Sometimes Guildenstern comes close to realizing that he is not a real person but is actually only a character in two plays, yet another instance of Stoppard’s use of self-referentiality. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern have minor roles in Hamlet and major roles in Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead. Earlier in Act II, Guildenstern expressed his desire for art to imitate life. When the lights come up, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are positioned exactly as the spies were positioned during the rehearsal for The Murder of Gonzago, the play within a play. But, as when Rosencrantz vaguely recognized the spies, here Guildenstern laments the fact that now that the men are awake, people will soon begin entering, asking them to do things and making the men feel very confused, all of which has been happening throughout the entire play. Guildenstern even notes that the characters tend to confuse Rosencrantz with Guildenstern and vice versa. He has unknowingly described the plot of Stoppard’s work, a fact that Stoppard emphasizes by having Claudius enter as soon as Guildenstern has made that self-referential comment. Guildenstern’s comments are meant to be funny but should also remind readers of Stoppard’s literary project: he wanted to see what would happen if he removed two characters from Hamlet and gave them their own play.

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