Turning Hamlet Inside out: Creating an Independent Drama in Stoppard’s Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead

Purpose: This study examines Tom Stoppard’s Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are dead as a dramatic work that reinterprets Shakespeare’s Hamlet by shifting attention from the protagonist to a couple of minor characters. This study investigates how the play questions the traditional ideas of tragedy, heroism, and dramatic authority by presenting Rosencrantz and Guildenstern as modern anti-heroes caught in uncertainty and limited understanding.Literature: Studies offer valuable insights, they usually treat adaptation and absurdism as separate issues. This article, however, argues that Stoppard combines these traditions to create a new type of play that stands independent of them and presents Rosencrantz and Guildenstern as modern anti-heroes. By focusing on these marginal figures, the study shows how the play reinterprets the Shakespearean world and challenges the traditional idea of the heroic tragic protagonist.Findings: It can be argued that Rosencrantz and Guildenstern is not simply a retelling or parody of Hamlet, but an independent and new dramatic work that reimagines Shakespeare’s play from a different perspective