Fracaso del sentido y estructura del lenguaje

entre Beckett y Lacan

Abstract

This article analyzes Waiting for Godot, by Samuel Beckett, through the lens of Jacques Lacan’s theory of the signifier, with the aim of investigating the centrality of language in the dramatic structure and its effects on the production and failure of meaning. Situated within the context of the theatre of the absurd, as outlined by Martin Esslin, the play subverts the classical principles of unity, coherence, and finality, presenting a narrative marked by repetition, stagnation, and the absence of resolution. The hypothesis is that Beckett does not merely thematize the crisis of signification but formally inscribes it in his dramaturgy, displacing the centrality of meaning in favor of the functioning of the signifying chain. The analysis shows that the instability of time and space, the failure of quilting points, and discursive proliferation operate as devices that prevent the fixation of meaning. Within this framework, the failure of signification is understood not as a deficiency but as a central aesthetic and psychic operator of the work. It is concluded that Waiting for Godot does not merely represent the instability of meaning, it produces it, implicating the subject in a linguistic experience marked by signifying drift.