Q- In what sense are men and women merely players on the stage of life?

In the poem the poet draws an analogy between the stage and life. Thus, the people on the stage, the players, are referred to as people living out their lives. There are several acts-like roles that are enacted on the stage-like life. All men and women therefore, seem like players performing their respective parts in life . They have their "entrances" and "exits" in the play which refer to birth and death respectively in the human life. Also, they can be seen in the context of exiting and entering into various roles that a person has to play in his/her life. A person enters the world by taking birth, exits the infant phase of his life and re-enters the stage of life in a new form, with a new role, that of a school boy. At the end the person finally exits the stage in death and thus ends the 'play' of his/her life.