In literature, minor characters are constantly used to further illuminate the plots surrounding them. In the case of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, Stoppard and Shakespeare use them to stimulate the plot and enhance the understanding of their plays. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern do this by being the catalysts that move the plot forward, providing additional perspective to the protagonists so that the reader better understands the author's message. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are both actively used throughout the plays. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead and Hamlet as tools that are used to enhance the understanding of their similar plots and improve the perspectives of the main characters. In Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead and Hamlet, King Claudius summons Rosencrantz and Guildenstern from Wittenberg so that they can learn the reasons for Hamlet's strange behavior (Stoppard/Shakespeare). In doing so, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern provide the king with little information about Hamlet's madness and force Claudius to conclude that Hamlet's death is imperative to his success as king (Stoppard/Shakespeare). In this situation, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are a medium that gives Claudius deeper insight into Hamlet's character; however, this only adds to Hamlet's façade of madness by providing another source that can only help Claudius conclude that Hamlet has gone mad. This equal act of manipulation on the part of Claudius and Hamlet allows the rivals to better understand each other's character; a conclusion that could not be drawn without the information medium that is Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. We therefore make the correlation that Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are the tools that provided a greater perspective on the thoughts of the protagonists. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are essential to understanding their author's literary messages. Tom Stoppard's work Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead is understood as an interpretation used to criticize or question the value of Hamlet. Stoppard conveys this message through the weakness of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are reduced to conscienceless pawns of the king, baffling their fate and that of their friend Hamlet and the order to kill him (Stoppard). In this process, they also reveal the plans to Hamlet, who in turn changes the messages so that Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are targeted for execution (Stoppard). These actions have been exaggerated since Hamlet by Stoppard to show the idea that there are no two real people who could be so definitively pawn-like that they would not care about their own well-being and that it could be in danger..