Humour in the First Act of R and G are dead

Humor in Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead


My first example of humor in this play is found on page 7. Guildenstern asks, “What is the first thing you remember?” Within 6 lines of dialogue, Rosencrantz states, “ Oh I see. (Pause) I’ve forgotten the question….” This is humorous due to the sheer silly stupidity it presents. Rosencrantz is obviously not too bright or able to maintain any sort of an attention span. The dawning of his forgetfulness upon himself is funny.

The second example is on page 8. Guildenstern gives a large speech full of twists about probability and the science of chance. When he had finished, Rosencrantz is clipping his finger nails and says, “Another curious scientific phenomenon is the fact that the fingernails grow after dea...