The color yellow is a mystical experience

Author:
Tom Stoppard

Setting:
I suppose it's the set of Hamlet. There isn't a lot of setting description given, but assuming this play takes place when/where Hamlet does, it would be Elsinore (and a boat) in the 15th century. Although I guess the point is that it starts over each time the play is played, so the time setting is kind of whenever the play is being acted/read.

Plot:
Well. Because this play is mostly absurdist, there isn't a whole lot of plot development. But it follows Ros and Guil through their "quest" to find out what's wrong with Hamlet. It starts with them playing a game of coin flipping, just passing time. They slowly remember why they're at Elsinore, that they were "summoned." Then they meet the the players who offer to perform a show for them. That turns out to be a porno they're encouraged to participate in. Ros doesn't get it, Guil gets offended, they leave and players play to nobody. Ros and Guil are then introduced to Claudius, who mixes them up (something that happens a lot). They find out why they've been summoned, though they are still a little shaky on how they go about their quest. They play the question game, which is kind of like tennis, and Ros looses (shocker, I know). Guil suggests they act out how they're going to question Hamlet, but Ros doesn't understand what he's saying. He eventually understands, and begins questioning Guil (acting as Hamlet). They don't get anywhere. Then the real Hamlet shows up, and the real questioning ends much like the fake one: they don't get anywhere. The players show up again, and The Player is upset at Ros and Guil for leaving them with no audience, saying there's no point if there's no audience. Ros makes his speech about being dead in a box, etc. and the King and Queen come back. Insert scene from Hamlet. After that's finished, the players start practicing their play as Ros and Guil watch. They notice that the two "spies" are wearing the same clothes as them, but don't realize it's supposed to be them and they play is foreshadowing their imminent death. How sad. Claudius comes back to tell them to find Polonius' body, so they set about doing that. To no surprise of the audience, they fail at that too. Next, they're told to take Hamlet to England. Then they suddenly wake up in barrels. On a boat. They hear music and find out that the players are also in a barrel (yes, they all fit in a barrel...). After some arguing, more games, and planning, Hamlet switches the letter to the King of England while Ros and Guil sleep. They're now taking themselves to their death. Pirates attack (nice one, Shakespeare) and they all jump back into the barrels. When the pirates are finally gone, Hamlet's barrel is missing. Ros and Guil read the letter, upset they won't be able to fulfill their duty anymore, and find that they hold orders for their own hanging. They're both upset, wish they could change it, think they missed their opportunity out of their fate and that they'll "get it next time." Ros finally says he doesn't care, he's had enough and is relieved they've come to their end. He disappears. Guil doesn't notice and continues to talk to him. Once he does realize Ros is gone, he makes the point that "[they'll] know better next time." Then he disappears too.

Significant Characters:
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern- Since they're essentially the same person, they get lumped into one significant character. They don't accept that they're controlled by the actions of Hamlet, so they're stuck. Ros finds small meanings in life, making him happier than Guil, who tries to find BIG meaning in life (and everything in it) even though there's none to find.
The Player- Kind of the opposite of Ros and Guil. He understands that he's confined to the action of Hamlet, so he has more "freedom" than the main two. He brings the real "life's a play, we have no control" meaning to the play.

Style:
Again, plays don't have narrators. There are also no omniscient characters. The tone is mostly happy-go-lucky with hidden, deep, VERY serious undertones. There's Ros, enjoying a game of coin flipping, then BAM! Guil comes in with the "what's the point" questions. The most obvious motif is identity. Or rather, lack of identity. There's also the messing up of the Lord's Prayer motif, showing the futility of prayer/religion/God/etc. The main symbolism was in the coins (fate, lack of control) and the boat (death).

Quotes:
"Wheel have been set in motion, and they have their own pace, to which we are... condemned" (60).
~ This is kinda the point of the whole play. We're all "condemned" to what's already been planned, started, etc. Guil got it right for once.

Guil: "You die so many times; how can you expect them to believe in your death?"
Player: "On the contrary, it's the only kind they do believe" (83).
~ This is the big "art can't imitate real life" theme. Guil's point is that the death isn't real, so how are people supposed to believe it? The player is saying that nobody believes in their own death. They only believe in the deaths they see on stage.

"Be happy- if you're not even happy what's so good about surviving?" (121)
~Awww, Ros. (: This pretty much characterizes Ros in one line. Ros found meaning in himself, not life, so that made him happy. But Guil kept trying to find meaning life, and there wasn't any to find, so he was unhappy and unsatisfied.

Theme:
Art can't imitate real life.
~Pretty ironic, huh? Using art to make the statement that art is meaningless. Throughout the play, Guil has stand-offs with The Player about how he doesn't know anything about death because he's just an actor and he only plays death, he never experiences real death. And at the end, Ros and Guil just disappear, they don't actually die. Which isn't very realistic.