文学讨论

　　How do audiences react to Rosencrantz and Guildenstern's deaths in the parody of the Shakespearean play "Rosencrantz and Guildernstern are dead" by T. Stoppard？

　　In the final moments of the play, “Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are dead” by Tom Stoppard, the death of Guil and Ros might evoke emotions such as confusion, anger, pity and sadness in the audience. The audience only reacted in such a way to the final scene because they have developed deep sympathy for the two characters throughout the play.

　　Though there were many scenes in the play where events such as the tragedian’s mime, foreshadowed the death of Ros and Guil, the audience would’ve still been baffled when their ends seemed inevitable. This is because the play constantly placed the audience in a very confused state by the sudden change of scenes, and seemingly random events such as getting ‘heads’ on a flipped coin 92 times consecutively. After all these disconnected events that Ros and Guil are placed through, the audience would’ve been influenced by the play’s randomness and instinctively overlook even the most obvious omen of death for Ros and Guil – the title of the play. So when death does suddenly fall upon them, the audience would’ve felt more surprised than sad. Surprised, because the moment before, the tragedians were still performing a theatrical show of possible deaths, and the moment after, this death has befallen onto Ros and Guil.
　　To the audience, Ros and Guil would’ve seemed more like clowns, than actual people at their same level. The constant absurdity and randomness distances Ros and Guil from the audience, because the majority cannot relate to Ros and Guil’s abrupt thought processes. This would’ve been the main reason why, at first, the audience may have felt only baffled or disappointed at their deaths, as if a funny program on display has suddenly been cut short, no sadness is felt for the entertainers, only disappointment that they are no longer there to entertain.
　　The audience may also have reacted with disbelief, half expecting Ros and Guil to pop up suddenly as the lights come back on, as they have been always during the last two acts. This sense of disbelief continues even when the Ambassador confirmed the death of Ros and Guil by saying “tell him his commandment is fulfilled”. This reaction from the audience is actually a direct reflection in the player’s words in Act two “audiences know what to expect, and that is all that they are prepared to believe in.” The passive attitude of Ros and Guil towards their lives has made the audience believe that no immediate death will come upon them, so the audience would’ve refused to believe that they are dead in the final scene. The fact that the play did not actually physically display Ros and Guil’s deaths made their death even less convincing, as the majority of people only believe in what they see onstage, and before their eyes.
　　A sense of pity would’ve also arisen from the audience when they have sensed the dread in Ros’s speech between lines 12 and 19. “we’re still young…we’ve got years…” this evasive attitude towards death that Ros show before his end evokes pity because the audience knew that no matter how much Ros and Guil wanted to deny death, they are still marked for it. The pathetic yet desperate cry “We’ve done nothing wrong!” that Ros let out when he realises that he and his friend will not be spared, brings out more pity from the audience because Ros is right. Even though Ros and Guil have done nothing wrong, and are themselves law abiding citizens, they are still bound to die because their fate has literally, been “written” like the actors in play. This sense of inevitable and destined death would’ve made the audience remember what the player has said in Act two “(who decides) …it is written.” It was the fact that the audience knew that Ros and Guil were “written” to die that they react with pity when they see Ros and Guil struggling to avoid death.
　　Along with pity, there may be also anger. The passive attitude that Ros and Guil took towards events that led up to their deaths may have been frustrating for some audiences. For example, if Guil had been decisive and courageous enough to destroy the death sentence letter intended for Hamlet, neither Hamlet nor themselves would’ve been killed. Instead of taking action against all the confusion around them, Ros and Guil insisted upon going with the flow of others just because “(they’ve) come so far” already, and can’t be bothered to change. This sense of anger may have been further enhanced by the attitude that they treated death with. Guil says “We’ll know better next time” when he resigns to his fate, as if life was a game where if you press the restart button,you will have another chance. In contrast of Ros and Guil’s passiveness, Hamlet’s actions, though indecisive, are full of intentions for change and a meaning result. Subsequently, unlike Ros and Guil, Hamlet died with a purpose and knowledge of why he died. This contrast shows how, in a way, Ros and Guil’s deaths have been brought upon them by themselves.
　　It was only when the audience saw how both Guil and even Ros, who is usually very pragmatic, were full of dread, that the audience realise that they are just normal men besides their absurb actions and therefore would’ve felt sympathy for Ros and Guil. It was this “everyman” role Ros and Guil took on that related them to the audience, because everyone is fearful of death, especially when they have done nothing to deserve it.
　　Only when the audience related to Ros and Guil, will their deaths be felt deeply for. So some audiences may have felt bitter sadness for Ros and Guil. They were just innocent men who got dragged out of their depths and killed because they have no idea of what their situations implied when they were sent for.
　　Like shakspear has said in “As you like it”- “All the world’s a stage”, Ros and Guil to the audience were mere actors who didn’t make any decisions in life but rely on what they were given by chance. By having related to Ros and Guil‘s “average-everyday-man” roles the audience may have realised that, what the theatre showed was a close reflection of real life. Many decisions would’ve seemed pointless in real life because there seemed to be no immediate result to it, but by placing oneself into Ros and Guil’s shoes, the audience may have realised that any action is better than conformation.
　　This sudden inspiration might have been the reaction of some of the audience to the final scene in Stoppard’s play. This realisation might also have been one of the most important ideas that Stoppard aims to emphasise to his audience by the abrupt deaths of his protagonists – that one will be “marked” for death or failure if one cannot make decisions and react actively against events that may be harmful to themselves and others they care about.
　　From the final scene of Ros and Guil’s deaths, the audience may have felt pity and sadness towards the end of two innocent lives, or they may have felt angry at the attitude that has led the downfall of Ros and Guil, such as “I don’t care, I’ve had enough…”. Or, they may have felt a likeness between the sad ends of Ros and Guil and how some contemporary citizens die pointlessly after living through a life of no meaning or understanding of the events around them at all. Different audiences may react differently to the end of Stoppard’s play, but all of these evoked emotions would’ve taught the audience one thing – to not live life like Ros and Guil have.

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