Throughout the play Hamlet, there are many symbols, characters, themes and motifs which have very significant roles. Within the context of characters, those with the greatest impact are more often the major characters than the less significant. However, in the case of one pair of characters, it is rather the opposite. The use of the characters Rosencrantz and Guildenstern in Hamlet is for more than just comic relief. They are a representation of the betrayal and dishonesty that runs deep within the play.
Within their very first appearances in the play, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern leave a memorable imprint upon the readers’ mind. They are rather blurred characters, with seemingly little personality and relatively little distinction between them. They are also “very isolated and self-serving figure[s]” (Friendship-Introduction). They finish one another’s sentences and even when being spoken to by Gertrude and Claudius, they are referred to almost as one person (Ham. 2. 2. 35-36). The reason for this is because they are not meant to represent an actual character, or in this case, a set of characters. They are meant as a symbol, a metaphor for the betrayal and dishonesty that occurs throughout the play. We see this instantly, as we find in their very first appearance that their sole purpose of coming to Denmark was to spy on their friend (Ham 2.2.10-18). Although Hamlet views them initially as old friends, the reader is able to view them as a distant and fake, portrayed together to lend to the concept that they are an idea rather than individual characters or merely the comic relief in the play.
The biggest evidence showing the embodiment of betrayal and dishonesty within Rosencrantz and Guildenstern is when Hamlet accuses ...
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...the betrayal and dishonesty that is omnipresent in the play. Not only do they simply embody this concept, but they also serve to conclude the events of the play, by being the ending to what started the beginning.
Works Cited
"Friendship - Introduction." Shakespearean Criticism. Ed. Janet Witalec. Vol. 83. Gale Cengage, 2004. eNotes.com. 2006. 20 Mar, 2011 http://www.enotes.com/shakespearean-criticism/friendship
Shakespeare, William. Hamlet. Ed. Barbara A. Mowat and Paul Werstine. New York: Washington Square-Pocket, 1992. Print.
Tiffany, Grace. "Hamlet, reconciliation, and the just state." Renascence: Essays on Values in Literature 58.2 (2005): 111+. General OneFile. Web. 20 Mar. 2011. http://find.galegroup.com/gps/infomark.do?&contentSet=IAC-Documents&type=retrieve&tabID=T002&prodId=IPS&docId=A143160470&source=gale&userGroupName=lom_kentdl&version=1.0
The play Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, constantly displays a massage associated with the identity of the individual characters and the metaphor the represent in regards to the audience itself. At the very beginning of the play Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are introduced for the first time to the band of actors on the road however, as soon as the introduction takes place the names are reversed and they are introduced by the others name. This confusion of the two actors as to which is Rosencrantz and which is Guildenstern, helps the audience to understand that the two on stage are serving as a mirror to those watching the performance. Throughout the play the topic of identity is resurfaced and the audience i...
This the Hamlet whose behavior towards Rosencrantz and Guildenstern we are now to study. They were his friends, and we know from his mother that he had much talked of them and that
Initially being sent by the King and the Queen in hopes of helping Hamlet with his “depression”, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are already seen as puppets. As the play progresses, it is revealed that the boys are being used to spy on Hamlet for the King. Hamlet eventually catches on with this, and begins to play around with them by giving them false information: “Sir, I lack advancement,” (3.2.368). Referring to his line to the throne, Hamlet lies to Rosencrantz knowing that he will return this false information to the King. The reason Hamlet does this is to give power to the King by letting him know that his status is not at risk of being taken away and handed down. Hamlet realizing that Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are not loyal friends, he admits that he believes they should be killed: “Those bearers put to sudden death, not shriving time allowed,” (5.2.51-52). Regardless of whether or not Hamlet was the bad guy in this friendship conflict, he still creates this sense of authority to the audience as if he can sentence anyone to death if they cross him.
The play of Shakespeare on Hamlet and Stoppard on the two characters from Hamlet - Rosencrantz & Guildenstern – give a deeper insight into absurdity over the winning of Rosencrantz almost ninety two times in one go. They also present a clear difference between reality and art through the detailed depiction of the players. The point wherein the players outrageous behavior makes Guildenstern very angry to the extent that he stabs the player decribes the lack of control in the character and how it was displayed in the character itself. By reading the play of Hamlet and Rosencrantz & Guildenstern are dead, it can be said that both the plays are dependent on each other, and are in fact, weaved in together. It brings out the characters through the ‘metatheatre’ that is staged by both players and characters that are not able to find their real identity.
Watson, Robert N. 1990. 'Giving up the Ghost in a World of Decay: Hamlet, Revenge and Denial.' Renaissance Drama 21:199-223.
Blits, Jan H., Lanham, Md. “Deadly thought: Hamlet and the Human soul.” Lexington Books, 2001. . Print.
Shakespeare, William. Hamlet. The Norton Anthology of World Literature. 2nd ed. Vol. C. Ed. Sarah Lawall. New York: Norton, 2005. Print.
Adelman, Janet. 1985. 'Male Bonding in Shakespeare's Comedies.' In Shakespeare's Rough Magic: Renaissance Essays in Honor of C.L. Barber, edited by Peter Erickson and Coppélia Kahn. Cranbury and London: Associated University Presses, 73-103.
Act four places a special emphasis on Hamlet's intelligence. In scene two, Hamlet is very insolent and rude towards Rosencrantz and Guildenstern with such phrases as, "That I can keep your counsel and not, mine own. Beside, to be demanded of a sponge, what replication should be made by the son of a king" (IV, ii, 12-14)? The reference to the sponge reflects the fact that Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are easily ordered by the king and do not have minds of their own. Hamlet does not like Rosencrantz and Guildenstern since they are servants of the Claudius, Hamlet's mortal enemy. The reader does not like Rosencrantz and Guildenstern either which causes the reader to side with Hamlet.
Hamlet would not show mercy even when confronted by his best friends from his childhood. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern were sent by the King and Queen to spy on Hamlet to discover the reason for his disturbing behavior. Hamlet isn’t fooled by their sudden arrival and gives them a chance to show their loyalty to him by admitting they were sent by the king. "That you must teach me. But let me conjure you by the.... be even and direct with me whether you were sent for or no." (II-ii.274-278) Hamlet is aware of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern’s alliance with the king. He sends them to England, replacing the letter that they carried with a forgery of the king’s seal stating that the bearers of the letter should be killed. He felt no guilt or remorse for the sudden loss of his two best friends. "They are not near my conscience; their defeat does by their own insinuation grow." (V-ii.58-59)
Shakespeare, William, Marilyn Eisenstat, and Ken Roy. Hamlet. 2nd ed. Toronto: Harcourt Canada, 2003. Print.
The interconnectedness of William Shakespeare’s Hamlet and Tom Stoppard’s play Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead extends the identities of the characters. While Hamlet gives a limited view of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, the opposite is true for Stoppard’s play. Hamlet and Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are dead contain similar themes, and Stoppard’s play presents a new perspective to the one-sided story. The common themes of fate and chance, and uncertainty and meaninglessness are compared between the two plays.
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern were told to go and stay with Hamlet and try to figure out what is going on with Hamlet. They try cheering Hamlet up by telling him that there is a group of actors that have arrived at the castle and are to play tonight. Hamlet decides he will have the actors reenact the murder of his father to see if it bothers Claudius enoug...
Shakespeare, William. “Hamlet”. Responding to Literature (5th edition) ed. Judith A. Stanford. New York: McGraw- Hill, 2006. 244- 357
For Guildenstern and Rosencrantz to betray Hamlet the way they did is utterly despicable. Especially considering that their taking the orders from Claudius. Claudius turns out to be quite a good lire, and shows his skill of being able to manipulate people, into doing what he wants. "Welcome, dear Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. Moreover that we much did long to see you, the need we have to use you did provoke our hasty sending". ( II;ii; 1-4). Since Rosencrantz and Guildenstern spied on Hamlet, and brought back the fact that he is mad to Claudius. Claudius could then figure out Hamlet’s next move, and counter act it with his own. " Was not like madness. There’s something in his soul." ( III; i; 161). If Claudius hadn’t had Guildenstern or Rosencrantz to aid him in his efforts, I think Hamlet could have had a chance at survival.