What is the play 'Waiting for Godot' about?

Question

What is the main moral or point of the play. They wait for Godot and he never appears. It doesn't seem to make any sense to me. Can someone please explain this to me?

Answer 1

Let me answer this question with a question... Why do you suppose that the inmates at San Quentin prison found the play had meaning to them?  They wait, and then they wait some more.  Or why did one of the first productions of the play, performed at Lüttringhausen Prison generate this comment from the inmate who stage the play:  "You will be surprised to be receiving a letter about your play Waiting for Godot, from a prison where so many thieves, forgers, toughs, homos, crazy men and killers spend this ***** of a life waiting … and waiting … and waiting. Waiting for what? Godot? Perhaps."?  

Not all plays have meaning for you when you read or see them... but someday you just may understand why they were waiting and for whom...

Answer 2

i wish i could help but it didnt make any sense to me either. thats existentialism for you. its a difficult play i wish you luck with it!

*oh wait here i found an interesting essay on the meaning of it: http://www.samuel-beckett.net/L2BeckEssa...

**and here is the wikipdeia article http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waiting_for...

Answer 3

Ah the question that tends to drive all theater student quite mad, especially when they have professors that expect them to give a clear concise answer to the question.

To be honest it is a Samuel Beckett play don't expect anything to be obvious or clear cut. I spent a decent amount of time trying to figure out the answer to this question myself when I was in school, but never arrived at any definitive conclusion, but I have heard some rather entertaining theories. One very common theory is that the characters are waiting for God. One person in my class went so far as to do a great amount of background research on Beckett at the time he wrote this play. She discovered that he was in Germany at the time and started looking for German words that match or were close to 'Godot' in order to figure out what the title meant. She concluded that it translated into "dead dog" so by her definition they were waiting for a dead dog that won't come.

As I said I have heard some entertaining takes on this one.

So I wish you the best of luck and a good time trying to reason this one out for yourself.  

Answer 4

that's the point. the play is pointless. its part of the Theater of the Absurd where things are not supposed to make sense.

Answer 5

godot represents god. so it could be interpreted as an atheist play since he never comes. but it's also just experimental.