Editing Waiting for Godot (section)

===Godot===
The identity of Godot has been the subject of much debate. "When Colin Duckworth asked Beckett point-blank whether Pozzo was Godot, the author replied: 'No. It is just implied in the text, but it's not true.{{'"}}<ref>Colin Duckworth's introduction to ''En attendant Godot'' (London: George G Harrap & Co, 1966), lx. Quoted in Cohn, R., ''From Desire to Godot'' (London: Calder Publications; New York: Riverrun Press, 1998), p. 150</ref>

[[Deirdre Bair]] says that though "Beckett will never discuss the implications of the title", she suggests two stories that both may have at least partially inspired it. The first is that because feet are a recurring theme in the play, Beckett has said the title was suggested to him by the slang French term for boot: "''[[wikt:godillot|godillot]]'', ''[[wikt:godasse|godasse]]''". The second story, according to Bair, is that Beckett once encountered a group of spectators at the French ''Tour de France'' bicycle race, who told him "Nous attendons Godot" – they were waiting for a competitor whose name was Godot.{{sfn|Bair|1990|p=405}}

"Beckett said to [[Peter Woodthorpe]] that he regretted calling the absent character 'Godot', because of all the theories involving God to which this had given rise."<ref>Interview with [[Peter Woodthorpe]], 18 February 1994. Referenced in Knowlson, J., ''Damned to Fame: The Life of Samuel Beckett'' (London: Bloomsbury, 1996), p. 785 n. 166</ref> "I also told [Ralph] Richardson that if by Godot I had meant God I would [have] said God, and not Godot. This seemed to disappoint him greatly."<ref>SB to Barney Rosset, 18 October 1954 (Syracuse). Quoted in Knowlson, J., ''Damned to Fame: The Life of Samuel Beckett'' (London: Bloomsbury, 1996), p. 412</ref> That said, Beckett did once concede, "It would be fatuous of me to pretend that I am not aware of the meanings attached to the word 'Godot', and the opinion of many that it means 'God'. But you must remember – I wrote the play in French, and if I did have that meaning in my mind, it was somewhere in my unconscious and I was not overtly aware of it."{{sfn|Bair|1990|p=591}} (Note: the French word for 'God' is 'Dieu'.) However, "Beckett has often stressed the strong unconscious impulses that partly control his writing; he has even spoken of being 'in a [[trance]]' when he writes."<ref>[[Vivian Mercier|Mercier, V.]], ''Beckett/Beckett'' (London: Souvenir Press, 1990), p. 87</ref> While Beckett stated he originally had no knowledge of [[Honoré de Balzac|Balzac]]'s play ''Mercadet ou le faiseur'', whose character Godeau has an identical-sounding name and is involved in a similar situation, it has been suggested he may have been instead influenced by ''[[The Lovable Cheat]]'',<ref>{{Cite journal|first1=Katherine|last1=Waugh|first2=Fergus|last2=Daly|date=1995|title=''Film'' by Samuel Beckett|url=http://iol.ie/~galfilm/filmwest/20beckett.htm|journal=Film West|volume=20|access-date=9 December 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190226142235/http://iol.ie/~galfilm/filmwest/20beckett.htm|archive-date=26 February 2019|url-status=dead}}</ref> a minor adaptation of ''Mercadet'' starring [[Buster Keaton]], whose works Beckett had admired,<ref>{{Cite journal|first=Alan W.|last=Friedman|date=2009|title=Samuel Beckett Meets Buster Keaton: Godeau, Film, and New York|journal=Texas Studies in Literature and Language|volume=51|issue=1|pages=41–46|jstor=40755528|doi=10.1353/tsl.0.0023|s2cid=161370974}}</ref> and whom he later sought out for ''[[Film (film)|Film]]''.

Unlike elsewhere in Beckett's work, no bicycle appears in this play, but [[Hugh Kenner]] in his essay "The Cartesian Centaur"<ref>Kenner, H., ''The Cartesian Centaur'', (Perspective, 1959)</ref> reports that Beckett once, when asked about the meaning of Godot, mentioned "a veteran racing cyclist, bald, a 'stayer', recurrent placeman in town-to-town and national championships, Christian name elusive, surname Godeau, pronounced, of course, no differently from Godot." ''Waiting for Godot'' is clearly not about track cycling, but it is said that Beckett himself did wait for French cyclist {{Interlanguage link|Roger Godeau|fr}} (1920–2000; a professional cyclist from 1943 to 1961), outside the velodrome in [[Roubaix]].<ref>Croggon, Alison. [http://www.theaustralian.com.au/arts/enter-all-those-wary-of-samuel-beckett/story-e6frg8n6-1225864745353 "Enter all those wary of Samuel Beckett"]. ''[[The Australian]]''. 11 May 2010</ref><ref>Clements, Toby. [https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/3621242/Cyclists-as-postmen-with-raggle-taggle-dreams.html "Cyclists as postmen with raggle-taggle dreams"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240521014304/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/3621242/Cyclists-as-postmen-with-raggle-taggle-dreams.html |date=21 May 2024 }}. ''The Telegraph''. 26 July 2004.</ref>

Of the two boys who work for Godot only one appears safe from beatings, "Beckett said, only half-jokingly, that one of Estragon's feet was saved".{{sfn|Ackerley|Gontarski|2006|p={{page needed|date=September 2020}}}}

The name "Godot" is pronounced in Britain and Ireland with the emphasis on the first syllable, {{IPAc-en|ˈ|ɡ|ɒ|d|oʊ}} {{respell|GOD|oh}};<ref name="NYT-20131112" /> in North America it is usually pronounced with an emphasis on the second syllable, {{IPAc-en|ɡ|ə|ˈ|d|oʊ}} {{respell|gə|DOH|'}}. Beckett himself said the emphasis should be on the first syllable, and that the North American pronunciation is a mistake.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.thecampuschronicle.com/archive/vol_4/05_07/ |title=Savannah College of Art and Design: The Chronicle |date=27 March 2008 |website= |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080327012846/http://www.thecampuschronicle.com/archive/vol_4/05_07/ |archive-date=27 March 2008 |url-status=dead}}</ref> Georges Borchardt, Beckett's literary agent, and who represents Beckett's literary estate, has always pronounced "Godot" in the French manner, with equal emphasis on both syllables. Borchardt checked with Beckett's nephew, Edward, who told him his uncle pronounced it that way as well.<ref name="NYT-20131112" /> The 1956 [[Broadway theatre|Broadway]] production split the difference by having Vladimir pronounce "Godot" with equal stress on both syllables (goh-doh) and Estragon pronounce it with the accent on the second syllable (g'doh).<ref>[[Terry Teachout|Teachout, Terry.]] [https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052748704243904575630592465424692 "The Cowardly Lion Waits for Godot".]''The Wall Street Journal''. 26 November 2010.{{subscription required}} {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240521014306/https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052748704243904575630592465424692 |date=21 May 2024 }}</ref><ref>{{YouTube|1ZrTh-78K2o|Becket, Samuel. ''Waiting for Godot''. audio recording. Examples located 16:05–16:15}}</ref>