Transformations Summary Notes: Hamlet/Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead
Theme
Context
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Appearance
vs. Reality
and Acting
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Play Within
A PlayMetatheatre
Hamlet
Paradigm shift between religious and the 
enlightenment/humanist movement
Revenge tragedy, written by

Shakespeare in the 1600’s. Canonical.
Historians believe there was a play
similar to Hamlet written prior to
Shakespeare’s called Amleth. Only
fragments remain, so we are not sure
how much of the story is “borrowed”
Ros and Guil
Paradigm shift between modernism
and postmodernist/existentialism
Theatre of the Absurd, written by
Tom Stoppard in the 1960’s
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Acting and real life blurred, exits in
Hamlet are entries in Ros and Guil.
Acting in order to deceive: Hamlet play
mad, Ophelia acts not in love, King acts
innocent and Ros and Guil pretend to be
friends
We do not know just how much the
Queen is acting- did she play a part in
her husbands murder?
Acting out a social role: Hamlet as
Prince of Denmark as well as revenger
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Quote:
 “Seems madam? Nay, it is. I know not
seems”- Hamlet to the Queen.
Irony: Stage death more believable
than real death: “He just wasn’t
convincing”- The Player
 Irony that the Players have a better
sense of identity than Ros and Guil,
even though they act out other
characters as well
Quote:
 “To be tricked out of the single
assumption that makes our
existence viable- that someone is
watching”- The Player highlighting
the importance of an audience.
 Also questions that if God does not
exist, and there is no-one watching
us, who can judge us or know us at
all?
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Murder of Gonzago (The Mouse Trap)
pivotal in determining the King’s guilt,
only see half the play
Draws attention to the fact that Hamlet
is a play- self-reflexivity
We see the full rehearsal for Murder
Of Gonzago. Ros and Guil see their
fates being played out in front of
their eyes, but are oblivious to it:
dramatic irony.
Death
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Death is insignificant
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Death is just “someone failing to
reappear”
Chance plays a large role, what if
Hamlet had not killed Polonius, would
Ophelia have gone mad, would Laertes
conspire with the King to have Hamlet
killed?
 Hamlet accepts his destiny that death is
inevitable
Quote:
 “Providence in the fall of a sparrow”Hamlet

Title of play shows fate is death,
although Stoppard gives them their
own story, it is still bound by the
lines of Hamlet.
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Fate and
Destiny
Character
Portrayal
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Language
Features
Death is dramatic, Hamlet questions
what death is like: existential thought
Christian values highlighted with
Ophelia’s death: suicide is non-Christian
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Hamlet is philosophical, humanist,
procrastinator
Ros and Guil as dimensionless, sponges,
disloyal, interchangeable
Focuses on the monarchy, important
people
Marginalises the common people
Shakespeare uses soliloquies, irony,
allusion, verse and prose
Quote:
 “What a piece of work is man, how
noble in reason, how infinite in
faculties”- Hamlet questioning
humanity, the existence of God and the
purpose of life.
Quote:
 “There must have been a moment
at the beginning, where we could
have said no…. Well we’ll know
better next time”- But Stoppard’s
play was their second chance.
Hamlet as insane, irrational
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Ros and Guil have their own
personalities, naïve, just innocent
people caught up in the intrigues of
royalty
 Focuses on “The Other”, Ros and
Guil as “anti heroes”
Quote:
 “We are little men, we don’t know
the inns and outs of the matter”
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Stoppard utilises word games,
colloquial phrases and allusions.
Quotes:
 Paradox “Act natural”
 Pun: “The toenails on the other
hand”
 Self-reflexivity: “I’d prefer art to
mirror life”
 Biblical allusions: “Give us this day
our daily mask”
 Dramatic Irony: “England. That’s a
dead end”