Editing Waiting for Godot (section)

=== Philosophical ===

==== Existential ====
Broadly speaking, [[existentialism|existentialist]]s hold that there are certain fundamental questions that all human beings must come to terms with if they are to take their subjective existences seriously and with intrinsic value. Questions such as life, death, the [[meaning of life#Existentialism|meaning of human existence]] and the place of God in that existence are among them. By and large, the theories of existentialism assert that conscious reality is very complex and without an "objective" or universally known value: the individual must create value by affirming it and living it, not by simply talking about it or philosophising it in the mind. The play may be seen to touch on all of these issues.

[[Martin Esslin]], in his ''The Theatre of the Absurd'' (1960), argued that ''Waiting for Godot'' was part of a broader [[literary movement]] that he called the [[Theatre of the Absurd]], a form of theatre that stemmed from the [[absurdism|absurdist]] philosophy of [[Albert Camus]]. Absurdism itself is a branch of the traditional assertions of existentialism, pioneered by [[Søren Kierkegaard]], and posits that, while inherent meaning might very well exist in the universe, human beings are incapable of finding it due to some form of mental or philosophical limitation. Thus, humanity is doomed to be faced with ''the Absurd'', or the absolute absurdity of the existence in lack of intrinsic purpose.<ref>Ball, J. A. and McConachie, B. "Theatre Histories: An Introduction." (New York: Routledge, 2010.) P. 589.</ref>

==== Ethical ====
Just after Didi and Gogo have been particularly selfish and callous, the boy comes to say that Godot is not coming. The boy (or pair of boys) may be seen to represent meekness and hope before compassion is consciously excluded by an evolving personality and character, and in which case may be the youthful Pozzo and Lucky. Thus Godot is compassion and fails to arrive every day, as he says he will. No-one is concerned that a boy is beaten.<ref>On the other hand, Didi only learns of this in asking the boy's brother how Godot treats him, which may in itself be seen as a show of compassion.</ref> In this interpretation, there is the irony that only by changing their hearts to be compassionate can the characters fixed to the tree move on and cease to have to wait for Godot.