Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead --- The Main Themes

• Randomness and determinism

the question of control/free will

the illusion of identity without control

the illusion of progress without control

• Causes of diminished control/free will

the failure of words

the failure of memory

the failure to learn from experience

the failure to experience life because of habit (experience and expectation)

• Symbolic images of life

actors in a play

passengers on a boat

• Death - the one inevitable but unknown certainty

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Last modified:  Friday, March 26, 2004 11:11 AM