Waiting for Godot: Setting 1 key example

In the first act, this information is limited to "A country road. A tree. Evening." The information that opens the second act adds nothing to this: "Next day. Same time. Same place." In the dialogue, Vladimir reveals that the tree has grown a few leaves between the first and second acts—a development that amazes him. Otherwise, aside from the falling of darkness at the end of each act, nothing else seems to change to the setting over the course of the play. The characters themselves notice how bare the setting is. After Pozzo becomes blind, he asks Vladimir and Estragon to describe their surroundings. Looking around, Vladimir says "It’s indescribable. It’s like nothing. There’s nothing. There’s a tree."

The country road of the play could be anywhere, but it's possible to assume that Vladimir and Estragon find themselves somewhere in France. To begin with, Beckett originally wrote the play in French. Additionally, Estragon's name is the French word for Tarragon. The main reason for assuming that the road is in the French countryside, however, is that the only real-world places that Vladimir and Estragon reference are broadly located in France.

For example, early in the play, Vladimir reminisces on an earlier time in their friendship, "a million years ago, in the nineties," when they were "among the first" to go to "the top of the Eiffel Tower." This indicates not only that they have spent time in Paris together, but it also dates their friendship: Vladimir and Estragon knew each other in the 1890s, the first decade after the completion of the Eiffel Tower. Later in the first act, Estragon asks if Vladimir remembers "the day when [he] threw [himself] into the Rhone," a river that runs through France and Switzerland. In the second act, Vladimir brings up the Macon country. This may be a reference to Mâcon, a city in central France. And when they later dream of turning their backs on Godot and going away, Estragon says "I've always wanted to wander in the Pyrenees," a mountain range that extends between France and Spain. Together, the places they bring up give the play a certain geographical context. Despite the undefined nature of the setting, Beckett gives the audience reason to assume that they're in western Europe.

Similarly, while it's impossible to know exactly what period the play is set in, the dialogue and costumes offer a certain frame. Vladimir's mention of the Eiffel Tower is one of the most important clues about the temporal setting, as he states that they visited in the 90s. This would indicate that the play takes place in the early decades of the 20th century. The characters' clothing is another clue. While Beckett doesn't elaborate on their clothing to a significant extent (besides making it clear that their boots are quite shabby), he specifies what kind of hat they wear in the play's single footnote. In the first act, when Pozzo removes his hat, this footnote indicates that "All four wear bowlers." Bowler hats were common in the late 19th century to the middle of the 20th century.