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What element does this quote portray and what is its significance?
Why, man, they did make love to this employment.They are not near my conscience. Their defeatDoes by their own insinuation grow.'Tis dangerous when the baser nature comesBetween the pass and fell incensèd pointsOf mighty opposites.Act 5 Scene 2
Quick answer:
The quote from Act 5, Scene 2 highlights themes of betrayal and justice in "Hamlet." Hamlet justifies the deaths of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern by arguing they brought their fate upon themselves through their ambitions and actions as courtiers. He suggests that lesser individuals risk danger when they interfere in conflicts between powerful figures, like himself and Claudius. This reflects Hamlet's belief that Rosencrantz and Guildenstern were expendable and deserved their fate for betraying him.
Claudius sends Hamlet to England with the courtiers Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. He gives the courtiers a sealed letter saying Hamlet is to be executed upon arrival in England.
Hamlet steals the letter from the two courtiers and opens it. When he realizes that Claudius has planned his murder, he writes a new letter. As luck will have it, he still has his father, the late king's signet ring, to seal the letter with so that it looks like an official document from the king. In this letter, Hamlet instructs that Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are to be executed immediately.
In the quote above, Hamlet is rationalizing what might seem a cruel act. He is saying their deaths don't weigh on his conscience because they shouldn't have chosen to be courtiers. In other words, they brought their fate on themselves; their deaths arise out of their ambitions.
In the last part of...
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the quote, Hamlet explains that "baser," or more lower class, people (with the implication that the two were not just lower in rank than Hamlet and Claudius but also people of low or vile character) take a big risk when they come between two powerful opponents. He is saying that in the battle between two royals, people like Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are expendable pawns. They should have known that and realized something like this might happen to them; it is one of the risks of being a courtier.
In Shakespeare's Hamlet, the lines you quote are spoken by Hamlet in response to Horatio's wondering about the fates of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. Hamlet, of course, rewrote the king's instructions for Hamlet to be executed upon arrival in England, to read that Ros. and Guil. should be executed upon arrival in England.
Paraphrased, Hamlet's words mean something like the following:
Why, man, they loved their work.
I do not feel guilty about what I did to them. They are
the ones who intruded into the situation.
It's dangerous when lesser human beings
come between the thrusts of the fierce swords
of mightier, more powerful people.
The passage is highly metaphorical. Ros. and Guil. did not really make love to their job, they cannot really be near or far from Hamlet's conscience, and they didn't really get caught between a sword fight featuring Hamlet against Claudius. They did get caught in a power struggle between the two.
The lines explain Hamlet's reasoning and motivation for doing what he did to Ros. and Guil. Some see Hamlet's action as excessive, and it may be. But the lines do explain his side of the issue.
They also demonstrate Hamlet's disgust when lesser beings attempt to "play" him and betray him. In effect, Hamlet says in these lines that Ros. and Guil. got what they deserved.