Rosencrantz And Guildenstern Are Dead

In Hamlet by William Shakespeare and Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead by Tom Stoppard, the Player is a character with completely different motives. For Hamlet, the player is just a performer. His only reason for being there is so he can perform a play to show the king. This play does help the plot move along, but is not the biggest part of the play. In Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, the player is a very important character that is a performer and a patron. Whether one is a performer or a patron, they are both rather valuable parts to any story. They each come with different “job descriptions” but both work cross paths with one another. Patrons and performers are important in plays and in life.
Patrons and performers are important roles to any story. According to the
Player in Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, “for some of us it is performance, for others, patronage,” (Stoppard, 23).
In the theatre, there are performers or actors on stage, and patrons or audience members who come to watch the show. These two terms can also be applied to life. The performers could be leaders, actors, or people who just want to live life to the fullest and do things out in the world. The patrons could be followers, audience members, or people who want to stand by and enjoy life or go and support other people living their lives. In Hamlet and Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, the roles of patrons and performers are clearly represented in different ways by the Player. In Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, the Player represents a performer and a patron with a lot of power. The Player, who is clearly an actor, gives plenty of
insight into the world of acting. He also gives insight though, on life as well. The Player represents an almost all-knowing character as he keeps the story moving along. While he is certainly not the direct star of the show, he seems to be like a director or puppet master as his character is portrayed in the play. He directs or controls the actions of the story and seems to know what comes next. He has agency, while some other characters do not. There is a point where Rosencrantz and Guildenstern say to the Player that, “we don’t know what’s going on, or what to do with ourselves. We don’t know how to act,” (insert p#). The Player responds by saying, “Act natural. You know why you’re here at least,” (insert p#). This exchange helps to demonstrate that while Rosencrantz and Guildenstern know why they doing what they are doing, they don’t exactly know how to do it. One of a director’s or puppet master’s jobs is to guide and give direction as to how the actors or puppets should move. The Player clearly gives direction to these two characters and this helps the story to keep moving along. In this certain case, the Player is being a performer as he is being a leader. When the play goes to focus on Rosencrantz and Guildenstern’s interactions with other characters and the rest of their journey where the Player is not present, he is a patron. He is at these points a patron because he supports Rosencrantz and Guildenstern and helps them with information he gives when he is a performer.
In Hamlet, the Player is more so a performer with very little power. His only job in Hamlet is to perform a play that Hamlet himself asks for. The play he performs does help the story move along and is important, but not as important as other parts of the play. The Player is a minor character in this work, and isn’t really featured that much. When Hamlet talks to the Player and his fellow actors, Hamlet is being a patron as he asked for the actors to perform, but he asserts his authority and shows his power as he directs the Player on how to perform the piece. Hamlet specifies that, “Speak the speech, I pray you, as I pronounced it to you… Nor do not saw the air too much with your hand thus, but use all gently, for in the very torrent, tempest, and (as I may say) whirlwind of passion, you must acquire and beget a temperance that may give it smoothness,” (Shakespeare, insert p#). He directs them on how to say exactly how he wants the words of the play said and also expresses how he doesn’t want the players to use their hands a lot as they need to have a smooth temperament to them. The Player is following what Hamlet is telling him, but still remains a performer who puts on the play and leads his fellow actors.
In life, there are patrons and performers. There are the literal versions with audience members, artists, sponsors of artists, etc. There are also the hidden meaning versions with leaders, followers, etc. People everyday are out in the world living and some are just enjoying life and supporting others. Everyone in his or her lifetime will be both a patron and a performer. When a child his growing up, they could be a patron as they are learning from others on how to act and live in this world. When the child grows up into an adult and starts to live their life doing whatever they do, this is where they could be a performer.
The Player is a patron and a performer. He also offers a lot of insight on life and helps to keep the story moving along. He helps others when needed and watches them learn and grow. He can direct and also perform a show. He is an actor by trade, but a performer and a patron at heart. The Player is a leader and a follower. He lives his life and supports others. People and characters, especially the Player, represent what it means to be a patron and a performer.