Today's video is going to be
Absurd
Meet Sisyphus
a mythological king who was banished for eternity
to push a boulder against a steep hill
only to see it fall down 
just before reaching the top.
This myth became the basis, and the title,
of Albert Camus' 1942 essay where he introduced
the Philosophy of the Absurd, 
a branch of Existentialism.
In his own words;
“Man stands face to face with the irrational.
He feels within him his longing for happiness
and for reason.
The absurd is born of this confrontation between
the human need and the unreasonable silence of the world."
In the face of the silence of this absurd world, 
Camus defines three paths one can take
rebellion,
what he calls philosophical suicide, 
and suicide.
He saw Sisyphus as an Absurd Hero, 
who took the path of rebellion -
despite his task being boring, painstakingly pointless and dragging
on for eternity -
a bit like the Twilight movies
Camus considers Sishyphus as being happy and content, not because he finds
deeper meaning in his mundane task,
but because he embraces the futility of it
and thus goes against the very idea of the
punishment that is existence to him.
Camus outlines 3 main characteristics of his
Absurd Hero-
Revolt (against existence)
Freedom (to do what one pleases) and
Diversity in experiences and passions,
all of which can be seen in the characters
of Samuel Beckett's Waiting for Godot.
I knew it was the right place.
Now our troubles are over.
Must have been a very fine hat.
Here.
What?
Hold that.
How does it fit me?
How would I know?
No, but how do I look in it?
Hideous.
Yes, but not more so than usual?
Neither more nor less.
Then I can keep it.
Mine irked me.
How shall I say?
It itched me.
Vladimir can be seen accepting the futility
of his 'change of hat' - Lucky's hat makes
him neither more nor less hideous than his
own, and that is satisfactory to him.
This gives him freedom to do what he pleases,
despite no tangible reason for his action
or choice, and he finds joy in this.
This small exchange between Estragon and Vladimir
also highlights the diversity in their interests,
with their seemingly eternal togetherness
being brought up with the same intensity
as a simple hat.
This juxtaposition of very valuable things with others that are very basic and mundane
can be seen throughout the play,
like in the following extract.
Calm yourself.
Calm . . . calm . . . The English say cawm.
You know the story of the Englishman in the
brothel?
Yes.
Tell it to me.
Ah stop it!
An Englishman having drunk a little more than
usual proceeds to a brothel.
The bawd asks him if he wants a fair one,
a dark one or a red-haired one.
Go on.
STOP IT!
Another mystery...
We never get to know the punchline to this
joke.
We can not even be certain whether it is a
joke or not.
This urges the audience to explore what it
is like to have meaninglessness thrown at
their faces and being able to do nothing about
it, except maybe find satisfaction in the
incompleteness of things.
One could even say that Beckett is laughing
AT his audience, by holding up a vital part
of the narrative experience.
The same happens on a bigger scale, where
the play neither sets meaningful ordeals for
the characters, nor provides any sort
of arc or closure to them - just like life
at the time of war in which Camus' The Myth
of Sisyphus was written.
This disillusionment with the idea of a Bigger
Truth is seen in the aimless meandering of
Beckett's characters, while waiting for something
to make sense.
- You have a message from Mr. Godot.
- Yes sir.
- He won't come this evening.
- No Sir.
- But he'll come tomorrow.
- Yes Sir.
- Without fail.
- Yes Sir.
Did you meet anyone?
No Sir.
Two other . . . men?
I didn't see anyone, Sir.
What does he do, Mr. Godot?
Do you hear me?
Yes Sir.
Well?
He does nothing, Sir.
How is your brother?
He's sick, Sir.
Perhaps it was he who came yesterday.
I don't know, Sir.
Has he a beard, Mr. Godot?
Yes Sir.
Fair or . . . or black?
I think it's white, Sir.
Christ have mercy on us!
The Bigger Truth, for many people, tends to
be at least shaped by religion, something
that Camus refers to as the clearest example
of the path of philosophical suicide.
This second path is a leap of faith according
to Camus, where rationality is suspended and
blind belief and the illusion of knowing the
Truth takes over.
Beckett stays far from this by arguably reducing
GOD to an unseen commoner named GODOT.
Our Absurd Heroes are then seen questioning
Godot's long awaited coming, his whereabouts
and his very existence, as they hang on to
something as inconsequential as the colour
of his beard, throwing in 'Christ have mercy
on us!' as an interjection more than as a
real prayer.
In a Godless and reasonless world such as
this, Estragon and Vladimir are often seen
contemplating suicide.
Why don't we hang ourselves?
With what?
You haven't got a bit of rope?
No.
Then we can't.
Let's go.
Wait, there's my belt.
It's too short.
You could hang onto my legs.
And who'd hang onto mine?
True.
Show me all the same.
Beckett equates suicide with slapstick comedy
many a times in the play, eliciting laugh
and cringe at an idea as dark as taking one's
own life.
Suicide, as per Camus, is more absurd than
the absurdity of life itself.
Killing yourself amounts to confessing that
life is too much for you or that you do not
understand it.
Beckett's characters, while contemplating
suicide, treat it as another of their inconsequential
topics of conversation, and never commit to
the act.
Waiting for Godot therefore portrays Absurd
Heroes, choosing
the path of Absurdist rebellion and clearly
mocking the paths or philosophical suicide
and suicide, as laid forth by Albert Camus.
It is no coincidence that Estragon and Vladimir
are called 'Albert' twice in the play, since
the play bears a number of resemblances to
Camus' theories and characters, in its repetitive
cyclic nature, incoherent 'plot' and disdain
for literary structure, leading Martin Esslin
to call it one of the most important works
of the Theatre of the Absurd.
But that is not to say that the play
should be limited to Absurdism.
Beckett's work can also be read with
respect to Nihilism, or Existantialism.
But that...
will be for another video.
