RELIGION IN WAITING FOR GODOT – BIBLICAL AND QURANIC SYMBOLISM
Keywords:
Waiting for Godot, religion, modern literature, Quran, BibleAbstract
Waiting for Godot (1952) is a conventional and remarkable play written by the Irish author Samuel
Beckett. The play Waiting for Godot belongs to the theater of absurd and it is a part of the modernist period of
literature. Existential philosophers and play writers through their work depicted the problem of existence the
absurdity of life and the question of God. Based on this, I tried to pay attention and analyze the religious aspect, or
the religious theme of the play. It is a play that presents conflict between living by religious beliefs and leaving by
the existential philosophy, which asserts that it is up to an individual to discover the meaning of life through
personal experience in the world. This study aims to elaborate the two opposites as a whole and to obtain a
knowledge and insight concerning on the existential themes together with the religious allegory and symbolism.
This research is divided into three different sections and conclusion. Firstly the introduction for this research is
given and the twentieth century drama, theater of the absurd, and the summary of the play. The focus is on the
religious elements of the play, which are presented in this paper. These elements are analyzed in two sections, and
what I point out are both the Biblical and Quranic symbols and the comparison of the symbols of these holy books,
Quran and Bible, in the play. Eventually, conclusion will be drawn as the final outcome of the study.
References
Ali, M. (Trans.). (2019). The Quran (Quran Majeed). Ahmadiyya Muslim Community.
Bloom, H. (2001). Bloom’s Modern Critical Interpretations: The Stranger. New York: Infobase Pub,
Dermot, M. (2006). ‘Beckett and Philosophy’ in ed. Christopher Murray, Samuel Beckett, 100 years, Dublin,
Feldman, M. (2002). “Beckett, Interpretation. Phenomenology?”, SBT/A 12
Fitriani, A. N. (n.d.). Key literary elements: Waiting for Godot. Magister of Education-Language Study
Flynn, R. T. (2006). Existentialism a very short introduction. United States: OxfordUniversity Press Inc,
Fredericksen, E. (2019)."Waiting for Godot Act 1." LitCharts. LitCharts LLC, 15 Dec 2013. Web. 16 Dec
Ghanbari, M.R. (2008). A comparative study of the notion of waiting for a savior in religion and in Waiting for Godot. Islamic Azad University, Jouybar, Iran.
Graver, L., & Federman, R. (1997). eds., Samuel Beckett: The Critical Heritage (Routledge and Kegan Paul, London
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc
Ibn katheer. Al Quran Al kareem. Tafsir Ibn Katheer, Tafseer Surah Al An’aam Aya 96. n.d Ibn Katheer. Shrûh Alkûtûb, Tafsir Al Quran Al Azeem (Ibn katheer), Surat Al Fath, Mn Qulih: “Laqad Radi Alah an al Momnin eth Yubayonk Taht al Shajara”. Ibn Baz. n.d
Jan, C. (2019). The theatre of the absurd. Retrieved From https://blisty.cz/video/Slavonic/Absurd.htm
Kelsch, L. A. (2007). Reading Waiting for Godot through the Lens of Christian Existentialism. Master's Theses, and Doctoral Dissertations, and Graduate Capstone Projects
Knowlson, J., & Knowlson, E. (2006). Beckett Remembering /Remembering Beckett (Bloomsbury, London: 2006)
Lance St. John Butler (1984). Samuel Beckett and the Meaning of Being, London,
Luaibi, S. H. (2017). Religious mythology in “Waiting for Godot”. Wassit University.
Maude, U., & Feldman, M. eds., (2009). Beckett and Phenomenology (Continuum, London: 2009)
Mercier, V. (1977). Beckett/Beckett. New York: Oxford, 1977. Print.
Morrison, M. (2008). "Existentialism of Samuel Beckett." Studymode.com. N.p., 05 Dec. 2008. Web. 2013.
Newton, K.M. (2008). Modern Literature and the Tragic. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press Ltd, 2008. Pdf.
Niklas, L. (2016). A kind of prayer: Representations of faith and religion in Samuel Beckett’s Waiting for Godot. Lund University.
Pilling, J. (2006). “Beckett and Mauthner Revisited”, in Gontarski, S. E., and Uhlmann Anthony eds., Beckett after Beckett University of Florida Press, Gainesville: 2006
Samuel Beckett and the theater of the absurd. (n.d.). (2019, Mar 5). Retrieved from https://www.cliffsnotes.com/literature/ w/waiting-for-godot/critical-essays/samuel-beckett-and-thetheater- of-the-absurd
Samuel, B. (2010). Waiting for Godot. London: 2010 by Faber and Faber Ltd, Bloomsbury House.
Sartre, J-P. (2003). Being and Nothingness. London and New York, Routledge Classics.
Shmoop Editorial Team. "Waiting for Godot Theme of Life, Consciousness, and Existence." Shmoop. Shmoop University, Inc., 11 Nov. 2008. Web. 17 Dec. 2019.
Stefanie, S. (2011). Samuel Becket’s “Waiting for Godot” and the theater of the absurd. Humboldt-University of Berlin (Institute for Anglistik and Amerikanistik).
Umama, S. (2019). Religious study of Waiting for Godot. Islamabad Pakistan: International Islamic University, n.d. Retrieved from https://www.academia.edu/HYPERLINK “https://www.academia.edu/20114710/Religious_Study_of_Waiting_for_Godot”20114710HYPERLINK “https://www.academia.edu/20114710/Religious_Study_of_Waiting_for_Godot”/Religious_Study_of_Waiting_for_Godot 5 Feb.
Uhlmann, Anthony. Samuel Beckett in Context.1ed. United States: New York, 2013.
Wang, J. (2011). The Religious Meaning in Waiting for Godot. English Language Teaching 4.1 197-200.
Worton, M. (1994). ‘Waiting for Godot and Endgame: theatre as text’ The Cambridge Companion to Beckett. Ed. by., John Pilling.Cambridge, Cambridge University Press,1994:67-87.
Whyislam (2019). Hope and trust in God: Reflection on Zakariah and Mary. Islam, Spiritual Journeys, Women in Islam
