Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Existentialism

What if every affaire gets one nothing? What if it was true that man has the power to do whatever he pleases, but in the end all of it will mean for lack of a better term nothing? This school of theme is called empiricalism, which is crucial in Tom Stoppards play Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead an absurdly written response to William Shakespe ars Hamlet. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern experience times of enlightenment, humor, and sorrow throughout their journey, leading them to suppose whether their personifylihood actually has some sort of positive meaning.However, the ultimate gift of death crept up on them, without any explanation or hope, for all eternity. The ideas of existentialism are sh make in the play through unstable identities, uncertain knowledge of the past, and anti-heroes which lead to Rosencrantz and Guildensterns ultimate fate their feared deaths. Unstable identities in the play carry to the idea of existentialism by making Rosencrantz and Guildenstern indistinguishable, emphasizing their need for meaning.When introducing themselves to the Player and the tragedians, Rosencrantz announces, My name is Guildenstern, and this is RosencrantzIm sorry his name is Guildenstern and Im Rosencrantz (Stoppard 22). Their own deprivation of identity shows that the meaning in their individual lives is lost, making them into cynical, unrecognizable objects. In addition, they book lost their idiosyncrasies, creating a problem for other characters in distinguishing mingled with the two. During a discussion about the King giving them an equal amount of money, Guildenstern exclaims that the king wouldnt discriminate between them (Stoppard 104).To the King, Ros and Guil are simply two objects that are willing to assist in any way possible to him, there is no point in getting to know them individually. The Kings lack of differentiation between the two shows that Ros and Guil have lost a deeper meaning to the King, leading to the bereavement of iden tity. The ambiguous identities of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern obliged their characters to embody no purpose, inflicting the idea of existentialism. Ros and Guils doomful deaths were caused by their nonexistent individuality.The pairs past also lead them through an existential drift without meaning in their past, the pair as yet have nothing to go on. The uncertainty of Rosencrantz and Guildensterns past supplements the idea of existentialism by making the play enigmatic. While walking along the path to Elsinore Castle, Ros and Guil try out to comprehend what they are doing before making the expedition to the estate Guil asks Ros, Whats the first thing you remember? and Ros replies, Oh, lets seethe first thing that comes into my head, you mean? Ah. Its no good, its gone (Stoppard 16). Ros and Guil are not able to recollect past events due to the fact that the prior matters adhered no meaning. eve when Ros and Guil are dying, they cannot recall what they have done to deserve this with Ros crying, Weve done nothing wrong We didnt harm anyone. Did we? and Guil replies I cant remember (Stoppard 125). At their dying second, Ros and Guil are still unable to fathom what they have or have not done. Their past events are proven to be meaningless, leading them to an existential wandering containing no answers.Also through the use of anti-heroes, Stoppard made Rosencrantz and Guildenstern useless individuals who could not carry out a duty without the succor of one another. An anti-hero, in some cases, considers his or herself to be incapable of completing tasks while being corrupt, sullen, and disaffected. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern entrust each other to get through all dilemmas and yet they still become confused. When deciding what their next undertaking shall be, Guil asks Ros, What are we going to do now? and Ros replies, I dont know. What do you want to do? (Stoppard 17). apply a popular decision-making device, Ros and Guil reveal that they do not have the c onfidence to decide what to do and to execute the decision. Confidence is an indicator of optimism, responsibility, and initiative Ros and Guil occupy none of these positive attributes, giving manifestation of anti-heroes. Also, Ros and Guil count on the Kings garner to get through the peregrination, with Guil saying, Everything is explained in the letter.We count on that (Stoppard 105). Ros and Guil refer to the letter whenever a predicament arises, urging them to resolve the issue. With the letter epitomizing their fate, it is what they count on the most. The pair fails to envisage that one another and the letter were the ultimate factors that lead to their demise. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern live up to the idea of anti-heroes in existentialism by being each others hopeless backbones and depending on the letter, which leads them to their fateful deaths.Through the utilization of vacillating identities, unforeseeable knowledge of the past, and anti-heroes, existentialism augment ed Rosencrantz and Guildensterns ultimate kismet their anticipated deaths. Tom Stoppard leads Ros and Guil through an obscure existence that turns out to encompass nothing. With this, the endorser might ask, What is life without purpose? And one can say that it is certainly no life at all.