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    Importance of The Boat Scene in R&G

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    Kingshuk Mondal
    The boat scene in Tom Stoppard's Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead is pivotal because it is where the main action occurs and Rosencrantz and Guildenstern learn their fate. On the boat to England, Hamlet switches the letter ordering their deaths. The boat scene also holds the ending where many characters die. The boat represents the characters' entrapment and lack of control over their unavoidable deaths, despite moments of relative freedom, their movement is constrained by the larger forces carrying them to their end.

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    Importance of The Boat Scene in R&G

    Uploaded by

    Kingshuk Mondal
    180 views1 page
    The boat scene in Tom Stoppard's Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead is pivotal because it is where the main action occurs and Rosencrantz and Guildenstern learn their fate. On the boat to England, Hamlet switches the letter ordering their deaths. The boat scene also holds the ending where many characters die. The boat represents the characters' entrapment and lack of control over their unavoidable deaths, despite moments of relative freedom, their movement is constrained by the larger forces carrying them to their end.

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    Short note R&G

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    Importance of the Boat Scene in R&G

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    The boat scene in Tom Stoppard's Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead is pivotal because it is where the main action occurs and Rosencrantz and Guildenstern learn their fate. On the boat to England, Hamlet switches the letter ordering their deaths. The boat scene also holds the ending where many characters die. The boat represents the characters' entrapment and lack of control over their unavoidable deaths, despite moments of relative freedom, their movement is constrained by the larger forces carrying them to their end.

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    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as docx, pdf, or txt
    180 views1 page

    Importance of The Boat Scene in R&G

    Uploaded by

    Kingshuk Mondal
    The boat scene in Tom Stoppard's Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead is pivotal because it is where the main action occurs and Rosencrantz and Guildenstern learn their fate. On the boat to England, Hamlet switches the letter ordering their deaths. The boat scene also holds the ending where many characters die. The boat represents the characters' entrapment and lack of control over their unavoidable deaths, despite moments of relative freedom, their movement is constrained by the larger forces carrying them to their end.

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    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
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    Importance of the Boat Scene in R&G

    A pivotal scene in Tom Stoppards Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are dead is the boat scene to England.
    The reason this scene is important is because it is when the main action of the play occurs. The rest of
    the play is mostly slow, comical, and witty banter between the characters to lead up to the main scene
    on the boat to England, where Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are headed to find Hamlet. On the boat,
    Hamlet switches the letter from Claudius saying that Hamlet should be killed. This is an act Rosencrantz
    and Guildenstern are unaware of, contributing to their characterization of being somewhat clueless and
    unaware of what's going on. The boat scene also holds the ending of the play, where Claudius, Gertrude,
    Hamlet and Laertes all wind up dead. On the boat, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern continue to converse
    in ways that contribute to the idea of absurdity in the play. Also, they have several conversations that
    involve them putting a lot of thought into a decision that could have been made much simpler.

    Perhaps the most striking imagery in the whole play is the boat scene. After learning that he and
    Rosencrantz are to be put to death, Guildenstern remarks, Where we went wrong was getting on a
    boat. We can move, of course, change direction, rattle about, but our movement is contained within a
    larger one that carries us along as inexorably as the wind and current. Stoppard uses the boat as a
    symbol for life itself. Within certain parameters, we are free to do as we please. However, the
    destination remains the same no matter what our actions within our own limited range of choice and
    freedom. From the very beginning of the play, there is a sense of confinement and inescapability, and
    the boat perfectly represents the title pairs entrapment in their unavoidable deaths.

    Traditionally, boats have represented freedom because they allow for the possibility of sailing the world.
    However, while Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are on the boat, they aretrapped. Yes, they can change
    their immediate fate on the boat, but not their course in thelong run; they are going where the boat is
    headed, to England and their death sentence.Guild enstern observes, One is free on a boat. For a time.
    Relatively. According to John Fleming, the image is one of free will, but within constraints of limited
    freedom with in a larger, determined course. Though Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are momentarily
    free, they still do not have a say in the conclusion of their lives.

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