26 Rosencrantz And Guildenstern Are Dead Quotes From Tom Stoppard's Weird And Wonderful Play
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'Rosencrantz And Guildenstern Are Dead' written by Tom Stoppard, brought him fame and recognition instantly.
His play takes the famous tale 'Hamlet' by William Shakespeare and puts his own little twist. Instead of Hamlet's main characters, Tom's version is portrayed from the point of view of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, who are the side characters of the original.
In 'Rosencrantz And Guildenstern Are Dead', the story is set in a mysterious premise where the duo meander about their world flipping a coin which seems to be landing only with heads facing up.
After enough tries, all of which saw the coin land heads facing up, they conclude that their world might not follow the traditional laws of nature.
This brings them to the next problem, as they fail to recollect why they have been wandering about in the first place. Later in the play, various other characters are introduced, and after playing several games, they begin to stray farther from reality.
The play's name is brought about in a confusing moment when an Ambassador from England finds the dead bodies of the essential characters, to which he says, "Rosencrantz And Guildenstern Are Dead".
The play mainly tries to convey the meaning of life and its choices in a complex world while trying to evade the inevitability called death.
Dive into this mysterious world with these fascinating quotes from 'Rosencrantz And Guildenstern Are Dead'. We have more such quotes to read, once you're done with this one, right here with 'The Metamorphosis' quotes and famous Hamlet quotes.
'Rosencrantz And Guildenstern Are Dead' Existentialism Quotes
The world in 'Rosencrantz And Guildenstern Are Dead' is so confusing, that we tend to question our existence along with the characters.
1. "We cross our bridges when we come to them and burn them behind us, with nothing to show for our progress except a memory of the smell of smoke, and a presumption that once our eyes watered."
-Guildenstern.
2. "Guildenstern: Well…aren't you going to change into your costume?
Player: I never change out of it, sir."
- Tom Stoppard, 'Rosencrantz And Guildenstern Are Dead'.
3. "We keep to our usual stuff, more or less, only inside out. We do on stage the things that are supposed to happen off. Which is a kind of integrity, if you look on every exit being an entrance somewhere else."
-Player, 'Rosencrantz And Guildenstern Are Dead'.
4. "The colours red, blue and green are real. The colour yellow is a mystical experience shared by everybody."
-Guildenstern.
5. "We’ve travelled too far, and our momentum has taken over; we move idly towards eternity, without possibility of reprieve or hope of explanation."
-Guildenstern.
6. "Man might be moved to re-examine his faith ... in the law of probability."
-Guildenstern.
7. "We are tied down to a language which makes up in obscurity what it lacks in style."
-Player, 'Rosencrantz And Guildenstern Are Dead'.
8. "Be happy—if you’re not even happy what’s so good about surviving? We’ll be all right. I suppose we just go on."
-Rosencrantz.
9. "The scientific approach to the examination of phenomena is ... defense against the ... emotion of fear."
-Guildenstern.
10. "Life is a gamble, at terrible odds. If it were a bet you wouldn’t take it."
-Player, 'Rosencrantz And Guildenstern Are Dead'.
'Rosencrantz And Guildenstern Are Dead' Quotes About Fate
Fate is part of the message of the play for the viewer, here are some quotes from Tom Stoppard that show us why.
11. "The only beginning is birth and the only end is death - if you can't count on that, what can you count on?"
-Guildenstern.
12. "The sun came up about as often as it went down, in the long run, and a coin showed heads about as often as it showed tails. Then a messenger arrived. We had been sent for. Nothing else happened."
-Guildenstern.
13. "Whatever became of the moment when one first knew about death? There must have been one. A moment. In childhood. When it first occurred to you that you don't go on forever."
-Rosencrantz.
14. "Death is the ultimate negative. Not-being. You can't not be on a boat."
-Guildenstern.
15. "By this time tomorrow, we might have forgotten everything we ever knew."
-Player, 'Rosencrantz And Guildenstern Are Dead'.
16. "We must be born with an intuition of mortality."
-Player, 'Rosencrantz And Guildenstern Are Dead'.
17. "Ninety-two coins spun consecutively have come down heads ninety-two consecutive times…and for the last three minutes on the wind of a windless day I have heard the sound of drums and flute."
-Guildenstern.
18. "Keep tight hold and continue while there's time."
-Guildenstern.
19. "Inside where nothing shows, I am the essence of a man spinning double-headed coins, and betting against himself in private atonement for an unremembered past."
-Guildenstern.
Famous Quotes From 'Rosencrantz And Guildenstern Are Dead'
Some quotes to note from the play by Tom Stoppard to keep our minds occupied on those sleepless nights.
20. "Rosencrantz: What are you playing at?
Guildenstern: Words, words. They’re all we have to go on."
-'Rosencrantz And Guildenstern Are Dead'.
21. "All your life you live so close to truth it becomes a permanent blur in the corner of your eye."
-Guildenstern.
22. "A man talking sense to himself is no madder than a man talking nonsense not to himself."
-Guildenstern.
23. "Life in a box is better than no life at all, I expect."
-Rosencrantz.
24. "Before we know the words for it, before we know that there are words, out we come, bloodied and squalling with the knowledge that for all the compasses in the world, there's only one direction, and time is its only measure."
-Player, 'Rosencrantz And Guildenstern Are Dead'.
25. "If this is our destiny, then that was his, and if there are no explanations for us, let there be none for him."
-Guildenstern.
26. "We're actors! We're the opposite of people!"
-Player, 'Rosencrantz And Guildenstern Are Dead'.
Here at Kidadl, we have carefully created lots of interesting family-friendly quotes for everyone to enjoy! If you liked our suggestions for 'Rosencrantz And Guildenstern Are Dead' quotes, then why not take a look at Shakespeare quotes about death, or Arthur Miller quotes?
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A professional content writer hailing from Kolkata, India, with extensive experience in the corporate sector, Writvik Gupta has worked with several reputed companies, including ITC WelcomHotel Jodhpur, Bharti AXA Life Insurance, Aryan Imaging, and Eduquity. He also serves as a consultant for a startup based in Bangalore. With a passion for the outdoors, Writvik enjoys trekking and traveling to remote destinations. He also has a keen interest in exploring various cuisines and regularly volunteers for social causes.
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