Read the following passage and answer the questions that follow. Tom Stoppard's play, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, draws on two
previous theatrical works: Shakespeare's Hamlet and Samuel Beckett's Waiting for
Godot. Rosencrantz and
Guildenstern Are Dead follows the "off-stage" exploits of
two minor characters from Hamlet, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. While the two
main characters in Stoppard's play occasionally make brief appearances in
"Hamlet" as scripted in Shakespeare's original tragedy, the majority of the play
takes place in other parts of the castle where Hamlet is set. While "off stage" in this
way, the characters resemble the main characters in the absurdist Waiting for
Godot. As in Beckett's play, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern pass the time by
impersonating other characters, engaging in word play, and remaining silent for
long periods of time. These same two characters were also featured in a parody of
Hamlet, the short comic play by W. S. Gilbert entitled Rosencrantz and
Guildenstern. Gilbert's play makes Rosencrantz and Guildenstern into central
characters and alters the storyline of Hamlet.
The author of this passage chooses to describe four different playwrights in order to
(5 points)
1) convince the reader that one playwright is more talented than another
2) instruct the reader about the least successful adaptations of Shakespeare
3) inform the reader of many different interpretations of the same two
characters
4) distract the reader from the true message of Shakespeare’s tragic play