Structured to Deconstruct: Samuel Beckett's waiting for Godot and Plato's Western Meta-physics in Allegory of the Cave

Abstract

• The aim of this study is to investigate how Waiting for Godot is a deconstructive and an artistic response to Plato's philosophy in general and to Plato's Allegory of the Cave as a representative model of absolute, essentialist, and Eurocentric hegemonic ideologies of subjugation. This study proposes that Waiting for Godot is structured as a satire and a parody to purposefully deconstruct western metaphysic inherited from Plato. The emphasis will be on Plato's philosophy and its deep and wide effect on western metaphysics and consciousness. While some critical discourses concerning Waiting for Godot follow a reductionist approach, which limits the play's contribution to mere a manifestation of certain philosophical interpretations, such as existentialism and deconstructionism, this study attempts to prove that the play could be construed as a deliberate deconstruction of western metaphysics through adopting a satiric technique to dramatize a representation of the negative influence of western philosophies inherited from Plato.The purpose of this deconstructionist's process is not just for the sake of demolition, but rather for the sake of building up new nonhierarchical techniques of exploring human life through probing past philosophies and restudy them within the circumstances of the present. The study proposes that Waiting for Godot deconstructs Western power relations apparatus which perpetuates subjugation and which is rooted back in traditional philosophies and perceptions of Plato as they are demonstrated in Allegory of the Cave. Although applying a Derridean deconstructionism to the play cannot be considered new and original, yet combining it with an historical approach help in situating the play within a socio-political and a socio-economic context. This might help in exploring new meanings related to power relations of Eurocentricism--which is imminent in all social and political relations. Thus, this study treats Waiting for Godot as a parody of Plato's Allegory of the Cave. It is hoped that this new perspective will deepen the significance of the play and enhance re-understanding and revisiting critical areas like colonialism, stratification, feminism, and other areas connected to hegemonic discourses that partly stem from Plato's logocentric philosophies.