Rosencrantz And Guildenstern Are Dead Essay
Tom Stoppard’s, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, emphasizes the close connection between real life and theatrical performance. This connection between life and the stage is revealed by the presence of the Tragedians. The Tragedians perform a play that depicts parallel events to those in which the two main characters find themselves; which ultimately ends with them being killed. The Player, leader of the Tragedians, claims that theatrical death is the only kind of death that people believe in because it is what they expect. According to the logic of the play and the Player, the audience cannot believe in their deaths either because the audience’s expectation that Rosencrantz and Guildenstern will die is never fulfilled
The interaction
among the Tragedians, Rosencrantz, and Guildenstern introduces homoeroticism into the play. The Player explains the very special brand of drama performed by the actors, one that lets the audience watch or, for more money, participate in sexual scenes. The Tragedians’ unique brand of performance confuses the two men, even though the group clearly fulfills an unacknowledged social need.
The Player seems to be much smarter than both Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, and he even appears to be aware of himself as a character within a play. He refers to the two men as “fellow artists,” even though Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are not artists. This implies that the Player realizes that Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are actually two minor characters from Shakespeare’s Hamlet. This knowledge gives the Player a powerful aura of mystery and omnipotence.
When Guildenstern asks for a play as payment for the lost bet, the Player cannot name a play that his troupe knows how to perform. Instead, the Player claims that the Tragedians belong to the “blood, love and rhetoric school,” implying that the actors know how to perform violence and romance, as well as how to communicate.
Towards the end of Act III the Player convincingly performs his own death after Guildenstern stabs him with a stage knife. So convincingly in fact, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern cannot bring themselves to believe in their own impending deaths, for which they are unable to form any expectations. As Rosencrantz and Guildenstern watch the Tragedians perform, they see that the two actors playing the roles parallel to their own are dressed exactly as they are. This confuses Rosencrantz so much that he wonders why he recognizes the actor dressed as himself. In other words, theater reflects life so well that Rosencrantz cannot tell which is which.
“Uncertainty is the normal state. You’re nobody special.” Act II Pg. 66
This remark emphasizes one of the major themes of the play—the incomprehensibility of the world. Guildenstern complains to the Player that he and Rosencrantz have no idea what is happening at Elsinore and have no clue what they should be doing there, and he hopes to relinquish to the Player the burden of having to make decisions. The Player’s response in the quotation criticizes Guildenstern for believing that he is in a uniquely difficult situation. Instead, the Player suggests, doubt is a characteristic feature of human life, and it is “normal” to not understand everything that is happening around us. Even the most mundane situations, it seems, are fraught with complication and ambiguity.
(Pg. 67) Moroseness: having a sullen and gloomy disposition
(Pg. 55) Appurtenance: a subordinate part or adjunct
(Pg. 99) Dolefully: causing grief or affliction
(Pg. 72) Squalling: to cry out raucously
(Pg. 60) Shambles: archaic: a meat market
The interaction
among the Tragedians, Rosencrantz, and Guildenstern introduces homoeroticism into the play. The Player explains the very special brand of drama performed by the actors, one that lets the audience watch or, for more money, participate in sexual scenes. The Tragedians’ unique brand of performance confuses the two men, even though the group clearly fulfills an unacknowledged social need.
The Player seems to be much smarter than both Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, and he even appears to be aware of himself as a character within a play. He refers to the two men as “fellow artists,” even though Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are not artists. This implies that the Player realizes that Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are actually two minor characters from Shakespeare’s Hamlet. This knowledge gives the Player a powerful aura of mystery and omnipotence.
When Guildenstern asks for a play as payment for the lost bet, the Player cannot name a play that his troupe knows how to perform. Instead, the Player claims that the Tragedians belong to the “blood, love and rhetoric school,” implying that the actors know how to perform violence and romance, as well as how to communicate.
Towards the end of Act III the Player convincingly performs his own death after Guildenstern stabs him with a stage knife. So convincingly in fact, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern cannot bring themselves to believe in their own impending deaths, for which they are unable to form any expectations. As Rosencrantz and Guildenstern watch the Tragedians perform, they see that the two actors playing the roles parallel to their own are dressed exactly as they are. This confuses Rosencrantz so much that he wonders why he recognizes the actor dressed as himself. In other words, theater reflects life so well that Rosencrantz cannot tell which is which.
“Uncertainty is the normal state. You’re nobody special.” Act II Pg. 66
This remark emphasizes one of the major themes of the play—the incomprehensibility of the world. Guildenstern complains to the Player that he and Rosencrantz have no idea what is happening at Elsinore and have no clue what they should be doing there, and he hopes to relinquish to the Player the burden of having to make decisions. The Player’s response in the quotation criticizes Guildenstern for believing that he is in a uniquely difficult situation. Instead, the Player suggests, doubt is a characteristic feature of human life, and it is “normal” to not understand everything that is happening around us. Even the most mundane situations, it seems, are fraught with complication and ambiguity.
(Pg. 67) Moroseness: having a sullen and gloomy disposition
(Pg. 55) Appurtenance: a subordinate part or adjunct
(Pg. 99) Dolefully: causing grief or affliction
(Pg. 72) Squalling: to cry out raucously
(Pg. 60) Shambles: archaic: a meat market