3. Waiting for Godot by Samuel Beckett

Beckett was partial to literary allusions, and Waiting for Godot contains a particularly obscure one. In a play by Balzac called Le faiseur, a stock-market trader called Mercadet is going bankrupt. His funds are all tied up with his ex-partner, Godeau, who is mysteriously elusive. Mercadet makes it clear to his creditors that once Godeau arrives, everyone will get paid. Until then, all they can do is wait. Sound familiar? At one point Mercadet breaks down and admits his darkest fear: ‘Godeau!’ he screams, ‘But Godeau is a myth! He’s a fable!’ Nevertheless in the Balzac play everything ends happily. The arrival of Godeau is announced and the rapturous Mercadet exclaims, ‘Let’s go and see Godeau!’ In the last line of Waiting for Godot Estragon also says ‘Yes, let’s go.’ The stage direction then grimly reads, ‘They do not move.’

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