Rosencrantz
Rosencrantz
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rosencrantz’s fatal flaw is literally that he cares too much.
there are multiple points in the play when he tells guil that they should try doing something other than what they have been told they’re “supposed to” do, but guil is too scared to try it because he’s afraid of the uncertainty that would come with forging their own path.
so ros drops it and stays with guil. every time.
i truly think that ros could have escaped the narrative if he was by himself, but he WON’T because that would mean leaving guil, and he’s not going to do that.
guil values security (being sure of what he is meant to be doing and what will happen next), while ros values his relationships with other characters.
we see more evidence of these values in their reactions to realizing that the letter they’re carrying has instructions for hamlet to be killed.
guildenstern thinks that they should pretend that they never read the letter and give it to the king of england as planned. he is relieved to have a clear direction to go in.
rosencrantz is more troubled by the contents of the letter. he feels guilty about the idea of allowing hamlet to be killed, because they are his friends.
guil points out that they’ve only been TOLD that they’re hamlet’s friends, but they have no memory of their history together. ros still thinks it’s wrong. though he may not really know much about hamlet, he knows that he’s his friend, and he feels a sense of loyalty because of that.
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern
now that i think about it. rosencrantz and guildenstern were literally just two guys. not like horatio, who stuck to hamlet against all odds and actively made himself a part of the narrative, and not like fortinbras, who wanted a part in everything but got a little too late.
rosguil were just… never part of any of this. they did what they did because the king asked them to, and what were they supposed to do? say no to him? did they know what was in the letters? did they believe that finding out what the matter with hamlet was, even behind his back, would maybe help their childhood friend? they were in the wrong place at the wrong time, and their “betrayal” really wasn’t betrayal at all. they were. literally just two people.
life in a box is better than no life at all ig
(inspired by this post)
