Essay Comparing Rosencrantz And Guildenstern Are Dead

Normally an author wouldn't say whether or not they have been directly influenced by another author or playwright. When you actually read their work however, it becomes clear that some authors share common views on certain subjects or admire another author or playwright so much that their own style begins to directly reflect the work of another. I believe this is the same connection shared by the modern dramatists and absurdist writers Tom Stoppard and Samuel Beckett. The connection between these two authors is clearly shown through the study of Waiting for Godot and Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, from Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, are very similar to Beckett's characters Vladimir

In Waiting for Godot, Didi and Gogo are waiting with constant frustration and uncertainty for possible answers to life's questions. They feel that Godot may hold the answers. They pretty much can't, and don't, make decisions for themselves; instead they'd rather wait and see what Godot would do. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are trying to understand the meaning of the events which they find out are actually carrying them to their own deaths. They exist in an atmosphere of uncertainty and confusion. They're essentially two characters lost in their own play. In a way they are actually waiting for Hamlet. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern also have difficulty in making decisions for themselves. They are essentially the kings pawns, doing everything he says. This becomes clear when they don't even prevent they're own deaths. Instead of attempting to change their fate, they simply go with the flow. They go on to England and try and follow their original plan; which ultimately leads to their

The characters in these plays show a fear of falling out of sight. The Player in Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead explains: " You don't understand the humiliation of it– to be tricked out of the single assumption that makes our existence viable– that somebody is watching." If no one is watching then they are pretty much useless as actors. They play to audiences to be seen and heard, and if no one is their watching it is all pretty much useless. Estragon states on page 56: (to Vlad.) "Don't take your eyes off me." And on page 58, Vladimir says as part of a speech: " .... at me someone is looking." These lines point at an unseen audience. They are afraid to fall out of sight because that would mean that they would no longer exist. This suggest that they may possibly be aware that they are actually part of a play also. And thus their lives would be defined by the