Lorrayne Broach. Dr. Guerra. Long Assignment . 5/05/2017.

In contrast to Horatio’s continual loyalty to Hamlet, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, Hamlet’s childhood friends obtained a false friendship. Instead of caring about the well being of others and what was happening with Hamlet, they were more concerned about their own interest and how to benefit themselves more than anything. With Claudius’s bribery and opportunities, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern strove for benefit and praise. To be able to get all the promised royal advancements, it involves for the gentlemen to have to show complete allegiance to Claudius and turn against Hamlet. It had been accomplished by spying on Hamlet and the attempt to get pieces of evidence that promoted his craziness. However, Hamlet figures out about their betrayal and the artificial friendship. This prevents any information to be released to Rosencrantz and Guildenstern as achieved by the dedicated Horatio who has proven the dedication. The idea is noticed when Hamlet says, “If you love me, hold not off” (2.2.214). By saying this, it means that if there is any care about the relationship, honesty would be told no matter the aftereffect. The selfishness of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern had broken Hamlet’s confidence, and resulting in not being able to get the evidence for Claudius. When Rosencrantz

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.

Because they did not heed to the warning, they subsequently arranged their own downfall.  The incident with the coin flips, in turn cause the reader not to sympathize with Rosencrantz and Guildenstern at the conclusion of the narrative.  Other reasons the reader may not sympathize is because of the characters' unfaithfulness to their friend Hamlet.  This is another way the coin flips tie into Rosencrantz and Guildenstern's downfall.   From the principles of probability, one would expect for heads to turn up in so many amount of coin flips fifty percent of the time.   The fact that it did not signifies the event's unfaithfulness to the rules of probability.  This reflects Rosencrantz and Guildenstern's unloyalty to Hamlet.  They were like fools to ignore the event that was as conspicuous as a red light.  Consequently, they died a fool's death.

Rosencrantz and Guildenstern also sow the seeds of their own destruction by betraying their lifelong friend. From their point of view of course, they are being loyal to the king. They are faithful, obedient subjects, merely doing services to their king, trying to find out the reason for Hamlet’s madness. To Hamlet however, their willingness to do the King’s bidding is just more evidence of the corruption of the court. He urges them to treat him as a friend, to be loyal to him, to tell him the truth-;’were you not sent for?’ They eventually and reluctantly agree that they were sent for. But this is not the last of it. They continue to do the King’s bidding,

     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

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

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..." 

Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are incredibly indecisive, and they just get dragged away by the currents on the river of life. They are always being told what to do and where to go, and they never question it. They never stop and think, maybe, we don’t have to do this. Unfortunately, they don’t notice this until too late. Once they knew they were doomed, Guildenstern reminisces that at some point, there had to have been a time where they could have said no; where they could have stopped all of this from happening. It didn’t matter anymore though. They were done. This play is saying that people need to take charge of their lives, and make their own decisions. Don’t just let life pass you by.

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

Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead, written in the 1960s by playwright Tom Stoppard, is a transforation of Shakespeare’s Hamlet. Stoppard effectively relocates Shakespeare’s play to the 1960s by reassessing and revaluating the themes and characters of Hamlet and considering core values and attitudes of the 1960s- a time significantly different to that of Shakespeare. He relies on the audience’s already established knowledge of Hamlet and transforms a revenge tragedy into an Absurd drama, which shifts the focus from royalty to common man. Within Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead, Stoppard uses a play within a play to blur the line that defines reality, and in doing so creates confusion both onstage- with his characters, and offstage-

Hamlet is undoubtedly one of the most well-studied and remembered tragedies in all of history. Renowned for its compelling soliloquies and thought-provoking discussions about life, death, and love, the play takes a very serious look at the topics it presents. Based on this famous work is another tragedy, known as Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead. In this work, which is interwoven with the original, the namesake characters bumble about in the immense world, over which they have no control. Without a sense of identity or purpose, the two merely drift to and fro at the whim of the larger forces around them; namely Hamlet, who eventually leads them to death. The twin plays follow the same story and end with the same result – nine deaths.

So both of the plays share the same concept with the theme of fate vs. free-will. In both plays, the main characters believe that they can’t control their destiny and that they are born to follow instructions. Both of the main characters accept their fate, but there is a huge difference in how they accept their fates. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern do a coin toss and coin lands heads 156 times in a row. Rosencrantz doesn’t question this and just blindly accepts it. The characters have no wit and just think everything is controlled by fate. On the other hand, Hamlet analyzes what his fate is and actually understands his fate. He understands his duty towards his family, and does not happily accept his fate, but yet he accepts it. He questions what the ghost tells him to do. He questions validity of the ghost’s statement by putting Claudius in that mousetrap.After he finds out the ghost was speaking the truth, he then accepts his fate. In Tom Stoppard’s Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, the theme of fate vs. free-will is incorporated from Shakespeare’s of Hamlet. Both the novels depict the theme similarly by expressing that fate is

In Tom Stoppard's play, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead, we see Ros and Guil adventure through their confused yet contented lives as events occur around them that seal their fate. In hindsight, their presence and lives seem rather pointless. The Tragedy of Hamlet could have functioned fine without them, so why are they there and why are they not a single character? Most readers could interpret that they each embody some concept. This literature review will attempt to investigate the symbolism of the story and how other authors perceive it.

Rosencrantz and Guildenstern spend the majority, if not, the entirety of the play in utter confusion as to what is happening around them and lack knowledge of even the most basic of things, such as who they are. "My name is Guildenstern and this is Rosencrantz. I'm sorry - his name's Guildenstern and I'm Rosencrantz." In the opening of the play the two men are unaware of where they intend to go or how they began their journey, and in the ending of the play their