Read the following passage and answer the questions that follow.
Tom Stoppard's play, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, draws on two previous theatrical works: Shakespeare's Hamlet and Samuel Beckett's Waiting for Godot.
Rosencrantz and Guildenster Are Dead follows the "off-stage" exploits of two minor characters from Hamlet, Rosencrantz and Guildenstem. While the two main characters in
Stoppard's play occasionally make brief appearances in "Hamlet," as scripted in Shakespeare's original tragedy, the majority of the play takes place in other parts of the castle
where Hamlet is set. While "off stage in this way, the characters resemble the main characters in the absurdist Waiting for Godot. As in Beckett's play, Rosencrantz and
Guildenstem pass the time by impersonating other characters, engaging in word play, and remaining silent for long periods of time. These same two characters were also
featured in a parody of Hamlet, the short comic play by W. S. Gilbert entitled Rosencrantz and Guildenstem. Gilbert's play makes Rosencrantz and Guildenstem into central
characters and alters the storyline of Hamlet
What is the author's purpose in this passage?
To inform the reader about stage adaptations of Shakespeare's characters
To convince the reader that Shakespeare's writing is out of date today.
To persuade the reader to explore more works by Shakespeare and others.
To question the reader about current understandings of Shakespeare's writing