Summary and Analysis of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead by Tom Stoppard

Author
Tom Stoppard

Setting
1. Traveling along an undistinguished road to Elsinore
2. Elsinore
3. The boat to England
*In reality, the entire play takes place within the theater car*

Characters
Rosencrantz: Gentleman and childhood friend of Hamlet. Simple-minded, content, adventurous and analyzing but remains reserved in expression.
Guildenstern: Gentleman and childhood friend of Hamlet. Tries way too hard to seem educated and powerful. Constantly in battle with, and disconnected to the intellectual concepts of the world.
The Player: Leader of the Tragedians. Constantly in power and in the position of manipulation with the other characters.
Tragedians: Group of traveling actors.

Plot

Act One

1. R & G play a game of coins and banter
2. They realize that they were sent for, but fail to remember what for.
3. The Player and the Tragedians are introduced and offer to perform child pornography. The Player manipulates R & G into allowing them to perform in Elsinore through a bet.
4. Suddenly, they arrive in Elsinore and are thrown into the middle of the first confrontation between Hamlet and Ophelia, the proceed to become involved in the drama of Hamlet. 
5. "off-stage" they try to play the question game but fail, then are reinserted into Hamlet.

Act Two

1. Fade in at the end of their conversation with Hamlet, the one where Hamlet makes complete fools of them. "were you sent for?"
2. Try to figure out where they are again using a train of thought referring to the wind and sun, ultimately getting nowhere.
3. Player has long dialogue about what it means to be an actor
4. Hamlet's play disturbs Elsinore and R & G are asked to look for Polonius' body
5. They "capture" him and are ordered to escort him to England.

Act Three

1. On the boat to England R & G read the letter they were given and discover that they are escorting Hamlet to his death.
2. Hamlet switches out the letters and escape from the ship with a bunch of pirates; The Tragedians appear on the ship
3. Guildenstern kills the Player, but, to G's surprise, it was a fake death with a stage prop (example of how the Player is in control)
4. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are dead
5. Horatio gives final speech in Hamlet and the lights fall.

Quotes
"Words, words. They're all we have to go on." (41) -Guildenstern
This is something that G says during one of his rambling banters with R. From the reader's perspective, this statement is very true. Everything in the textual version of the play is written out in words, We aren't watching the play, so we have no visual aid other than the literal lettering. This is important because there is so much in this play that can be overlooked and misunderstood because we are not physically watching it, much like how R & G are often left in the dark. Here is a connection between the text-audience and the characters.

Theme
Okay, so here is the thing. We didn't really finish this in our class, so I don't really have anything specific to write about. HOWEVER, the concept of this play's theme is not totally lost because I managed to write my open prompt essay blog post using Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead. So, when it comes to AP essay studying time, the sure-fire option for me will be to designate 3-4 hours of staring at a wall and contemplating the meaning of life in accordance to this play. That's basically what I did in class, and I think it did me wonders. Here, ambiguity and disorganization is key.