Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead

“They’re hardly divisible, sir—well, I can do you blood and love without the rhetoric, and I can do you blood and rhetoric without the love, and I can do you all three concurrent or consecutive, but I can’t do you love and rhetoric without the blood. Blood is compulsory—they’re all blood, you see.”

The Player explains the Tragedians’ specialties as practitioners of the “blood, love, and rhetoric school” (28). He establishes blood as the chief focus of their repertoire and claims that the other focuses—love and rhetoric—actually stem from blood. At first glance, one might think the Player means that the Tragedians put on tragedies with gory deaths when he states that their plays deal with blood. This is true, but “blood” indicates life force as well as violence. The Tragedians’ plays are concerned with humanity and universal feelings, all of which are part of being alive. Since love and rhetoric stem from humanity and liveliness, they can be considered part of blood and inseparable from it.

“All your life you live so close to truth, it becomes a permanent blur in the corner of your eye, and when something nudges it into outline it is like being ambushed by a grotesque.”

Guildenstern describes what it is like to fully encounter absurdity for the first time. He believes that people live their lives with the absurd truth of existence in their periphery until something truly absurd occurs, making life’s chaotic, meaningless, and uncertain qualities clear to them. Once the truly absurd or seemingly “grotesque” phenomenon occurs, the starkness and novelty of it appears like an “ambush” or attack and may cause an existential crisis like Rosencrantz’s at the end of Act I.

“The only beginning is birth and the only end is death—if you can’t count on that, what can you count on?”

Guildenstern comforts Rosencrantz by reminding him of the guaranteed trajectory of life. All humans are born and destined to die. Death is an inescapable certainty, and the only thing Guildenstern can count on as being true.

“Wheels have been set in motion, and they have their own pace, to which we are…condemned. Each motive is dictated by the previous one—that is the meaning of order. If we start being arbitrary it’ll just be a shambles: at least, let’s hope so. Because if we happened to discover, or even suspect, that our spontaneity was part of their order, we’d know we were lost.”

Guildenstern muses about a secret mechanism that determines the order of their universe and their actions. He believes that the two of them will lose all hope if they ever find that the actions they consider indicative of free will are merely part of the mechanism’s plan. Although Guildenstern is unaware that the play’s script sets the “wheels” in motion, he suspects there must be something like a script that is responsible for controlling him and Rosencrantz. This quote exemplifies Guildenstern’s dawning despair as it becomes clear that a deterministic force may be involved in their situation.

“We cross our bridges when we come to them and burn them behind us, with nothing to show for our progress, except a memory of the smell of smoke, and a presumption that once our eyes watered.”

Guildenstern forlornly and lyrically muses on the vagueness of memory in response to Rosencrantz’s admission that he does not want to be reminded of the last thing he remembers. According to Guildenstern, humans fail to develop memories that truly capture lived experience. People live through events but become disconnected from them as they move forward in time. Individuals only possess weak, hazy recollections and presumptions of what might have happened. This quote speaks to human failure in an absurd world where nothing is truly reliable—not even one’s memory.

“There we were—demented children mincing about in clothes that no one ever wore, speaking as no man ever spoke, swearing love in wigs and rhymed couplets, killing each other with wooden swords, hollow protestations of faith hurled after empty promises of vengeance—and every gesture, every pose, vanishing into the thin unpopulated air. We ransomed our dignity to the clouds, and the uncomprehending birds listened. Don’t you see?! We’re actors—we’re the opposite of real people!”

The Player exposes the Tragedians’ fictionality and the artifice of theater. He points out that the clothing and dialogue that appear onstage bear no resemblance to the clothing and dialogue of actual human beings throughout history, which means they are completely artificial. He laments that they performed their falsehoods in front of no one and were humiliated and rendered unreal, since fictional characters are only real when they are watched. Through this quote, the Player demonstrates his awareness of his fictionality, commenting on the false nature of theater and actors’ desperate need for audiences.

“Uncertainty is the normal state. You’re nobody special.”

The Player asserts that there is nothing certain in the universe of the play. Furthermore, he argues, all people come face to face with absurdity and endure some sort of existential crisis. Existential crises are universal experiences, and thus Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are “nobody special” in their feelings of angst and uncertainty. The Player means to reassure Rosencrantz and Guildenstern and help them come to terms with the absurd world they inhabit.

“Everything has to be taken on trust; truth is only that which is taken to be true. It’s the currency of living. There may be nothing behind it, but it doesn’t make any difference as long as it’s honoured. One acts on assumptions.”

The Player continues his commentary on life’s uncertainty. He tells Rosencrantz and Guildenstern that truth is simply a subjective collection of assumptions that must be believed by an individual, even if there “may be nothing behind [them]” and no one else believing them. In making this statement, the Player tries to help Rosencrantz and Guildenstern complete their task by suggesting that they simply go with their assumptions, based on what Claudius tells them and what they witness.

“All this strolling about is getting too arbitrary by half—I’m rapidly losing my grip. From now on reason will prevail.”

Fearful of going insane, Guildenstern tries to assert control over the absurd by championing reason. He starts to acknowledge that he may not have free will and that rationality cannot hold up in the face of a world that defies any explanation. This is an attempt to push through his anxiety to take control of his life and situation.

“Ask yourself, if I asked you straight off—I’m going to stuff you in this box now, would you rather be alive or dead? Naturally, you’d prefer to be alive. Life in a box is better than no life at all. I expect. You have a chance at least. You could lie there thinking—well, at least I’m not dead! In a minute someone’s going to bang on the lid and tell me to come out.”

Rosencrantz wonders whether it is better to be dead or alive while trapped in a coffin. He believes that being alive while trapped in the coffin is the preferrable option since it entails the ability to say one still exists and has a chance at being saved. The image of being stuck in a box works on two levels. On one hand, Rosencrantz means a literal coffin when he talks about a box. On the other hand, “box” may refer to a stage since a traditional stage has a box-like shape. Although he does not realize he’s a character in a play, he implicitly asks whether it is better to be dead or alive in a play, This quote demonstrates Rosencrantz’s obsession with his mortality, which plagues him as he moves towards his death.

“Whatever became of the moment when one first knew about death? There must have been one, a moment in childhood when it first occurred to you that you don’t go on for ever. It must have been shattering—stamped into one’s memory. And yet I can’t remember it. It never occurred to me at all. What does one make of that? We must be born with an intuition of mortality. Before we know the words for it, before we know that there are words, out we come, bloodied and squalling with the knowledge that for all the compasses in the world, there’s only one direction, and time is its only measure.”

Rosencrantz continues to articulate ideas regarding death. In this quote, he thinks of how people come to know that they will one day die. At first, he considers the possibility that one learns as a child, but he counters it by saying that he does not recollect ever learning about mortality. He believes that he always knew he would one day die and comes to the conclusion that knowledge of one’s mortality is innate. Rosencrantz acts uncharacteristically here by categorizing a kind of knowledge as innate despite being a pragmatic type who believes in learning through experience. The quote’s significance lies in Rosencrantz’s personal transformation amidst an existential crisis.

“You understand, we are tied down to a language which makes up in obscurity what it lacks in style.”

The Player describes the language of the Tragedians’ play, calling it obscure rather than stylish. His statement is metatheatrical since it calls attention to the language found throughout Stoppard’s play, in which the Tragedians are “tied down.” Instead of writing in stylish, Shakespearean language, Stoppard writes in a vague, modern English that often obscures meaning.

“Decides? It is written.”

The Player responds to Guildenstern’s inquiry as to who decides which characters die in plays and how. The Player champions the written script as an unquestionable force that sets the characters in motion. By emphasizing the power of written language, he affords the script the same reverence one would afford a prophetic holy text, positioning the playwright as the god of a play’s universe. This quote strengthens the notion that a predetermined world resembles a play.

“Audiences know what to expect, and that is all that they’re prepared to believe in.”

The Player counters Guildenstern’s claim that audiences cannot possibly be convinced by staged deaths. Here, the Player argues that audiences have expectations for what death should look like based on the fictional deaths they have seen. Since staged deaths inform audiences’ understanding of real death, staged death is the only death that is real and believable for them. They are not prepared to believe in real death when it occurs since it does not follow their expectations.

 “Can that be all? And why us?—anybody would have done. And we have contributed nothing.”

Guildenstern expresses amazement over how the drama at Elsinore resolves itself without any significant help from him and Rosencrantz. He wonders why they are even at Elsinore if “anybody would have done.” This quote emphasizes how insignificant Rosencrantz and Guildenstern truly are in the play and the universe they reside. Furthermore, it reiterates the idea that they have no power or free will to make a significant impact on the plot.

“Yes, I’m very fond of boats myself. I like how they’re—contained. You don’t have to worry about which way to go, or whether to go at all—the question doesn’t arise because you’re on a boat, aren’t you? Boats are safe areas in the game of tag…the players will hold their positions until the music starts…I think I’ll spend most of my life on boats.”

Guildenstern favors boats because they provide passengers with a “safe area in the game of tag,” allowing them to be passive. He believes that boats grant freedom from the responsibility of having to make tough decisions in life. The boat in Act III symbolizes passivity and a surrender to determinism. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern surrender to determinism when they fail to act against Claudius’s wishes. Guildenstern’s admission, “I think I’ll spend most of my life on boats,” speaks to the passivity he shows throughout the play.

“We act on scraps of information…sifting half-remembered directions that we can hardly separate from fact.”

In a rage, Guildenstern points out the reality of his and Rosencrantz’s miserable existence. He asserts that they are only able to operate based on the “scraps of information” and “half-remembered directions” that they—like actors in a play—are given. In this quote, Guildenstern expresses his frustration at being uncertain and comes close to acknowledging his fictionality the way the Player does.

“All right! We don’t question, we don’t doubt. We perform. But a line must be drawn somewhere, and I would like to put it on record that I have no confidence in England.”

Rosencrantz laments that he has no agency in what he does and can only “perform.” The word “perform” strengthens the theme of theater as commentary on itself. Furthermore, the quote demonstrates his desire to assert his will, as he decides to run counter to the script by doubting the existence of England.

“We are not restricted. No boundaries have been defined, no inhibitions imposed. We have, for the while, secured, or blundered into, our release, for the while. Spontaneity and whim are the order of the day. Other wheels are turning but they are not of our concern. We can breathe. We can relax. We can do what we like and say whatever we like to whomever we like, without restriction.”

Guildenstern incorrectly assumes that he and Rosencrantz have a degree of freedom on a boat that symbolizes passivity and the absence of free will. Despite “spontaneity and whim” being “the order of the day,” there are “other wheels” at work determining the action. Guildenstern acknowledges them but does not seek to question them as he does in previous acts; instead, he tries to enjoy himself. This quote shows a change in Guildenstern and a sense of pride that goes before a fall, since Guildenstern soon finds out that he is not free.

“Incidents! All we get is incidents! Dear God, is it too much to expect a little sustained action?!”

Rosencrantz rages against the play’s passivity and lack of action. His cry is immediately followed by the entrance of the pirates who attack the ship and provide “sustained action.” One could interpret Rosencrantz’s cry as a trigger for the pirate’s ambush; in this reading, Rosencrantz actually has free will and power over the script, meaning that spontaneity exists in his universe.

“Guildenstern: We’ve traveled too far, and our momentum has taken over; we move idly towards eternity, without possibility of reprieve or hope of explanation.

Rosencrantz: Be happy—if you’re not even happy what’s so good about surviving? (He picks himself up.) We’ll be alright. I suppose we just go on.”

This exchange between Guildenstern and Rosencrantz reveals the differences between their personalities. Guildenstern pessimistically laments time’s unceasing march towards death and the meaninglessness and uncertainty death entails. Rosencrantz optimistically instructs him to be happy and assures him that things will be “alright.” Rosencrantz also suggests that they “just go on” in the face of absurdity and determinism, showing that he has more courage in this moment than Guildenstern has.

“Where we went wrong was getting on a boat. We can move, of course, change direction, rattle about but our movement is contained within a larger one that carries us along as inexorably as the wind and current…”

In this moment, Guildenstern realizes that passivity and surrender to determinism leads to death. He revisits his earlier comments on the freedom allowed by boats and counters them by pointing out that the small amount of movement and agency he and Rosencrantz are given is overpowered by the movement and agency of a larger force controlling them. What he does not know is that he is not free to make the choice to refuse to get on the boat. The actions which occur are scripted, and he cannot escape from their consequences.

“But why? Was it all for this? Who are we that so much should converge on our little deaths?”

Distressed, Guildenstern tries to determine what kind of importance he and his companion have that would mark them for death. He thinks about his position as a minor character in the play and an insignificant entity within a vast, meaningless universe. Guildenstern searches for a reason, but as the Player later tells him, there is none to be found, which speaks to the themes regarding absurdity.