English 11
February 2008
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead
Background
Full of word games and odd questions, this quirky intellectual play by (1)______makes fun of Shakespeare’s Hamlet and requires you to think like a modernist.
Do you know what (2)______means? It is “a philosophical movement embracing the view that the suffering individual must create meaning in an unknowable, chaotic, and seemingly empty universe.”
That’s exactly what we see here in Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead. It is an excellent example of “theater of the (3) ______.”
If you have read some Beckett or Pinter, you will be familiar with the tone and form of some of the dialogue….Characters in these plays are often trying to work out basic philosophy: why they are where they are, what happens next in life, and whether we have any control over that destiny. These plays also refer to themselves quite frequently: they acknowledge the stage, audience, writer, and so on; in doing so, they question the line between the stage and the world, performance and reality. Try to assess what difference it makes for dialogue to be “strange,” with incomplete thoughts, non sequiturs, and misunderstandings. - Dr. Lloyd Edward Kermode, California State University
Tom Stoppard once said, “I never wrote plays for discussion.” He’s right. Art/literature is not easily dissected. But there are two basic ways of interpreting it: the avocado principle - dig through the outer layer until you get to the core - and the (4)______principle - peel layer upon layer of meaning, but in the end, there is no single truth. Tom Stoppard, among other authors, claims to have had no single meaning in mind when writing R&G.
As absurd and existentialist playwrights, parallels have been drawn between Stoppard and Beckett. There are many differences, but here are two:
· While Beckett's characters in the play (5)______ do their best to make time pass quickly while they are waiting, Ros. and Guil. attempt to do something constructive with their time (even if it is a "short, blunt human pyramid"). Instead of killing time, they attempt to fill time.
· Inevitably, Vladimir and Estragon (in Beckett's play) fall into silence. But Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead is held together by the affection Ros. and Guil. have for each other, and instead of falling into silence, Ros. and Guil. take to comforting each other.
Characters
Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead is structured as the inverse of Hamlet; the title characters are the leads, not minor players, and Hamlet himself has only a small part. According to Nicholas FitzRoy-Dale, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead is an attempt to “see the chessboard from the (6)______’s point of view.”
As the play’s title implies, these characters are inseparable. Some critics have gone so far as to say that they are actually two aspects of one person! Think about it. Even as they are isolated from everyone else, they are easily mistaken for each other (Hamlet confuses them!).
Both show signs of self- (7)______- of the way things are in the human condition - yet they are continually denied a sense of purpose. They “tragically” realize they cannot alter the way things are. The play’s stage directions have the characters explore the boundaries of the stage; chance is warped as a spun coin continually comes up (8)______. The play consists of R&G's quasi-philosophical speculation about why they are here and what their death will be like.
What words would you use to describe them?
9. Rosencrantz:
10. Guildenstern:
Study Questions
Act One
11. The play opens with the two men betting on coin flips. How many times does Rosencrantz win?
There is a sense of (12)______throughout the entire play, starting with the “place of no visible character.” Enhancing this sense, Ros. and Guil. can't remember their past: “We've only got their word for it.” Guil. also mentions strange times and places (for example, “A Chinaman of the T'ang Dynasty”).
13. Eventually the viewer learns why they are where they are. What is that reason?
14. Describe the Tragedians. How are they like/unlike the Players in Hamlet?
15. Why is Rosencrantz offended by the royal couple?
16. On a tennis court, the pair engages in a ridiculous game of…
17. When Hamlet runs across the stage, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern remember what they are there to do. Guildenstern proposes that Rosencrantz pretend he is ______and ask him questions. Rosencrantz fails to understand the concept at first, which enrages Guildenstern, who resigns himself to the ineptness of his partner.
18. The act closes with R&G finally meeting the man himself, Hamlet. Describe him.
Act Two
19. This act opens with the end of the conversation between Rosencrantz, Guildenstern, and Hamlet. The title characters enter into a comic discussion on which way the ______is ______. Guildenstern speaks in abstractions, while Rosencrantz offers a pragmatic method of solving their problem.
20. The Player returns to the stage. He is angry that the pair had not earlier stayed to watch their play because, without an audience, his Tragedians are nothing. He tells R&G to…
21. After the Player leaves to prepare for the “Murder of Gonzago,” Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are left alone again. What does Rosencrantz begin to worry about?
22. At the end of this act, how does the play move beyond the scope of what the reader sees in Hamlet?
Act Three
23. Where do Rosencrantz and Guildenstern find themselves at the beginning of this act?
24. Describe their relationship as revealed in this act.
25. What do you think about the ending?