<P> Vladimir stands through most of the play whereas Estragon sits down numerous times and even dozes off . "Estragon is inert and Vladimir restless ." Vladimir looks at the sky and muses on religious or philosophical matters . Estragon "belongs to the stone", preoccupied with mundane things, what he can get to eat and how to ease his physical aches and pains; he is direct, intuitive . He finds it hard to remember but can recall certain things when prompted, e.g., when Vladimir asks: "Do you remember the Gospels?" Estragon tells Vladimir about the coloured maps of the Holy Land and that he planned to honeymoon by the Dead Sea; it is his short - term memory that is poorest and points to the fact that he may, in fact, be suffering from Alzheimer's disease . Al Alvarez writes: "But perhaps Estragon's forgetfulness is the cement binding their relationship together . He continually forgets, Vladimir continually reminds him; between them they pass the time ." They have been together for fifty years but when asked--by Pozzo--they do not reveal their actual ages . </P> <P> Vladimir's life is not without its discomforts too but he is the more resilient of the pair . "Vladimir's pain is primarily mental anguish, which would thus account for his voluntary exchange of his hat for Lucky's, thus signifying Vladimir's symbolic desire for another person's thoughts ." </P> <P> Throughout the play the couple refer to each other by the pet names "Didi" and "Gogo", although the boy addresses Vladimir as "Mister Albert". Beckett originally intended to call Estragon "Lévy" but when Pozzo questions him he gives his name as "Magrégor, André" and also responds to "Catulle" in French or "Catullus" in the first Faber edition . This became "Adam" in the American edition . Beckett's only explanation was that he was "fed up with Catullus". </P> <P> Vivian Mercier described Waiting for Godot as a play which "has achieved a theoretical impossibility--a play in which nothing happens, that yet keeps audiences glued to their seats . What's more, since the second act is a subtly different reprise of the first, he has written a play in which nothing happens, twice .". Mercier once questioned Beckett on the language used by the pair: "It seemed to me...he made Didi and Gogo sound as if they had earned PhDs .' How do you know they hadn't?' was his reply ." They clearly have known better times, a visit to the Eiffel Tower and grape - harvesting by the Rhône; it is about all either has to say about their pasts, save for Estragon's claim to have been a poet, an explanation Estragon provides to Vladimir for his destitution . In the first stage production, which Beckett oversaw, both are "more shabby - genteel than ragged...Vladimir at least is capable of being scandalised...on a matter of etiquette when Estragon begs for chicken bones or money ." </P>

Why do vladimir and estragon wait for godot