In literature, minor characters are constantly used to shed a brighter light on the plots around them. In the case of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, both Stoppard and Shakespeare use them to stimulate the plot and enhance understanding of their plays. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern do this by being the catalysts that move the plot along, providing additional perspective to the protagonists so that the reader more fully understands the author's message. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are both actively used throughout the pieces Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead and Hamlet as tools that are used to increase understanding of their similar plots and enhance the perspectives of the main characters. In both Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead and Hamlet, King Claudius summons both 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 critical to his success as king (Stoppard/Shakespeare). In this situation, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are a means that provides Claudius with 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 both Claudius and Hamlet allows the rivals to have a greater understanding of each other's character; a conclusion that could not be reached without the media that is Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. Therefore, the correlation is made that Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are the tools that provided greater perspective into the thoughts of the protagonists. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are essential to understanding their author's literary messages. Tom Stoppard's piece, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead, is intended 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 unconscious pawns of the King, disconcerting their own 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 are exaggerated from Stoppard's Hamlet to show the idea that two real people could not be so definitively pawn-like that they do not care about their own well-being and could be in danger..