TEXT:
SCENE II. A room in the castle.
Enter CLAUDIUS, GERTRUDE, ROSENCRANTZ, GUILDENSTERN, and Attendants
CLAUDIUS
Welcome, dear Rosencrantz and Guildenstern!
Moreover that we much did long to see you,
The need we have to use you did provoke
Our hasty sending. Something have you heard
Of Hamlet's transformation; so call it,
Sith nor the exterior nor the inward man
Resembles that it was. What it should be,
More than his father's death, that thus hath put him
So much from the understanding of himself,
I cannot dream of: I entreat you both,
That, being of so young days brought up with him,
And sith so neighbour'd to his youth and havior,
That you vouchsafe your rest here in our court
Some little time: so by your companies
To draw him on to pleasures, and to gather,
So much as from occasion you may glean,
Whether aught, to us unknown, afflicts him thus,
That, opened, lies within our remedy.
NOTES:
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead
Tom Stoppard's play premiered at the Edinburgh Fringe in 1966. It was eventually made into a film starring Tim Roth and Gary Oldman, and had a recent West End revival at the Old Vic, starring Daniel Radcliffe. You can watch the trailer for the recent version here.
Tycho Brahe Portrait
Here is the portrait of the Danish astronomer, surrounded by his ancestors and family relations. The names at the centre are those of his father, Brahe and mother, Bille. Moving around the picture from the bottom left, the names read: Gyldenstern, Kahbiller, Markeman, Axellsønner, Rosenkrans (Rosenkrantz), Longer, Ruder, Brahe, Bille, Ulfstander, Rønnor, Troller, Longer, Rosenspar, Storawase, and Axellsønner.
