Exploring Marginalization in Shakespeare’s Hamlet and Stoppard’s Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead
This blog is a part of thinking actvity assigned by DR. Dilip Barad sir. In this blog I'll be dealing with the exploration of marginalised characters in Hamlet and Stoppard's works. for more information you can visit Teachers blog
The New Historicist approach within cultural studies focuses on analysing power struggles throughout history, often exploring themes like class conflicts, power dynamics, and political tensions. This lens can be applied to Shakespeare's ‘Hamlet’, where we see these struggles between characters of different social classes, particularly between the elite figures, like Hamlet and Claudius, and the lower-class characters, such as Rosencrantz and Guildenstern.
Marginalisation in Hamlet
Describe how Rosencrantz and Guildenstern represent marginal figures in Hamlet. How does Hamlet’s reference to Rosencrantz as a “sponge” reflect their expendability in the power dynamics of the play?
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are minor characters in the play who mainly serve to move the plot forward. While they have a few lines, they are easily forgotten by most readers, overshadowed by more prominent figures like Hamlet, Claudius, and Polonius. Despite being Hamlet's former university friends, they are largely dismissed due to their lower status in the court hierarchy.
When Claudius ordered them to spy on Hamlet, their role remained insignificant, as they lacked the power or understanding to influence the events around them. They try to gain favor with the king, but they are too innocent to grasp the true nature of the situation. Hamlet himself describes them as "sponges," who absorb the king's attention until they are no longer needed. In the end, their deaths highlight how those in power use and discard the less powerful, underscoring the ruthlessness of political and social hierarchies.Ultimately, the news comes that Rosencrantz and Guildenstern have been killed in England, illustrating how they were expendable pawns in the political game.
These two characters come from a marginalised position in the court, working for those in power without much personal agency or influence. They are caught in the power struggles of the ruling class and, in the end, meet their untimely deaths despite not having committed any wrongdoing.
Modern Parallels to Corporate Power
The fate of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern in ‘Hamlet’ reflects the experiences of modern workers in today’s corporate world, especially during times of downsizing or globalisation. In the play, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are manipulated and used by both Hamlet and Claudius, only to be discarded once they no longer serve a purpose. This mirrors the "Hire and Fire" policies in modern corporations, where employees are exploited for their labour and contributions to a company’s profits. Once they are no longer seen as useful, they are let go without a second thought.
Many workers today spend long hours, often over twelve hours a day, at their jobs, but end up feeling alienated from their families and even from their own lives. Like Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, they find themselves caught in larger systems of power, whether it’s global competition or corporate restructuring without the ability to control their fate.
Just as Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are used by Hamlet and Claudius, modern workers are often treated as mere cogs in the corporate machine, with little regard for their individuality or well-being. In both cases, profits take precedence over human lives. Workers, like the characters in *Hamlet*, are seen as expendable pawns in a larger system, whether in political struggles or the world of global capitalism.
Existential Questions in Stoppard’s Re-interpretation
In ‘Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead’, Tom Stoppard takes the marginalisation of these two characters from ‘Hamlet’ deepens it by exploring their search for meaning in a world that seems indifferent to their existence. When Hamlet says, “they were not near my conscience,” he shows his disregard for Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, emphasising how easily they are forgotten. This mirrors the reality of today’s corporate world, where employees often feel invisible to company owners, much like Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are to Hamlet.
Published in 1966, ‘Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead’ comes at a time when post-war disillusionment and technological progress were at their height. Writers like Albert Camus, Samuel Beckett, and Harold Pinter were exploring themes of fragmented identity, the absurdity of life, and the struggle to find meaning in a chaotic world. Stoppard, like these writers, places Rosencrantz and Guildenstern in an absurd world where they are not just ignored but trapped in a purposeless journey, heading toward the inevitable end of death.
Their situation reflects the lives of modern corporate workers, who often feel as though they are stuck in an endless cycle of work, with no clear purpose or escape. They work tirelessly for the benefit of the corporate system, but their own lives, identities, and needs seem irrelevant to those at the top. Like Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, they are marginal figures in a larger, indifferent system, ultimately controlled by forces beyond their reach.
Cultural and Economic Power Structures Compare Shakespeare’s treatment of power in Hamlet to Stoppard’s reimagining. How does each work critique systems that marginalise “little people”? How might Stoppard’s existential take resonate with contemporary issues of job insecurity and corporate control?
Shakespeare’s ‘Hamlet’ and Stoppard’s reimagining ‘Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead’ both explore power structures and how they marginalise those in lower social positions, but they do so in different ways. Shakespeare critiques the rigid class system and the control of power by monarchs, where characters like Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are used as pawns by those in authority, reflecting the exploitation of the lower classes by the ruling elite. In Hamlet’s world, the monarchy holds all the power, and Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, despite their noble connections, are still powerless in the face of royal agendas.
Stoppard’s ‘Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, written in the postmodern era, shifts the focus to a more existential perspective. Here, the characters are not just manipulated by royalty but are trapped in an absurd, meaningless world, unable to escape their fate. This reflects the shift from the power of monarchies in Shakespeare’s time to the economic control wielded by multinational corporations in the modern world. In today’s society, these corporations hold significant power, dictating the lives of workers who, like Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, are seen as disposable.
In the modern corporate world, employees often face job insecurity, and many are treated like commodities rather than individuals. As in the world of Stoppard’s play, workers give their time and energy to build companies, but when they can no longer contribute, they are discarded without support or compensation.
In both works, the characters' struggles emphasise how those with power, whether monarchs or corporations exploit the labour and lives of the marginalised. While Shakespeare’s ‘Hamlet’ critiques the oppressive monarchies of the past, Stoppard’s reimagining captures the sense of existential powerlessness that modern workers feel under the control of corporate giants.
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