Hamlet

Transformations of texts have occurred for centuries as stories have been adapted to contemporary situations. The transformation process sees the inspiration of the known reflect upon the new, while the new resonate with the old. Tom Stoppard's Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead is both a reflection and adaptation of William Shakespeare's Hamlet into contemporary society. Both Hamlet and Rosencrantz and... deal with philosophical issues, but from viewpoints drawn from the contexts of their times. The comparison and transformation of the two plays demonstrates how the context of a text is able to alter and transform its values.

Hamlet is a play of ideas which concerns itself with the life of the court, politics, the stability of a monarchy and with religious focus on prayer, confession and the afterlife. These reflect contemporary worldviews and it is through these that thematic interests such as corruption, evil, nobility, justice, revenge, death and fate are examined. The inequalities, injustices and tragedies of Denmark are viewed through the key protagonist Hamlet. He can be seen as a highly complex individual, a paradoxical hero, whose personality is flawed yet worthy of admiration. Hamlet takes us on a journey of filial vengeance and through this explores themes of morality, revenge and fate, where "uncertainty is the normal state".

In contrast to Shakespeare's Hamlet is Stoppard's Rosencrantz and..., a transformation created for a different world; one with altered values. In this play Stoppard attempts to explore tragic concepts of life and death in a distinctly modern fashion. Ros and Guil are simply two pawns with 'no control' over their destination, these transformed characters to anti heroes are powerless in controlling their own fate, they are victims of circumstance. It is through their experiences that major themes are conveyed, that life is meaningless and uncontrollable and that death is mere negation - 'the absence of presence'

Tom Stoppard's Rosencrantz and ... is a transformation of Shakespeare's Hamlet, a postmodern pastiche where the protagonists Ros and Guil begin in one world and find themselves spirited away into the world of Hamlet. Comic satire and ridicule are used to contemporise Stoppard's play and are used also to take the storyline and issues of Hamlet and manipulate them into different guises for modern audiences. The main themes of murder, treason, death and fate are still featured but Stoppard totally distorts our perception of them.

The themes of death and tragedy have been adapted to contemporary society. Death in the Elizabethan/Jacobean society was a serious matter when the privileged or royals were involved, but Guil views this matter of death as simply "failing to reappear". In Shakespeare's Hamlet, death is a result of swordplay and poisoning, while Stoppard shows deaths of characters by their failing 'to reappear'. This stresses the modern perception that death is an 'everyday' occurrence rather than a dramatic scene. Death is presented as being a part of the inevitable pattern of life. Furthermore this theme has been transformed in relation to the death of the King. A great deal of emphasis is placed on the death of the king in Shakespeare's text whilst in Stoppard's text, death is a minor scene. The reason for such an adaptation is to appeal to the audience. As time has progressed, values have been altered, thus influencing the transformation process.

The transformation process is governed by many factors including the playwright's need to appeal to very different audiences and having different purposes. Hamlet is traditionally structured portraying murder, madness and disease in a negative and confronting way, in a time where it was believed that "we must be born with an intuition of morality". However Stoppard's Rosencrantz and... embed the tragic experiences in humour allowing it to relate to a modern audience, as Shakespeare's text is a tragedy with comic elements, while Stoppard's text is a comedy with tragic elements.

Stoppard chooses to transform traditional conventions of theatre using, in part newly established conventions of the Theatre of the Absurd, which ambushes naturalistic theatre by parody of the idea that actions speak louder than words. Absurdism suggests a world out of harmony which assists the Theatre of the Absurd as it abandons the illusion that what is happening on the stage is real. The audience becomes aware of the isolation of man and the fragility of human relationships and empathises with the mood of hopelessness and despair. This technique used effectively by Stoppard enhances how order is disrupted by the corrupted "much too changed" Hamlet and is ultimately restored through a cathartic morally powerful realisation.

Transformations of texts are able to illuminate one's perceptions, the changed context leads to a change in values within the play. In order for Stoppard's play to appeal to a contemporary audience it is necessary to portray language themes and characters in a different