Dramatic Presentation Of Multiple Personality And Chaotic Society

Tom Stoppard’s masterpiece, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, is a tragicomedy which is indebted to Hamlet by Shakespeare and Waiting for Godot by Beckett. Stoppard creates his play by rewriting Hamlet with the Beckettian writing techniques. In the light of the peculiar relationship of the three plays, the thesis puts the focus on the textual study of Stoppard’s play. Based on the transtextual theory of Gerard Genette, the thesis will carefully dissect the transtextual relationship between Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead and two classics, Hamlet and Waiting for Godot, and then penetratingly explore Stoppard’s innovation in characterization, plot design and thematic issues.First, with the help of the theory of intertextuality and transtextuality, the thesis explores the features of characterization in Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Deaa by analyzing the two protagonists and two supporting roles, and unfolds the multiple and complicated personalities of these characters.Next, the thesis discusses Stoppard’s design of multiple actions by the practice of travesty and pastiche, and the continuation of two off-stage subplots. Stoppard intermingles two opposite dramatic modes to highlight the stylistic contrast which implies the chaos and complexity of social environment.Finally, the thesis discusses two thematic issues that have been demonstrated by Shakespeare and Beckett. Stoppard displays his negative commentary on Shakespeare’s sense of death, indicates his own idea of the eternity of death and meanwhile illuminates uncertainty in certainty from the modern standpoint.In sum, with the help of Hamlet and Waiting for Godot, Stoppard produces his masterpiece, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead in which he complicates the characters and their relationship to present their multiple and ambivalent personality. What’s more, Stoppard uncovers the vital influence of the environment on people through the intertwined story lines. He mixes two opposite dramatic modes to highlight the stylistic contrast which implies the diversity, chaos and complexity of the social environment. Besides, he expresses his understanding of death and the issues of uncertainty and certainty. In his opinion, man’s fear of death comes from the eternity of death rather than the moment of impending death. Concerning the issues of uncertainty and certainty, Stoppard deems that the world people live in and the life people have to taste are filled with uncertainty and certainty at the same time instead of simply being filled with pure uncertainty or certainty.