Comparison Of Waiting For Godot And The Bus Stop--An Influence Study And Parallel Study

In the 80s of the 20th century, exploration plays (or experimental plays, avant-garde plays) appeared in Chinese dramatic field, aiming to break through the constraints of the fixed mode of Chinese drama. Gao Xingjian is a representative of those explorers, whose play, The Bus Stop, has been the source of controversy. In virtue of the device of absurdity and the motif of waiting in this play, it tends to remind people of Beckett's Waiting for Godot. Some critics hold that it has been greatly influenced by the Theatre of the Absurd both in device and particularly in thought, so much so that it "reflects our society in a distorting way", "displays strong suspicion about our real life", while Cao Yu insists that "its theme is universal", and thanks to Yu Shizhi The Bus Stop was entitled to the chance on the stage. Such controversies will not only interfere with readers' true appreciation of this play, but also render the track of exploration plays in the dark, and their revelation to the following generations in vain. Consequently, this thesis will focus on a proper perception of the play and its actual relationship with Waiting for Godot.Two methods of literary comparison-influence study and parallel study-are employed to make a comparative research on the two works. At the beginning, this thesis makes a brief introduction to the two plays and their authors, expounding the Theatre of the Absurd represented by Waiting for Godot in terms of its translation, spread and performance in China, and probing into its impelling role in the rise of Chinese exploration plays. Several elements in this play, for instance, time, content, characters and purposes of going to town, are of definite characteristics of realism. Afterwards, comparison progresses in two aspects: motif and dramatic device. The two plays share the same theme of waiting. However, endless waiting of the tramps in Waiting for Godot is an affirmation of the absurdity of human existence, with the reinforcement of insignificance of life by the encounter of the drifters, Pozzo and Lucky; The Bus Stop does touch on the theme of waiting, but, the positive action of the drifter-Quiet Man-encourages people of enterprise, and deny negative waiting, hence the negation of the absurdity of human existence. Therefore, a pair of opposites arises through the comparison between the motifs of the two dramas. In the perspective of dramatic device, the two plays both display modernist dramatic style but in different degrees: Waiting for Godot makes full use of the devices of symbolism, absurdism and abstraction of art; The Bus Stop uses these devices in a lesser degree and innovates them by combining them with Chinese traditional performing arts' devices of theatricality, suppositionality and narrationality, with specific emphasis on polyphony, the shifting of narrative point of view, the free use of space-time, particular disposal of acoustics and the employment of little theatre.Three factors from the playwrights' point of view may well explain the causation of the similarities and differences between the two plays: the two playwrights' devotion to and endless pursuit of art, their different social backgrounds, different goals and inclinations towards artistic creation. The thesis also points out that thereexists disseverance in The Bus Stop between its realist features and modernist devices, especially that of absurdity. Gao's strict employment of the dramatic devices is responsible for this. In addition, the play still has room for improvement in view of the distance between the practice of polyphony and its theory, and the slightly pale image of characters as well. Finally, focusing on The Bus Stop, this thesis praises the achievements and significance of Gao's exploration. His spirit of exploration is really admirable; his advanced notion of drama definitely enables him to audaciously use Chinese traditional dramas and foreign modern dramas for reference; he sticks to suppositionality as a characteristic of drama, shortening the distance between actors and au...