"Two Goofballs" Motif

After reading Hamlet and the beginning of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead, it became clear to me how the two characters of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern follow the “two goofballs” motif, as they are silly, slow, and easily manipulated. They often confuse their own selves and are, in general, not that smart. The idea of “two goofballs” is a very common motif seen in our pop culture today, with references in several well-known films, such as Dumb and Dumber and Step Brothers. In Dumb and Dumber, the two main characters, Harry and Lloyd, open a corkscrew and accidentally kill the last remaining member of a species of bird, an instance which displays both their foolishness and inattention to their surroundings. Movies that contain the two goofballs motif do so to provide for comedy, and I think it's interesting that this literary element can trace itself back to Hamlet and possibly even earlier plays.