Reflective Humor Presented in Tom Stoppard's Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead "This is a most remarkable play. Very funny. Very brilliant. Very chilling", says the New York Times

... Elena Sicairos Ms. Keane College English 12 10 May 2005 Reflective Humor Presented in Tom Stoppard's Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead "This is a most remarkable play. Very funny. Very brilliant. Very chilling", says the New York Times about Tom Stoppard's Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead.. Very true. Perhaps the most brilliant aspect of this play is how the comedy incites what George Meredith refers to as "thoughtful laughter". Stoppard presents the reader with comical characters and scenes that "thoughtfully" illustrate meanings throughout the play. This play "revels in absurdity, moving through numerous comic set pieces" (Kelly 43). To acknowledge that this play is funny does not mean that one should miss the implications underneath the humor. With wit, satire, and "cynicism" (Kelly 44), Stoppard depicts human behavior, which generates a pensive "hmmm" from the reader. Stoppard makes a statement about how people live their lives when Rosencrantz says, "How very intriguing! I feel like a

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