Rosencrantz and Guildenstern were
friends from Hamlet's youth, but were not loyal to him . The king
and queen sent them to find out why Hamlet "puts on this confusion" (III,i.2).
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are not convinced that Hamlet is insane; they
refer to it as "crafty madness" (III,i.8) and they show their alliance
with the King by discussing Hamlet's actions and motives.
They pretend to have love for Hamlet,
but he knows otherwise. Hamlet is quite aware of their schemes and
tells them that they show little respect in trying to manipulate him.
Hamlet regards them as the enemy
and, therefore, mocks them. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern represent
danger toward Hamlet. Hamlet knows that the reason why they
are going to England is to have him killed, but Hamlet forges a letter
to have them killed instead. Hamlet feels complety guiltless of their
deaths because of their presumptuous habits of sticking their noses in
affairs not of their own.
Much
like Shankespeare's Hamlet, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern in Stoppard's
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead are in an inevitable
situation. Their queries are made in vain and they become victims
of a phenomenon they cannot control. This is so, because in Hamlet
they couldn't refuse to do what the king ordered, therfore, their situation
was 
inescapable.
"They are forced to adopt a role or embrace a fate which has been sealed
by their author (Shakespeare)." (Mullenix)
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