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In Hamlet, Shakespeare introduces us to Fortinbras and Hamlet. Both characters are bent on avenging the death of their fathers who were murdered. In Act I, two different revenge plots by these two men are revealed, and while Fortinbras is very open and bold about killing Claudius, Hamlet is sly and quiet about his plan. Fortinbras is also dead set on attacking Denmark no matter what but Hamlet is indecisive about killing Claudius. Fortinbras plans to lead an army to attack Denmark while Hamlet’s plan of attack is to act crazy. Firstly, Fortinbras is very open and bold about avenging his father’s death and killing the new king of Denmark. Everyone knows about his plan to attack Denmark even Horatio, a friend of Hamlet who attends Wittenberg University and just came to Denmark to see the ghost of the dead King Hamlet. He is the first person in Act 1 to talk about Fortinbras and his revenge plans when he says, "Now, Sir, young Fortinbras / Of unimproved metal, hot and full / Hath in the skirts of Norway, here and there / Shark’d up a list of lawless resolutes" (Shakespeare I. i. 95-98). Horatio words suggest that everyone knows Fortinbras plan and it is not a secret to anyone in Denmark. Hamlet on the other hand is the polar opposite of this as he is very sly and quiet about his plan to avenge his father’s death. Even when his friends ask him about what the ghost says to him, he does not tell them about what the ghost says or what his revenge plan is. He also tells his own friends to swear to secrecy about seeing the ghost: Hic et ubique? then we’ll shift our ground. Come hither, gentlemen, And lay your hands again upon my sword: Never to speak of this that you have heard, Swear by my sword. (I.V.157-161) This quotati... ... middle of paper ... ... and eventually get what he wants. Fortinbras and Hamlet revenge plans are as different as night and day. While Fortinbras is going on the offense and is leading a group of men to attack Denmark, Hamlet is going on the defence and pretending to be insane. In conclusion, Shakespeare introduces the reader to two revenge plans by two princes and they cannot be more different. Fortinbras is very bold about his choice of attack and is determined to destroy Denmark and Claudius by using his army whereas Hamlet is sly and indecisive about his plan and acting like a madman to confuse everyone and get the job done easily. Act 1 in Hamlet shows the different revenge plans Fortinbras and Hamlet both have to avenge their fathers’ gruesome death. Works Cited Shakespeare, William, Marilyn Eisenstat, and Ken Roy. Hamlet. 2nd ed. Toronto: Harcourt Canada, 2003. Print.
In the play, Hamlet, by William Shakespeare, the character of Fortinbras, has been used as a foil for the main character, Hamlet. Hamlet and Fortinbras have lost their fathers to untimely deaths. Claudius killed Hamlet's father, King Hamlet, and King Hamlet killed Fortinbras' father. Both Hamlet and Fortinbras have vowed to seek revenge for the deaths of their fathers. Since the revenge tactics of Hamlet and Fortinbras are completely different, Hamlet perceives the actions of Fortinbras as better than his own and the actions of Fortinbras, then, encourage Hamlet to act without hesitating.
As is hinted throughout the play, the state of Denmark has become corrupt. Marcellus' famous quote "There is something rotten in the state of Denmark"(Act 1, 5:90) is complemented by various other observations. "...tis an unweeded garden,"(Act 1, 2:134) and "our state to be disjoint and out of frame,"(Act 1, 2:20). In Elizabethan times it was generally thought that a monarch had to have rightful claim to the throne, lest the state descend into chaos. Fortinbras is essential to this overlying story line, as he is fundamental to the resolution of the corruption. The overlying story line is to make what was bad become good, and thus a complete resolution is needed. Fortinbras is instrumental in this resolution: as the only nobleman left to claim the throne rightfully, Hamlet bequeaths not only the land that Old Fortinbras lost, but also the state of Denmark. Hence Fortinbras attains what he had vowed to avenge, and the play comes full circle. All that made the state of Denmark rotten, all those involved with the corruption, are now dead hence the overlying story plot is fully resolved.
Hamlet and Fortinbras grew up in completely different countries, but still ended up having similar lifestyles. Both Hamlet and Fortinbras are princes and ere to the thrones in their kingdoms. Hamlet’s father died due to a “snake bite”, and the crown was not given to Hamlet but his Uncle Claudius. Fortinbras’s father died due to a duel, and the crown was also given to his Uncle as well. Hamlet was told that his father was murdered and decided to hatch a plan to avenge his father. Fortinbras’s father was killed in a duel against Hamlet’s father and was killed. Fortinbras made a plan of invading Denmark and avenging his father that way.
Hamlet, the major character in the Shakespeare play of the same name, was faced with a decision upon learning that Claudius murdered his father. Should he believe the ghost, and avenge his father's murder? Or is the ghost evil, trying to coerce him into killing Claudius? Throughout the play, we see Hamlet's struggle with this issue. Many opportunities arise for him to kill Claudius, but he is unable to act because he cannot convince himself to believe the Ghost. Shakespeare uses Laertes and Fortinbras as foils to Hamlet, in order to help us understand why Hamlet acts the way he does.
Hamlet fakes going mad to decide if the Ghost is telling the truth about his father’s murder instead of taking action against Claudius because Hamlet needed time to plan his course of action against the king of Denmark. Fortinbras does not feel the same about waiting to make a plan. He wages war against Denmark to try and take back the lands his father lost while Denmark is grieving. Claudius says, “Now that follows that you know young Fortinbras, holding a weak supposal of our worth, or thinking by our late dear brother’s death...He hath not failed to pester us with message importing the surrender of those lands lost by his father” (1.2.17-24.). Fortinbras is ambitious and does not shy away from taking action instead of sitting back and procrastinating like Hamlet. Fortinbras and Hamlet share many qualities, but their ambitions, and how they achieve them, are what offset these characters from one another. Hamlet makes a point of saying, “O, from this time forth, my thoughts be bloody, or be nothing worth” (4.4.65-66). Hamlet observes Fortinbras’s attempts for revenge when he says, “Witness this army of such mass and charge, led by a delicate and tender prince, whose spirit, with divine ambition puffed, makes
The relation between these two characters is a lot like the juxtaposition with Hamlet and Laertes. Just like Hamlet and Laertes, Fortinbras’ father, King Fortinbras, was also killed but the way he died was in a battle with King Hamlet. Hamlet and Fortinbras’ circumstances are almost identical. Their fathers were both murdered, both their uncles are on the throne and they are both princes of their countries. Revenge is the motive for both of these princes because of their dead fathers, but the way and the reason they seek it is extremely different. Hamlet wants revenge because the ghost of his father told him to and Fortinbras wants revenge to reclaim the land that his father lost when he died. Fortinbras is more focused on the honour of his country, Norway, but all Hamlet cares about is killing his fathers murderer. Hamlet’s morals slow down the process of his revenge whereas Fortinbras’ firm attitude makes him act faster. Hamlet later develops some jealously towards Fortinbras, he says, “Rightly to be great/Is not to stir without great argument/But greatly to find quarrel in a straw/When honor’s at the stake” (Shakespeare 4.4.53-56). Hamlet is saying that if Fortinbras is taking such quick action for a little bit of land that means nothing then what does that make Hamlet? He says in order for him to be great like Fortinbras he must take violent action. Hamlet and Fortinbras are both equally rebellious
The theme of revenge is expanded and created by the ghost of King Hamlet because not only does he instruct others to seek revenge but he has such a powerful reach that characters, mainly Prince Hamlet, become driven by this want for revenge. Prince Hamlet shows his eagerness for revenge by saying that “Hast me to know’t, that I, with wings as swift / As meditation or the thoughts of love, / May sweep to my revenge” (34). As the text progresses the message or theme of revengeance fully surfaces when those who are driven by revenge, Laertes and Prince Hamlet, lure themselves to their own demise and this showcases the evil in chasing revenge. In addition, Shakespeare not only uses the theme of revenge but also uses the almost opposite theme of patience to show what mankind “should be and what not to be”. The following shows the outcome of Fortinbras’s patience, “I have some rights of memory in this kingdom, / Which now to claim my vantage doth invite me” (177). In Hamlet, Shakespeare uses the ghost of King Hamlet as a representation and establisher of the theme of revenge and by the end of the tragedy shows how the characters, Prince Hamlet and Laertes, who followed this path lead themselves to their deaths; however, Shakespeare uses Fortinbras to represent the theme of patience and how not seeking revenge or acting upon impulses, like Hamlet and Laertes, led him to the throne of Denmark. Moreover, even though the King Hamlet’s ghost appears in the text for a limited time he plays a significant role in the development of other
Fortinbras, a Norway prince, was calm and spirited, while using his thought processes to avenge his father’s death, relating to the importance of not falling down to anger and use of thought processes. The Norway prince, shared the same tragic event of losing his father as Laertes and Hamlet, though Fortinbras has proven the most successful character because he is the last one living. Hamlet’s bold words spoke of Fortinbras after meeting with the captain of Fortinbras’s army, “Look at this massive army led by a delicate and tender prince whose so puffed up with divine ambition” (Shakespeare 108). The wording is extremely substantial because Hamlet brings up that he is brought by divine ambition, a desire to reach a goal. Fortinbras is composed, in control of his body, and of course not controlled by anger, but a goal. The prince of Norway devised several plans by reclaiming land once lost, and waiting until it was the right time to strike. He was more strategic than Hamlet and Laertes, and did not allow anger to consume him. When he arrives in Denmark, he comes at the right time because chaos occurs leaving everyone dead. His action of attack was not so sudden, but put within a process under the control of his brain and not anger. Fortinbras is the character that Shakespeare wants human’s to be, strong enough to control anger and use thought
All together this play is just a couple of people trying to get revenge for their dead fathers and get back at the people who killed them. All of them being Prince Hamlet wanting revenge on Claudius, Laertes wanting revenge on hamlet and Fortinbras wanting revenge on all of Denmark. The whole story is just one big revenge story with two side revenge stories and Shakespeare teaches many things about how revenge happens. Like how revenge can have a soft side, how revenge can be very violet and aggressive and how revenge has no boundaries. In the end, with the exception of Fortinbras being gifted the crown, all of the different tales of revenge end up with bad out comes and Shakespeare did a great job showing how revengeful actions never have the best outcomes.
One of the first things introduced in the play is the reason for all of the commotion and need for guards within Denmark. Horatio explains to Marcellus and Barnardo that Old Fortinbras challenged King Hamlet of Denmark to a duel in order to spare their countries from war. Old Fortinbras was slain, and under a valid legal document was forced to surrender all of his territories to his conqueror, King Hamlet. Young Fortinbras, King Fortinbras’ son, seeks to reclaim his father’s forfeited lands. He waited until King Hamlet passed away to carry out his plan of reclamation in fear of being challenged to a duel, as his main goal is not to achieve vengeance, but to acquire a small patch of land for his country’s honour. During Elizabethan times, revenge was categorized as either private or public. Fortinbras initially seeks revenge publicly through military force, but more for his country’s honour than in his father’s nam...
In William Shakespeare’s play Hamlet, Hamlet does avenge his father’s death but at the cost of many life’s. Multiple characters must be analyzed in order to make an opinion about Hamlet’s revenge. There are many reasons to hamlet delaying avenging his father’s death because he finds out from a ghost he could not trust. Hamlet can be compared to Laertes and Fortinbra. They are very similar but different and the same time. Each of them loved their fathers very much and felt as if they have to avenge their father’s death. Something they had in common has been that they felt their fathers were disrespected not only their fathers but them as well. Hamlet took a very weak approach to his father revenge where as in Laertes was quick to act and Fortinbra was in the middle.
...s after his final words of salute to the dead Prince Hamlet. The reader can assume that Fortinbras takes the throne of Denmark since he received Hamlet’s blessing and mentioned that he had some claim of Denmark. Because King Hamlet slayed Fortinbras father in the past, Fortinbras felt the need to avenge his father’s death by assuming the throne of Denmark.
Revenge has caused the downfall of many a person. Its consuming nature causes one to act recklessly through anger rather than reason. Revenge is an emotion easily rationalized; one turn deserves another. However, this is a very dangerous theory to live by. Throughout Hamlet, revenge is a dominant theme. Fortinbras, Laertes, and Hamlet all seek to avenge the deaths of their fathers. But in so doing, all three rely more on emotion than thought, and take a very big gamble, a gamble which eventually leads to the downfall and death of all but one of them. King Fortinbras was slain by King Hamlet in a sword battle. This entitled King Hamlet to the land that was possessed by Fortinbras because it was written in a seal'd compact. "…our valiant Hamlet-for so this side of our known world esteem'd him-did slay this Fortinbras." Young Fortinbras was enraged by his father’s murder and sought revenge against Denmark. He wanted to reclaim the land that had been lost to Denmark when his father was killed. "…Now sir, young Fortinbras…as it doth well appear unto our state-but to recover of us, by strong hand and terms compulsative, those foresaid lands so by his father lost…" Claudius becomes aware of Fortinbras’ plans, and in an evasive move, sends a message to the new King of Norway, Fortinbras’ uncle.
In the play, there are several characters wanting vengeance like that of Hamlet. Throughout the play, Hamlet, Laertes, and Fortinbras all had a tragic death of a family member which caused their decision for revenge. Consequentially, these revenges caused the demise of two characters and the rise of power of another. The retaliation shown by the Prince of Denmark, as well as Laertes led to the downfall of their government. In the play, Hamlet seeks revenge on his uncle Claudius.
...revenge will come (Act IV, VII, 25). This act of murder reflects upon the society through the vengeful advance of Fortinbras and his army upon Denmark in pursuit of reclaiming his fathers land. This dual understanding gives the play an additional element of excitement and intensifies the overall meaning and depth of the play through the relation to political elements of the surrounding society. The technique of dual understanding creates depth within Hamlet and influences the reader to examine the deeper meaning of the overall play.