Identity Construction In Samuel Beckett’s Waiting For Godot

This paper scrutinizes the formation of the identity of the characters in Samuel Beckett’s famous play Waiting for Godot. One of the characters whose identity is constructed is Godot, a mysterious absent figure. The other characters, such as Vladimir and Estragon actively construct Godot’s identity. Thus, the formation of identity cannot be separated from the social construction in which a lot of characteristics are attributed by the members of the large community. The theory of identity elaborated by Stuart Hall and Erikson is employed to examine the play. The study shows that Godot and other characters’ identity is unstable and fluid. The characteristics of their identity are ambiguous and even challenged.