Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead Analysis

Author:  Stoppard has much experience in writing and lived for a while in India until his mother married his stepfather, Kenneth Stoppard.  He became very successful right after the Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead was performed.

Setting:  The play is set in Denmark begins along a path perhaps in a general area where Guildenstern and Rosencrantz question where they are supposed to be and what they are supposed to be doing.  The majority of the play takes place in Elsinore at the castle, and toward the end of the play Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are on a boat on their way to England.

Plot:  The king and queen send for Rosencrantz and Guildenstern because the king and queen need help in discovering the reason for Hamlet’s madness.  On their way to Elsinore they encounter the Players and make a bet with them, except they are then transported inside the castle.  After meeting with Claudius and Gertrude they find Hamlet and speak with him.  Hamlet clearly has the upper hand with his double meanings and he knows why they are actually visiting him, however, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern think that they had the upper hand. While the events in Hamlet unfold Rosencrantz and Guildenstern have more encounters with the Players who are a contrast to their personalities and character.  Claudius ships Hamlet off to England after the murder of Polonius and Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are sent with him.  The Players escape onto the boat as well.  While on the boat Rosencrantz and Guildenstern discover that Hamlet is to be killed, however, after the pirates attack the letter has been switched and they discover their own fate.

Significant Characters:

Rosencrantz:  He is not the brain of the two.  He is like a little boy who is just discovering the world for the very first time.  He and Guildenstern often come to the right conclusions but they completely miss the point.

Guildenstern:  He thinks he is the brain but he is often confused and his philosophical analyses consist of the misuse of ideas and concepts.

Hamlet:  The prince of Denmark and troubled by his mother’s haste marriage after the murder of his father by his uncle Claudius.  He knows what is going on and seems to have his life headed in the direction that he thinks destiny wants it to go.

Player:  He acts as a contrast to Rosencrantz and Guildenstern because he and his men have accepted their fate while Rosencrantz and Guildenstern have not.  The Player and the other players seem to know how the play will end, probably because they have put this play on numerous times.

Claudius:  The new king who murdered his brother and married his sister-in-law…incest!

Narrative Voice:  The narrative voice is from multiple characters because it is a play.  From hearing different characters speak we see which ones have accepted their fate and which ones’ struggle with their destiny.  Due the fact that the play is from the point of view of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern we mostly see their inability to cope with their destiny.  They don’t understand why their life ends the way it does. 

Stoppard uses repetition of conversations and of entire scenes and many short sentences.  Guildenstern’s tone is often irritated and sometimes sarcastic when speaking to Rosencrantz, while Rosencrantz’s tone is filled with concern.  Their tone contributes to Stoppard’s style.  When Guildenstern is irritated his lines are curt, but when Rosencrantz is worried he keeps talking.  Stoppard’s style symbolizes that the play is indeed a play and not real life.  In a play the plot has to end the same way every time, but Rosencrantz and Guildenstern haven’t come to terms with their end.  Another symbol is the direction of the wind which shows Rosencrantz and Guildenstern being lost and not knowing what they are supposed to do.  Even though they have been in this play numerous times, they still don’t know what to do, probably because deep down they know their end and they don’t want it to happen.

Quotes:

“Life in a box is better than no life at all” (71).  This quote symbolizes actors on a stage that aren’t truly alive and they are confined in a box (the stage).  Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are actors who don’t actually exist and they know it, therefore, they too are confined to a box and have no control over their fate.

“Life is a gamble, at terrible odds…” (115).  This quote shows that life is random, and what is going to happen will happen.  There is no way to change destiny or one’s fate.  Rosencrantz and Guildenstern have yet to come to terms with this. 

Theme:

In Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern make reference to being on a stage, and through this Stoppard explores the relationship between life and the stage.

Setting:  The setting is in Denmark like Hamlet is and is confined to a box, the stage.  This represents Rosencrantz and Guildenstern being confined and having no choice but to do what everyone else expects them to do.  The castle is such that they go around and around and can’t seem to find their way out.  Again this represents a box and their confinement.

Plot:  Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are sent for to find out what afflicts Hamlet.  In doing so they become entangled in Hamlet’s fate and as a result are put to death.  The plot and their fate are known just as the ending of a play is.  Within the play Rosencrantz and Guildenstern question what they are supposed to be doing and how to counter their destiny.  Part of the plot is informing the audience that the actors know they are in a play.

Work’s Title:  The title of the play Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead gives away the ending of the play and their fate.  This is like a play that has been showing numerous times because people know what is going to happen.  Therefore, it informs readers that this is just a play, not reality, because no one knows the ending of reality.

Narrative Voice:  The narrative voice is from many characters which again shows that this is a play and not real life.  From hearing many characters speak we see which one’s struggle with their fate at the end of the play.

Author’s Style:  Stoppard uses short sentences with repetition when Guildenstern and Rosencrantz are talking.  This shows their confusion of what they are supposed to be doing.  Not only are words and lines repeated but also entire scenes and conversations thus showing Rosencrantz and Guildenstern’s life is just a circle being repeated; it isn’t real. 

Tone:  Guildenstern’s irritated tone and Rosencrantz’s worried tone shows their knowledge and agitation about their end.  Even in real life people are concerned about their fate and their tone shows that Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are no different.

Imagery:  The description of how the coin continues to land on heads contributes to the question over life and the stage.  The imagery created shows that their is no chance and what is going to happen will happen, this happens in a play and in real life.

Symbolism:  The flipping of the coin is a symbol for what is reality.  Due to the fact that the law of probability doesn’t work symbolizes that Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are in a play, not reality.