Themes
“Words words. They're all we have to go on.” is the theme of this quote: 1. Language & uncertainty 2. Fate & autonomy 3. Death & melancholy.
Language & uncertainty
“Rosencratz and Guildenstern are dead.” what is the context of this quote?
This is the final line of the play (also appearing as a messenger's report in Shakespeare's Hamlet), announcing the offstage execution of the two protagonists and confirming their inevitable fate.
“Were actors we are the opposite of people” who says this line?
The player
“There must have been a moment, at the beginning, where we could have said no.” is the theme of this quote: 1. Existentialism 2. Autonomy 3. Revenge
Autonomy
"There must have been a moment, at the beginning, where we could have said -- no. But somehow we missed it.” what is the context of this quote?
This occurs near the end of the play when Guildenstern reflects on their journey to England and realizes they never had a genuine opportunity to refuse their fate or make meaningful choices, despite feeling like such a moment should have existed.
"I am but mad north north-west; when the wind is southerly I know a hawk from a handsaw." who says this line?
Hamlet
"The only beginning is birth and the only end is death – if you can't count on that, what can you count on?" What is the theme of this quote?
Freewill or morality
"GUIL: Well, we'll know better next time. Now you see me, now you – (and disappears)" what is the context of this quote?
This is Guildenstern's final line in the play, spoken just before he vanishes/dies.
“Life is a gamble, at terrible odds. If it were a bet you wouldn’t take it.” who says this line?
The player
"And yet it doesn't seem enough; to have breathed such significance. Can that be all? And why us? – anybody would have done. And we have contributed nothing." what is the theme of this quote?
Insignificance and meaninglessness
"ROS: Rhetoric! Game and match! (Pause.) Where's it going to end?
GUIL: That's the question.
ROS: It's all questions.
GUIL: Do you think it matters?
ROS: Doesn't it matter to you?
GUIL: Why should it matter?
ROS: What does it matter why?" What is the context of this quote?
This exchange occurs in Act 1 during one of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern's many circular, philosophical conversations where they're trying to understand their situation—why they've been summoned to Elsinore, what they're supposed to do, and what's happening with Hamlet.
"It never occurred to me at all. We must be born with an intuition of mortality.” who says this line?
Rosencrantz
"ROS leaps up and bellow at the audience.
ROS: Fire! … Not a move. They should burn to death in their shoes." what is the theme of this quote?
Metatheatre or absurdism/
"PLAYER: You understand, we are tied down to a language which makes up in obscurity what it lacks in style."
This line occurs in Act 2 when the Player is explaining the plot of "The Murder of Gonzago"
"The scientific approach to the examination of phenomena is a defence against the pure emotion of fear." who says this line?
Guildenstern