‘Why are there no female characters in

Waiting for Godot?’

Prepared by Nishtha Makwana

Roll No. 15
Paper 9. Modernist English Literature
M.A. English Sem 3
Submitted to Department of
English, MKU Bhavnagar.
Waiting For Godot

By Samuel Beckett
Originally written in French
Published :
English Version : 1955

“The most significant English language

play of the 20th century”

- The British Royal National Theater

 Only Male Characters

● Vladimir
● Estragon
● Pozzo
● Lucky
● Messenger of
Godot - a boy
 Beckett's Objection
● Women's theatre groups decided to stage
the play in 1980
● Becket objected
● Women wouldn't be able to deliver an
accurate portrayal of the characters
● Women don't have prostates.
● Prostates - Vladimir’s main traits
Caricature of Beckett by
Edmund S. Valtman
Interpretation 1

● No hope for reproduction and regeneration

● No Hope - after nuclear war
● Death - as a ultimate truth
● No meaning of life (birth)
● No women no reproduction

Are women just a medium for reproduction?

Interpretation 2
● Stereotypes of gender
● Vladimir as a man and Estragon as a woman
● One used to wear hat, one used to wear boots
● One is strong and one is weak, one is
protector
● Pozzo and Lucky - Man and Women(husband
and wife)
● Mrs. Ramsay- blind faith on husband
● Indian concept - પિત પરમેશ્વર (husband is
god)
Interpretation 3

● Petriyarchal thinking
● Only man can thing philosophically and
can questions
● World is for men
Conclusion
We can just interpret the absence of female characters,
can not get a answer, we can not come to conclusion

Now we can not ask Samuel Beckett

This question is open to all to interpret the answer

Work Cited
Beckett, Samuel. Waiting for Godot: Tragicomedy in 2 Acts. New York: Grove
Press, 1954. Print.

Valjak, Domagoj. "Samuel Beckett objected to female theater groups staging his
play “Waiting for Godot” because “women don’t have prostates and couldn’t
portray the characters accurate." Thevintagenews, 7 Mar. 2017,
www.thevintagenews.com/2017/03/07/samuel-beckett-objected-to-female-thea
ter-groups-staging-his-play-waiting-for-godot-because-women-dont-have-prosta
tes-and-couldnt-portray-the-characters-accurately/. Accessed 1 Dec. 202.
Newspaper

McMahon, Barbara. "Beckett estate fails to stop women waiting for Godot."
Thegurdiannews, 4 Feb. 2006,
www.theguardian.com/world/2006/feb/04/arts.italy. Accessed 1 Dec. 2020.
Newspaper
Thank You