摘要

《等待戈多》是爱尔兰作家塞缪尔·贝克特的代表作品，也是世界上第一部成功演出的荒诞派戏剧。作者在《等待戈多》中用荒诞写作手法，描述了爱斯特拉冈和弗拉基米尔对从未出现的主人公戈多的等待过程。本文结合二战后西方世界复杂的社会背景和严重的精神危机，通过研究人物描写、情节发展和语言特色，探究作者如何在作品中体现荒诞主题。揭示战后西方社会的荒诞生存环境和在这种环境下“等待”的意义，即绝望中的希望。

关键词：《等待戈多》；塞缪尔·贝克特；荒诞；人物描写；情节发展；语言特色

Abstract

 Waiting for Godot is the representative work of Noble Price winner Samuel Beckett. It consists of two similar acts and was the first successfully performed absurd drama. Using the expression of absurdity, Waiting for Godot portrays what happened when two men, Estragon and Vladimir, waited for Godot who never actually showed up, this thesis aims to study how Samuel Beckett portrays the theme of absurdity, namely the meaninglessness of existence, distortion of time and degeneration of language, based on the complicated social background and severe mental crisis of people after the Second World War. The conclusion shows that he does it by using the absurdity reflected in characterization, plot-developing and language expressions. Also, this thesis exposes the meaning of waiting, which stands for the hope in the hopeless situation.

Key words: Waiting for Godot; Samuel Beckett; absurdity; characterization; plot-developing; language features