Discourse Failure as an Aesthetic Motif in the Absurd Theatre: A Comparative Study of Samuel Becket’s Waiting for Godot and Tawfiq Al-Hakim’s The Tree Climber

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to highlight the role of discourse failure in the absurd theatre and prove how it can be actively used as an aesthetic means which enhances the pragmatic effectiveness of communication by grabbing the attention of the audience. The study examines two absurd plays; Tawfiq Al-Hakim's Ya Tali al-Shajarah (The Tree Climber) and Samuel Beckett's Waiting for Godot. The paper shows how discourse failures are not used by both Becket and Al-Hakim spontaneously. They have been used to reveal their aesthetic and dynamic impact on the reader. Both writers try to evoke and control not just the actual focus of the audience, but also their way of perceiving, their mood, which is not directed towards concrete objects, but has to do with their general sensibility.