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Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead
Fan fiction: a term used to describe literature which takes the plot and/or characters from another’s work, and rewrites or continues the story. Fan fiction was popularized in the 1990s as electronic mailing lists spread, online fan fiction archives were created, and websites dedicated to the writing style were born.
However, fan fiction existed in other forms long before the advent of the internet. In theatre, pastiche is the term used to describe a piece that imitates another. The 1966 play Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead by Tom Stoppard is a cult classic, at least among English Literature students. Stoppard’s play takes two characters from Shakespeare’s Hamlet as its starting point and uses the plot of the classic tale as its framework. The timeline of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead runs primarily in between the scenes of Hamlet, following the interactions of these two minor characters as they are off stage in the original play. Stoppard ‘reads between the lines’ of Shakespeare’s original to produce an absurdist reflection on the darker themes of Hamlet.
Fans of Shakespeare’s masterpiece will recognize the story as it unfolds in the background of Stoppard’s play. Some of the scenes overlap: Hamlet’s famous “to be or not to be” speech naturally takes place during Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead as well. However, instead of recounting Hamlet’s existential crisis, the two characters aimlessly watch Hamlet wandering alone. They converse:
Guildenstern: What’s he doing?
Rosencrantz: Nothing.
Guildenstern: He must be doing something.
Rosencrantz: Walking.
Guildenstern: On his hands.
Rosencrantz: No, on his feet.
Guildenstern: Stark naked?
Rosencrantz: Fully dressed.
Guildenstern: Selling toffee apples?
Rosencrantz: Not that I noticed.
Guildenstern: You could be wrong?
Rosencrantz: I don’t think so.
Taking one of literature’s most famous plays and turning it into a farcical tragicomedy, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead allows the viewer to interact with Hamlet in ways in which the author never would have imagined. Stoppard’s play examines a classic story from an entirely different angle, essentially re-finishing Shakespeare’s original.
Similarly to The Second Hand, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead reminds us that we have a tendency to constantly rework one another’s ideas, be that in the realm of fiction, music, or art.