The Shakespeare play featuring Rosencrantz and Guildenstern is “Hamlet.” They are childhood acquaintances of Prince Hamlet who are summoned by King Claudius after Hamlet begins behaving strangely. Claudius asks them to discover what is troubling the prince, turning their supposed friendship into a covert investigation on the king’s behalf.
Hamlet quickly sees through their polished language and realizes that they are serving Claudius as informants. Their presence reinforces one of the play’s central themes: uncertainty about who can be trusted. Later, Claudius sends them with Hamlet to England carrying secret instructions for his execution. Hamlet discovers the plot and alters the letter, causing Rosencrantz and Guildenstern to be executed instead.
They are sometimes remembered mainly because of Tom Stoppard’s later absurdist play “Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead,” but those characters originate in Shakespeare’s “Hamlet.” They are not principal characters in “King Lear,” “Othello,” or “Macbeth.”