Summary/Analysis: R&G

Author:
Tom Stoppard is a famous Czech-British playwright of the National Theatre. He has translated some plays into English and co-wrote the screenplay of Shakespeare in Love. He also wrote Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead which is based off of the play, Hamlet.

Setting: 
This book takes place in the middle of nowhere, in Hamlet's court, and on a boat.

Significant Characters:
Rosencrantz-He is Guildenstern's best friend and Hamlet's childhood friend. He is more carefree and easygoing than Guildenstern. He is a very simple man and doesn't delve into meanings or solutions in depth. He is usually pretty positive and always tries to cheer up Guildenstern.
Guildenstern-
He is Rosencrantz's best friend and Hamlet's childhood friend. He is more practical and reasonable than Rosencrantz, and always tries to see the implications, consequences, and meanings of actions and events. He often gets angry and frustrated with Rosencrantz, but nonetheless is a loyal and good friend.
The Player-
He leads the Tragedians in performing plays. The Player understands more than others think. He is very witty, confident, and mysterious. He isn't just an actor, acting is his life.
Hamlet-
He is the childhood friend of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. He is the Prince of Denmark, the Queen's son, and nephew of King Claudius. He misses his father and is unhappy with his mother, his uncle, and the society he lives in.

Narrative Voice:
N/A because it is a play.

Plot:
R&G are flipping coins when the tragedians approach them. The player asks them to participate in their play, but Guildenstern makes a bet with the player. The player loses the bet and because he cannot pay, he has to perform his play for R&G. Later, Claudius tells R&G that he wants them to spy on Hamlet, so R&G play a question-answer game to practice finding out why Hamlet has gone mad. After the play is performed, R&G escort Hamlet to England on a boat. R&G can't decide what to do with the letter that Claudius gave them, so when they are sleeping, Hamlet rewrites the letter ordering R&G's execution instead of his. Guildenstern reads the letter and tells Rosencrantz that they are going to die. Guildenstern stabs the player with the player's knife, but it turns out that it was a fake knife and the player faked his death. The scene shifts to where all of the dead bodies are lying on the floor back in Elsinore.

Quotes:
"'I'm talking about death - and you've never experienced that. And you cannot act it,'" (Stoppard 123).
This quote refers to Shakespeare's theme of a play with in a play. The player and the tradegians think that they are in a constant play and they are continuously acting. But, Guildenstern said that as much as they can try to act out death, they can never truly and accurately act it out because they have never experienced it. This sets up the next event where Guildenstern tries to kill the player with the fake knife.

"'Now for a handful of guilders I happen to have a private and uncut performance of The Rape of the Sabine Women - or rather woman, or rather Alfred-'" (Stoppard 26).
This quote shows that there are no women characters in this story (besides the Queen, but that is because she is a character in Hamlet). This may mean that women weren't cast as actors in that time period, so they had to have males play female roles. It may also show indicate that women had little respect, authority, or identity as they are barely represented in R&G.

Style:
Stoppard uses imagery, detail, symbolism, tone, and diction in this play. There is no point of view since it is a play and there is no narrator. Imagery and detail frequently used in this play, especially in the stage directions, to show what R&G are doing, "Guil takes another coin, spins it, catches it, turns it over on to his other hand, looks at it, and throws it to Ros, who puts it in his bag," (Stoppard 15). Stoppard uses tone to show how the characters are feeling. For example, "Guil (explodes): 'Don't be stupid,'" indicates that Guildenstern is feeling frustrated with Rosencrantz. Symbolism is also used in this play, like how the coins represent the opposite sides of the personalities of R&G. For example, Rosencrantz is optimistic and happy, while Guildenstern is pessimistic and concerned. Diction like "moroseness", "convulses", and "gleaned" add to the description of characters and events in the play.

Theme:
One of the major themes is the inability to make decisions. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are always lost and cannot decide which direction they want to go or why they are there. One decision that they have the opportunity to decide is what to do with the letter. Unfortunately, they can't decide on anything and this leads to their death, as Hamlet sneakily changes what the letter says to order their death.