Rosencrantz and Guildentstern

Two Hamlet’s schoolmates from Wittenberg appear in the play as a seemingly cheerful pair a-la Tweedledum and Tweedledee. They arrive to Elsinor at Claudius’s command, and their purpose is spying on Hamlet and finding out the causes of his supposed madness. These two simpletons fail, for Hamlet knows them and understands their goal at once. At last, he just gets tired of these mental Siamese twins and cuts their attempts off by demonstrating his cold attitude. After that they are ordered to accompany Hamlet on his journey to England and Claudius gives them a letter to the king of England with instructions to kill Hamlet. After finding this out, Hamlet rewrites the letter and now Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are heading to their death. The pirates’ attack does not change their destiny, and in the last scene the messenger declares them dead.