Monday, March 11, 2013

Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead Summary/Analysis

Author: Written by Tom Stoppard in 1965, R&G is his most famous play


Setting: The play begins with R&G walking wondrously, arrive at the Elsinore Castle, and then somehow end up on a boat

Plot:
Act 1
-Ros and Guil are flipping coins, which all mysteriously land on heads. Can’t remember anything
-Guil is very concerned with finding a logical reason for the coins
-Ros is confused of why Guil is so concerned with resolving this
-Ros finally remembers how the morning begun; a messenger sent for them
-Now that they have some understanding, they still can’t come up with any direction or what to do next
-The players run into Ros and Guil
·      Players offer performances to watch or to take part
·      Neither catch on for a while, and as the players are about to take off each time either Ros, or Guil, call them back for some reason
·       Guil makes a bet with the Player; Guil tricks player into loosing, then the Player tricks Guil by standing on a coin that landed on tails
-There is a shift in lighting, and Ros and Guil are in the Elsinore castle. Claudius and Gertrude assign Ros and Guil to their mission
-Ros wants to go home, but Guil convinces him to finish the play and act through his lines
-Ros and Guil play a question game, in attempt to practice confronting Hamlet
-Ros and Guil finally meeting up with Hamlet

Act 2
-Hamlet claims to be mad when the wind blows a certain direction
-Ros and Guil are very puzzled by this statement and get angry because Hamlet beat them at their own question game
-Ros and Guil try to establish the direction of the wind
-Ros suggests for Guil to lick his toe
-Ros screams “Fire!” to the audience, then flips a coin but doesn’t tell Guil the result
-Players enter and announce they will be performing The Murder of Gonzago tomorrow
-Ros and Guil talk to the players, and figure out that the players were mad because they were left performing without an audience
-All discuss the play that will be performed tomorrow and its purpose, and Hamlet’s behavior
-No conclusions are drawn, players leave to memorize lines
-Ros and Guil talk about death; what happens after death, life in a box, religion…
-Gertrude enters and asks them how their talk with Hamlet went
-Ros and Guil watch Hamlet talk to Ophelia
-Players enter, player is covering a coin and Ros reaches down to get it and his hand is stepped on
-Players run through the rehearsal of The Murder of Gonzago
-Ros and Guil can’t recognize their own characters in the play
-Guil argues with the player that actors ‘deaths’ aren’t real deaths
-Play ends with the spies bodies lying on stage with the lights dimmed, then the lights come on and Ros and Guil are in their spots
-Claudius sends Ros and Guil to find Polonius’ body
-Can’t decide what to do or where to go
-R&G briefly see Hamlet dragging Polonius’ body off stage, then denies it when confronted by R&G
-R&G talk about taking Hamlet to England

Act 3
-Ros and Guil find themselves in a place of darkness not knowing where they are
-Hamlet lights up the stage with a lantern to reveal they are on a boat
-Neither Ros or Guil can decide on what to do, but Guil enjoys being on a boat because he is free
-R&G find Hamlet sleeping, and are unsure what to do
-Ros does a coin trick to Guil, then Guil realizes he had coins in both hands just to please Guil
-Guil wants to know how much money Claudius gave to Ros, Ros tells him he got the same as him
-They remember they have a letter with instruction, but can’t remember who has the letter
-R&G act out what they will do when they get to England, and Ros opens the letter and reads it revealing the command for the English King to kill Hamlet
-R&G hesitate to proceed on giving the letter to the King because Hamlet is their friend and he didn’t do anything wrong
-Hamlet blows out the lantern and replaces the letter from R&G while they are asleep
-R&G wake up and hear music, Ros searches for the origin of the sounds
-Realize sound is coming from barrels, when the music ends the players come out on stage
-The players tell R&G that they are on the ship because they had to run away from Elsinore because their play made Claudius angry. They talk about freedom and control, and Hamlet’s behavior (Hamlet spits into the audience while they are talking)
-Pirates charge the ship and the player, Hamlet, and R&G jump into the three barrels to hide. Lights go out
-Lights come back on and Hamlet’s barrel is missing
-R&G act out the meeting with the king again, Guil opens the letter discovering it has been changed, commanding their execution, not Hamlet’s
-Guil argues with the Player about death, and Guil stabs the Player with a fake knife
-Ros realizes they are about to die and Guil is in denial
-Ends with the final scene of Hamlet (Hamlet, Claudius, Gertrude and Laertes are dead) and the English ambassador says that he has fulfilled Claudius’s wishes.

Author’s Style: very descriptive stage directions, based off of and interconnects with Hamlet, a lot of word play, comedy

Narrative Voice: none, it's a play!

Significant Characters:
Rosencrantz: easygoing, not concerned about the meaning of things (coin flipping), confused about his situation and Guil’s reactions, pragmatic, very caring for Guil, sensitive, more positive than Guil, does what Guil tells him.
Guildenstern: anxious, philosophical, tries to reason with logic, desperate for a rational explanation, easily frustrated, gives commands to Ros, snaps at Ros often but always comforts him.
Both R&G are two very confused characters, little description on their physical appearance is given, spend a lot of time asking questions and receiving no answers.
The Player: comes off as very mysterious, like he knows something the others (R&G) don’t, mentions doing/seeing things before so he has experience in the plays, doesn’t help R&G to the extent they’re looking for, full of wit, life of an actor

Quotes:
“Ros: My name is Guildenstern, and this is Rosencrantz.” Pg. 22
àThis quote gives the readers a preview of the mass of confusion that will continue between the two throughout the play. I find this comedic because they don’t even know who they are! The level of confusion is so high, and remains at this level, that one can’t even identify themselves.

“Ros: It could go on for ever. Well, not for ever, I suppose. (Pause.) Do you ever think of yourself as actually dead, lying in a box with a lid on it?” Pg. 70
àThis is the first time Ros asks a philosophical question and expresses concern for the meaning of life or what happens after so. This quote is significant because it highlights character development in Ros. As Ros becomes more entangled in his confusion he is curious on what is really going on.

“Guil: I like to know where I am. Even if I don’t know where I am, I like to know that. If we go there’s no knowing.” Pg. 95
àI found this quote very ironic because they most definitely don’t have a clue of what’s going on. This quote is in terms of traveling to England, and Guil’s stubbornness to proceed. Guil is hesitant because he won’t know of his whereabouts, and this standard for Guil is completely disregarded throughout the entire work. Stoppard is showing us that your fate will continue even if you’re not ready.

Theme:
Each decision one makes will affect the next and one’s choices will always end at with one’s fate, no matter how hard such destiny is avoided.
à Ros and Guil spend a lot of time discussing their circumstances, options and results; there is always a choice to be made between the two of them. Stoppard uses the setting and the plot to prove to R&G that their choices will not affect their destiny. As the play opens, R&G are wandering endlessly as they run into the players. R&G eventually decide to keep walking, but when they arrive to Elsinore they meet the players again and eventually a performance is given which is what they were trying to avoid originally. Stoppard connects everything to show R&G their miniscule decisions will not affect Stoppard’s greater picture. 

4 comments:

  1. Nice job with this too Nicci! Your summary is thorough but not to the point where you are telling every single detail of the story. I also liked how you only described the kew characters. That is all you will need for the ap exam and when preparing you will not have to waste time reading useless information. Overall good job!

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  2. Reading the plot of this play reminds me of how difficult it was for me to read. The lack of plot throughout the entire story makes it both confusing and hard to analyze, which is probably why we did it. I think it was important how you commented on the very descriptive stage directions that existed in many of the scenes. In my opinion, this is because Tom Stoppard didn't want anyone showing his play in a different way then how he sees it in his head. In addition, I LOVE your theme statement. This perfectly captures how this play can relate to the "real world" and leave the reader thinking once they are done. Good job Nicci!

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  3. I thought this play was really interesting because on the surface it seems as though it is very simple without much depth to it. However, after our many class discussions and annotations, I realized that this play actually held a more complex meaning. I agree with Erica, you have a great theme statement!! Nice job!

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  4. Nice breakdown of plot and of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern's characters. I think you could push a little more in your analysis of the Player, because you're so close to mentioning one of the key differences between him and R + G. He is one of the few characters who seems to understand that he is in a play. Even more than that, he seems to understand things about R + G that they don't understand about themselves and about their situation. For example, he can predict how they will feel when facing their own mortality at the end of the play. What does that say about him?

    Although the play doesn't have a narrative voice (or maybe because of it), it's important to delve deeper into the author's style. You mention several techniques without really discussing effects and the meanings they create. What tone(s) does Stoppard establish? Do they change? How do Stoppard's techniques apply to different characters? Does that change your perception of them?

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