Rosencrantz And Guildenstern Are Dead
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead
A tragic hero is a person of a higher class that experiences a fall from greatness. Tom Stoppard’s play, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, displays two characters, R and G, who are clearly not tragic heroes. R and G are not tragic heroes because they do not, in any way, experience a fall from greatness, and also they do not exhibit any characteristics that even render them “alive”, let alone a hero.
Unlike Hamlet who falls from greatness as a result of his poor decisions, R and G merely happen to be in an inconvenient position. They did not experience a fall from greatness because they were never in the position of greatness in the first place. It is seen from the beginning of the play that R and G are used as pawns. For example, Claudius and Gertrude call them in to give them orders. They do not recognize R and G as important human being, and do not have the tendency to even remember their individual names; R and G are seen more of as servants that attend to Claudius and Gertrude’s orders and are meaningless to the king and queen. R and G do not take control of their own lives but attend to orders of people superior to them and that is what defines their lives.
Their death is not something that was caused because of their own decisions. R and G’s deaths result from them attending to the orders of Hamlet. Even to their best friend, Hamlet, R and G are seen as someone that he can manipulate to his advantages and get rid of in the end which is seen in the end of the play when R and G find the letter that says that they are sentenced to death when they get off the ship. The events that lead of their death is not their fall from greatness because, the events are not the result of R and G’s personal actions but a result of Hamlet’s actions. R and G do not take any part in the cause of their own death. Throughout the beginning they are seen as pawns and in the end they are also seen as pawns whose fates are decided by someone
A tragic hero is a person of a higher class that experiences a fall from greatness. Tom Stoppard’s play, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, displays two characters, R and G, who are clearly not tragic heroes. R and G are not tragic heroes because they do not, in any way, experience a fall from greatness, and also they do not exhibit any characteristics that even render them “alive”, let alone a hero.
Unlike Hamlet who falls from greatness as a result of his poor decisions, R and G merely happen to be in an inconvenient position. They did not experience a fall from greatness because they were never in the position of greatness in the first place. It is seen from the beginning of the play that R and G are used as pawns. For example, Claudius and Gertrude call them in to give them orders. They do not recognize R and G as important human being, and do not have the tendency to even remember their individual names; R and G are seen more of as servants that attend to Claudius and Gertrude’s orders and are meaningless to the king and queen. R and G do not take control of their own lives but attend to orders of people superior to them and that is what defines their lives.
Their death is not something that was caused because of their own decisions. R and G’s deaths result from them attending to the orders of Hamlet. Even to their best friend, Hamlet, R and G are seen as someone that he can manipulate to his advantages and get rid of in the end which is seen in the end of the play when R and G find the letter that says that they are sentenced to death when they get off the ship. The events that lead of their death is not their fall from greatness because, the events are not the result of R and G’s personal actions but a result of Hamlet’s actions. R and G do not take any part in the cause of their own death. Throughout the beginning they are seen as pawns and in the end they are also seen as pawns whose fates are decided by someone