Does free will exist? How vital are people's choices in affecting the world? In Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead by Tom Stoppard, the issue of choice is a theme that permeates the story, and whether people are fated to make decisions. The critical response and analysis of Stoppard's play "An Analysis upon Tom Stoppard's "Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead" by Hüseyin Baş provides information on the different themes within the play. "There are several themes into the play such as meaningless nature of the world, hardness of making true choices, the art vs. reality and existentialism." (Baş "Analysis," 2) It contains ideas in reference to meta-theatre and informs the reader on how Stoppard portrays the two main characters as representative
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He is not the minor character, but the catalyst as he sees the world as it is and acts in a way that will help himself. Hamlet is the main character of the play Hamlet, he is a man attempting to show that Claudius is guilty of murder and who has gone out of his mind due to this knowledge. At the end of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead the two characters Rosencrantz and Guildenstern open the letter which will be given to the king of England in order to sentence Hamlet to his death. Hamlet is there in the background watching when they open, and when they decide to hand the letter to the king anyways he is angry. In the play, it has Hamlet spit at the audience to show his disgust at them for betraying him too. "HAMLET comes down to footlights and regards the audience. The others watch but don't speak. HAMLET clears his throat noisily and spits into the audience." (Stoppard, Rosencrantz 59) Guildenstern is the primary reason why they betray Hamlet as he convinces Rosencrantz that death is not something to be feared when it is unknown what happens. Therefore his reasoning is hypocritical since he betrays Hamlet out of fear for his own death. Afterwards, Hamlet betrays them in turn by replacing his name with theirs showing that Hamlet, the opposite of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, has control over events. Hamlet represents a person with power over his life while the two characters Rosencrantz and Guildenstern have no potential for choice. However, the person who seems to have the greatest control over events within the story is, in fact, The
He is not the minor character, but the catalyst as he sees the world as it is and acts in a way that will help himself. Hamlet is the main character of the play Hamlet, he is a man attempting to show that Claudius is guilty of murder and who has gone out of his mind due to this knowledge. At the end of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead the two characters Rosencrantz and Guildenstern open the letter which will be given to the king of England in order to sentence Hamlet to his death. Hamlet is there in the background watching when they open, and when they decide to hand the letter to the king anyways he is angry. In the play, it has Hamlet spit at the audience to show his disgust at them for betraying him too. "HAMLET comes down to footlights and regards the audience. The others watch but don't speak. HAMLET clears his throat noisily and spits into the audience." (Stoppard, Rosencrantz 59) Guildenstern is the primary reason why they betray Hamlet as he convinces Rosencrantz that death is not something to be feared when it is unknown what happens. Therefore his reasoning is hypocritical since he betrays Hamlet out of fear for his own death. Afterwards, Hamlet betrays them in turn by replacing his name with theirs showing that Hamlet, the opposite of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, has control over events. Hamlet represents a person with power over his life while the two characters Rosencrantz and Guildenstern have no potential for choice. However, the person who seems to have the greatest control over events within the story is, in fact, The