Transformations- Stoppard, shakespeare

CLASSICAL TEXT FOR THE MODERN AUDIENCE?

The conversion of old into new presents different themes and issues to the new age

audience, styles are manufactured to give the former work a creative edge, not to mention

a change in perspective. Tom Stoppard changed Hamlet, a Shakespearean tragedy, into

Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead, an Absurdist piece, in an attempt to make sense

of contemporary society through classical texts. Stoppard transformed themes and issues,

characters and techniques, emphasising the intricacies of modern life, creating a new

perspective on arguably the most well-known play in history. Altering the philosophies of

Hamlet, abandoning both, structure and development within the parameters of the stage,

creating an importance for the underdog, instead of monitoring life from the top,

Stoppard took Shakepeare's idea and made it new and inviting to the contemporary age.

The transformation of genres gives Hamlet, the story, a modern feel, one which the

contemporary audience can relate to. Hamlet was a tragedy by definition, containing

definite stages of development, with the expectation of resolution. It paralleled the social

a nutshell. This idea of death has been transformed from one genre, to the next. It is

Seventeenth Century, where the general belief was that things occurred for

wronged him. He knows there is correct protocol in his position, and he makes sure he

audiences seem much more aware of how life affects them as not only an individual, but

absoluteness of direction is hardly ever equated with contemporary society. We see

philosophy of language; Hamlet through the many questions and riddles, which reveal the

Some topics in this essay:
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