In The Tragedy of Hamlet, all characters help to show the theme of appearance versus reality. There are many minor roles we can consider in this play. The characters I will focus my analysis on are Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. They both appear to be good and honest. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Hamlet’s childhood friends but Claudius hires them to work for him. They betray Hamlet by spying on him and informing Claudius about his activities. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern represent the friends in life who can get you killed. Even though their role in this play is minor, their characters teach us, in the end, how betrayal can get you killed.
I agree with you. However, I feel that hamlet was smarter than them. Hamlet knew what was going on and instead, he acted normal around them. I also agree that betrayal does get you killed. That is why you should be conscious of those around you. Based on modern society, it is seldom anyone who has positive intentions, let alone courtesy.
I think Rosencrantz and Guildenstern played a major role in the play: They did not only represent the betrayal of childhood friends, but they also helped Hamlet realize how others around him (Claudius and his mother) were also conspiring against him. Without the participation of these two characters Hamlet would not have noticed things that were happening thus certain actions taken by him upon the discovery that his friends were spies would have never taken place thus the story’s ending could have been different. I think since these two characters were able to change events in the story they are also major characters.