The Existentialist Reading Of Rosencrantz And Guildenstern Are Dead

Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead(1966)is the signature work of Tom Stoppard(1937-)who is a contemporary British dramatist.Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead has made Stoppard overnight successful at the National theatre,and attracted the critical attention in Western Europe.This paper will discuss the philosophical implications of this play,by using the theory of world's absurdity,free choice,the other and death.The full text is divided into five parts.The first part is introduction which mainly introduces the domestic and foreign research trends of this play,and makes a brief explanation of the existentialism related theory adopted in this paper.The second part analyses the living environment of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern from the theory of absurdity and "the other".The third part discusses whether there is a possibility to choose and change the fate from using the theory of existentialism "free choice".The forth part analyzes the process and the ending of death through existentialist death view.The fifth part summarizes the full text.The play of the two protagonists mark Rosencrantz and Guildenstern from two edge of the characters in Shakespeare's tragedy Hamlet into the protagonists,two characters in the play of the situation is absurd,Stoppard showing their dying process for us,however,Stoppard,at the same time giving them new life and voice,the two completely had the power of free choice and action ability.Full of fear and anxiety when they face death,the two protagonists are responsible for their own death ending.