Bring on the tough stuff - there’s not just one right answer.
- We do not physically travel anywhere during the play, but what is there to suggest that Winnie and Willie have (metaphorically speaking) travelled as characters? What is their journey and more importantly how has it changed them? Is there a transformation in the way they view their world?
- The pursuit of happiness is something that is central to Winnie's life and, historically, to the lives of the American people. Would you say that the happiness Winnie craves is achievable?
- Beckett famously said "only a woman" could deal with the tests that Winnie encounters in the play. Could this play work equally as well (or, maybe, even better) if the central character were a man?
- It's pretty obvious that Winnie is (literally) trapped in her situation, but to what extent is she able to make choices for herself over the course of the play? And, more importantly, how do her choices (or lack of choices) impact her situation?
- Pauses are everywhere in Beckett's work. How do they serve to keep us, the audience (and readers), interested in Winnie and Willie's story, and what do you understand about his use of silence as it relates to real-life conversations?
- Winnie often loses the will to speak and, as is commonly found in all of Beckett's plays, words often fail. What is the significance of Winnie's reliance on quotations and allusions?