] Hmmm. there's a point I hadn't thought of yet. I think Hamlet thinks he has enough corroborating evidence against them by that point to think that they are working only for Claudius. Even if that weren't the case, I think that Cheryl's point that Hamlet realizes that it is either him, or them, or me. I am not sure he cares what reaction R&G would have had. All he sees the command of his death. In addition to all that, what really could they have done? All the English had to do is dismiss them, and kill H once they were gone.

I agree that in that situation, with only moments to spare before someone walked in and caught me, and having just found out that I was in danger of my life, I probably wouldn't spend too much time worrying about my ex-friends! However, from the audience's point of view, I think Hamlet moves another step away from being on the side of the angels. He is responsible for the misery of one innocent person (Ophelia) and the deaths of three comparatively innocent people (Polonius, Rosenkrantz and Guildenstern)before he finally gets to the one he wants, Claudius. IMO, that makes him a very ambiguous hero!