week late R&G summary analysis

Tom Stoppard (1937-present)

• British Playwright 
• as a child, his family moved around a lot 
• Stoppard left school at age 17 and worked as a journalist
• Serves as on the advisory board of the magazine Standpoint 

Setting

• woods/ forest
• Elsinore Castle
• boat
• similar time frame as Hamlet 

Plot

• Act I
• Play opens up with Rosencrantz and Guildenstern tossing coins and getting heads each time
• Guildenstern brings up the law of probability and more references to physics
• Both repeatedly forget what is going on (being called by the king and their earliest memory)
• Guildenstern is frustrated with Rosencrantz illogical comments
• They faintly hear music and the Tragedians (players) enter
• Tragedians offer them a show in the woods 
• Rosencrantz shows them the coin trick, but this time, it end up tails
• This suddenly leads both Rosencrantz and Guildenstern to Elsinore Castle where Ophelia is in act
• Claudius and Gertrude ask them for help and to find out the core of Hamlet's madness
• Very uncertain of what's going on, they plan and recite what they would ask Hamlet.
• Act II
• as they speak with Hamlet, Hamlet plays with his words and evermore confuse them
• They get nothing out of the conversation and are left with no idea
• Tragedians enter into the castle called by Hamlet. They prepare to preform the new script given about Claudius
• Meanwhile, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern contemplate over the mystery of death
• The next day, tragedians are ready and Alfred is dressed as Gertrude
• The play is actually a story of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, but they fail to notice
• Claudius is furious with the play of his portrayal 
• Through the king's order, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are in search of Hamlet and where he put Polonius's body
• They fail to catch him and instead, the guards bring Hamlet to Claudius
• Claudius orders Ros and Guil to take Hamlet to England 
• Act III
• Soon, both realize that they're on a boat with Hamlet to England
• They are unaware of what to do because Hamlet is asleep
• they talk about how much they received from Hamlet, but Ros doesn't tell him.
• Guil gets mad and Ros becomes sad and talk about fate
• Guil remembers that Claudius has given them a letter and takes it out
• the letter tells the English king to kill Hamlet
• both are confused and feel guilty 
• Hamlet blows out the lights and Ros and Guil are fast asleep?
• Hamlet then switches the letter
• In the morning, they hear the tragedian's music once again
• The pirates attack their boat and goes into chaos
• Hamlet is gone and Ros takes out the letter to read that they, instead of Hamlet shall be killed
• Ros realizes that this is the end and leaves. 
• Guil is alone and cries for Ros
• the Story ends with all corpse on the ground

Characters

• Rosencrantz & Guildenstern
• both childhood friends of Hamlet
• Each act, they're roles change
• Guildenstern studies his life
• Rosencrantz is carefree
• they both forget who they are and are always uncertain over their identities
• Player
• seems to know and understand what's going on
• leader of the tragedians. 
• tragedians are a group of male actors putting on plays
• Rest of characters are in Hamlet

Motif

• Absurdism
• illogical comments
• rare connections between plots
• repetition in dialogue between R&G
• Identity
• both R&G mix their identity up
• mystery of fate
• mystery of death
• roles switch in each act
• Imagination over Reality
• coin flipping and getting heads 99 times
• using physics to back up their uncertainty

Quotes

• "Words, Words. They are all we have to go on" 
• even though this play uses repetition, word play, illogical comments, words play a significant role. Through words they believe in physics even though it fails to work on them. Through words they find out their deaths. It's everything through words that the story goes on
• "Life in a box is better than no life at all"
• R&G debate about the mystery of life and death. The box signifies Shakespeare's boundaries with Hamlet and they realize they can't escape from it.