The final section of the text. Let's go.
The position as I see it, then. We, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, from our young days brought up with him, awakened by a man standing on his saddle, are summoned, and arrive, and are instructed to glean what afflicts him and draw him on to pleasures, such as a play, which unfortunately, as it turns out, is abandoned in some confusion owing to certain nuances outside our appreciation - which, among other causes, results in, among other effects, a high, not to say, homicidal, excitement in Hamlet, whom we, in consequence, are escorting, for his own good, to England.
Guildenstern, as always, is highly self-aware... and apparently likes summarizing the plot for those walking in late to the show.
We could have done worse. I don't think we missed any chance... Not that we're getting much help.
This line greatly saddens me. They haven't been given much choice the whole time they were in this play. As mentioned in the previous quote, they've just been sort of directed where to go the whole time, they never had any choice in the matter.
Guil, you say you didn't miss any chances because you never took any. You always played it safe and stuck to what others told you to do, and now look where that's gotten you...
Guil, you say you didn't miss any chances because you never took any. You always played it safe and stuck to what others told you to do, and now look where that's gotten you...
Also, there's some barrels playing music. I... honestly don't even know.
GUIL (coda): Call us this day our daily tune....
There it is again.
Impossibly, the TRAGEDIANS climb out of the barrels.
Oh, okay then. Wait what.
Actually, I also just noticed a little pun:
Actually, I also just noticed a little pun:
PLAYER: Aha! All in the same boat, then!
Geddit? Because they're literally on a ship and they're all in the same situation!
Life is a gamble, at terrible odds-if it was a bet you wouldn't take it.
Preach.
Suddenly, pirates.
Suddenly, pirates.
The stage directions for when the attack occurs are hilarious. Everyone running and drawing their swords and shouting and colliding into each other, then finally jumping into barrels.
ROS: [Hamlet]'s dead then. He's dead as far as we're concerned.
PLAYER: Or we are as far as he is.
Actually, you're both right. Yet another example of different perspectives.
So once Hamlet has been stolen away, Guildenstern goes ballistic, having lost the duo's sole purpose. He ends up yelling and shoving Ros and I was very not okay with this conflict. I just want the poor boys to be happy... which is a perfect segue into...
So once Hamlet has been stolen away, Guildenstern goes ballistic, having lost the duo's sole purpose. He ends up yelling and shoving Ros and I was very not okay with this conflict. I just want the poor boys to be happy... which is a perfect segue into...
Be happy-If you're not even happy what's so good about surviving?
Yeah, pretty much the essence of existential depression.
Not only that, but I just find it so heartwarming that the two seem to have an actual bond in this play. They have conflict that they try to resolve, they support one another, they compliment each other well... I mean, in Hamlet you still got the sense that they were bonded closely, but it was more like the twins from The Shining than two best friends.
Not only that, but I just find it so heartwarming that the two seem to have an actual bond in this play. They have conflict that they try to resolve, they support one another, they compliment each other well... I mean, in Hamlet you still got the sense that they were bonded closely, but it was more like the twins from The Shining than two best friends.
ROS (with letter): We have a letter -
GUIL (snatches it, opens it): A letter - yes - that's true. That's something... a letter... (reads). "As England is Denmark's faithful tributary... as love between them like the palm might flourish, etcetera... that on the knowing of this contents, without delay of any kind, should those bearers, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, put to sudden death-"
They found out. Holy hell, they actually found out. I mean, I knew that they'd learn about their fate sooner or later, but I didn't expect them to just discover it like this...
They had it in for us, didn't they? Right from the beginning. Who'd have thought that we were so important?
There's a lot of irony in that little sentence right there. I mean, in Hamlet, they're nothing more than side characters, not really crucial to the plot at all, save for the fact that they're escorting Hamlet. But here in this play, the duo are the main characters. And I suppose in the grand scheme of things, the two are really not that important at all... Except in their deaths. Ros finds that the two are important only by the fact that their lives are coming to an end. Stuff's getting heavy.
GUIL (fear, vengeance, scorn): Your experience?-Actors!
(He snatches a dagger from the PLAYER's belt and holds the point at the PLAYER's throat: the PLAYER backs and GUIL advances, speaking more quietly.)
And to answer your question, YES. GUILDENSTERN JUST STRAIGHT UP MURDERED A GUY.
(And he pushes the blade in up to the hilt. The PLAYER stands with huge, terrible eyes, clutches at the wound
as the blade withdraws: he makes small weeping sounds and falls to his knees, and then right down:)
(While he is dying, GUIL, nervous, high, almost hysterical, wheels on the TRAGEDIANS-) If we have a destiny, then so had he - and if this is ours, then that was his - and if there are no explanations for us, then let there be none for him -
That is some dedication to proving a philosophical point. Except also I think he might have lost his mind a bit, considering that he was just told that he's going to die.
(The TRAGEDIANS watch the PLAYER die: they watch with some interest. The PLAYER finally lies still. A short moment of silence. Then the tragedians start to applaud with genuine admiration. The PLAYER stands up, brushing himself down.)
PLAYER (modestly): Oh, come, come, gentlemen - no flattery - it was merely competent-
Well damn, Stoppard. You had me there for a minute, but I probably should have seen something like that coming. This is Theatre of the Absurd, after all...
So it turns out the dagger was a retractable blade. I got 100% punk'd. Whatever, I still really like Guildenstern's quote.
So it turns out the dagger was a retractable blade. I got 100% punk'd. Whatever, I still really like Guildenstern's quote.
(ALFRED, still in his queen's costume, dies by poison: the PLAYER, with rapier, kills the "KING" and duels with a
fourth TRAGEDIAN, inflicting and receiving a wound: the two remaining tragedians, the two "SPIES" dressed in
the same coats as ROS and GUIL, are stabbed, as before.)
Incredible. Omniscient players. Or is it just coincidence?
So there's an end to that-it's commonplace: light goes with life, and in the winter of your years the dark comes early...
Aha! Remember in my previous entry how they said their lives were autumnal? This goes along with the symbolism perfectly! Continuity is wonderful, isn't it?
Death is not anything ... death is not... It's the absence of presence, nothing more ... the endless time of never coming back ... a gap you can't see, and when the wind blows through it, it makes no sound...
Quite a nihilistic view, but I love how he describes it.
Actually, it reminds me of Addie Bundren's chapter from As I Lay Dying, by William Faulkner. Her way of life reflected on the common belief of Absurdists, that words cannot do justice for everything that exists and happens in the world. "Death" is just a term we use to describe a lack of... life? Existence? Emotion?
...Stuff's getting real heavy.
Actually, it reminds me of Addie Bundren's chapter from As I Lay Dying, by William Faulkner. Her way of life reflected on the common belief of Absurdists, that words cannot do justice for everything that exists and happens in the world. "Death" is just a term we use to describe a lack of... life? Existence? Emotion?
...Stuff's getting real heavy.
What was it all about? When did it begin?
(Pause, no answer.)
Couldn't we just stay put? I mean no one is going to come on and drag us off.... They'll just have to wait. We're
still young ... fit... we've got years...
(Pause. No answer.)
(A cry.) We've nothing wrong! We didn't harm anyone. Did we?
Honest to God, this broke my heart a little.
GUIL: Our names shouted in a certain dawn ... a message ... a summons... there must have been a
moment, at the beginning, where we could have said-no. But somehow we missed it.
(He looks round and sees he is alone.)
Rosen--?
Guil--?
(He gathers himself.)
Well, we'll know better next time. Now you see me, now you -
(And disappears.)
You know, I honestly never thought I'd be able to see someone take the phrase "Now you see me..." and make it depressing.
Role confusion again.
And now he realizes the first point I made in this entry. They never had a choice.
Role confusion again.
And now he realizes the first point I made in this entry. They never had a choice.
The play ends the same way Hamlet does, with all the bodies laying around and the ambassador announcing the duo's deaths. Cue emotional breakdown.
Wallowing in pity aside, in my opinion, Act III was by far the most effective. Although the entire book was pretty effective.
The whole thing is whacky and nonsensical, but that's not a bad thing at all. In fact, it's supposed to be that way, and it gives it a bit of charm. I appreciate silly but still able to get a point across. In fact, I'd rather it be more light-hearted and quirky at times, as keeping it somber all the time tends to make it seem like the story takes itself too seriously.
8.5/10, would recommend to friend. If you're into absurdity and existentialism, give it a try! Or, if you read all of my entries and want something similar that hasn't been spoiled yet, maybe try Waiting for Godot.
The whole thing is whacky and nonsensical, but that's not a bad thing at all. In fact, it's supposed to be that way, and it gives it a bit of charm. I appreciate silly but still able to get a point across. In fact, I'd rather it be more light-hearted and quirky at times, as keeping it somber all the time tends to make it seem like the story takes itself too seriously.
8.5/10, would recommend to friend. If you're into absurdity and existentialism, give it a try! Or, if you read all of my entries and want something similar that hasn't been spoiled yet, maybe try Waiting for Godot.