POINT OF VIEW

Since Rosencrantz is a play, there isnÂ’t as much opportunity for point of view as there might be in a novel. A novel can devote much time to describing one personÂ’s experience of everything around him or her. Rosencrantz, of course, cannot do that, but it does seem to ally the reader much more closely with Guildenstern than with any other character.

This is interesting because it can be argued that Rosencrantz is actually more sympathetic than his friend: he pities Hamlet, and he is innocent about pornography. Nevertheless, the reader likely tends to look to Guildenstern for the most reasoned account of the confused happenings of the play. Though he does not often seem to understand very well what is going on, he at least understands that he does not understand it.

This separates him from Rosencrantz, who does not seem to care very much what happens to him; from the Player, whose only goals are selfish; from Claudius, who is desperately trying to cover his lies; and from Hamlet himself, who is rarely forthcoming with his thoughts and feelings. Guildenstern is at times the voice of reason--though he also can be completely absurd. He therefore sometimes leaves the audience with no one at all to turn to, stuck in the middle of a group of people who canÂ’t tell day from night.

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