Comparing the Human Condition in Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead and Waiting for Godot
Inspired by Beckett’s literary style, particularly in ‘Waiting for Godot’, Stoppard wrote ‘Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead’. As a result of this, many comparisons can be drawn between these two plays. Stoppard’s writing was also influenced by Shakespeare’s ‘Hamlet’. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern as minor characters exist within Shakespeare’s world providing Stoppard with his protagonists. However, the play is not an attempt to rewrite ‘Waiting for Godot’ in a framework of Shakespeare’s drama.
In studying these texts, the reader is provoked into analysing, comparing and contrasting them. In particular the characters in ‘Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead’ provide intriguing material to consider the human condition. The characters, their personality traits and responses to stimuli, as well as what directs and motivates them, is worthy of discussion.
Stoppard gives Rosencrantz and Guildenstern an existence outside ‘Hamlet’, although it is one of little significance and they idle away their time only having a purpose to their lives when the play rejoins the ‘Hamlet’ plot, after they have been called by the King’s messenger: “There was a messenger...that’s right. We were sent for.” Their lives end tragically due to this connection with ‘Hamlet’, predetermined by the title, but the role provided them with a purpose to their otherwise futile lives, making them bearable. Their deaths evoke sadness and sympathy leaving the reader grieving for them.
In contrast to Stoppard’s play ‘Waiting for Godot’ is much bleaker in the respect that Vladimir and Estragon seem to have no purpose or direction in their lives. Their only hope rests on the mysterious Godot who never comes, however they do remain alive at the end. This leads the reader to question which pair of characters are the most unfortunate. Rosencrantz and Guildensten may not have been saved from death but they have been saved from the futility of life which Vladimir and Estragon exclaim: “We can’t go on like this” yet ironically they are left to do so.
In ‘Waiting for Godot’, we know little concerning the protagonists, indeed from their comments they appear to know little about themselves and seem bewildered and confused as to the extent of their existence. Their situation is obscure and Vladimir and Estragon spend the day (representative of their lives) waiting for the mysterious Godot, interacting with each other with quick and short speech.
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...
Furthermore, as each outcast appears to achieve their struggle against society, the authors begin to differentiate in how they present them. As Shakespeare and Brontё show Hamlet and Heathcliff negatively, Kesey reveals McMurphy as a saviour and hero amid the ward. As the play develops Shakespeare explores Hamlet’s decent into madness to challenge the conventions of the archetypal hero. To start Hamlet is the typical misunderstood tragic hero, but Shakespeare implicitly begins to develop an immoral and threatening character. Whose inhumanity is truly revealed in Act 5, Scene 2, where Hamlet explains how he sent orders for Rosencrantz and Guildenstern to be “put to sudden death, / Not shriving time allowed” (V, ii, 46). Shakespeare makes this seem like a grandly impulsive moment with such an immoral act because it clearly juxtaposes Hamlet’s initial inaction and philosophical being, which emphasises such a brash and disproportionate action against his childhood friends, that the Hamlet presented at the start would seem incapable of. His initial presentation, though, of black clothing can be read as the physical manifestation of the state of h...
Windsor, D. (2001). The future of corporate social responsibility. International Journal of Organizational Analysis, 9 (3): 225-256.
Clearly, the play Rosencrantz and Guildenstern raises many questions. But among these questions, it makes a few statements. First, it says that life is chaotic, and absurd things will happen from time to time. Next, it says people should take charge of their own destinies, and not pass through life with no purpose. Lastly, this play teaches to find your identity, because without it you are nothing. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern were nobodies, those unfortunates who drifted through life until their time ran out. Learn from their mistakes, and live the lessons learned from Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead.
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead is a play centered on a theme which tries to explain the basic mysteries of the world. Our two main characters Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, find themselves in almost the entirety of the play, in confusion, and lacking basic knowledge, for example, their identities. The play starts off with our two heroes unable to remember their destination, the purpose for their journey, and a constant misunderstanding and confusion of the world around them. This constant confusion and lack of understanding results in the demise of our heroes.
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.
Many times in the play Hamlet appear to be watched. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are two of Hamlets closest childhood friends. The king asks them to ferret what is bothering the young prince and causing him to act strange. T...
hidden meanings to comic dialogues, Stoppard keeps the play from falling into the dark abyss of the bleak realities of life as most absurdist works tend to. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, as well as the other characters, are rescued from being mere buffoons due to the trouble their surrogate parent takes in investing them with the richness of language, which is the handiwork of the playwright, whose exquisite use of puns adds to the comic element in the play.
In order to see the parallel between the novel and jazz, one must first see how Ellison incorporates jazz music in the prologue of the novel. He not only sets the scene with jazz music in the background but also gives the narrator a deep understanding of music. The music that the narrator listens to is Louis Armstrong’s “Black and Blue,” which is appropriate because Armstrong is a prominent African-American jazz musician who protests the treatment of African-Americans through his music. The narrator embraces every line of the song and gives an apt description of its message:
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.
Megan McAllister thought she had won the lottery when she began dating fellow med student, Philip Markoff, for he was everything she had ever wanted in a guy—he was sweet, handsome, brilliant, and… a psychopath? Unknown to poor Megan, her husband-to-be’s dark personality surfaced while he searched through erotic service ads on Craigslist on the hunt for his next victim. However, one question remains—why? Why would a successful, handsome future doctor with a beautiful fiancé feel an urge to commit crimes? The answer? He is a psychopath. Philip Markoff’s interpersonal and affective personality traits contribute to his classification as a modern-day psychopath whose popularity in school, loving relationship, and his affluent lifestyle reveal that his psychopathic qualities are inherent.
...tz and Guildenstern have received much limelight and focus from the author. He has been able to describe the mundane everyday life and their view on Hamlet and their ability to make decisions. Though the play has instances of bring derived from the play of Hamlet, it is quite different and doesn’t speak about the main character of Hamlet – the son of the dead king. Also, both the plays have their own setting for the theater wherein players re-enact the murder of the old king, they have their own distinguishing features that sets that apart. Through this essay, I have been able to understand the difference in the use of language, prose and poem by the two authors who are considered two of the most reputed authors. The Hamlet and the Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are dead are focused on offering the audience a distinct experience that is unrelated to the regular life.
Many messages are revealed throughout Tom Stoppard’s play Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead including the use of language, the question of identity, and the uncertainties of life or death. The use of language throughout the play is remarkable and basic words have many different meanings or representations. Also, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, or Guildenstern and Rosencrantz are always getting confused showing that no one knows who they are and it makes them question their identity. Lastly, both life and death both hold many uncertainties and we can never be sure of anything. We don’t know if the life we are living is real or if it is just a dream and we don’t know what happens after death. Yet, these are just a few messages from a play that contains thousands of metaphors.
.... Hamlet works hard to bring Claudius to his end. He has motivation and takes control of his own fate. On the other hand, Rosencrantz & Guildenstern take a carefree attitude towards death. They believe fate will accomplish what it wants, so there is no point trying to change it. They accept death and do not fuss about it. After all, in a way they are already dead so dying physically isn’t a big deal. Both plays make the audience think about what they believe about death and how they are living their lives. It is likely that everyone has their own different take on death after reading or viewing these plays. That is what these playwrights wanted. The plays make us look at our lives and how we are living them. Are we happy with it? Will we take hold of our lives and be productive members of society? Or will we waste away our lives and be mere existences?
While studying the history behind the Latin and the Scandinavian influence on the Old English language, I wondered the following: