Ambiguity In Shakespeare's Rosencrantz And Guildenstern Are Dead

   In William Shakespeare's Hamlet, Prince Hamlet replaces the letter that Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are carrying to England with a forgery of his own making, thus sending these two men to their deaths. He does this without giving it a second thought and never suffers from any guilt or remorse for his actions. Considering that these two men were friends from his youth, this would at first glance seem to reflect poorly on his character. However, one must consider carefully the characters of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern before passing judgment on Hamlet.

Hamlet is considered to be Shakespeare's most famous play. The play is about Prince Hamlet and his struggles with the new marriage of his mother, Gertrude, and his uncle and now stepfather, King Claudius about only two months after his father’s death. Hamlet has an encounter with his father, Old King Hamlet, in ghost form. His father accuses Claudius of killing him and tells Hamlet to avenge his death. Hamlet is infuriated by this news and then begins his thoughts on what to do to get revenge. Hamlet and Claudius are contrasting characters. They do share similarities, however, their profound differences are what divides them.Hamlet was portrayed as troubled, inactive, and impulsive at times. Hamlet is troubled by many things, but the main source of his problems come from the the death of his father. “Oh, that this too, too sullied flesh would melt, thaw, and resolve itself into a dew, or that the everlasting had not fixed his canon 'gainst self-slaughter” (Act 1, Scene 2). In this scene, Hamlet is contemplating suicide, which is caused by the death of his father and the new marriage of Gertrude and King Claudius. This scene shows the extent of how troubled Hamlet is. Even though Hamlet’s father asked him to avenge his death, Hamlet is very slow to act on this throughout the play. “Now might I do it pat. Now he is a-praying. And now I’ll do ’t. And so he goes to heaven. And so am I revenged.—That would be scanned. A villain kills my father, and, for that, I, his sole son, do this same villain send to heaven” (Act 3, Scene 3). This scene shows King Claudius praying, while Hamlet is behind him drawing his sword but decides not to kill

Throughout my high school career, I’ve never worked with anything that has made me think so much. Sure, you can watch the play Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead at face value, have a few laughs until it stops being funny, and then go on with your life. But you aren’t getting out of it all that Tom Stoppard intended. This play is so much more than just an accompanying work to Hamlet. It fleshes out the characters of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern in a way that makes you consider your own life! And if you really want to take anything from this play, you need to understand the messages it contains. This is a challenge to some, because of how deeply they contrast with the play at face value. But, if you can look deeper, you will a couple

Hamlet is very distraught and grief stricken for the death of his father, the King of Denmark. As well, he is upset with his mother's quick marriage to his uncle Claudius, who is now King. Hamlet is emotional and melancholy, and he considers suicide because he wonders

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-

“To be or not to be – that is the question…” (III, I, 56-) so starts Hamlet’s most famous and well-known soliloquy. In Shakespeare’s Hamlet, written in the very late 1500’s, the audience is introduced to two “comical” characters at the beginning of the play; Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. These two characters, clearly, had no clue of what is going on throughout the play; in addition, they followed orders without questioning them. Therefore, their role in the play was not clear. Ultimately, their role in the play was to support, as well as spy, on Hamlet, hence them taking orders from greater characters like Claudius. However, the comic duo serves a deeper purpose than just assisting their old childhood friend. Arguably, their role in the play is also to forecast ideas, bring out character traits to help readers understand them more, and come up with solutions to some of the questions that the play has left the readers to deal with. They are capable of accomplishing that due to their disloyal behaviors towards other characters.

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.

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.

At the beginning of the play "Rosencrantz and Guildensten," one of the two characters found a gold coin during their journey through the desert.  He immediately began to flip the coin to see what side it would land on.  By the seventh flip, two tails turned up.  Every flip after was heads.  The characters fliped the coin over 157 times, and they each after the seventh flip turned up heads.  The significance

Shakespeare’s ‘Hamlet’ is a tragic play in which a young prince seeks to avenge his father’s murder. The play was written mostly for entertainment purposes, but also to explore themes such as fate and death. Set in Denmark in the 14th or 15th century, it follows Prince Hamlet on his quest for revenge, concluding with multiple deaths. In the play, Prince Hamlet explores the nature of human existence and the world around us. ‘Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead’ by Tom Stoppard is an absurdist play based on Shakespeare

Next, Horatio pointed out that Claudius will eventually find out about Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. Hamlet said, "That to Laertes I forgot myself; For, by the image of my cause, I see." Hamlet was not sympathizing for Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, but, he was for Laertes. He says his anger is towards his uncle Claudius and not on Laertes because they both lost their father. Hamlet uses the word "cause" which communicates the reason and sympathy for Laertes.

Hamlet, the Prince of Denmark, begins as an admired and noble young man. However, fate and the turn of events lead the tragic hero the depths of his fortunes. The tragedy starts with the death of the heroic King Hamlet. His brother, Claudius is the successor as King of Denmark and married the protagonist’s mother. When a ghost of the late King Hamlet appears, Hamlet’s downfall begins. The ghost explains to Hamlet that Claudius killed his father “upon my secure hour thy uncle stole with juice of cursed hebona in a vial, and in the porches of my ears did pour the leperous distilment, whose effect holds such an enmity with blood of man” (1001). Hamlet then feels like he must get revenge against Claudius and sets out to plot how it will happen. King Claudius senses something suspicious about Hamlet and sends for Hamlet’s two

When Hamlet’s father, the late king of Denmark, comes to him as a ghost and reveals he died at the hands of his brother, Claudius, he demands Hamlet “revenge his foul and most unnatural murder” (1.4.23-25). Without hesitation, Hamlet agrees to avenge his father’s death, saying, “Haste me to know’t, that I with wings as swift / as meditation or the thoughts of love, / May sweep to my revenge” (1.5.29-31). He decides the proper form of justice is to kill Claudius, just as the king killed his own brother, though he has his own motives. Hamlet loathes Claudius for marrying his mother, and learning King Hamlet died at the hands of Claudius only provokes Hamlet more. As the play continues, Hamlet plots his revenge, and he deceives everyone with his apparent insanity. Hamlet eventually succeeds in his search for vengeance and justice, though it kills him as well. He

William Shakespeare’s Hamlet and Tom Stoppard’s Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, are contrasting plays with a variety of similarities. Shakespeare’s Hamlet was written between the years 1599 to 1602 and is a play about tragedy set in the Kingdom of Denmark. Hamlet is about the young prince of Denmark, Hamlet, seeking revenge against his uncle, Claudius, for succeeding the throne after murdering his father, King Hamlet, and immediately marrying his widowed mother, Gertrude. Shakespeare heavily portrays young Hamlet’s madness in the play, and Gertrude and Claudius seek help from two minor characters and friends of Hamlet, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, to reveal the root of Hamlet’s madness, issues, and change of personality. In Hamlet’s plot, there are many deaths, including those of Hamlet’s dearest friends, and Hamlet is at fault for all of the deaths. Over 360 years later, Tom Stoppard decided to take the minor characters in Hamlet and create the plot in the perspective of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern in Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead was written in 1964 and addresses the issues and confusion they dealt with in Hamlet in their standpoint in Stoppard’s play, which was performed in 1966 (“Hamlet”). In Stoppard’s play’s plot, he challenges the audience and the readers to use background information from Hamlet in order for the audience to fully grasp and understand the absurdity of

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.