uhh I really like Stoppard's Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead so far. It's hilarious and disconcerting and profound and written in modern English. Going through Hamlet, I had the impression that Rosencrantz wore the pants in their relationship, that Guildenstern was the sidekick, so it's strange to see those roles reversed in this play. This text is full of allusions and parallels and all those other things that remind a reader of things outside the text; Hamlet scenes and themes, some similar motifs (the music) as Death of a Salesman, style not unlike The American Dream at times with its short, confusing exchanges between characters and their inability to think forward or back at all, and that one line from the Lord's Prayer that keeps getting alluded to. I'm currently in the "circle stuff in the book" phase, and this is fun, so I'm looking forward to the "think about stuff" phase a lot.
I like that we get to revise our essays because a lot of mine are embarrassing so it's good to go back and fix them.
I like what you said about Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead. I also thought it was interesting that there was a lot of similarities between it and the other texts we've read. Other than the obvious one, Hamlet, I noticed the most similarities with The American Dream because they're both absurdist. I actually dislike revising my old essays. I did them once and I would rather not have to do them again.
ReplyDeleteI also thought that R+G was really interesting; you made great personal connection to the book in your blog. The modern English and jokes were a welcome break from Hamlet. Also, I agree with Ally about not wanting to do them again, however I still think it is important to do because then we can fix our mistakes. Hopefully we won't make them again in future essays after the revisions.
ReplyDeleteWhat really stood out to me in this was how you connected the music in R&G to the music in Death of a Salesman. This connection seems to make at least outward sense as it is probably not altogether common to see music so specifically described in the script of major plays. I think both plays use music to show a sense of futility, as Death of a Salesman uses sad flute music to show Willy's futile struggle with finding success. In R&G the music also shows futility because it means the plot of the play is advancing toward the character's inevitable deaths.
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