Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead

Dressed in Elizabethan clothing, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern pass the time by flipping coins in “a place without any visible character” (7). The coin toss game’s rules decree that the winner of the toss gets to keep the coin. Both characters are carrying leather money bags, but Guildenstern’s bag is almost empty while Rosencrantz’s is almost full. Guildenstern tosses coins which unfailingly land on heads, and Rosencrantz wins each time, collecting more and more coins. While the run of heads is impossible, it does not bother Rosencrantz. Guildenstern, however, is fully aware of the improbability of what is occurring and tries to rationalize it. Rosencrantz continues to watch as his friend flips coins, and he calls out “heads” until he reaches a record of 92 heads in a row. He reveals that the two of them have been playing this game for as long as he can remember.

Guildenstern offers four possible reasons why the coin only lands on heads: Either he is willing himself to lose as some sort of punishment, time has stopped, a deity is interfering with the matter, or it is simply luck. He asks Rosencrantz about the first thing he remembers, but Rosencrantz fails to recall a memory and forgets the question.