Is there an element of subjectivity in the play Waiting for Godot by Samuel Beckett?

Subjectivity implies personal reaction and opinion rather than rational, logical conclusion based on research or other evidence from outside one’s personal experience. With this definition in mind, it can be said that Beckett’s personal, subjective opinion of the meaning or non-meaning of life is reflected in Waiting for Godot.

However, Beckett was also a scholar, a well-traveled and experienced thinker, and a keen observer of the human condition around him, so his view of the...

Subjectivity implies personal reaction and opinion rather than rational, logical conclusion based on research or other evidence from outside one’s personal experience. With this definition in mind, it can be said that Beckett’s personal, subjective opinion of the meaning or non-meaning of life is reflected in Waiting for Godot.

However, Beckett was also a scholar, a well-traveled and experienced thinker, and a keen observer of the human condition around him, so his view of the world extended far beyond his immediate biographical experiences. Once, while walking with a friend on a sunny Paris day, the friend remarked casually “A day like this makes you happy to be alive.” Beckett responded “Oh, I wouldn’t go that far.” This anecdote demonstrates how Beckett’s worldview was not merely subjective but based on his lifelong observations and the experiences of other people.

As for the play itself, the characters are far from subjective – they are broad representatives of everyman, split into mental (Didi) and physical (Gogo) manifestations. Pozzo and Lucky, as well, are broad symbolic representations of human conditions – freedom of choice and slavery.