Importance of the Boat Scene in R&G

A pivotal scene in Tom Stoppards Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are dead is the boat scene to England.
The reason this scene is important is because it is when the main action of the play occurs. The rest of
the play is mostly slow, comical, and witty banter between the characters to lead up to the main scene
on the boat to England, where Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are headed to find Hamlet. On the boat,
Hamlet switches the letter from Claudius saying that Hamlet should be killed. This is an act Rosencrantz
and Guildenstern are unaware of, contributing to their characterization of being somewhat clueless and
unaware of what's going on. The boat scene also holds the ending of the play, where Claudius, Gertrude,
Hamlet and Laertes all wind up dead. On the boat, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern continue to converse
in ways that contribute to the idea of absurdity in the play. Also, they have several conversations that
involve them putting a lot of thought into a decision that could have been made much simpler.

Perhaps the most striking imagery in the whole play is the boat scene. After learning that he and
Rosencrantz are to be put to death, Guildenstern remarks, Where we went wrong was getting on a
boat. We can move, of course, change direction, rattle about, but our movement is contained within a
larger one that carries us along as inexorably as the wind and current. Stoppard uses the boat as a
symbol for life itself. Within certain parameters, we are free to do as we please. However, the
destination remains the same no matter what our actions within our own limited range of choice and
freedom. From the very beginning of the play, there is a sense of confinement and inescapability, and
the boat perfectly represents the title pairs entrapment in their unavoidable deaths.

Traditionally, boats have represented freedom because they allow for the possibility of sailing the world.
However, while Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are on the boat, they aretrapped. Yes, they can change
their immediate fate on the boat, but not their course in thelong run; they are going where the boat is
headed, to England and their death sentence.Guild enstern observes, One is free on a boat. For a time.
Relatively. According to John Fleming, the image is one of free will, but within constraints of limited
freedom with in a larger, determined course. Though Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are momentarily
free, they still do not have a say in the conclusion of their lives.