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.