Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead as a Dramedy Play
Abstract
The paper aims at reading Tom Stoppard's Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead and examining it as a dramedy. The research explores the features of dramedy being partly comedy and partly drama. Dramedy entails a tricky part that forms a balance between drama and comedy to identify real situations, unpredictable characters and grounded narratives with character-driven plots. Tom Stoppard prevents the play from falling into the dark gulf of life's bleak realities as most comedies tend. His plays represent the basic concept of life as a battle between random occurrence and grand design, between chaos and order, between mad involvement in the multiplicity of things and retreat into private visions. He combines comedy and drama in his play. The use of language is a tremendous mark which is the skillful technique of the playwright, whose exquisite use of puns adds to the comic elements in the work. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead revolves around the misadventures and contemplation of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, two characters from Hamlet who are close friends of the Prince, mainly concentrating on their actions with the events of Hamlet as a background. The play is an established work that combines a tragic method of significant philosophical issues with a wide range of farce comedy. In other words, the play is admittedly a presentation of dramedies as dramedy. The research proves how Stoppard uses his skillful techniques in depicting dramedy technique and presenting its features in the play.