Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead Summary and Analysis

Author: Tom Stoppard
Setting: The setting in this play alternates between basically the middle of nowhere, to Hamlet's castle and a boat when they are going to England.
Significant Characters: 

• Rosencrantz- In the play Hamlet, he was Hamlet's long time friend. He usually went in and out of the scenes, as he does in this play. Rosencrantz seems like a happy person most of the time, and he doesn't look too much into things. He is a go with the flow type of person. He goes through the play with his friend Guildenstern, who appears to be smarter than him. 
• Guildenstern- Just like Rosencrantz, he was also one of Hamlet's long time friends in that play, and went in and out of the scenes with Rosenctanz. He doesn't seem to be as happy as Rosencrantz and he looks very deep into things. He always wants to know the underlying meaning behind everything and isn't satisfied until he finds it. Guildenstern acts like he's the smartest one around. 
• The Player/Tragedians- They also have a minor role in Hamlet, going in and out of scenes. Usually when Rosencrantz and Guildenstern hear their music, it means they are entering the play Hamlet. They understand their role in the world and accept what they are. They are constantly seeking an audience because they say that without an audience they are nothing. 

Plot: 

The play starts out with Rosencrantz and Guildenstern playing a coin game, and every time the coin is flipped, it lands on head. Rosencrantz seems to be okay with this and finds it amusing that he keeps winning. Guildenstern finds it disturbing and questions what is reality and what isn't and starts to get very paranoid and questions everything. The coin is referred back to in many other parts of the play. Soon, they meet the player and the tragedians. They want Ros and Guil to be their audience, and make sexual jokes. This is when they figure out that they were sent for by the messenger and try to get together what they are supposed to be doing and where they are when they see Hamlet and Ophelia run by them. This is when they enter a scene in Hamlet. The king and queen come out to talk to them about how they should try to find out why Hamlet is acting mad. After they leave, Ros and Guil practice talking to Hamlet, but ultimately get no where. When they finally do talk to Hamlet, they get upset and annoyed because they didn't find out enough info. After this, Hamlet and Ros and Guild are talking to Polonuis, just like the scene in Hamlet, and the tragedians come in to announce that they will be having a play with Hamlet. Ros and Guild report this back to the King and Queen. This is when Hamlet has his famous, "To be or not to be" speech and Ros and Guil over hear this as well as his convo with Ophelia. Meanwhile, the tragedians practice the play they are going to put on for the king and the queen. The next major thing that happens is Hamlet killing Polonius, and Ros and Guild are instructed to find the body, just like in Hamlet. They try to make a plan to trap Hamlet, but as usual it fails. Since nothing they do is stopping Hamlet, the king ships them all off to England. While on the boat, Ros and Guil read the letter the King sent with them trying to find out what they are supposed to do in England. They find out that they are supposed to lead Hamlet to his death. They are shocked, but soon get over it. When they fall asleep, Hamlet steals the letter and changes the letter so it says Ros and Guild are supposed to die. When Ros and Guild wake up, they find that the play and all of the tragedians are on board and hiding in barrels. The next scene is when Hamlet is gone and Ros and Guild find out that they will die soon. The player talks a lot about death and the meaning of them being actors and acting out death. Ros and Gild have now disappeared from the stage and the play ends with the last scene from Hamlet, Horatio saying the final words.

Author's Style:

There is no narrator in this, since this is a play. Some lines in the play are taken right from Hamlet. The tone a lot of the time seems to be like they are confused. It also isn't too serious most of the time, and some anxiousness is mixed in there as well. They always seem to be trying to figure out something, but never quite get there. There is no imagery in the play, but there is some symbolism with the coin.

Quotes:
1. "Ros: What are you playing at? 
     Guil: Words, words. They're all we have to go on." 
-This is an important quote in the book because it talks about how important language is, but also shows how we have trouble expressing ourselves with words and ultimately get no where with it, just like in this entire place. Most of the time, Ros and Guil were confused, and nothing anyone said really helped them. They spend a great deal of time playing with words and trying to find the meaning of it, and this basically shows how words just don't help all that much.
2. " Audiences know what to expect, and that is all they are prepared to believe in." -Player
- This is a powerful quote from the book, that connects to both theatre and personal lives. The player is basically saying that people have this hyped up version of reality and how things should go, and if things don't go the way they see it going, they don't believe it or something must be wrong. Just like when he talks about death in this scene, he says that people have a vision of how a death should look on stage, and if it is not played out a certain way, then they don't believe it. They will only believe it if it  happens "realistically" on stage, but you need to decide for yourself what "realistic" really is.

Themes: 
No matter how hard you try, you will never be able to fully understand the world and how everything works.
-Ros and Guil pretty much spend the entire play trying to figure out what is going on around them. Whether it's what they should be doing, or how someone died, or where someone went, they're usually confused about it. We see this happen from the very beginning with the play with the coin toss, to the very end with the letter. Ros and Guil are ultimately confused by things like the role of chance in their lives with the coin tossing, and the motives and desires of other characters that they will never know about. As the play goes on, we see them fall into despair because of this confusion, and this shows that you never really know why something happens and they really seemed to struggle with that in the play.