Guildenstern's View Of Death

To begin, Guildenstern’s philosophy on life and death is that both are meaningless. In the last few scenes of the play, Guildenstern mentions that “"….Dying is not romantic, and death is not a game which will soon be over ... Death is not anything ... death is not ... It's the absence of presence, nothing more ... the endless time of never coming back ... a gap you can't see, and when the wind blows through it, it makes no sound ... " (124) Guildenstern view death as being nothing. It is meaningless to die, because nothing happens in death. You die and there is nothing more. Additionally he views life as meaningless as well. For example, when he and Rosencrantz opened the letter and that confirmed their death. Guildenstern’s protests with,
He states that, “he did nothing but cry all the time right out of characters just stood there and cried” This is different from what Guildenstern believe about death he believes death is meaningless, but the Player does not see death that way. He does not distinguish art and life as separate the way Guildenstern does. He does want art to imitate life, which is similar to the Player, however he doesn’t view it as being the same. Death in nothing more than a scene in a play, and once someone is commend to death, they are supposed to follow
He is confused on if life is really worth living, similar to Guildenstern’s. This is shown throughout the fikm, with his erratic behavior. He appears bitter and confused after his father’s death. As stated by Robert Egan “Shakespeare's protagonist struggles through social disorder, psychological crisis, and metaphysical confusion.” He is confused on whether a life full of sorrow is better than the unknown realm of the dead. This is further shown in Hamlet in his famous “To be or not to be” soliloquy, in the lines “Whether ’tis nobler in the mind to suffer The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, Or to take arms against a sea of troubles, And, by opposing, end them?” He is completiating whether its better to be dead and end your troubles rather than live through them. However, he eventually comes to a realization that it is better to live than to encounter the unknown reality of death. He is shown to fear death and does not know what lies in death. He does not want to die, which is why he switches his name with Rosencrantz and Guildenstern’s name in the letter. His view of death is different from The Player’s. Hamlet does not believe that life is just a play. He doesn’t view death as romantic or poetic; he views it as something to fear because it is unknown what happens in