| Acknowledgements | 第1-6页 |
| 摘要 | 第6-8页 |
| Abstract | 第8-10页 |
| Introduction | 第10-24页 |
| I. Overview | 第11-13页 |
| II. Definition of silence | 第13-17页 |
| III. Studies done on silence | 第17-21页 |
| IV. The task and purpose of this dissertation | 第21-24页 |
| Chapter One Linguistic Approach to Silence in Waiting for Godot | 第24-47页 |
| I. Language as a hopeless tool | 第27-30页 |
| II. Speech analysis of Waiting for Godot | 第30-36页 |
| A. Topic analysis | 第30-32页 |
| B. Speech-pattern analysis | 第32-36页 |
| III. Analysis of silence in Waiting for Godot | 第36-44页 |
| A. Silence to help to build stage images | 第36-38页 |
| B. Silence to suggest the poverty of speech | 第38-41页 |
| C. Silence to suggest the indifference to communication | 第41-42页 |
| D. Silence to negate an utterance | 第42-43页 |
| E. Silence to amplify an utterance | 第43-44页 |
| IV. War against words | 第44-47页 |
| Chapter Two Philosophical Approach to Silence in Endgame | 第47-68页 |
| I. Philosophical background | 第50-54页 |
| II. Image and silence | 第54-55页 |
| III. Silence—the end | 第55-56页 |
| IV. Sound and fury vs. silence—the ending | 第56-68页 |
| A. Silence of illusion | 第58-60页 |
| B. Silence of servility | 第60-61页 |
| C. Silence of meaninglessness | 第61-68页 |
| Chapter Three Psychological Approach to Silence in Krapp’s Last Tape | 第68-85页 |
| I. Personal details related to silence | 第70-73页 |
| II. Image and silence | 第73-74页 |
| III. Silence to reflect the sense of loneliness | 第74-77页 |
| IV. Silence to convey the feeling of depression | 第77-81页 |
| V. Silence to express the nihility of love | 第81-85页 |
| Conclusion | 第85-90页 |
| I. To fall into silence | 第85-87页 |
| II. Not to fall into silence | 第87-90页 |
| Bibliography | 第90-93页 |
