He too is cynical, but in a different way than Guildenstern: while Guildenstern gets disappointed in people for not acting as nobly as he would like, the Player expects them to act badly. ... While Hamlet's main character trait in Shakespeare's play is, perhaps, openness (he can't stop telling the audience what he is thinking) the Hamlet of Stoppard's play is much more mysterious. ... He keeps a hawk-like watch over the castle's inhabitants (who almost universally ignore him) and tries to organize himself by establishing the direction of the wind. ... Both of these are...

• Word Count: 3860
• Approx Pages: 15
• Grade Level: High School

Hamlet, the disillusioned idealist, continues with the motif when he, disheartened, declares: [...] the earth, seems to me a sterile promontory; this most excellent canopy, the air, look you, this brave oer hanging firmament, this majestical roof, fretted with golden fire- why, it appeareth nothing to me ...

• Word Count: 4821
• Approx Pages: 19
• Grade Level: High School