Or Are They?

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Recommended: Hamlet and the human characteristics

On the world of the stage, it is considered bad luck to wish someone good luck before they perform. Instead, one should say ‘Break a leg!’ There are many stories and speculations about where this saying came from, and one of them is that during Shakespearean Theatre, people would throw money at the actors when they performed well, and they would ‘take a leg’ to pick it up. (Martin) In Stoppard’s masterpiece, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead, one is shown that what is said is not always what is meant, as one is not truly wishing that the performer will break their leg. These different perceptions of reality show themselves in many ways, including the play within the play; how much of an affect the players have on the other characters; and the different perceptions of death the characters have. Every person perceives reality differently.

In Shakespeare’s Hamlet, the play within the play is an important literary device, a conceit. However, in Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead, there is not only the play within the play, but the play within the play within the play within the play. While this may seem like a reality that many people do not perceive, it is in fact the reality of this story. Between Shakespeare and Stoppard’s works, there is only one level of reality that shifts; nevertheless, it still shifts from one reality to another. “He tosses the coin to GUIL who catches it simultaneously – a lighting change sufficient to alter the exterior mood into interior, but nothing violent.” (Stoppard Act 1) Every person perceives a different reality, but even one’s own reality is constantly changing. Also one plane of reality away from Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead is the play the players put on- the murder of...

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...man must pass through whether they wish to or not. Death- Among those closest to it, it causes much stress, yet it also brings relief, relief that next time, it is possible to do better. “GUIL: Well, we'll know better next time. Now you see me, now you – (and disappears)” (Stoppard Act 3) The next chance will be better, fuller, freer. For the first chance, on the other hand, what is said is not always what is meant. All people perceive reality differently, but that is not the whole story. Because at any given time, multiple realities are coexisting together- sometimes peacefully, sometimes not- but always existing, through it all.

Works Cited

Stoppard, Tom. Rosencrantz & Guildenstern are dead. Grove Pr, 1991. Print.

Martin, Gary. "Break a Leg." The Phrase Finder. Gary Martin, 2010. Web. 12 Feb 2011. .

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