Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead

Setting: Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead is set in Denmark, in the forest and in and around the royal palace, and on a ship traveling to England.

Plot: Rosencrantz and Guildenstern have been summoned to the royal palace to find the cause of and cure Hamlet's madness. Along the way, they meet the Players. Nothing else much really happens... or so they think.

Theme: What is humanity, and what is its role in Fate? Is life controlled by Fate, or chance, and do we have control, or is it all just a script without direction? Through the play, questions of identity, defying/accepting Fate, and our role in life are prominent.

Quotes: Life in a box is better than no life at all. This is said by Rosencrantz as he debates the meaning of life and death. He decides that any life, even life under the influence of Fate, with no control or direction, is better than death. However, by the end of the play Rosencrantz and Guildenstern both have grown and no realize that this is not true. As Guildenstern says of leaving for England, "We'll be free." As in, they will escape the box (the play) and finally regain direction to their lives.

Fear! The crack that might flood your brain with light! This is said by Guildenstern after the coin-tossing game has made him question even the most solid of things, such as the law of probability. Sometimes, the things most solid are those you cannot see, such as fear, and only fear itself can prompt one toward action, and, while cracking the surface of identity, also brings knowledge and certainty--light. We see this again in the end of the play. Throughout, the plot is slow and driven by light dialogue and speculation. But when Rosencrantz and Guildenstern find out they are to be executed, they finally find their direction: continue to England, and find the light that is death.

I remember when there were no questions. This by Rosencrantz after his first encounter with Elsinore. It implies that there was once a time of certainty and direction, or, in other words, innocence. Everything was given out freely, and existence and control were givens. Now, however, everything has been clouded over and twisted around, and each question is empty air. The quote betrays the motif of questions that is recurrent throughout the play.

Imagery/Symbolism: The "box" is a constant image and symbol, referring, of course, to the play itself, which is carefully scripted beyond an individual character's control. It is inescapable, the "Fate" and the "god" of which the characters speak.

The coins, too, are both an image and symbol throughout the play. Every coin toss results in heads coming out on top. Just like in Hamlet, with its "hunter vs. hunted," we must wonder who is "heads" and who is "tails," and who will come out on top. The head typically represents the crown and state, or the king. The "artists" are at the bottom, the tails. And this is true as Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are shown to be equally discardable and even interchangable, even though by the law of probability, eventually they should come out on top.

Allusions: The play frequently alludes to Hamlet. This is needless to say, since the play is set up within Hamlet--or maybe the other way around.