Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead - Cherokee County Schools

Act II Summary
As characters from Hamlet continue to come and go, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern ruminate about their
continued confusion. Eventually, the Player arrives and complains about how the two courtiers disappeared
(in Act I at the lighting change) when his troupe was performing. He complains that as actors he and his
troupe need an audience to complete their sense of identity. Hamlet has asked the tragedians to perform The
Murder of Gonzago and since the Player seems to be "a man who knows his way around," Guildenstern asks
for advice. The Player tells them to accept uncertainty as a natural part of human life. As Rosencrantz and
Guildenstern speculate about their future, the question of control, and the nature of death, Claudius and
Gertrude re-enter and once again sweep Rosencrantz and Guildenstern into their Shakespearean roles. As the
characters from Hamlet come and go, the acting troupe eventually returns to rehearse The Murder of Gonzago,
but this rehearsal is interrupted by scenes involving other characters from Hamlet and gradually evolves
beyond the rehearsal of The Murder of Gonzago as it appears in Hamlet to a summary of events that occur
later in the play, including the death of Polonius and the deaths of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern themselves.
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern don't quite understand that it is their own deaths being enacted, but
Guildenstern is rattled by the suggestion and accuses the actors of not understanding death. A blackout brings
the action back to Hamlet and the frantic conclusion of The Murder of Gonzago.
Suddenly it is sunrise, the next day, and Claudius enters and commands Rosencrantz and Guildenstern to
accompany Hamlet to England. As Rosencrantz and Guildenstern wonder about how to find Hamlet, he
appears, dragging the body of Polonius. They join their two belts to capture him, but Hamlet evades them as
Rosencrantz's trousers fall down. Eventually, Hamlet is brought to Claudius by others and the stage lighting
changes once more to reveal that Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are again outdoors. They are taking Hamlet to
England.
Act III Summary
Act III opens in pitch darkness with soft sea sounds and sailor voices indicating that Rosencrantz and
Guildenstern are on a boat. Gradually, light pirates attack the ship and in the confused battle that follows
Hamlet, the Player, and Rosencrantz and Guildenslern leap into the three barrels. After the fight is over, only
the Player and Rosencrantz and Guildenstern reappear. Hamlet is now gone, but as Rosencrantz and
Guildenstern look at the letter again they discovered that the letter Hamlet substituted now instructs the King
of England to put them to death. All the players re-emerge from one of the barrels and form a menacing circle
around Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. The Player offers philosophizing words, but the enraged Guildenstern
snatches a dagger from his belt and stabs the Player in the throat, appearing to kill him. However, the dagger
is retractable, the Player rises, and the tragedians act out several kinds of deaths as the light dims, leaving only
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern on stage. Rosencrantz proclaims that he has "had enough" and disappears.
Guildenstern calls for his friend, realizes he's gone, and disappears himself.
Immediately, the stage is flooded with light and the characters appear from the tableau of corpses that ends
Shakespeare's tragedy. An Ambassador from England announces that Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are dead,
and Hamlet's friend, Horatio, ends the play by pointing out that "purposes mistook [have] fallen on the
inventor's heads."
Biography
Tom Stoppard (pronounced Stop-pard, with equal accents on both syllables) was born Tomas Straussler in
Czechoslovakia on July 3, 1937. His name was changed when his mother married British army major Kenneth
Act II Summary 3