Gender Roles In Rosencrantz And Guildenstern Are Dead

In the play Hamlet by William Shakespeare, the minor characters Rosencrantz and Guildenstern play supporting roles and are shunted to the side, not having much choice in their decisions and merely “moving” along with the decisions of other characters. However, in the play Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead by Tom Stoppard, they are the central figures and echo Hamlet’s inner thoughts that aren’t shown during the play Hamlet. The coexistence of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead and Hamlet shows the futility of opposing fate and that the spectators, or the minor characters, are perpetually going to be “acting” and staring in on the stage of fate. Guildenstern and Rosencrantz as spectators is best illustrated when Guildenstern says to

For example, Act Three starts suddenly with Rosencrantz and Guildenstern on a boat to England. This is very sudden and unexpected, as Stoppard does not preface this with any kind of linear story to the progression of the plot. Before at the end of Act Two, they were talking with the Player and Claudius, but the sudden transition to a different setting and the lack of choice that they have with where they end up, is shown by the suddenness with which the events take place. For example, Guildenstern says to Rosencrantz, “We act on scraps on information … sifting half-remembered directions that we can hardly separate from instinct” (Stoppard, 102). This is in response to them wondering what to do and their purpose for being on the boat. This shows the fine line between the hold that fate has on them, as they are shunted from one place to another with little explanation, due partly to the actions of others, but also to fate. “Sifting half-remembered directions” shows that they have no information or direction with which to act upon and merely go with the next event, which is directed by fate, in their case. When Rosencrantz and Guildenstern die, Guildenstern says, “There must have been a moment, at the beginning, where we could have said-no. But somehow we missed it” (Stoppard, 125). This quote indicates that fate forced them, without them fully comprehending fate’s “plan” or ultimate goal, to go along with it from the very beginning of their journey and that they missed any chance they had to get out of fate’s plan. This shows Rosencrantz and Guildenstern’s ignorance towards fate as the Player reminds them that their fates were already sealed. The ending of how Guildenstern and Rosencrantz disappear at