OPEN PROMPT II : 3/09

2004. Critic Roland Barthes has said, “Literature is the question minus the answer.” Choose a novel, or play, and, considering Barthes’ observation, write an essay in which you analyze a central question the work raises and the extent to which it offers answers. Explain how the author’s treatment of this question affects your understanding of the work as a whole

Tom Stoppard's Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead has the audience ponder if art mimics life through winding existential monologues and pointing out the differences between actors and humans, but a concrete answer is never given. People often look to literature for answers about life and try to see themselves in the characters, but Ros and Guil are such one dimensional clowns, it is difficult for readers to do so. Ros and Guil are characters extracted from Hamlet who try to take a new direction outside of their "birth" text. However, Stoppard shows readers that because their destiny is already written, they have no free will--the opposite can be said for humans.Therefore, it is possible that Stoppard is suggesting that literature can not possibly reflect the human experience.

Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are so outlandish they can be seen as possible caricatures of humans, but are note true illustrations of human beings. Guildenstern is considered as the deep thinking in the relationship, but when he is trying to find the missing pieces to his being, it is always out of his reach. The reader eventually realizes through the cyclical nature of the play that Guildenstern will never find out who he is and where he comes from because he is simply a character. Something that materialized in William Shakespeare's imagination. Stoppard emphasizes Rosencrantz and Guildenstern's lack of dimension through their meaningless banter, frequently confused identities, and their inability to answer simple questions like "where are you from?" This is done to keep the audience from relating with these characters too much so Stoppard can make his point that literature does not hold the answers to all the mysteries of life and Shakespeare is not God.

In the play, there are clear distinctions made that isolate humans from actors. The Player is the conductor of a traveling troop of actors, called the Tragedians, who act out the events taken place in Hamlet. The job of the actors is to reenact the events of life, which in their specialized field, always ends in death. The same can be said about actual life. The undeniable fate for all humans is death and if the The Players recreate history, it raises the question again ifart does mimic life. However, The Player mentions several times in the play that actors are not people because they die numerous times, while humans have one shot at life.Most of the play follows Rosencrantz and Guildenstern making futile attempts to understand their purpose in life, but in the end as they face their death, they realize that they their "death" does not terminate their existence. They simply are just disappearing for awhile until someone reads/watches one of their plays again. This dramatic truth Stoppard tells his audience is put out for their consideration, but there is not a real closing argument given that makes the audience positive that this is what Stoppard believes. 

Stoppard's play introduces several questions and ideas for the audience to ruminate, but he is careful to not make any conclusions. This can be very frustrating to readers who feel that every piece of literature must include a grand overarching meaning that everyone should take away from it. However, that is part of the genius behind this play. The absurd characters, insignificant settings, and overlapping plots go to show what little literature and reality have in common. Therefore, if literature does not provide the answers to life, Stoppard takes that irony by writing an existentialist play and ending it without a single impressive question he raised. 

Summary and Analysis : Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead

Author
Tom Stoppard co-wrote the screenplays for Brazil, The Russia House and Shakespeare in Love, and has received one Academy Award and four Tony Awards. Themes of human rights, censorship and political freedom pervade his work along with exploration of linguistics and philosophy. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead was Stoppard's first play to receive significant recognition.

Setting
The story begins in " a place without any visible character" (pg. 11) during Elizabethan times. The two main characters also spend time in Shakespeare's fictional castle, Elsinore, and on a ship at sea.

Characters
 Rosencrantz-
Guildenstern's traveling companion and best friend. In Elsinore, he is recognized as on of Hamlet's best friends and is given a task to find out why Hamlet has been acting so depressed lately. Rosencrantz appears more dim than Guildenstern, but also has an unique curiosity and seems overall more content with life than his friend.
Guildenstern
 Rosencrantz's traveling companion and best friend. He has pretty much all the same characteristics as Rosencrantz to the point that people always get confused between the two. Guil is very frustrated with the lack of answers there are about who he is, what his purpose is, and what will happen when he dies. 
The Player
He is the conductor or leading actor of his own traveling company. He makes a lot of sexual innuendos and offers Ros and Guil a "show" in the beginning of the play. He seems like the all knowing character and acts as a guide to Ros and Guil and already know what their fate will be. He also points out the many differences between actors and regular humans.
Tragedians 
The actors in The Player's traveling caravan of actors. Alfred in a particular actor who is singled out as meek, exploited, and a victim to the moral declination of art. The Tragedians end every play with a gruesome/tragic death and several time through out the play act out scenes from Hamlet. There is a theory that the entire play is actually performed by the Tragedians and R&G are unaware that they are acting too.
Other Characters from Hamlet
The characters include the tragic play's regular gang: Hamlet, Ophelia, Claudius, Gertrude, Polonius, and Horatio. The lines are word for word from Shakespeare's original play and they are not affected by Rosencrantz and Guildenstern's confused state and only acknowledge their presence in the scenes where it was already written (when they interacted with characters in Hamlet). There are theories that these parts are played by the Tragedians and the whole story takes place on The Player's caravan.

Plot

• Ros and Guil are traveling by horse through an unidentifiable place. Ros is flipping a coin and it lands on heads every time
• All they can remember prior to the moment we first encounter them is being awakened by a messenger
• Hear drumming and see a wagon full of traveling actors (The Player & Tragedians)
• The Player indirectly offers R &G an erotic show (that they can "take part in"). Once Guildenstern realizes what The Player is suggesting he is disgusted by the troop however, R&G beat The Player in a coin toss and request a classic tragedy performance as their prize.
• The Player moves his foot that was covering the coin and Ros discovers that it miraculously landed on tails. This marks a significant shift in events and setting for the play.
• R&G get on the  actors' wagon and the lighting changes and R&G end up in Elsinore in the plot of Hamlet
• They arrive in perfect time when Gertrude and Claudius call upon them to find out what "afflicts" their dear Hamlet.
• They wait for Hamlet to find them.
• They discuss what could possibly be bothering Hamlet and they flat out discuss how complicated and backwards his family is, but do not diagnosis it as the reason for his madness.
• The players arrive to Elsinore to preform the "Murder of Gonzago",upon Hamlet's request. The Player tries to explain to R&G about why they are there and to accept the truths around them.
• R&G play the question game
• After the disastrous play, Claudius sends Hamlet off to England with R&G following him closely behind. 
• The setting/time shifts and R&G find themselves in a dark space, later discovering they are inside a boat
• Ros and Guil try to remember where they last left off, Ros contemplates if he even wants to go to England, and they happen to read Claudius' note to the King that orders Hamlet to be killed in England. 
• R&G got to bed and Hamlet swaps out the letter overnight with a new one that orders R&G to be murdered. 
• Cue Pirates
• R&G think that the whole trip pointless because Hamlet escaped. They open the letter to read to The Player and are stunned when they read that they are supposed to be put to death. They complain to The Player that they didn't get enough time and are confused by what their untimely death sentence means.
• The Player demonstrates how actors are the master of death because people believe  an acted death more than a literal one.
• Guild decides that dying means nothing and is simply the "absence of presence" and Ros admits that he is relieved that he is about to die. 
• Their last lines are inconclusive and suggests that they have another shot at life in the future and they disappear from the stage.

Imagery

• There is not a lot of description given about the appearance of the stage or characters. It can lead the reader to think that the characters are roaming around in a featureless, surreal place.
• In ACT I when R&G are playing the question game, they keep track of points like a tennis match. This paired with the constant back and forth fashion of the game mimic a real tennis match.

Symbolism

• In the beginning, every time Ros or Guil flip a coin hundreds of times, and every time it lands on heads. When The Player arrives and invites them on his cart for a play, the coin is found tails up. This marks a moment of change.
• Guildenstern's bag of coins is described as half empty and Ros' half full. This provides some insight on their contrasting demeanor and perspectives on life.
• England could be thought of as Heaven and the King of England as God
• The boat could represent the motion of life to accentuate that R&G are getting closer to their ultimate fate, and are agreeing to not take serious control of the direction of their life. 

Quotes

"Ros: Am I dead?

Guil: Yes of no?

Ros: Is there a choice?

Guil: Is there a God?" (Stoppard 43)

These questions hint at the main questions many people feel this play is asking or the ones Stoppard is waving in front of the audience to make a decision about. After reading this play, I really do not know if the work answers any of these questions except, that people do not have a choice if they die or not. 

"truth is only that which is taken to be true. It's the currency of living. There may be nothing behind it, but it dosen't make any difference so long as it is honoured" (67).

Most of what the Player says is profound and seems important to the meaning of the play. Therefore, I found this quote very interesting seeming how parts of this play seem so bizarre and conflict with the reader's view on reality and what qualifies as normal. I like that his play challenges the audience about what they believe in to a point that almost makes them uncomfortable.