Summary and Analysis of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead

Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead by Tom Stoppard

Author:
Tom Stoppard was born in Czechoslovakia and moved a lot as a child due to World War II. He lost his birth father to the war and eventually ended up in England. The recurring theme of identity within Rosencrantz and Guildenstern might stem from his displaced roots as a child. In addition, his experience with World War II might contribute to his use of Absurdism and Postmodernist elements.

Setting:
Supposedly within the story of Hamlet, but it's left almost entirely ambiguous. The playwright himself took advantage of this in the film adaptation.

Plot:
The play opens with Rosencrantz and Guildenstern on their way to the court of Elsinore. They have a purpose and direction, yet cannot remember why they are headed that way. The entire time, they  are engaged in a game of heads or tails. They encounter some players and place a wager with the troupe's leader, which ends up in their favor. The Player is forced to hold a performance for them, but R & G leave in the middle, reaching Elsinore. Their misadventures continue at the palace, but it is at this point that their role in Shakespeare's play begins, and so the first structured dialogue occurs with their meeting with Gertrude and Claudius. Then, with no lines, they return to the non-structured confusing narrative. Then, they meet Hamlet.
R & G are spending time with Hamlet to fulfill the King's demand that they find out what's wrong with him. Eventually, the troupe of players comes to Elsinore as well, and the Player is mad at R&G for bailing on their performance. Hamlet devises his plan to figure out his uncle's guilt, and the players act out The Murder of Gonzago, which freaks out Claudius. Then, they end up having to leave and end up on the boat.
R & G open the letter Claudius gave them and figure out what Hamlet's fate is (unbeknownst to them, Hamlet is listening the entire time). While they sleep, he slips in and switches the letter. Then, pirates attack the ship, and R & G and Hamlet end up in barrels. When it all settles, R & G emerge but Hamlet is gone. Then the players somehow emerge from a third barrel. R & G open the letter and find that they are ordered to be hanged instead of Hamlet. Then G has an outburst of rage as the player jokes about death. The play ends with the scene where they are hanged.

Characters:
-Rosencrantz: The more happy-go-lucky of the pair. He has moments of brilliance but is ultimately seen as a nuisance by Guildenstern. He remembers nothing.
-Guildenstern: The more pensive of the two. He often tries to break free from the confines of the stage and questions the role of the circular narrative.
-Player: The one character in the play who understands the true nature of his place within the literature. He knows the cyclical immortality and embraces it. He is often the voice of reason.

Stoppard's voice:
This play is unique in that it has so narration within the stage directions. In a way, Stoppard takes on a witty persona within his narrations, where he uses interesting, colorful diction.

STYLE:

PoV - Stoppard's point-of-view is from the third person as he narrates the play. He takes on an interesting angle with a blend of existentialist and absurdist elements.

Imagery - The play's imagery is more emotional than sensory. Stoppard's idea is to make the audience uncomfortable with some of his imagination. For example, his frequent breaking of the fourth wall where R & G point into the audience and especially the prostitution analogy.

Symbolism
- the Boat: life/fate and the fact that we are at the whims of Nature
- Coins: the ultimate role of chance in life, and how most coincidences really are coincidence even if they seem to hold significance

QUOTES
"But why? Was it all for this? Who are we that so much should converge on our little deaths?... Who are we?" - Guil
 This really emphasizes the existentialist element of Stoppard's play. This occurs towards the end and Guildenstern has finally come to question his role within the play.

"Uncertainty is the normal state. You're nobody special." - Player
I think that this quote is significant because it blurs the line between the play and life, where the advice given to R  & G can be applied to real life within the scope of Absurdist ideas.

THEME
In Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, Tom Stoppard encourages the reader to embrace the ambiguities of life and take advantage of their power of choice in making decisions on their path; he also comments on the limited nature of art in its non-reality, and yet as art is interpreted in a unique fashion, it can be incorporated within the unique conscious, decisions that people make, generating a sense of life within art.