In Act I of Tom Stoppard's Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead; Essay

In Act I of Tom Stoppard's Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead; there is interplay in an absurd world between light and dark. Using examples from the play, which one achieves primacy in Act I - Essay Example This however does not bother them. They are transported to Hamlet’s castle after their meeting the player on his stage. In a span of time they switch into old English speaking and are interacting with other characters in the play soonest Shakespeare unfolds the story around them. Once alone, the duo is back to modern English speaking even as the player acts in the Hamlet story without their recognition that they are characters in it. Cleverly, Shakespeare does not distinguish them always treating them as a pair without either of them having a name to their identity. Hamlet forges a letter to the King of England that leads to the duo being hanged because of the revelation of their purpose of life which is similar to the story. From his performance knowledge, the player understands and strives to indirectly explain to the duo, but they do not understand their role in the happenings or even the plays purpose (Stoppard, Pg.105). Out of the duo, there is one who is smart and the other stupid though until the play ends, none of them understands the happenings in the play. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern can be any two persons, and this makes the play one of absurd existentialism. By going through life without full knowledge of our roles, our existing purposes and working hard yet being pushed by life to give up and let things happen in and around us. We do not fully understand how we are part of a greater story that we can see even if anyone tried to lay it bare before our eyes we may not see. To determine if light and dark achieve primacy in Act 1, we see that with the constant coin flip by Guildenstern and the same repeated results shows the difference of the play from Shakespeare’s Hamlet. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are dynamic and comprehensive and are only in play to support roles. In that, essentially the play is not about them they are simply being controlled and this is they show while on stage attempting to discover the stage