Hope or Illusion? Religious and Existential Perspectives on Waiting for Godot

This Blog is written as a task assigned by the head of the Department of English(MKBU), Prof. and Dr. Dilip Barad sir.

Hope or Illusion? Religious and Existential Perspectives on Waiting for Godot

Waiting for Godot and the Bhagavad Gita: A Dialogue of Absurdism and IKS

This blog is written as part of a Thinking Activity Task assigned by Prof. Dr. Dilip Barad sir. In this activity, we carefully studied a worksheet shared in Google Classroom that integrates Indian Knowledge Systems (IKS) with Samuel Beckett’s Waiting for Godot, particularly through the philosophical lens of the Bhagavad Gita. The task required us to engage in conceptual analysis, comparative thinking, close reading, and creative–critical reflection by applying ideas such as karma, maya, kala, and existential crisis to the play. Here is the link to the professor's Blog for background reading:Click here

Waiting for Godot and the Bhagavad Gita: A Dialogue of Absurdism and IKS

Section A: Conceptual Warm-Up (Short Answers)

Q | 1. In the Bhagavad Gita, Arjuna experiences vishada (existential crisis).Briefly explain how Vladimir and Estragon experience a similar crisis inWaiting for Godot.

In the Bhagavad Gita, Arjuna’s vishada is not mere sadness but a profound existential paralysis he questions duty, identity, and the meaning of action. Similarly, Vladimir and Estragon experience a spiritual confusion in Waiting for Godot. They do not know why they wait, what they expect, or whether Godot will come. Their waiting becomes a state of inner crisis, reflecting purposelessness and metaphysical uncertainty. 


Q | 2. Krishna emphasises karma (action) without attachment to results. How does Beckett portray the absence or failure of karma in the play

Krishna teaches karma yoga to act sincerely without attachment to outcomes. Beckett, however, presents characters trapped in inaction. Vladimir and Estragon constantly defer movement: “Let’s go.” “We can’t.” Their dependence on Godot reveals attachment to external validation. Instead of performing meaningful action, they surrender agency. Thus, Beckett portrays a world where karma collapses into passivity and hope replaces responsibility. 

Q | 3. The Gita presents time (Kala) as cyclical and eternal.Identify two moments in Waiting for Godot that reflect cyclical time

The Gita presents Kala (Time) as eternal and cyclical. Beckett mirrors this vision through structural repetition. Act II begins with “Next day. Same time. Same place,” suggesting circular temporality rather than progress. Additionally, Vladimir’s endlessly repeating dog song reinforces the sense of recurrence. Time does not move toward resolution; it loops endlessly, echoing the metaphysical rhythm of cosmic time. 


Section B: Guided Close Reading (Text + IKS)

Read the following idea carefully:

“Godot is not a character but an expectation.”

Answer the questions below:

Q | 1. How does this idea change your understanding of the title Waiting for Godot?

If we accept the idea that “Godot is not a character but an expectation,” then the title Waiting for Godot shifts from being a simple dramatic situation to a profound philosophical metaphor. At first glance, the play appears to be about two men Vladimir and Estragon waiting for someone named Godot who never arrives. However, when Godot is understood as a symbol rather than a person, the title begins to represent the human condition itself.

Godot becomes a projection of hope, meaning, salvation, or certainty. The play is no longer about waiting for a man; it is about waiting for purpose. Vladimir and Estragon continue to wait even though they do not clearly know who Godot is, what they asked from him, or when he will come. Their lives are structured entirely around expectation. In this sense, “Waiting for Godot” can be understood as “waiting for meaning” in an uncertain and chaotic world.

The act of waiting becomes more significant than the arrival itself. The characters define their existence through postponement, just as human beings often postpone fulfillment to some imagined future moment. Godot’s absence mirrors the existential absence of clear truth, divine assurance, or ultimate purpose. Thus, the title reflects not the failure of a man to appear, but the deeper absurdity of human beings who continue to hope, wait, and believe in something that may never arrive.

Q | 2. Compare Godot with any one concept from the Bhagavad Gita:

o Maya (illusion)

o Phala (fruit of action)

o Asha (hope/desire)

o Ishvara (idea of God)

Comparison between Waiting for Godot and the Concept of Asha (Hope/Desire) from the Bhagavad Gita

In Waiting for Godot, Godot functions less as a person and more as a structure of hope that sustains Vladimir and Estragon. They do not know who Godot is, what he will offer, or even whether he truly exists; yet their entire existence depends upon the expectation of his arrival. This condition closely resembles the concept of Asha (hope or desire) in the Bhagavad Gita. In the Gita, Krishna warns that desire, when accompanied by attachment, binds the individual to anxiety and suffering. Hope becomes dangerous when it shifts from inspiration to dependence.

Vladimir and Estragon embody this bondage. Their hope does not lead to action; instead, it produces paralysis. They repeatedly decide to leave but remain, trapped by the belief that Godot will come tomorrow. Unlike the Gita’s teaching of nishkama karma acting without attachment to outcomes the characters wait for external fulfillment rather than create meaning through action. Their Asha is passive, not transformative.

Thus, Godot represents desire that has lost its spiritual direction. Beckett presents hope stripped of wisdom, showing how blind expectation can imprison human beings in endless postponement. Where the Gita proposes liberation through detachment, Beckett dramatizes the tragic stagnation that results from attachment to uncertain hope.  

Section C: Comparative Thinking (IKS + Absurdism)

Complete the table below: 

Concept in Bhagavad Gita Explanation Parallel in Waiting for Godot 

• Karma (Action) 
• Nishkama 
• Karma 
• Maya
• Kala (Time) 
• Moksha / Liberation

Concept in Bhagavad Gita	Explanation (Gita Context)	Parallel in Waiting for Godot
Karma (Action)	The Gita teaches that action (karma) is essential to life. One must perform one’s duty (dharma), as inaction leads to stagnation and moral decline. Action sustains both individual growth and cosmic order.	Vladimir and Estragon appear active through speech and movement, yet they accomplish nothing meaningful. Their repeated hesitation “Let’s go.” “We can’t.” reveals paralysis rather than purposeful action, reflecting the collapse of true karma.
Nishkama Karma (Selfless Action)	Krishna advises acting without attachment to results (phala). Peace comes when action is performed freely, without expectation of reward.	The tramps are deeply attached to the outcome Godot’s arrival. Their waiting is not detached endurance but anxious dependence. Unlike nishkama karma, their expectation binds them instead of freeing them.
Maya (Illusion)	Maya is the illusion that makes the temporary world seem permanent and meaningful. It hides ultimate truth and creates confusion about reality.	The uncertain memory, repetitive dialogue, and Godot’s perpetual absence create an atmosphere of illusion. Godot himself becomes a symbol of imagined hope an illusion that sustains yet deceives the characters.
Kala (Time)	The Gita presents time as cyclical and eternal, moving in recurring patterns beyond human control.	The two acts mirror each other almost exactly same place, same waiting, same uncertainty. This circular structure reflects cyclical time, where existence repeats without real progress.
Moksha (Liberation)	Moksha is liberation from attachment, illusion, and the cycle of suffering. It comes through self-realization and detachment from desire.	Vladimir and Estragon express a desire to leave but never move. Their attachment to Godot prevents liberation. Instead of achieving moksha, they remain trapped in endless existential waiting.

Section D: Creative–Critical Task  (IKS Integration)

Option A (Dialogue Writing):

Write a short dialogue (300–400 words) where Krishna explains one key aspect of Waiting for Godot (waiting, hope, time, or meaninglessness) to Arjuna as an MA English student

Final Dialogue: Krishna Explains the Meaning of Waiting, Time, and Existence in Waiting for Godot

Arjuna:
Madhava, in my MA class we read Waiting for Godot. My professor said it is a play where nothing happens twice. Two men stand beneath a tree and wait for someone who never comes. Is this not meaningless despair?

Krishna:
Arjuna, what you call “nothing” is often the deepest mirror. Beckett removes war, kingdom, and duty he leaves only waiting. When man is stripped of roles, what remains? Only his consciousness. The emptiness you see is the field of his inner crisis.

Arjuna:
But Lord, they wait with hope. They believe Godot will arrive tomorrow. Is that not faith?

Krishna:
Faith awakens action; dependence breeds paralysis. In the Gita, I taught you to rise and fight not because victory was certain, but because action itself was sacred. Vladimir and Estragon, however, postpone their being. They say, “Let’s go,” yet remain still. Their hope is not dynamic; it is deferred existence.

Arjuna:
Then their waiting is attachment?

Krishna:
Yes. They cling to the fruit without planting the seed. This is the opposite of nishkama karma. They desire meaning without engaging in it. Godot becomes their imagined savior, a name for postponed responsibility. When humans expect the universe to provide purpose, they abandon their own power to create it.

Arjuna:
And time, Lord? Each day repeats. Nothing progresses.

Krishna:
Time becomes stagnant when awareness sleeps. In the Gita, time is a wheel movement toward realization. In Beckett’s world, time circles without awakening because insight never dawns. Repetition is not rebirth; it is habit without growth.

Arjuna:
So what would free them?

Krishna:
Recognition. The moment they understand that meaning does not arrive it arises waiting would dissolve. The barren tree would become their Kurukshetra, the battlefield of decision. Action, however small, would break the cycle.

Arjuna:
Then Beckett is not preaching despair?

Krishna:
No, Partha. He shows the cost of spiritual inertia. When humans wait for meaning instead of embodying it, existence becomes absurd. But when awareness awakens, even an empty road becomes a path. 

Reflective Critical Note

Statement: “Beckett shows what happens when human beings wait for meaning instead of creating it.” 

Samuel Beckett’s Waiting for Godot is not merely a play about waiting; it is a meditation on the human tendency to postpone existence. On a nearly empty stage an endless road, a skeletal tree, and two weary figures Beckett strips life down to its most vulnerable truth: the fear of acting without guarantees. Vladimir and Estragon do not lack intelligence or awareness; they lack decision. They cling to the promise of Godot as if meaning were a parcel to be delivered.

The tragedy is subtle. Nothing catastrophic happens. No dramatic fall, no visible punishment. Instead, there is repetition day dissolving into night, conversations looping back upon themselves, memory fading, hope lingering. The true catastrophe is stagnation. Waiting becomes their identity. The future becomes their refuge. By depending on an unseen figure to justify their existence, they surrender the power to shape it.

Existential philosophy reminds us that meaning is not discovered like treasure it is forged through choice. Yet Beckett shows what occurs when this responsibility is avoided. Time becomes circular. Action becomes deferred. Life becomes habit. The characters speak of leaving, even contemplate suicide, but never truly decide. Their condition reflects modern humanity’s quiet crisis: the comfort of expectation over the risk of creation.

Here, the Bhagavad Gita offers a striking contrast. When Arjuna stands immobilized on the battlefield, Krishna does not promise him external meaning; he commands him toward Karma Yoga action rooted in awareness. “You have the right to action, but not to its fruits.” This teaching dismantles the very illusion that traps Beckett’s characters. Meaning is not granted by arrival; it emerges through participation.

In Waiting for Godot, hope without action becomes paralysis. In the Gita, action without attachment becomes liberation. Beckett’s silence, therefore, is not empty it is diagnostic. He shows the spiritual exhaustion that follows when humans wait for life to define them.

The barren tree stands as witness. The road stretches endlessly. And the audience is left with an unsettling realization: Godot may never come not because he does not exist, but because meaning was never meant to arrive. It was always meant to be created.

Section E : Critical Reflection ( Metacognition )

Answer any One:

Do you think Absurdism becomes more meaningful or more challenging when read through the Gita? Why? 

Reading Absurdism through the lens of the Bhagavad Gita makes it deeper, more unsettling, and ultimately more meaningful. Absurdism, especially in Beckett’s Waiting for Godot, presents human life as suspended in uncertainty. Vladimir and Estragon wait endlessly, trapped in repetition, unsure whether Godot will ever come. The world appears silent; meaning seems absent. The play leaves us in discomfort, forcing us to confront the possibility that life may not offer clear answers.

However, when I read this through the Gita, the silence feels different. The Gita does not deny confusion Arjuna himself stands paralyzed on the battlefield, overwhelmed and uncertain. But Krishna does not offer him escape through waiting. Instead, he teaches Karma Yoga: act without attachment, perform your duty, and surrender the fruits of action. In this light, the tragedy of Beckett’s characters is not simply that the universe is meaningless, but that they choose inaction. They wait for meaning instead of participating in it.

This comparison makes Absurdism more meaningful because it transforms despair into a moment of spiritual crisis. The absurd becomes similar to Maya a condition where reality seems empty because one is disconnected from awareness and purpose. Yet it also makes Absurdism more challenging. If the Gita insists that the universe has order (dharma), then Beckett’s silence forces us to question whether meaning is truly absent or whether we have failed to recognize it.

For me, reading Absurdism through the Gita does not cancel its darkness. Instead, it intensifies it. The waiting in Godot becomes a mirror: it asks whether we are passive spectators of life or conscious participants in it. In that tension between waiting and action, between silence and duty, the dialogue between Beckett and Krishna becomes profoundly powerful. 

References : 

1. In the Bhagavad Gita, Arjuna experiences vishada (existential crisis).

Briefly explain how Vladimir and Estragon experience a similar crisis in

Waiting for Godot.

1. In the Bhagavad Gita, Arjuna experiences vishada (existential crisis).

Briefly explain how Vladimir and Estragon experience a similar crisis in

Waiting for Godot.

1. In the Bhagavad Gita, Arjuna experiences vishada (existential crisis).

Briefly explain how Vladimir and Estragon experience a similar crisis in

Waiting for Godot.1. In the Bhagavad Gita, Arjuna experiences vishada (existential crisis).

Briefly explain how Vladimir and Estragon experience a similar crisis in

Waiting for Godot.1. In the Bhagavad Gita, Arjuna experiences vishada (existential crisis).

Briefly explain how Vladimir and Estragon experience a similar crisis in

Waiting for Godot.

1. In the Bhagavad Gita, Arjuna experiences vishada (existential crisis).

Briefly explain how Vladimir and Estragon experience a similar crisis in

Waiting for Godot.

1. In the Bhagavad Gita, Arjuna experiences vishada (existential crisis).

Briefly explain how Vladimir and Estragon experience a similar crisis in

Waiting for Godot.

Trands and Movement

 

Trends and Movements

Introduction: 

Literature is deeply connected to the social, historical, and intellectual climate of its time. Writers do not create in isolation; they are influenced by political changes, cultural debates, philosophical ideas, and personal experiences shaped by the age they live in. As a result, similar patterns of thought, style, and subject matter begin to appear in literary works produced during a particular period. These patterns are commonly understood as literary trends and movements. Studying them helps readers understand not only what is written, but why it is written in a particular way.

What Are Literary Trends?

Literary trends refer to recurring themes, techniques, or stylistic preferences that become popular among writers during a specific time. Trends are often spontaneous and flexible, emerging naturally as writers respond to shared cultural experiences or artistic curiosity. They may involve the frequent use of certain narrative techniques, such as symbolism or stream of consciousness, or a growing interest in particular themes like identity, alienation, or social injustice. Unlike movements, trends are usually short-lived and do not follow a strict ideology. Writers may adopt a trend unconsciously, and it can exist across different genres and literary forms at the same time.

Characteristics of Literary Trends

One important feature of literary trends is their temporary nature. They often rise quickly, gain popularity, and then fade as new interests take their place. Trends are not formally announced or defined by writers themselves; instead, they are recognized later by readers and critics. They may overlap with other trends or coexist within a larger literary movement. Because trends focus more on how something is written rather than why, they tend to emphasize style, technique, or subject matter rather than a unified philosophical vision.

What Are Literary Movements?

Literary movements are organized and long-lasting developments in literature in which a group of writers share common beliefs, artistic goals, and responses to the world around them. Movements usually arise during periods of major historical or cultural change, such as revolutions, wars, or shifts in intellectual thought. Unlike trends, movements are more structured and coherent, often united by a shared philosophy or worldview. Writers associated with a movement may consciously challenge earlier traditions and attempt to redefine literature itself.

Characteristics of Literary Movements

A key characteristic of literary movements is their ideological foundation. Each movement is guided by certain ideas about art, truth, society, or human nature. These ideas influence not only themes but also form, language, and narrative structure. Literary movements typically last for decades and include multiple writers across different regions and genres. Although many writers did not label themselves as members of a movement, critics later grouped them together based on similarities in their work. Movements such as Romanticism, Realism, Modernism, and Postmodernism have had a lasting impact on literary history.

Difference Between Trends and Movements

The main difference between trends and movements lies in their scope and influence. Trends are narrower, more flexible, and often temporary, focusing on specific techniques or themes. Movements, on the other hand, are broader and more systematic, shaped by shared philosophies and long-term cultural shifts. While a trend may exist within a movement, a movement usually contains several trends operating at the same time. In this way, trends can be seen as the visible surface patterns of literature, while movements represent the deeper intellectual structure beneath them.

Modernism 

Modernism was the aesthetic shrapnel of a world blown apart by the 1860s. The transition from the 19th-century academic realism to the revolutionary "isms" of the 20th century was not a mere shift in style; it was a violent disintegration of belief. For centuries, the "external reality" of the academy defined by flawless perspective and the depiction of historical or religious grand narratives served as the cultural anchor. However, the rapid onset of industrialization, the dehumanizing sprawl of urbanization, and the psychological cataclysms of the world wars rendered these traditional forms obsolete.

Modernism emerged as an aggressive reaction to these upheavals, functioning between the 1860s and 1970s as a search for a new "deep truth." It was a rebellion against the objective, seeking instead to find ways of expressing the human condition through the internal and the intellectual. This analysis explores the specific trends that dismantled tradition to forge a new visual and literary language for the modern soul.

Modernism and the Internalized World

In this new era, the focus shifted from the "external world" to "subjective experience." Modernism is defined by what critics call the epistemological dominant: an obsession with how we perceive the world and the limitations of human knowledge. This prioritized the inner workings of the psyche over the physical accuracy of the street.

A hallmark of this shift in literature was the Stream of Consciousness technique. Pioneered by writers like James Joyce and Virginia Woolf, this method sought to replicate the continuous, often fragmented flow of thoughts and feelings within the mind. In the face of a chaotic external world, Modernists utilized art as a "secular religion," attempting to restore internal order through the meticulous construction of subjective truth.

Snapshot of Modernism

• Subjectivism: The prioritization of individual perception and "inner states of consciousness" over objective reality.
• Fragmentariness: The use of broken narratives to reflect the disintegration of a stable personal identity.
• Search for Internal Order: An attempt to find meaning within the self as the external social and religious order collapsed.

The Avant-Garde: Forging New Visual Languages

The "Avant-Garde" acted as the broader umbrella for the experimental movements Futurism, Cubism, and Vorticism that sought to challenge the cultural institution by rejecting the ideology of realism. Expressionism became the movement’s emotional engine, defined by its "radical distortion for emotional effect."

This movement was anchored by two foundational German groups: Die Brücke (The Bridge), formed in Dresden in 1905, and Der Blaue Reiter (The Blue Rider), formed in Munich in 1911. While Die Brücke utilized jarring compositions to express subjective reactions, Wassily Kandinsky a leader of Der Blaue Reiter posited that simple colors and shapes could communicate feelings directly, a theory of "inner necessity" that pushed art toward total abstraction.

Crucially, the School of Paris furthered this evolution in the Montparnasse district. Here, a group of primarily Jewish painters, including Chaïm Soutine and Marc Chagall, contributed a "restless and emotional" expressionism. Their work, often described as dramatic and tragic, evoked the suffering and human subjects of their heritage through intense facial expressions and a focus on mood over formal structure.

Notable Expressionist Figures:

• Edvard Munch: A precursor whose The Scream used non-naturalistic colors to represent existential angst.
• Wassily Kandinsky: Championed the idea that abstraction could bypass physical reality to touch the soul.
• Chaïm Soutine: Noted for his thick, visceral brushwork and "restless" depictions of humanity.

The Anti-Art Revolt: Dada and the Birth of  Dadaism

Dadaism was the visceral protest against the logic and the "rationalized mass production of murder" witnessed during World War I. It was an "anti-art" movement that mocked traditional aesthetics, viewing the values of the society that produced the war as morally and intellectually bankrupt.

Dadaists utilized techniques of chance, irony, and parody to undermine the authority of the artist. A central innovation was the "readymade," championed by Marcel Duchamp, where mass-produced objects like urinals or bicycle wheels were designated as art.

"Dadaism challenged the authority of the artist and highlighted elements of chance, whim, parody, and irony. It was a chaotic and anti-art response to the 'rationalized mass production of murder' seen in the horrors of World War I."

Surrealism: The Kingdom of the Subconscious

While Dada focused on destruction, Surrealism sought to build something new from the wreckage. Emerging in Paris in the 1920s, the movement was heavily influenced by Sigmund Freud’s psychoanalytic theories. The Surrealists viewed the subconscious as a window into a deeper, more authentic reality, where the "marvelous" could be found in the everyday.

Artists employed Automatism creating without conscious control and Juxtaposition, the placing of unrelated objects in impossible contexts. Masters like Salvador Dalí and René Magritte used "hyper-realistic detail for impossible scenes," making the irrational appear tangible and uncanny.

Style	Description	Key Figures	Psychological Focus
Veristic Surrealism	Rendered bizarre, dreamlike scenes with meticulous, realistic detail.	Salvador Dalí, René Magritte	Focuses on the "uncanny reality" of dreams and displaced objects.
Absolute/Abstract Surrealism	Focused on biomorphic forms and childlike symbols.	Joan Miró, Max Ernst	An intuitive, lyrical journey into the pure subconscious.

Existentialism and the Theatre of the Absurd

The cataclysmic events of WWII propelled a movement that rejected realism in favor of exploring the "futility" of human existence. This gave rise to the Theatre of the Absurd, a term coined by critic Martin Esslin to describe a world where religious and spiritual moorings had been lost.

Borrowing from Albert Camus’ The Myth of Sisyphus, these playwrights viewed the human condition as a metaphysical dilemma: humanity is like Sisyphus, eternally pushing a boulder up a hill only for it to roll back down. This "metaphysical anguish" was expressed through the "Theatre of the Absurd," which presents man as a "failure" in a purposeless world.

Samuel Beckett’s Waiting for Godot is the seminal work of this trend, featuring a "diminishing spiral" structure where time is suspended. Beckett utilized a breakdown of language, employing telegraphic and clipped speech to show the disintegration of communication. Visually, directors like Leopold Jessner emphasized this bleakness through stark, raked lighting and minimalist sets. Closely related is Harold Pinter’s Comedy of Menace best seen in The Birthday Party where laughter is immediately followed by a perception of impending danger and violence.

Post-Modernism: Playing Within the Chaos

Postmodernism represents an acceleration of the modernist rejection of tradition, but with a critical shift from the "epistemological" to the ontological dominant: a concern not with how we know the world, but with the nature of existence itself. While Modernists viewed the loss of order as an existential crisis to be solved, Postmodernists surrendered to the chaos, choosing to "play" within the ruins.

The Postmodern Checklist

1. Irony and Black Humor: Treating serious subjects (like war) with a playful, tongue-in-cheek distance.
2. Intertextuality: The recognition that no work is an isolated creation; all texts are "reworkings" of old texts.
3. Metafiction: Writing about the act of writing (e.g., Kurt Vonnegut's Slaughterhouse-Five). Contemporary authors like Dave Eggers and Jennifer Egan continue this trend through "post-ironic" sincerity.
4. Fragmentation: A depiction of a chaotic, "metaphysically unfounded" universe through disrupted syntax and non-linear timelines.

Postmodernism also blurred the boundaries between "High" and "Low" culture. This is best exemplified by Pop Art (e.g., Andy Warhol), which pulled imagery from advertisements and celebrity culture, and the rise of technoculture, where simulations of the real (hyperreality) replace reality itself.

Conclusion: 

The evolution of modern thought moved from a quest for "deep truth" and internal order (Modernism) to a fundamental questioning of whether "truth" or absolute meaning even exists (Postmodernism). This century-long dialogue transformed art from a strict discipline into a playground for ideas.

The legacy of these movements remains pervasive. The modern spirit of rebellion and the postmodern embrace of irony continue to shape digital media, contemporary architecture, and product design. The modern spirit refuses to be bound by the limits of the past, encouraging us to view our reality through the lens of alternative, and often beautifully absurd, perspectives.