There is controversy as to rather or not Rosencrantz and Guildenstern deserved their fate. Despite what these two did to Hamlet, their death was not necessary. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern were blindly following the king’s orders and the king didn’t tell them his true intentions. Overall,it feels as if they had good intentions for Hamlet to recover or to die quickly and possibly find peace because it is possible they have believed he was completely mad. One part of the controversy is that they did not deserve their horrible fate of death.
Though the time period this was based around was more accepting towards the fate of the death of others,Rosencrantz and Guildenstern’s death could have been avoided. Had the communication between King Claudius, Hamlet, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, and even Queen Gertrude, been better many issues could have been resolved before happening. For instance, if King Claudius were to have completely told Rosencrantz and Guildenstern his scheme for Hamlet’s demise the betrayal could have been avoided, therefore possibly avoiding their deaths. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern hinted around about how they were poor.
They were not simple commoners, however they were not considered nobles either. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern went to college in Wittenberg with Hamlet, and they had to of been hurting for money,hence another reason as to why they took upon King Claudius’s offer. They didn’t seem to know what a snake Claudius was and would do anything for the Claudius’s attention and money for college. Near the time of their death on the way to England, Rosencrantz begins to question if it was all worth it “Was it all for this? Who are we that so much should converge on our little deaths. “ .
In this quote it is clear that he is beginning to regret and reflect on their mistake of trusting the king, and betraying their childhood friend, Hamlet. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern then realize at this point that they are going to die because of their faulty actions of their betrayal. These two characters clearly feel powerless because even after all the effort in cozying up to the king,they will still die a “little death” that won’t affect many. In that time period it was acceptable to die for the littlest of things, but if you compare it to today’s outlook they should not have died.
In today’s society is it is common for people to take matters into their own hands when betrayed,they may make them regret it by doing something to humiliate the offender,but in most cases it is not death. Before Rosencrantz and Guildenstern die in England, they overview their actions. As they are talking to one another they say “We’ve done nothing wrong. We didn’t harm anyone,did we? ”said Guildenstern ”I don’t remember. ” said Rosencrantz. ” It is clear that the intentions were to never hurt Hamlet,or anybody for that matter,so they are confused as to why Hamlet is having them executed.
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern were in it for the king’s attention and the money, not to hurt anybody. In this part it is clear that Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are not even aware if they hurt or wronged anybody, including Hamlet. You can tell that because it was brought up they found out about their fate that was at the hands of Hamlet. In their eyes, they don’t see working for the king as betrayal towards Hamlet because they didn’t know that Hamlet’s uncle was his nemesis. It is obvious that they got themselves into a mess that they cannot get out of.
The king did not tell them every bit of information, therefore the two characters were following his orders blindly and without knowing all of the king’s intentions. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern do not completely understand the consequences of the betrayal and because of that, their unfortunate undoing is near. Through all of the sucking up to the king, Hamlet obviously figured out the demise between his uncle,Claudius,and his two childhood friends, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern,whom had nothing to say in return.
In a way, Hamlet was already fragile because of his father’s death, his issues with his ex-lover Ophelia, and his mother’s quick marriage to Claudius approximately two months after Hamlet’s father died. Due to Hamlet’s fragile emotional state, and his feigned madness scheme, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern added fuel to the fire and paid the ultimate price for their actions. After Hamlet found out about Rosencrantz and Guildenstern’s demise, he confronted them about it and later compared Rosencrantz to a sponge. It is logical to assume that Hamlet acted for revenge. That I can keep your counsel and not mine own. Besides, to be demanded of a sponge! What replication should be made by the son of a king? ”-Hamlet. For awhile after finding out about the betrayal Hamlet doesn’t seem to be affected by the betrayal of his friends until the pair attempt to send Hamlet to his death. King Claudius clearly doesn’t care about Rosencrantz and Guildenstern,for he mixes up the two character’s names in the beginning of their demise. As Hamlet compared Rosencrantz to a sponge, he meant that Rosencrantz soaks up the king’s countenance, attention, and rewards.
However, once the king is done with them the two of them will be nothing but washed up. Once Rosencrantz and Guildenstern figured out that Hamlet set them up for death, the undeniable feel of dread overcame Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, however they seemed to quickly accept their fate. “If we have a destiny, then so had he and this is ours, then that was his. And if there are no explanations for us, then let there be none for him . ”-Rosencrantz. What Rosencrantz is saying is that everybody has a destiny that must be fulfilled sooner or later. Sometimes destiny cannot be explained or of understanding to yourselves and others.
He is stating that everybody has their destiny and sometimes it ties in with the destiny of others, possibly resulting in death. Hamlet is asking himself why Rosencrantz and Guildenstern had to go suck up to the king. He is acting as if they don’t matter to him anymore and that their defeat hints that something worse will come from it. “Why, man, they did make love to this employment; They are not near my conscience; their defeat does by their own insinuation grow. ”-Hamlet. Hamlet seems to be hurt by the fact his childhood friends betrayed him for employment and for the rewards of the king.
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are two separate characters though they both act as half-men. Half-men are two characters that make up one character. This can easily be determined Rosencrantz and Guildenstern’s mannerisms, way of speaking, and their behavior. Due to them being considered half-men, the effect the both of them have on Hamlet for the betrayal may be less dramatic than if Rosencrantz and Guildenstern were to be considered completely separate characters. In Hamlet, Rosencrantz calls himself and Guildenstern “little men. ”, saying this : “We are little men, we don’t know the ins and outs of the matter, there are wheels within wheels”.
This is an interesting analogy because Rosencrantz finally realizes that both himself and Guildenstern went in blindly to work for the king,just to end up being used before their undeserved death. If Rosencrantz and Guildenstern were both different in a few ways, then maybe at least one of them could have avoided death or saw through the horrible scheme before everything escalated the way it had. It is clear that Hamlet acted out of mistrust,grief,revenge,and possibly even pure madness if Hamlet was no longer actually feigning his madness.
My main point of this paper, once more, is that both Rosencrantz nd Guildenstern did not deserve to die at the hands of Hamlet. Yes, they betrayed Hamlet, broke Hamlet’s trust, and worked with the king for a number of reasons, but death was not necessary. If there had been communication between many, if not all of the characters, the events that took place could have been avoided including Rosencrantz and Guildenstern’s death. Had Hamlet and King Claudius not of acted on his emotions many lives could have been saved. As previously stated in my paper,Rosencrantz and Guildenstern didn’t seem to have a desire to purposely harm Hamlet or anybody else.
The characters both regretted their actions that were initially believed to not be of harm to anybody, the questioning of rather or not the rewards from the king were worth it, and the two realize what they had done was wrong. Hamlet changed the details of the execution letter intended for himself over to the execution of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. At first,it is present that they are confused as to why they must die, however they inexplicably come to terms with it. The regret is once more obvious in “Was it all for this? Who are we that so much should converge on our little deaths. “ . Rosencrantz and Guildenstern did not deserve to die.