Waiting For Godot / Huis Clos

We recently read the play Huis Clos by Jean-Paul Sartre in my French Independent Study, and I can't help but draw comparisons between Sartre's play and Samuel Beckett's Waiting For Godot. Both Huis Clos and Waiting For Godot being absurdist dramas written in the same time period, it is likely to find similarities between the two. Both have themes of isolation driving confusion and distortion, and have religious and biblical references. Being an existentialist writer, Sartre focuses on the meaning of existence, and the nature of human existence. Furthermore Sartre stresses his message of "existence precedes essence," meaning that life should be taken for what it is -- life -- and that humans are wasting time trying to find meaning. In Huis Clos (the title can be roughly translated to "behind closed doors" or "no exit"), there are three people trapped in an empty room with no ability to leave. The characters are trying to find out why they are there and if they are actually in hell. So far in Waiting For Godot, it has been difficult to find meaning behind the interactions between characters and the reasoning behind why Vladimir and Estragon are still waiting for the mysterious character Godot. In Waiting For Godot, there are themes of existentialism. With the sheer emptiness of the play, Beckett is simply commenting on the nature of the human condition.