ROSENCRANTZ AND GUILDENSTERN ARE DEAD: PLOT SUMMARY / NOTES

ACT THREE

SCENE 1: On The Boat

Summary

The scene opens in total darkness, and we hear Guildenstern’s voice. He is trying to determine whether Rosencrantz is there, and where they are. They hear the sound of the sea. Rosencrantz seems incapable of providing a straight answer--he is confused as to whether he can see, think, or feel. Guildenstern is back to being irritated with Rosencrantz’s stupidity full time. They hear sailors yelling boat terminology, and they realize they are on a boat. Hamlet, a ways off, lights a lantern, so the stage is dimly visible.

Rosencrantz confusedly mentions that it seems to be getting lighter outside. He says that, this far north, it will soon be night, and they will have to go to sleep. Guildenstern says that he thinks he might never be able to be doubtful about anything again. Rosencrantz tries to interest him in a stroll, but he refuses, worrying that someone might come in. They stay where they are, and begin to admire the boat. Guildenstern likes the lack of choice on a boat: one never has to decide where to go or what to do, because there is really nowhere to go and nothing to do. Yet he does not feel completely free: he still feels tied to his duty to Claudius, and no amount of exploration or adventure on this boat will cut that tie.

No matter what, he still has to deliver a letter--and Hamlet--to the English King. Rosencrantz seems to be losing his excitement: he is beginning to feel sick, and the salty air did not enthuse him the way he expected. He begins to explore, and discovers Hamlet behind a large beach umbrella. He returns to Guildenstern and urgently whispers the news. Guildenstern is hardly surprised, and asks what Hamlet is doing. When Rosencrantz tells him he is sleeping, Guildenstern bitterly points out that Hamlet can sleep easily, since every decision has been made for him, and he has his two friends to escort him to the place he has to go.

They wait a moment, then Rosencrantz asks what will happen next. Guildenstern explodes at him, asking him what he expects, when they are on a boat with no instructions, relying only on what they either know or were told, which isn’t much. Without answering, Rosencrantz hides a coin in his fist and invites Guildenstern to guess which hand it’s in. Guildenstern guesses right, and Rosencrantz gives him the coin. They repeat this scene several times, until Guildenstern taps both hands so quickly that Rosencrantz opens them both and shows that he has a coin in each. Guildenstern asks him why he would do this, and Rosencrantz reveals that it was a pathetic effort to make Guildenstern happy. Guildenstern suddenly wants to know how much money Claudius gave Rosencrantz. For some reason Rosencrantz doesn’t want to tell him, and turns the question around. There is some “I asked you first” banter, then they decide that they got the same amount, because the King wouldn’t discriminate between them--even if he could. Suddenly Guildenstern realizes that throughout this conversation Rosencrantz has simply been mirroring his own thoughts, never adding anything.

This infuriates Guildenstern, who longs to hear something original. Rosencrantz begins to cry, admitting that he can do nothing but support his smarter, more domineering friend, and Guildenstern relaxes and comforts him. He tries to answer all of Rosencrantz’s questions, but finds himself getting confused. Rosencrantz demands to know exactly how things will go once they get to England--will the King know who they are? Will he care? How will they present Hamlet to him? Guildenstern tells him that the letter they are bringing will solve everything. They simply present the letter to the King and, if there is something in the letter that directs them further, they follow those directions. If not, they can do as they please. Rosencrantz seems to find this too ambiguous. He wants to know what the letter says, so that they can feel like they accomplished something by knowing just what it was they accomplished. Guildenstern suggests that the letter is merely a description of goings on at court, asking of favors, and other basic forms of diplomacy. Rosencrantz suddenly misunderstands the situation, believing that he is supposed to have the letter, which was in fact given to Guildenstern.

He begins to get hysterical, and Guildenstern, for once, wonders rationally why Rosencrantz would get upset about not having it if he never thought he was supposed to have it in the first place. Rosencrantz has no answer for this. Guildenstern, not wanting this debate to go any further, calmly searches for the letter in his own jacket, producing it in a moment. Once they realize that the entire fuss was over nothing, they get somewhat depressed. Rosencrantz, beginning to get hysterical again, blurts out that he doesn’t believe the story about England--why would this foreign King care what they have to say, or believe their story? He just can’t imagine how they will proceed once they get off the boat. Guildenstern tries to explain that nothing is really real until it happens.

They discuss what death might be, since Rosencrantz is beginning to feel almost dead. Guildenstern argues that death is the ultimate Not. It is nothing. Rosencrantz, wishing he was dead and getting upset again, drags Guildenstern into a game in which Rosencrantz pretends to be the English King and Guildenstern speaks as himself and Rosencrantz. During the game, Guildenstern presents the letter with great confidence, and Rosencrantz, excited by pretending, grabs it and rips it open, reading it aloud without thinking. The letter turns out to ask the King to behead Hamlet. They absorb this gravely, not knowing quite what to do. Rosencrantz feels awful-they are Hamlet’s friends. Guildenstern, however, tries to analyze the situation objectively. Everyone dies, he reasons, and besides, no one knows what death is like, so it might actually be very nice. Rosencrantz tries to protest, wondering why this should happen, especially when Hamlet has done nothing to them, but Guildenstern refuses to allow either of these lines of thought to intrude in his rationalization. Rosencrantz tries to clarify the situation: they were awakened one morning by a summons from the King of Denmark, to try to comfort their old friend Hamlet and find out what is wrong with him.

Hamlet stages a play which seems to upset a lot of people, and murders Polonius, so is being sent to England for his own good and the good of the court. During Rosencrantz’s short speech, Hamlet appears behind them. He blows out his lantern, and the stage goes black for a few moments. When the moon comes out to light the stage, Hamlet can be seen approaching the sleeping Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. He takes their letter, and replaces it with another. He then blows out the lantern, and it is morning. Rosencrantz gets up, still trying to establish which way is west, and recites the most recent information he has to work with.

They hear a recorder playing, and Guildenstern gets very excited. He tells Rosencrantz to go find its source. He seems to believe that this will lead to something important. Rosencrantz reluctantly searches out the sound, finding the Tragedians in a group of barrels on deck. The Player emerges joyously, banging on the other barrels. He explains that they are still in costume from the play, because the play upset the King and they had to leave quickly, without even being paid. They are stowaways on the boat. Guildenstern explains that, at the moment, he and Rosencrantz are not under any real obligation. They can relax and do whatever they want--to a point.

Rosencrantz describes Hamlet to the Player--introspection is his major characteristic, according to Rosencrantz--and Hamlet comes forward to spit over the side of the boat, into the audience. Guildenstern gives a long list of Hamlet’s symptoms, which again leads them nowhere. They recite everything that they now know, including the Player’s recent escape from the King, and Rosencrantz angrily demands some coherence, a little action.

Immediately, pirates attack the boat. Hamlet, the Player, and Rosencrantz and Guildenstern all escape by jumping into barrels. The stage goes black, and when the lights come up again, everyone emerges from their barrels except Hamlet, who has disappeared. The Player explains that he is gone, and not coming back. Infuriated, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern argue that Hamlet can’t be gone-without him, they can’t have their freedom. The Player tells them to simply bring their letter to the English King and explain what has happened. Meanwhile, he tells them, just relax. This time, it is Guildenstern who finds it hard to swallow, so they repeat their game, with Guildenstern playing the English King this time. When he reads the letter aloud, he finds that it now asks the King to murder Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. They are, of course, shocked.

The Player kicks another barrel, shouting for his troupe to come out. They all form a menacing circle around Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. Guildenstern tries to determine what they could have done to avoid this end, and they both wonder why they are suddenly so important as to deserve to be killed. The Player tries to comfort them, telling them that most things end in death, but Guildenstern becomes furious. He grabs a knife from the Player’s belt and holds it against his throat, telling him that their acting has nothing to do with death--death is not dramatic. He stabs the Player, and as the Player is dying, cries out to the crowd that since there are no reasons for him and Rosencrantz, there will be none for the Player either.

Abruptly the Player gets back up again, smiling, and shows Guildenstern that the knife had a collapsing blade. He tells him that dramatic death is, clearly, the only kind of death people believe in. It’s what they expect. He calls for a show from his troupe, and they all die dramatically--in exactly the same ways that their play’s characters died in Hamlet. During this scene, in which even the Player falls, Guildenstern protests. Death is not anything, he argues again, death is nothing, so, he seems to mean, it cannot be represented. The light falls until only Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are visible. There doesn’t seem to be anything left to do. Quietly, Rosencrantz wonders aloud why they cannot simply assert themselves. No one can make them leave, he says, and they’ve done nothing wrong. When he gets no answer, he finally gives up, and says he is relieved to be going. He disappears, and Guildenstern does not notice. He wonders whether they could ever have refused their duty. He looks around for his friend, murmurs that “we’ll know better next time,” and also disappears.

Immediately, the stage brightens, and the entire court is revealed dead, just as it happens in Hamlet, and just as it happened a few moments before with the Tragedians. An ambassador from England is telling Hamlet’s friend Horatio, the only survivor, that they have killed Rosencrantz and Guildenstern as planned. Horatio begins to explain what has happened, but music swells over his voice, and the stage darkens.

Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead by Tom Stoppard: Free Book Notes Summary

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