the player rosencrantz and guildenstern are dead

As Rosencrantz and Guildenstern continue their conversation with Hamlet, Polonius announces that the Players have arrived. Hamlet then greets Rosencrantz and Guildenstern and welcomes them to Elsinore. The two begin to brainstorm some of the reasons Hamlet might be distraught, and soon realize that Hamlet has quite a few reasons to be upset and acting strangely- Hamlet’s father died suddenly, his mother married his uncle, and his uncle ascended the throne. Gertrude and Claudius emerge to greet Rosencrantz and Guildenstern and to ask them to figure out what has caused Hamlet’s recent erratic behavior. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern then arrive in Elsinore, rather suddenly, where they see Hamlet act strangely to Ophelia. In payment, Guildenstern proposes that the tragedians put on a play. The tragedians eventually lose the bet and run out of money. Before they leave, Guildenstern stops the tragedians in a wager for how many times a coin, when flipped, will turn up heads. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are caught off guard, and the tragedians pack up to head off. However, the tragedians will not perform for free. The Player lists all of the types of shows he and his troupe are capable of performing, including ones in which Guildenstern and Rosencrantz could participate.

The Player is ecstatic to have an audience, since times have been difficult for actors as of late. Upon seeing Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, the leader of the tragedians, the Player, introduces himself and his troupe. As they try to determine which direction they were heading, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern hear music, and a band of tragedians enter.

While Rosencrantz and Guildenstern had set off in a hurry, they could not now remember where they were going. As they continue to flip coins, the two begin to remember how they arrived to where they are-a place described as one “without much visible character.” Rosencrantz recalls that a messenger had woken them up with an urgent royal summons.

This begins to frustrate Guildenstern who knows that the laws of probability and logic should prevent such a streak. Rosencrantz is on a winning streak-the coin has landed heads up seventy-six times in a row. Guildenstern has bet that the outcome of each flipped coin will be tails, and Rosencrantz has bet that each outcome will be heads. As the play opens, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are betting on the outcome of flipped coins.

The player rosencrantz and guildenstern are dead