ACT TWO

SCENE TWO: Things Start to Fall Apart at the Castle

Notes (continued)

They also consistently confuse each other: at times, the audience seems to understand their conversation better than they do themselves. They speak vaguely and do not follow through their thoughts--another reason why they rarely come to a decision. This is one of the greatest sources of comedy in the play, and there is a strong physicality to it which one must see the play to experience. When Rosencrantz and Guildenstern go through the motions of making a grand decision to look for Hamlet, only to return to their original positions minutes later, the audience cannot help but laugh, even though two people so bumbling are surely doomed (their silliness prevents them from accomplishing anything, ever.) Even they are surprised when their actions are successful.

Their idea for a trap (their two belts tied together) is so ridiculous that only someone like them might fall for it. They assume that Hamlet, like them, is prisoner of a grand dramatic scheme, so that if they lay a trap for him, he would have no choice but to fall into it. If one thinks about this for a moment, it becomes rather sad: Hamlet has a freedom that confounds these two men, who have never experienced it. But Stoppard never allows us to get too caught up in their pitiful situation: he uses their pathetic scheme as a chance to let RosencrantzÂ’s pants fall down. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern often try to fake their way through situations they do not understand.

When the King asks for Hamlet and they donÂ’t know where he is, they cannot admit that; instead, they stall. This is a big part of their problem: they live in a world that makes it impossible to just say, "Wait! Stop! I donÂ’t understand! What exactly do you want me to do, and why?" Their role in life demands that they keep moving, going about their duties, without hesitating or questioning. Claudius does, therefore, play some role in their inability to get their bearings: their fear and awe in his presence forces them to act without understanding. In a rare show of imagery, Stoppard describes autumn, using Guildenstern as a mouthpiece.

Though described almost entirely through different shades of brown, this autumn seems to have much to do with death. He talks about the baked earth, a "brownness at the edges of the day." Everything sounds dead, at an end, and somewhat ominous. Stoppard, who usually avoids lyrical passages in Rosencrantz, seems similar to the players: heÂ’s best at "doing death." It is perhaps no accident that this description is fitted in between HamletÂ’s conversation with the soldier about the impending war against Poland, with Denmark and Norway as allies.

Since Stoppard has selected only a few direct scenes from Hamlet to include in his own play, it is significant that he has highlighted the political aspect of Hamlet that most modern productions of the play leave out. (ShakespeareÂ’s play takes place on the brink of a war, in which Denmark and Norway are allied against Poland, and Norse soldiers are occupying Denmark.)

Guildenstern, however, who has always been proud of his ability to analyze situations, seems to have analyzed himself into a corner. He is no longer sure that freedom really exists, and he is beginning to feel hopeless. Finally Rosencrantz convinces him to move, but the viewer might get the sense that things are taking a turn for the worse: Guildenstern, who used to be excited about symbols, omens and double meanings, now seems to believe that nothing has any meaning. Rosencrantz, on the other hand, seems caught up in life at the castle--he no longer cares what the grand meaning of it all is, he just wants to get one step ahead of where he is at the moment. One gets the sense that they are falling deeper into an inescapable well.

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