Second half of Act II! Expect Hamlet spoilers again.
So the Tragedians are continuing their rehearsal for the play to be performed. Interesting to note, at one point they pick up where the show left off in Hamlet:
So the Tragedians are continuing their rehearsal for the play to be performed. Interesting to note, at one point they pick up where the show left off in Hamlet:
PLAYER: Lucianus, nephew to the king ... usurped by his uncle and shattered by his mother's incestuous
marriage ... loses his reason ... throwing the court into turmoil and disarray as he alternates between bitter
melancholy and unrestricted lunacy ...
Right before this point, King Claudius ended the show. So if they hadn't been stopped... the characters of Hamlet would've seen the play Hamlet being performed.
Actually, this is the part I heard about prior to reading the play. I was under the assumption that this event would've occurred earlier, but really, it serves as more of the climax, in that I'm guessing everything is going to be full-blown absurdity from this point forward.
(The two SPIES present their letter; the ENGLISH KING reads it and orders their deaths. They stand up as
the PLAYER whips off their cloaks preparatory to execution.)
Traitors hoist by their own petard?-or victims of the gods?-we shall
never know!
(The whole mime has been fluid and continuous but now ROS moves forward
and brings it to a pause. What brings ROS forward is the fact that under
their cloaks the two SPIES are wearing coats identical to those worn by ROS
and GUIL, whose coats are now covered by their cloaks. ROS approaches "his''
SPY doubtfully. He does not quite understand why the coats are familiar.
Bruh.
ROS: Well, if it isn't--! No, wait a minute, don't tell me-it's a long time since-where was it? Ah, this is taking me
back to-when was it? I know you, don't I? I never forget a face-(he looks into the SPY'S face). not that I know yours that is. For a moment I thought- no, I don't know you, do I?
This could actually be more support for my alternate universe theory! Yes, I know, it's a bit silly to bring science fiction into Shakespeare, but I assert nonetheless.
Rosencrantz could potentially be looking at himself from Hamlet. Or maybe a ghost version... of himself? Hey, Hamlet had a ghost dad, who's to say it can't happen to the others?
Rosencrantz could potentially be looking at himself from Hamlet. Or maybe a ghost version... of himself? Hey, Hamlet had a ghost dad, who's to say it can't happen to the others?
I extract significance from melodrama, a significance which it does not in fact contain;
Hey, same here, bro.
That isn't death! (More quietly.) You scream and choke and sink to your knees, but it doesn't bring death home to anyone-it doesn't catch them unawares and start the whisper in their skulls that says-"One day you are going to die."
Beautiful line. Memento mori.
I had an actor once who was condemned to hang for stealing a sheep-or a lamb, I forget which-so I got permission to have him hanged in the middle of a play-had to change the plot a bit but I thought it would be effective, you know-and you wouldn't believe it, he just wasn't convincing! It was impossible to suspend one's, disbelief-and what with the audience jeering and throwing peanuts, the whole thing was a disaster!-he did nothing but cry all the time-right out of character-just stood there and cried... Never again.
ROS: That must be east, then. I think we can assume that.
GUIL: I'm assuming nothing.
ROS: No, it's all right. That's the sun. East.
GUIL (looks up): Where?
Oh, for Pete's sake. Here we go again. Another element of Theatre of the Absurd... repetitious dialogue. The two are arguing about directions again.
ROS: Talking.
GUIL: To himself?
(ROS makes to go, GUIL cuts him off.)
Is he alone?
ROS: No, he's with a soldier,
GUIL: Then he's not talking to himself, is he?
This bit of dialogue seems to have popped up more than once. Interesting how your/their perception of Hamlet changes within a second after more detail is added.
ROS: They'll have us hanging about till we're dead. At least. And the weather will change. (Looks up.) The
spring can't last for ever.
HAMLET: Good sir, whose powers are these?
SOLDIER: They are of Norway, sir.
HAMLET: How purposed, sir, I pray you?
SOLDIER: Against some part of Poland.
HAMLET: Who commands them, sir?
SOLDIER: The nephew to old Norway, Fortinbras.
Whoa there! They're already on their way to England? That was a quick transition. I didn't even notice up until now!
Interesting to note that since the point of view really only focuses on what Ros & Guil are doing, you don't see the in-between scenes you'd normally know about. Kind of catches you off guard when you realize that Stoppard has glossed over a bunch of other stuff. Granted, that other stuff isn't really important to this play's plot...
Interesting to note that since the point of view really only focuses on what Ros & Guil are doing, you don't see the in-between scenes you'd normally know about. Kind of catches you off guard when you realize that Stoppard has glossed over a bunch of other stuff. Granted, that other stuff isn't really important to this play's plot...
GUIL: It's autumnal.
ROS (examining the ground): No leaves.
GUIL: Autumnal-nothing to do with leaves. It is to do with a certain brownness at the edges of the day... Brown
is creeping up on us, take my word for it... Russets and tangerine shades of old gold flushing the very outside edge of the senses... deep shining ochres, burnt umber and parchments of baked earth-reflecting on itself and through itself, filtering the light. At such times, perhaps, coincidentally, the leaves might fall, somewhere, by repute.
Allow me to put on my literary symbols cap for a moment here. We know that autumn, of course, comes before winter--the common symbol for death. We also know that the duo's deaths are coming up once they arrive in England... Guil's little speech here compares their current situation to the autumn of their lives, the time right before the winter of their lives...
GUIL: What's he doing?
(ROS looks over his shoulder.)
ROS: Talking.
GUIL: To himself?
ROS: Yes.
THUS brings an end to Act II! I know this was a shorter blog, but I felt that the end of an act was a good place to stop.
Also, I've had a thought on the creation of this play: Why Ros & Guil? Why Hamlet? Could this idea have worked with any of Shakespeare's other plays? For example, if instead Mercutio and Benvolio talked about the meaning of life?
Actually, now that I bring it up, I really want that. Somebody write that.
Or maybe just any other play, Shakespearean or not, in general? Why not use original characters?
The way I see things, Ros & Guil are ideal walking existential crises because they get the "twin effect" and the plot calls for them to die at the end. Whereas, if you took, say, Viola and Sebastian from Twelfth Night, they both get a happy ending. (Also they're of the opposite gender, but I digress...) Things wouldn't play out quite the same, and thus, you wouldn't get quite the same effect.
The way I see things, Ros & Guil are ideal walking existential crises because they get the "twin effect" and the plot calls for them to die at the end. Whereas, if you took, say, Viola and Sebastian from Twelfth Night, they both get a happy ending. (Also they're of the opposite gender, but I digress...) Things wouldn't play out quite the same, and thus, you wouldn't get quite the same effect.