Comparing Shakespeare's Hamlet and Stoppard's Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead

     Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are two of Hamlets childhood buddies who when asked by the king, try to find out what is troubling their friend. The two of them go to Hamlet pretending to be his friends, when in all actuality they are only there because the king asked them to find the truth. Hamlet realizes their purpose for their visit is to find the real reason for his sadness as of late. As the play continues the twins are asked again by the king to go to Hamlet and try again to find the real reason for Hamlets behavior. Hamlet insults them at every chance knowing they are lying to him about their purpose of the visit. "Tis as easy as lying; govern these

Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are foils to Hamlet. The two are introduced as friends to Hamlet. But also they are like messengers for the king. Hamlet learns of their

Lastly, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead teaches the message of knowing your identity. What were Rosencrantz and Guildenstern missing, above all else? It’s not remembering the past; they could have just worried about the future. It’s not decision making; they could have gotten along fine just following someone else’s lead. It works for most people. What they were really missing was their identities. Neither Rosencrantz nor Guildenstern had fully developed a sense of self. Neither really did anything that made them distinct from the other. In essence, they were the same, and interchangeable. This was made clear throughout the duration of the play, because of several small details. When the two were greeted by people, they often got their names confused. The

Look a unicorn! Wait, look at the dragon! No one can tell an individual what they see and do not see. Look at life as it is, believe in what is displayed because existence precedes essence. In the play Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, Tom Stoppard depicts that perception is reality by showing Rosencrantz and Guildenstern’s confusion from the coin breaking the laws of probability, their sense of direction, and the players thought on death.

In addition to the pain Hamlet and John had endured because of their mothers, they both had to overcome the people who intended to use them. For Hamlet this meant suppressing information from the bothersome Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. Upon the king’s request these two friends of Hamlet are sent off in an attempt to relieve Hamlet’s sorrow. However Hamlet soon discovers that they have alternative motives. They are strictly set out to discover the cause for Hamlet’s depression and madness, and don’t even attempt to enlighten his spirits.

Rosencrantz and Guildenstern were two characters in the play who were justly punished. These two were supposed to be friends of Hamlet. They turned on him with one simple request from the King. I feel no remorse for them after Hamlet's little scheme. I find it ironic and reflective of their ending when the Ambassador comes and says, ."..Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are dead. Where should we have our thanks?" (5,2,411-12) This is somewhat humorous because

There is a complementary structure between Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are dead and Hamlet in the sense that, they are written in different time periods and show different understanding on the subject at hand. In 1602, the time when Hamlet was written, people believed in church and that dead would go to heaven or hell based on their deeds , but Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are dead was written in 1960’s a time of existentialism, when existence of god and essence of life were questioned.

’s play ‘Hamlet’. Utilising the same characters, plot, and setting, ‘Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead’ adds discourse between two minor characters in Hamlet – Rosencrantz and Guildenstern – and presents the story of Hamlet from their point of view. As an absurdist play, however, it attempts to explore different themes and questions through the characters and plot, highlighting not the story but rather, the philosophical discussion that takes place within the story.

It is based off of the very famous book Hamlet which was written by the very famous William Shakespeare. It is the point of view of two characters from Hamlet: Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. “Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are dead” is the most famous book and play that Tom Stoppard wrote and made him famous practically overnight! The play begins as Rosencrantz watches as Guildenstern flip a coin.

     Two of the most odd and certainly comic people in the work of Hamlet, are Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. Both of these people are considered to be friends of Hamlet by the Queen when in actuality they are not at all. Irony being another form of humor takes roll with these two as they are sent with a death warrant for Hamlet while Hamlet some how knows this he replaces the warrant with one for the death of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. They call the play of Hamlet “the tragedy of multiplicity'; for a good reason considering the state of friendship that also changes very often.

In the end, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are naively loyal to Hamlet, and this becomes their downfall. They know that Hamlet has killed Polonius, and yet, they take no precautions as they accompany Hamlet to England. Their trust in both Claudius and Hamlet gets them killed. Hamlet’s reveals his mistrust of his schoolmates in a conversation with his mother, and refers to Rosencrantz and Guildenstern as, "...my two-school fellows, whom I will trust as adders fanged..." 

The last few days of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern’s lives are interesting, to say the least. It all begins when King Claudius of Denmark enlists the pair to spy on his stepson, their best friend Hamlet, who is faking insanity to catch Claudius off guard and avenge the death of his father. Hamlet quickly discovers their spying, and he starts turning on the two and insulting them for being pawns to the corrupt king. Hamlet later murders another one of the king’s spies, and as punishment he is sent off to England in the company of his former best friends. However, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are unaware that their letter of introduction is actually a request that the English execute Hamlet. Hamlet escapes with pirates, but not before discovering

Hamlet feels the constant need to reassure himself that his beliefs are correct, especially in his soliloquies about death. It is stated, “O that this too too solid flesh would melt, Thaw, and resolve itself into a dew!...” (Act 1, Sn 2, 129-1559). Hamlet discusses how things were not good and he was just in mourning and despair in this soliloquy. In the noted to be or not be soliloquy he continues the decisions on death, “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 take arms against a sea of troubles, And by opposing end them?...” (Act 3, Sn 1, 56-89). As Hamlet continues through the play he gives up in a sense because of everything happening to the people he was close to and to him in general. He lost the people he cared about due to his uncle’s careless actions and his mother playing along with it. When he actually got emotion from his uncle things were only proven to be more complicated because his father’s ghost was correct. His soliloquies prove how Hamlet was overly depressed and wanted to die, although depression during this time period is completely different compared to now.

Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are comic reliefs by acting as the fool in the play Hamlet. The duo’s ignorant nature are picked at by Hamlet’s sharp toungue through the play, intensifying it’s ultimate tragic nature. One example is in act two scene two of Hamlet, when Hamlet is questioning Rosencrantz and Guildenstern about the reason they are at the castle. Hamlet offsets Humor in these scenes by his choice of words. Hamlet puts the pressure on the duo and Rosencrantz in an aside to Guildenstern asks what excuse they should make to Hamlet while the whole time Hamlet is aware of their conversation. “(to Guildenstern) What

Although both Hamlet and Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead deal with a similar story and themes, both approach it differently. The themes that are present in both texts, identity and the willingness whether or not to act; they are brought forth using the same literary elements, such as setting, point of view, and the uses of character interactions and dialogue. However, the ways each element is used and how the story is told in both Hamlet and Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead is different from each other, as Hamlet takes a tragic turn and Rosencrantz and Guildenstern goes into the absurd and existential.