" Stones, trees, and other objects do not share this existence.
I think that these principles can be seen in the leading characters Vladimir and Estragon continually making decisions but are unable to carry them out .
Estragon: Well, shall we go?.
Vladimir: Yes, let's go.
(They do not move.).
Of course there is also the fact that the play although described by its writer as a "tragicomedy" is nothing short of depressing, it's a story about two men trying to pass the time till the Godot character arrives. As time passes it becomes ever more clear that he's not going to arrive. This is different from other plays in that we have come to expect some kind of conflict and resolution at the end, but in "waiting for Godot" there is no resolution, it never delivers any change from the normality of the two men's circumstances. This can't have been easy to sit through in a theatre. .
The play is also interactive, and somewhat different from others because it encourages you to think about what is being said. The classic narrative structure isn't there, we are faced with a set so blank that it's almost otherworldly; this causes the audience to focus on what is being said, and reach it's own conclusions. .
I"m unsure if it was intentional but I found watching and reading the play so boring that I felt drawn into some sympathy with the two protagonists, I would argue that this was intentional at least in part, there is so much circular motion, echoes and repetition in the play that it has to have been put there for dramatic effect, waiting for Godot has a wonderful shape.
Act one end:.
Estragon: Well, shall we go?.
Vladimir: Yes, let's go.
(They do not move.).
Act two ends:.
Vladimir: Well? Shall we go?.
Estragon: Yes, let's go.
(They do not move.).
There is dramatic irony within the play; this is shown by the passing of time. Each minute spent waiting brings death one-step closer to the characters and makes the arrival of Godot less likely.
