Before Recitation:
Things to think about
- As I am reciting, I want you to think about how this speech makes you feel.
- I also want you to keep in mind that Samuel Beckett's Waiting for Godot is an absurdist play.
- This means that the play expresses the belief that human existence has no meaning or purpose.
- I also want you to think about stage directions:
- Pozzo commands Lucky, his slave, to think, which is what Lucky's speech is attempting to do.
- Lucky's speech does not conclude; rather, it is stopped because it makes Vladimir and Estragon increasingly uncomfortable.
After Recitation
Important details about the speech:
- The speech is about the arbitrary nature of God, man's tendency to pine and fade away, and the decaying state of the earth, although it might just seem like gibberish.
- At first glance this seems to be an incoherent speech, but it actually says a lot.
quaquaquaqua
seems to be nonsense and absurd, but the word qua
means in the function or capacity of
in Latin.
- This phrase is used in scholarly or theological sermons, of which this speech in a parody.
- Lucky's use of the phrase
divine aphasia
- An aphasia is a disturbance of the comprehension and formulation of language caused by dysfunction in specific brain regions.
- E.g. Wernicke's aphasia or Broca's aphasia
Lucky as a character
- Slave to Pozzo
- At one point, Pozzo maintains that Lucky's entire existence is based upon pleasing him.
- that is, Lucky's enslavement is his meaning, and if he is ever freed, his life would cease to have any significance.
Discussion questions
- Significance of Lucky's name being "Lucky"?
- Sidenote: In French version his name is also "Lucky," not the French word for "lucky".
- What is the role of Lucky's character in the play?
- What is the relationship between Lucky and Pozzo? Who is dependent on whom?