Abstract

The theatre of the Absurd was a new school of drama of western world after WWII. As a masterpiece of the theatre of the Absurd, Waiting for Godot is quite different from traditional drama in both form and content. It expressed the helplessness of human beings and absurd life in western world at that time, and thus has greatly influenced the post-war western world. Waiting for Godot attracts much attention since its publication, and its analyses are mainly focused on the content, form and art. Up to now, new interpretations about this play have constantly emerged. Based on the text, this thesis attempts to analyze absurdities of the theme from the perspective of “waiting” and “Godot”.
This paper is composed of introduction, body and conclusion. First, the introduction briefly introduces Samuel Beckett and his masterpiece Waiting for Godot and the argument of this paper is put forward. Second, the body part is divided into three chapters. Based on some typical examples, chapter one discusses absurdities in language and plot from the aspect of narration. Chapter two tries to explore the absurdities from two perspectives—“waiting” and “Godot”. And in the last chapter, the far-reaching significance of the absurd theme in the play is examined from three aspects including the people’s psychology, the condition of existence and the author’s thought on humanity. Finally, based on the previous analyses, the conclusion is safely drawn and the argument is summarized.

Key words: Waiting for Godot; the theatre of the Absurd; absurd theme

摘  要

荒诞派戏剧是战后西方世界出现的一种新的戏剧流派。贝克特的《等待戈多》是荒诞派戏剧的代表之作，它在内容上和形式上都同传统戏剧风格迥然不同，反映出人类的无奈和生存的荒诞，并极大的影响了战后整个西方世界。《等待戈多》自问世以来便倍受关注，其研究集中在内容、形式以及艺术性方面。直至今日，关于此剧的新见解仍不断出现。本文从剧本入手，重点从“等待”和“戈多”两个角度分析《等待戈多》主题的荒诞性。
本文由引言，本论，结论三部分组成。首先，在引言部分简要介绍萨缪尔•贝克特的代表作《等待戈多》并提出本文的论点。其次，论文本论部分分为三章。第一章，从叙述方面结合剧本中的典型例子，从语言技巧，情节展示方面探析荒诞性在文本中的具体体现；第二章，从“等待”和“戈多”的内涵意义入手，解读荒诞性在文本中的具体体现；第三章，从对作者所在时期人们的心理状况，生存现状以及作者的思考进行分析，探索《等待戈多》荒诞主题的现实意义，以期对新形势下人们的生活和信仰的建构提供参考。最后，论文在回顾全文的基础上总结论点。

关键词:《等待戈多》；荒诞派戏剧；荒诞主题