd, we are given a brief moment of true comic relief as we are immersed in this slapstick comedy.  This is evident even in reading the ever-popular online encyclopedia, Wikipedia, in its entry on Laurel and Hardy.  "Observers have found the archetypal Laurel and Hardy scenario (two tramp-like men bewildered by the simplest elements of life) to have much in common with the Theatre of the Absurd.  This is most manifested in the work of Samuel Beckett, himself a fan, and who was unquestionably influenced by the characters in works such as Waiting for Godot ."  In addition, I find it interesting that it is Estragon who winds up with Lucky's hat, his special "thinking hat" from Act I, that I...

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suspect is supposed to be a play on the "put on your thinking cap"idiom.  Perhaps this is the reason why Lucky is no longer able to talk when we see him again.  Ah, welcome to absurdist literature!

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What does the hat symbolize in Waiting For Godot?

In notes that Beckett provided to producer, writer, and critic Michel Polac that were read during a 1952 radio presentation of his absurdist play Waiting for Godot, Samuel Beckett wrote, "I know no more about this play than someone who manages to read it attentively. … I know no more about the characters than what they say, what they do, and what happens to them. About their apparel I must have shown the little I could glimpse. Bowler hats, for example."

In answer to questions regarding the characters of Vladimir and Estragon from Roger Blin, the director of the first theatrical production of Waiting for Godot at the Théâtre de Babylone in Paris in 1953, Beckett is reported to have remarked, "The only thing I'm sure of is that they're wearing bowlers" (Le Nouvel Observateur, 6 September, 1981).

Throughout his life, Beckett refused to be drawn into any discussion about the symbolism of these "bowler hats," or any other part of the play, for that matter, but theatre students, critics, writers, scholars, and theatregoers have nevertheless continued to speculate about the meaning of the "bowlers" for nearly seventy years.

Using Beckett's note, "I know no more about the characters than what they say, what they do, and what happens to them," as a frame of reference, the first time that a hat gets attention in the play is when Vladimir "takes off his hat, peers inside it, feels about inside it, shakes it, puts it on again." He does this again, and the second time, "he knocks on the crown as though to dislodge a foreign body."

The third time, Vladimir "takes off his hat again, peers inside it, feels about inside it, knocks on the crown, blows into it, puts it on again."

What does this mean? What is Vladimir looking for in his hat? Why does he feel inside it? Why does he "knock it on the crown"? Why does he blow into it?

Who knows? As Beckett says, it's just something that Vladimir does with his hat.

Nothing more happens with hats until Pozzo commands Lucky to take off his hat, revealing Lucky's "long white hair." Pozzo takes off his own hat, revealing that he's "completely bald."

POZZO. Compared to him I look like a young man, no? (Act 1)

Is there a deeper meaning to this, or is this simply to demonstrate to Vladimir and Estragon what Pozzo says about Lucky and himself?

A little while later, Vladimir is "fiddling" with his hat while Estragon is "fiddling" with his boot. This is essentially nothing more than a setup for a sight-gag when Pozzo cracks his whip, which causes Lucky and Vladimir to drop their hats and Estragon to drop his boot in surprise at the sound of the whip.

In time, Vladimir "picks up his hat, peers inside it, shakes it, puts it on," and later, there's a stage direction for Pozzo, Vladimir, and Estragon to "take off their hats simultaneously, press their hands to their foreheads, concentrate."

This stage direction has led many scholars to assert that the hats symbolically represent knowledge or some kind of thought process. This relates back to Vladimir's first action with his hat, when he "takes off his hat, peers inside it, feels about inside it, shakes it, puts it on again." Vladimir is apparently thinking about something while his hat is off his head, then returns to his conversation with Estragon when he replaces his hat on his head.

Of course, Estragon does essentially the same action with his boot, so does Estragon's boot also represent knowledge or a thought process?

After Pozzo, Vladimir, and Estragon put their hats back on their heads, Vladimir asks Pozzo to tell Lucky to think.

POZZO. Give him his hat.

VLADIMIR. His hat?

POZZO. He can’t think without his hat. (Act 1)

Vladimir reluctantly and cautiously puts Lucky's hat on his head, and Lucky launches into his famous extended monologue. The monologue continues until Pozzo commands Vladimir to snatch Lucky's hat off his head. Vladimir does so, and Lucky falls silent, then collapses to the floor.

Pozzo then snatches Lucky's hat from Vladimir, "throws it on the ground, tramples on it."

POZZO. There's and end to his thinking. (Act 1)

This seems to support the theory that Lucky's hat represents a kind of thought process or perhaps a thought-enabling process.

In act 2, there's an extended bit of action involving hats during which Vladimir and Estragon put different hats on their heads, including Lucky's battered hat. In the process of this standard vaudeville hat-changing routine, Vladimir and Estragon seem to lose their own identities, which were apparently contained in or represented by their hats.

Pozzo and Lucky return, and Lucky is wearing a different hat, which appears to symbolize Lucky's changed role with regard to Pozzo, who is now blind, helpless, and wholly dependent on Lucky to take care of him.

Later in the act, Vladimir, wearing Lucky's old hat, launches into a series of monologues reminiscent of Lucky's monologue, though not nearly as extended as Lucky's was.

Nearing the end of the play, Pozzo and Lucky are gone, a young boy returns to tell Vladimir and Estragon that Godot won't be coming this evening, "but he'll come tomorrow," and Estragon and Vladimir are left alone, in much the same way that they began the play. Vladimir again takes off his hat—this time it's Lucky's hat that he has on his head—"peers inside it, feels about inside it, shakes it, knocks on the crown, puts it on again."

In his notes to Michel Polac, Beckett also wrote, "As for wanting to find in all that a broader and loftier meaning, to take away after the performance, with the program and the eskimo pies, I don’t see the point of it." There might not be any point to it as far as Beckett is concerned, but that hasn't stopped people from writing millions of words about it.

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