*blinks*
I don't get R&G, I don't get Hamlet, I never have and probably never will.
So let's make a desperate bid to at least pass this part of the paper. How about we all post a question, and offer a bit of essay material into our "Emergency Basket". I'll go first. (Please do not copy the following paragraphs. I say this for your own good. I only got 9/20 for this part of the HSC Trials!!!!!!)
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The notion of disintigrating morals and ways of thinking is evident in Hamlet's constant questioning. In the lines "To be or not to be" and "Seems?" it is apparent that Hamlet's world has been turned upside-down and he is forced to re-evaluate everything he believes in and everything that is said to him. This creates a sense of confusion that is echoed by the questioning, uncertain tone of the entire play, mirroring the contemporary social and economical upheavals in the play's historical context. Similarly, the uncertain, questioning nature of R&G (a contemporary remake of Shakespeare's Hamlet, which in turn is a transformation of another story) mirrors the social upheavals of the 60s in which everything was being questioned and re-evaluated.
Both plays reflect changing attitudes of the times, both in context and nature. From a Liberal Humanist perspective Shakespeare in Hamlet begins to question human nature itself. The indiscrepancies and many re-writes within the play itself suggest that Shakespeare had much difficulty in capturing his characters on paper, as if he was not sure himself of exactly who they were. Similarly in R&G, Stoppard toys with this notion, withholding a foundation or background to his "lead" characters, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. The two characters are so confused that they know not their own names, nor their purpose. Once they have played out their part - something that is never truly revealed in either Hamlet nor in R&G - they are quite literally, dead. They are useless, meaningless. It is only is the 60s that a line such as "Rosencrantz and Guildenstern...are dead!" would be appreciated for its satirical humour.
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someone else's turn!!!