Summary and Analysis of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead
Author: Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead was written by Czech-British playwright Tom Stoppard in 1966. Stoppward is a post-modern playwright, and one of the most famous British theatre writers in the postwar era. Stoppard is the author of many famous plays besides Rosencratnz and Guildenstern are Dead, including The Coast of Utopia, Professional Foul, and The Real Thing. Stoppard is still alive and lives in Britain.
Setting: The setting in Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead is significant mainly through its absence. Stoppard specifically directs empty and simple stage sets in the stage directions throughout the play. This lack of material on the stage is used as a device to help communicate the themes that life is empty and has no direction. The settings that are present include an unknown forest between Rosencratz and Guildenstern's house and the castle Elsinore, the castle itself, and a boat heading for England. The time of the play is unspecified other than by it's overlap with the plot of Hamlet.
Summary:
The play opens with Rosencrantz and Guildenstern in an unidentifiable place repeatedly flipping a coin. The coin continually shows heads. Guildenstern is troubled by this, and make multiple hypothesis as to the cause of it. These hypothesis contain multiple allusions to famous philosophies and thought experiments, but Guildenstern is never able to get the idea completely correct.
The discussion and coin-flipping is interrupted by the appearance of traveling band of players. The player "king" who speaks for them announces with multiple euphemisms that they will prostitute themselves and their youngest member, Alfred, to Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. Rosencrantz does not pick up on this euphemism; Guildenstern does and scolds the players for it, expressing sympathy for Alfred. He then inquires about the players' acting ability. They challenge the players to a coin-flipping game and exchange a few rounds. The last flip of the coin yields tails, breaking the pattern.
The scene then suddenly changes, showing some action from the play of Hamlet. The scene then changes to one extracted from Hamlet, in which the king and queen instruct Rosencrantz and Guildenstern to discover the cause of Hamlet's malcontent. The two are puzzled about how to proceed, realizing they have no been given much information. They proceed to play a game of questions. Next, Guildenstern tries to get Rosencrantz to practice asking question while pretending he, Guildenstern, is Hamlet. Rosencrantz at first does not understand, but catches on after a while. Hamlet appears then, and greets the two as his old friends. This ends the first act.
Act two opens with Rosencrantz and Guildenstern talking to Hamlet. Hamlet mentions the players coming to Elsinore to perform. Once the conversation ends, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern discuss how Hamlet had bested them, getting information out of them, but managing not to give them any answers. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern proceed to have a rather incoherent conversation about a number of things, including more coin tricks, the direction of the wind, and philosophies about life and acting.
The players then appear at Elsinore, and explain to Rosencrantz and Guildenstern their philosophy on acting. They discuss Hamlet's situation briefly, and Rosencrantz and Guildenstern warn to players not to give a vulgar performance. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern have another philosophical conversation, this time about the nature of life and death.
The play then converges with the action of Hamlet. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern converse with Polonius, and then update the king on what they have learned, which is nothing. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern then see Hamlet and Ophelia talking. By accident, they barge in on the players practicing. The practice is interrupted by the scene from Hamlet in which Hamlet urges Ophelia to "get thee to a nunnery." The king's speech following that scene also interrupts the play practice. After those characters depart, the practice resumes, and the play king describes the plot of the play they are performing. The play bears obvious similarities to the action of Hamlet itself, including the death of two characters resembling Rosencrantz and Guildenstern.
The king and queen come to Rosencrantz and Guildenstern saying the Hamlet has killed Polonius and they must retrieve the body. The two men discuss for some time how best to go about this. Hamlet appears dragging the body, but they are unable to get it from him. The king then informs them they are to escort Hamlet to England. Seeing no other possible course of action, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern depart for England on a boat, ending act two.
The third act opens in darkness, and Rosencrantz and Guildenstern debate whether they are dead. They decide they are not, and the scene of a boat on the way to England appears. They discuss their mission and what the king has instructed them to do. They argue about their pay and who is holding the letter, briefly fearing that they have lost it. Then they practice what they will say to the king of England once they arrive. They read the letter and discover that Hamlet is to be killed upon its deliverance.
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern then briefly forget what they are doing, but soon re-establish their mission. Soon, they fall asleep, and Hamlet sneaks on stage, replacing the letter. Then they hear pipe music, and discover the players have snuck onto the boat, wishing to escape Elsinore. The ship is attacked by pirates, and Hamlet escapes onto the pirate ship. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern and players hide in barrels.
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern then open the letter to reread it, and discover that it has been replaced with one ordering their own deaths. The players' nonchalant views about death prompts an argument, in which Guildenstern stabs the player king, only to discover the blade was fake and he only acted out his own death. The two have a final discussion philosophizing about death. The scene ends ambiguously and does not show whether Rosencrantz and Guildenstern escape. The play ends showing the final scene from Hamlet with the ambassador from England announcing the deaths of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern.
Characters:
Rosencrantz: One of the two main characters of the play. He demonstrates many qualities of a theater of the absurd character, namely that he shows a very poor memory, and often forgets obvious things or does not remember who he is or what he is doing. Rosencrantz is much less perceptive than his friend Guildenstern, and frequently is less aware of what is going on around him. However, he is well meaning throughout the play, and wishes only to act properly and perform his duty.
Guildenstern: Guildenstern demonstrates many similar qualities to Rosencrantz, displaying characteristics of a theater of the absurd character. Guildenstern is generally more aware of what is happening than Rosencrantz, and acts as the leader of duo. Guildenstern generally comes up with the plans and Rosencrantz follows him. Guildenstern is philosophical, and frequently employs long and complicated arguments alluding to famous philosophies, but he never gets them quite right. Guildenstern is less friendly than Rosencrantz, and is quicker to anger in several scenes.
The Player "King": The leader of the band of tragedians that Rosencrantz and Guildenstern encounter frequently throughout the play. The player believes life and acting are essentially the same thing, and that acting is an accurate reflection of life. He also believes that death is of little concern. He explains these philosophy throughout the play, often disagreeing with Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. The Player King also shows many godlike qualities in the play: he is able to predict things, always speaks with authoritative certainty, and seems to be able to control the action of the play.
Hamlet: Hamlet is the same character as in the original play Hamlet. He is troubled by the same things as in his own play, and retains his wit. Hamlet's character is far simpler in this play than in Hamlet, and his complex emotional struggle is not discussed in Stoppard's play.
Alfred: A young boy who accompanies the group of Tragedians. Alfred plays the female role in the groups performances. He is generally a comic figure, being the object of many sexual jokes.
Claudius, Gertrude, and Polonius: These characters show the same qualities as they do in the original play Hamlet. Almost all their lines are direct quotes from Hamlet, used in scenes where the action of the two plays overlaps.
Style:
Stoppard writes the play in a satirical style using many elements of the Theater of the Absurd. Throughout the play there is constant repetition and dialogue that goes nowhere. Characters often repeat themselves or blatantly contradict themselves; characters also frequently do not remember what they are doing. The play also has almost no plot, and moves along very slowly, ending without a satisfactory conclusion. Stoppard skillfully mixes high and low comedy throughout the play, provoking laughter by twisting certain philosophies slightly, but also provoking comedy through crudeness and the sheer stupidity of the characters. Stoppard's style is also somewhat ambiguous, and no clear message is delivered through the play. There are consistent themes and focuses of the play, but the interpretation is left ambiguous.
Tone:
Stoppard's tone is satirical and mocking. Throughout the play, he makes fun of western culture and societal norms. He pokes fun at literature by mocking Hamlet throughout the play, inflating minor details such as the confusion of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern and the pirate attack to create a humorously distorted version of Hamlet. He also mocks social norms about sexuality through the character Alfred, and the exaggerated friendship between the two main characters. Stoppard also mocks the whole idea of theater performances by breaking the fourth wall frequently, and having players acknowledge or address the audience. All elements of the play serve the purpose of mocking or satirizing something.
Imagery:
The imagery in this play is minimal. The stage directions frequently direct for the stage to be almost empty, especially in the first and third acts when the characters are in a sort of limbo outside Elsinore. Some imagery exists throughout the play during the philosophical speeches by Guildenstern and the player king, in which they give detailed descriptions on death and acting, often using figurative language and imagery. The overall lack of imagery in the play allows it to focus on the dialogue, which is the main element of the plot and action in the play.
Symbolism:
The play contains extensive symbolism, mostly through motif.
Chance/luck: The motif of impossible chance is present throughout the play. It is mostly associated with the flipping of a coin, which occurs multiple times throughout the play. This motif symbolizes the pre determinism that is present in the play.
Wind/Direction: Throughout the play, the characters, especially Guildenstern, inquire about the direction of the wind, or which direction is north. The characters are never able to firmly establish either. This motif symbolizes the lack of direction in the plot or the lives of the two characters. Their direction is also unknown.
Death: Discussion of death are frequent throughout the play. These discussions establish death as a major theme in the story. However what Stoppard means by this is ambiguous, and the meaning of the constant commentary on death is left up to interpretation. The speeches on death consistently discuss how death is the ultimate ending and how nothing can exist after death.
Quotes:
"Death is the ultimate nothing."- This quote epitomizes the discussions on death that occur throughout the play. The main point of all these philosophical discussions is that death is the end of everything, and that nothing exists after death.
"Words, word. They're all we have to go on." This quote shows the lack of plot in the story and the lack of intuition by the characters. The character, in the theater of the absurd style, seem to possess no desire or morals, and so all they do throughout the play is react to the things the other characters say. They have no background knowledge, so they are forced to rely on the words alone to decide their course of action.
Theme:
One theme of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead is that literature is not like real life. A large part of Stoppard's play focuses on denouncing the realism of literature and acting. The premise of the play, following the action of Hamlet, establishes this. Stoppard takes a renowned work of Western literature and points out the inconsistencies, by showing that many of the characters, the two heroes of his play in particular, do not act like real people would in the situation of Hamlet. His use of theater of the absurd makes the action of Hamlet seem unrealistic when the focus is shifted slightly. The speeches of the Player King also contribute to this theme. The player king insists that acting is exactly like life, and Stoppard makes this an obvious contradiction by making it true in the play. The absurd result of the mixing of acting and real life in the play shows that this is an erroneous statement.
