Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead
             Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead is a play that deals with the Theater of the absurd. It is connected to the tragedy, Hamlet, which is helpful in understanding Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead. Tom Stoppard incorporates scenes from Hamlet in the play, which helps communicate the knowledge gained by the two men. Although the play is not readily identified with the mystery or detective genre, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead confronts the mystery of the two men's own identity and situation to illuminate the theme that one must be true to oneself to have any self worth and to show the absurdity of their lives and situations.
             Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are minor characters in Hamlet and have no real identities. Stoppard only furthers this notion of the men not being true individuals. In the beginning of the play, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are walking for no apparent reason and do not know where they are going until they realize that the King has sent for them. The men do not have a grasp of their situation throughout the play. When they reach the King, he tells them to spy on Hamlet and they do as they are told. The two men are willing to spy on their own friend without hesitation and are unable to make decisions for themselves, which will keep them from being individuals.
             The men are also mysteriously transformed from one destination to another. In one instance, they magically emerge in the scene with Hamlet and Ophelia and in another scene they are magically transported to another scene in which the men are in a boat with Hamlet. Stoppard uses the absurdity of the men's random movements to show that the men do not have control of their own lives or situations. These men are puppets in the play, with no true identities. They serve no apart purpose but to movement the plot along.
             Throughout the play, many character mistaken Rosencrantz for Guildenstern and Guildenstern...