"Waiting for Godot" and the Theatre of Absurd Term Paper by Top Papers

The paper relates that significant changes in drama and theatre occurred during the 20th century and particularly after World War II. The paper discusses one typical example of these profound changes that was the theatre of absurd. The paper relates that the term, coined by Martin Esslin in the book of the same title, is used for a theatrical and drama "part of 'anti-literary' movement of our time" (Esslin, 26). The paper explains that the theater of absurd is not an organized movement or school, rather it is a term used to designate a set of plays that "most sensitively mirrors and reflects the preoccupations and anxieties, the emotions and thinking of many of their contemporaries in the Western world" (Esslin, 22).