The Value of Reading Absurdist Existentialism in Covid19 Quarantine
“Life in a box is better than no life at all, I expect. You’d have a chance at least. You could lie there thinking: Well, at least I’m not dead.” Tom Stoppard, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead
When I put together the syllabus for my Form and Inspiration writing class early last December, I had no idea that my students would be reading so many of the works during a pandemic. I chose Alexandra Kleeman’s short story You, Disappearing, which takes place in a world very much like the one we live in now, but the pandemic is that things, people, and memories disappear. Poof. Just like that — not unlike the friend of my sister’s, whose father died of Covid in a different borough of NYC and who hasn’t been able to retrieve his body. In this pandemic, though, the pain and the memories remain, especially without being able to perform the traditional rituals of grieving.
The final read of the semester, following Shakespeare’s Hamlet, was Tom Stoppard’s Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead. The play, which was first performed at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in 1966, is the kind of work I love and have attempted myself in three middle-grade fractured fairy tales: taking a well-known story and telling it slant from the point-of-view of a different character.
Stoppard’s tragicomic work focuses on two minor characters from Shakespeare’s Hamlet, taking as its title a line from Act 5 scene 2 of the original:
“The ears are senseless that should give us hearing To tell him his commandment is fulfilled, That Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are dead.”
In Stoppard’s play — Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are the heroes of their own story, although they are confused, comical, and ultimately unable to shape their own destiny.
As I reread it in anticipation of our class discussion, I highlighted quotes that seemed particularly relevant to quarantine life in America in 2020.
Uncertainty:
Act Two, Player: Uncertainty is the normal state. You’re nobody special.
Trump’s daily campaign rally/press briefings:
Act One, Ros: “Half of what he said meant something else, and the other half didn’t mean anything at all.”
Guil: Thwarted ambition — a sense of grievance, that’s my diagnosis.
The spectacle of U.S. President bragging about his ratings as Americans die and first responders don’t have adequate PPE:
Act One: Guil: “What a fine persecution — to be kept intrigued without ever being enlightened.”
Trying to explain Covid19 to young children
Act Two, Ros: “Whatever became the moment when one first knew about death? There must have been one, a moment, in childhood when it first occurred to you that you don’t go on for ever. It must have been shattering–-stamped into one’s memory. And yet I can’t remember it.”
The Tik/Tok craze:
Act Two, The Player: “You don’t understand the humiliation of it — to be tricked out of the single assumption which makes our existence viable — that somebody is watching…”
Science:
Act One, Guil: “The scientific approach to the examination of phenomena is a defense against the pure emotion of fear…”
Scammers during a pandemic and big corporations sucking up the PPP money:
Act One, Guil: “At least we can still count on self-interest as a predictable factor…I suppose it’s the last to go.”
I was really curious to see what my students took from the play as they read it in week 6 of quarantine. Here are some of the insights from our class discussion board:
R: “What are you playing at?”
G: “Words, words. They’re all we have to go on.”
I feel that this quote really spoke to me because especially with what’s going on right now, people are just clinging to every update on the world situation. People are constantly forced to consume media and information about the virus, because in such a time of uncertainty, we cling onto the words spoken by others around them, we collect their thoughts into our mind and are influenced by what they are hearing. This is especially true about the spread of misinformation, as it travels usually through word of mouth or now online. We’re not listening to the scientists anymore, we’re listening more to the ideas and fears of each other because during this time, humanity only has itself to lean on.
One theme within the play is uncertainty. This theme becomes very apparent within Act II of the play as Guildenstern tells the Player about the fact that he and Rosencrantz have no idea what they are doing in Elsinore. The Player responds to Guildenstern explaining that it was normal to be uncertain about what is happening in the world around you. This theme particularly applies to our current lives in COVID19 America because everyone is uncertain; citizens, government officials, doctors. There is no sign of an upcoming solution and not only is the current state uncertain, but the future is as well. Will we be on campus in the fall?
I feel like many people are experiencing feelings of uncertainty because of this whole COVID19 situation. Those who have lost their jobs are uncertain about their financial situation, and this, in the long run, puts their safety at risk too if they are unable to pay for rent, food, and utilities. Those who are essential workers are putting their lives at risk every time they go out, uncertain of whether they may be exposing themselves to COVID19. There are people who are using their authority to instill fear and promote false claims, which unfortunately only increases the uncertainty that many people are feeling during this time.
When Guildenstern and Rosencratz are acting alongside Gertrude and Claudius, Guildenstern says “Death followed by eternity… the worst of both worlds. It is a terrible thought.” This is applicable to what is going on at the moment because eternity is applicable to the quarantine, and death is Covid-19 itself. It is a world in which you are either exposed to death, or you face what feels like an eternity: the quarantine.
The crisis we are now facing is indicative of our mortality and the questioning of mortality. Some, who once subconsciously thought they were invincible, have died or may be fearful of dying as he/she clings to life from this dreaded virus. This virus also adds to our uncertainty due to no vaccine or cure in our immediate future. We are confined to our homes as Rosencrantz and Guildenstern were confined to the ship that Guildenstern finds comfort in because of that very containment. Which leads me to ask the question, If the virus doesn’t kill us, will confinement?
I have spent decades arguing with those who claim the humanities are “useless majors.” It’s at times like these that the value of the arts becomes even more apparent. Literature helps us process the inexplicable and the unbearable. I hope those in charge of the nation’s education policies remember that when we are able to meet our students in person again — because “Survival is Insufficient.”
