“NOTHING HAPPENS, NOBODY COMES, NOBODY GOES, IT’S AWFUL.” — DISCUSS WITH REFERENCE TO THE PLAY WAITING FOR GODOT
The critic Vivian Mercier, who made a humorous observation that the play is one in which “nothing happens, twice”, has made quite a point as to the inaction of the play. This fact is also attested by drama critics, such as Eva Metamn: “(In Waiting for Godot) practically nothing happens, nothing is done, no development is discernible, and there is no beginning and no end. ” The entire action of the play boils down to its bared skeleton: in a place where there is nothing but a tree, two tramps dawdle away their time waiting for a rescuer from misery. Two strangers, a cruel master and his half mad slave, cross their path and leave again. At the end of first act, a messenger from the rescuer arrives and promises that he will come tomorrow. In the second act, the waiting goes on. The other couple pass by once more, but the master is now blind and the slave is dumb. Both stumble and fall. The tramps help them on their way. The messenger appears again with the same promise.