Fate in Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead (Topic #2) “Player: . . . there’s a design at work in all art, surely you know that. Events must play themselves out to an aesthetic, moral and logical conclusion.” (24). Fate is an idea explored frequently by William Shakespeare in his literary works and by many other famous tragedy writers. Even though Tom Stoppard’s play Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead is a Shakespeare “spoof”, the idea of fate operates throughout …showed first 75 words of 501 total…

…showed last 75 words of 501 total…and Guildenstern were unable to avoid their deaths because fate led them to that point through a series of events. According to fate, “Player: . . . We follow directions. There is no choice involved. The bad end unhappily, the good unluckily. That is what Tragedy means! . . .” (24). Tom Stoppard artfully introduces the idea of fate through the coin toss, and it is through this idea we are able to explain exactly how Rosencrantz and Guildenstern end up dead.