Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead- Summary and Analysis

Summary: R&G are walking along flipping coins and debating over the philosophical, mathematical, and existential consequences of a ridiculously long streak of heads. At the same time, they are attempting to recall what they are doing and why they are there, and conclude that they were sent for by a messenger on urgent business.

They soon encounter a roving group of players known as the Tragedians who boast their questionable but extensive repertoire, but get involved in a bet over the result of a coin flip that mysteriously ends with R&G noticing that it landed tails.

The next scene is in the castle. R&G spend the rest of their time in Denmark participating in the roles written out for them in the script of Hamlet but also interacting with the players and passing time with lengthy discussions, including a game of "questions."

When it comes time for them to take Hamlet to England, they simply appear on a boat. At this point in the play, R&G rehearse how they are going to address the king, and accidentally read a note intended for the king with instructions to kill Hamlet. Hamlet, overhearing the conversation, swaps this note for a replica calling for the immediate death of R&G. They only discover this when they act out their meeting with the English King with the Player and read the mandate themselves. Meanwhile, the Tragedians appear on the ship. Soon after, "pirates" invade, and "take" Hamlet, although this all happens very quickly and Hamlet seems to act much on his own accord, disappearing into a barrel. In their final encounter with the Tragedians, Guildenstern claims that the head player cannot and has not created a convincing death scene. Guildenstern stabs the Player with his own dagger and he appears fatally wounded, but then gets up and shows R&G that the dagger is a stage prop. The play ends with the announcement in the end of Hamlet  Act V when the ambassador announces that "Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead."

Analysis: The play involves a great deal of dramatic irony and humorous devices, but also reaches deeply into absurdism and existentialism. The play also contains motifs of meta-reality, duality, and paradox. While many individual scenes have ironic elements, such as when R&G are not aware of the letter swap but the audience is, the entire play can be seen as a piece of dramatic irony, given that any informed viewer knows the main characters are doomed from the onset.

The meta nature of the play really becomes obvious when R&G witness their own deaths as part of a marionette production within a version of Hamlet staged as part of a production of the "Murther of Gonzago," which is really a production of Hamlet within the main plot of Hamlet. However, each version of Hamlet portrayed is ultimately a version of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead. In the film version, this meta-narrative extends even further, as the last scene suggests that all of the actions since the encounter with the players have been a production they in fact staged. Outside of that is the actual written play serving as the final layer. If we're counting, that's around five nested plays, but really they all interact to form a more cyclical pattern. The evidence for this would be when, during the Tragedians' rehearsal, the real Hamlet and Ophelia burst through doing (or acting out, depending on the desired degree of meta-reality) the Nunnery Scene.

As for duality, the coin flipping establishes itself as a metaphor for R&G's fate. It seems that with the reversal of a coin flip result, they are whisked away into the narrative of Hamlet. In a similar way, it almost seems up to chance whether the letter for the English King calls for Hamlet's death or their's. One could even say that the whole "To be or not to be" soliloquy, or Guildenstern's paraphrasing of it, is really the message driving this entire motif. The difference between life and death is just a single coin toss. However, this version contains an existential twist: Life and death are not two choices in the hands of the bearer. They are at the hands of the players, or rather the playwrights-- The ones who manufacture comedy, tragedy, and most importantly death itself. In this way, Shakespeare is the puppet master. When he leaves a gap of interpretive ambiguity, the characters are subject to it, and since novel interpretation has a degree of chance about it, so does the very existence of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. Whether they live or do not, the choice is already written down for them somewhere, making this whole idea of chance rather paradoxical in the first place.

Quotes: "Where we went wrong was getting on a boat. We can move, of course, change direction, rattle about, but our movement is contained within a larger one that carries us along as inexorably as the wind and current." - Guildenstern

Guildenstern is distressed because the sequence of probabilities or dual realities that seemed completely in their hands have now converged on a point of no return. Until R&G got on a boat, they could have walked away from Denmark as free men. However, it seems from their perspective, as they are merely characters and thus incapable of perceiving the inevitability of their death, that they made this choice willingly. We, as an audience, would disagree. They appear on the boat the same way they appear in Elsinore and even at the beginning of the book. Maybe those were all choices, but for our two poor heroes, it is the only narrative that exists on paper.

"Player: You are Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. That's enough.

Guildenstern: No-- it is not enough. To be told so little-- to such and end-- and still, finally, to be denied an explanation. "

This represents the confusion R&G must have over their own poorly defined existence. Because their characters in Hamlet are so flat and interchangeable, this becomes a character trait in the play. The cruel or tragic aspect is that Guildenstern has the emotion of a fully formed character but not sufficient definition as to grant him means of expressing or understanding what it is to be alive. No matter how hard he tries, he is met with confusion and contradiction. Perhaps he is not so flat after all. How much more human could this get?

"The only beginning is birth and the only end is death--if you can't count on that, what can you count on?"- Guildenstern

This quote also deals with existentialism. It is interesting because it gives the reader the suggestion that death comes as a relief-- the ultimate closure. Without the certainty that they woke up, or were born, they cannot be sure of their own reality. That is why Guildenstern's question, "what is the first thing you remember?" is so difficult to answer. Rosencrantz has faith that an answer to that question would involve confirmation of his birth, but R&G have no defined origin. Thus, he has forgotten.

Theme Statement: Life and past lives are patterns, repeated cycles, that make death and the process of dying a recurring and theatrical motif, within which we, the players who do not know our roles, are governed by the whim of the playwrights, who do.

Response to Course Material

The past few weeks in AP Lit have involved a great deal of work with Hamlet and most recently, Tom Stoppard's play, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead. For Hamlet, we finished reading the play and watched a film version by the Royal Shakespeare Company, we had detailed in-class discussions regarding a whole range of important themes and motifs, and came up with an overarching theme statement as a class. We also did an interesting online activity where we all contributed to a shared document discussing different clips from Hamlet movies. I found this helpful, but also a bit cumbersome because it lacked the traditional forum format and so it was difficult to see the order and direction of the replies.

After discussing Hamlet and writing an open prompt, we began reading Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead. This was a very different perspective on Hamlet which provided a refreshingly existential and absurdist interpretation that the traditional version lacks. I especially liked the way the characters contemplate their reality and struggle to create meaning out of an unmercifully sparse characterization. It almost seems as if this perspective allows Stoppard to criticize or parody aspects of Hamlet. Once we finished reading the play, we started watching a film version. I have watched this version before and greatly enjoy it, especially the way the setting contributes new ideas to the original text. I also find Rosencrantz’ accidental discoveries of Newtonian physics hilarious.

Hamlet Summary and Analysis

Summary:

Hamlet returns from the University of Wittenberg to find that his father, Lord Hamlet, is dead, and that his uncle Claudius has married the Queen Gertrude and taken the throne for himself. When watchmen and Hamlet's friend, Horatio, inform him that they have seen the ghost of his father, Hamlet seeks him out and talks to him. The ghost tells Hamlet that Claudius murdered him, has usurped the throne, and that Hamlet must avenge his death but not physically punish Gertrude for her infidelity.

Hamlet assumes the task and uses mad behavior as a way to survey the events going on around him. However, this causes trouble when he violently rejects his love interest, Ophelia, confusing her father Polonius in regard to the source of his behavior. Hamlet sets out to prove to himself that the ghost is telling the truth by having a troop of actors perform The Murther of Gonzago, whose plot starkly imitates Claudius' crime. The ploy works and Claudius becomes visibly distressed.

As a result, Claudius plans to send Hamlet away from the castle. Hamlet causes several deaths in an attempt to kill Claudius. In the first, he meets with his mother in her closet and, upon erroneously suspecting Claudius of eavesdropping, makes a fatal stab at Polonius through the curtains. This murder inspires Claudius to send Hamlet away for England with instructions for him to be executed. In addition, the grief of losing a lover and a father to madness drives Ophelia into a melancholy state of insanity herself, leading to an intentional or possibly unintentional suicide. Meanwhile, Hamlet escapes the boat carrying him to England and changes the letter to demand the deaths of his friends, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. Laertes is so stricken by his sister's and father's deaths that he plots with Claudius to kill Hamlet once and for all.

Laertes challenges Hamlet to a fencing match where Laertes will have a poisoned rapier and Claudius will present Hamlet with a poisoned drink as a celebration of his victory, should he evade Laertes. However, this plan backfires when Hamlet wins the first two rounds and Gertrude drinks the poisoned goblet to celebrate. Laertes becomes impatient and strikes Hamlet, who then realizes the whole plan and strikes Laertes with his own sword. As Laertes and Gertrude succumb to the poison, Hamlet stabs and kills Claudius and finally dies. As this happens, Fortinbras invades Elsinor and we see the end of the Danish royalty.

Analysis:
Useful Quotes:

"Oh that this too too solid flesh would melt and resolve itself into a dew." and
"The funeral bake'd meats do coldly furnish forth the marriage tables"
-Shows Hamlet's frustration at the situation between Gertrude and Claudius and sets the tone for his impression of the events at Elsinore before he encounters his father's ghost. The second quote especially shows his anger at the brevity of the mourning period for his father and the hasty marriage that followed.

"O cursed spite that ever I was meant to set it right"
-Expresses Hamlet's frustration at the task set before him of avenging his father's death and supposedly restoring order to the kingdom, although this is quite far from what actually happens.

"To be or not to be, that is the question, Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, or to go willingly into a sea of troubles and by opposing end them."
-Part of maybe the most famous English soliloquy ever written, this expresses perfectly the dilemma of the will to live, and whether suicide is a relief from the pain of living.

"Conscience doth make cowards of us all"
-From the same speech, this applies to Hamlet's overall behavior. While he is talking about the way our perception of reality makes us cling to life in response to the fear of the uncertain, it can also be taken as meaning that he lets his contemplation of everything around him get in the way of acting. His trepidation over carrying out the murder fuels the direction of the entire play.

Theme Statement: In Shakespeare's Hamlet, a quest for vengeance creates a cycle of death and insanity fueled by frustration, sexual desire, and a number of hidden agendas that resolve tragically.

The tone of the work is hard to determine from the text alone and often varies depending on interpretation. However, Hamlet's character is often portrayed as having a dark sense of humor coupled with frustration and cunning. These qualities manifest themselves in the language of the play. Symbolism is most prominent in the use of props chosen in the production, but one clear symbol is Yorick's skull, which represents the passing from life to death and asks questions about the meaning of life in the context of death, which is the very question Hamlet ponders in his famous "to be or not to be" soliloquy. The play makes many different allusions, some of which are so obscure to modern readers that the origins are not clear, such as the "famous ape" mentioned in the closet scene. The imagery is open to interpretation in many parts, but the description of the castle at night when the ghost appears suggests a dark and shadowy landscape, and the description of Ophelia's drowning paints a clear picture of the water enveloping her billowing garments and dragging her to "muddy death."
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Response to Open Prompt

A symbol is an object, action, or event that represents something or that creates a range of associations beyond itself. In literary works a symbol can express an idea, clarify meaning, or enlarge literal meaning. Select a novel or play and, focusing on one symbol, write an essay analyzing how that symbol functions in the work and what it reveals about the characters or themes of the work as a whole. Do not merely summarize the plot.

In William Shakespeare's Hamlet, it may seem hard to find an object or entity that functions as a symbol simply because there is little mention of specific objects. However, one prop which serves as a powerful symbol is Yorick's scull, introduced near the end of the play. The skull not only represents the passing from life to death, but also a happier time in Hamlet's life. It reveals a gentler side to Hamlet's perspective on death in contrast to his reaction to the death of his father and Ophelia. The skull allows for a quiet period of reflection on the nature of mortality amidst the psychological trauma surrounding the rest of the play, and thus provides powerful insight.

When the Gravedigger finds the skull as he is clearing a space for Ophelia's corpse, Hamlet does not initially recognize it. However, after inquiring, the Gravedigger tells him that it belongs to Yorick, the king's jester. Upon hearing this, Hamlet launches into a speech where he fondly recalls Yorick as a "fellow of infinite jest." Often, this scene is portrayed with Hamlet affectionately holding the skull. The contrast between the physical remains of the person and the memory of their past life is at the essence of the skull's symbolic meaning. Hamlet shows a love for the ghost of his father, but this love comes with a great pain, as the ghost urges him toward violence and revenge. In contrast to the supernatural remains of Hamlet's father, the literal remains of Yorick bring nothing but pleasant recollection. Hamlet's perspective on death seems to shift. Instead of tormenting him, it brings a sentimental bond.

Later in the scene, Hamlet shifts his perspective entirely when he jumps into Ophelia's open grave. I Yorick's time-worn skull represents a peaceful passing, the fresh corpse of Ophelia is anything but. In this way, the skull shows that death is a natural process, and that because Ophelia's death was in itself unnatural, Hamlet cannot see that she is subject to the same forces. The skull reminds Hamlet of a happier time, perhaps temporarily restoring balance to his perception of death. Hamlet's lack of respect for the corpse of Polonius, his angry attempt to recover the body of Ophelia, and his haunting encounter with the ghost of Lord Hamlet all show maddening and negative associations with the dead, and perhaps through their contrast to Yorick imply that an unhealthy take on death is key to Hamlet's madness.

Overall, the skull has a minor but powerful role in Hamlet, and helps to illuminate some of the patterns in Hamlet's behavior that are related to the source of his madness. While its symbolic significance does not have a direct impact on the plot, it does on the interpretation of the plot and sheds new light on the meaning of death, which is central to understanding the entire work.

2009 Open Prompt Student Responses

Student 3A Response: This response demonstrates a highly sophisticated understanding of the prompt and successfully uses the essay to discuss the depth with which the actual wild duck in Henrik Ibsen's play, The Wild Duck, serves as a symbol. The student starts by explaining the purpose of a symbol in literature from a general perspective and then provides enough plot explanation to give the reader enough of an understanding of the symbol to continue with more specific examples. Although the explanation does take the reader through the plot, every point ultimately contributes to an effective and detailed discussion of the role of the symbol. While the handwriting was not the clearest, it did not impede the clarity of the writing. Because of the overall sophistication and treatment of the prompt, this was clearly one of the strongest essays the College Board received and thus is certainly deserving of a 9/9.

Student 3B Response: This essay lacks the sophistication of the first one, but still manages to form an in-depth analysis of Tennessee Williams’ play, A Street Car Named Desire, by explaining the role of lampshades in revealing the character traits of Blanche. Overall, this essay could have benefitted from more structure, especially at the beginning. It seems that the student was not sure what angle he/she wanted to take on the play but became increasingly sure of the direction as it went on, causing what I guessed to be the thesis statement to occur later and without a formal introduction. I was only able to figure out what the key points were by following the focus of the paragraphs and reading the conclusion. In addition, the student only seems to focus on the lampshade’s importance to Blanche and perhaps could have used its relationship to other characters to help strengthen the argument. Despite these issues it still earned a respectable 6/9.

Student 3C Response: While this student seems to understand the plot of Things Fall Apart, by an author that he/she neglected to mention, the essay severely lacks depth and gives a very poor overall representation of how the symbol (a machete) is important in forwarding the plot and development of the main characters. The essay uses first person, including the dreaded “in my opinion,” to start what should have been a critical point, completely eliminating any kind of authority from the tone of the piece. The sentences in general are far too casual and short, imitating normal speech more than a grammatically precise analysis. Aside from issues with sentence structure and convention, the response also fails to convince the reader that the student knows exactly what his/her textual references really mean. If he/she does, they are covered briefly and imprecisely, with little to no structure. Because of these serious shortcomings, the essay earned a mediocre 4/9.