Hamlet is the famous prince of Denmark, while Young Fortinbras is the prince of Norway. Fortinbras is the leading example for how Hamlet should be taking action. Fortinbras has been through several of the same events Hamlet has been through. Fortinbras is not the king of Norway, but is left as the prince and so has Hamlet. The difference is that Fortinbras actually avenges his father’s death, while Hamlet does not. Fortinbras takes action in reclaiming his father’s name and honor.
Fortinbras marches his army to Poland, in order to fight for a worthless piece of land. By doing this, Fortinbras believes he is reclaiming his father’s name and restoring his family’s honor. Hamlet, on the other side, does the complete opposite. He does not take immediate action for any cause and he is portrayed as a great procrastinator in the play itself. Hamlet does think of plans and actions, but he does not put them into the works. Hamlet does get side tracked by his own thoughts, which eventually force him to talk himself out to taking action for revenge.
The prince of Norway is portrayed as on...
In Shakespeare's play, Hamlet, the young Prince Hamlet must deal with murder, corruption and incest. The foils to Prince Hamlet, give the reader a basis to summarize his character within the play. Such foils include Laertes, son of Polonius, Claudius, current king of Denmark and stepfather of Hamlet, and Fortinbras, the prince of Norway.
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.
Moreover, Fortinbras is about to conquer a small piece of land without hesitation in order to honor his father. Consequently, his purpose is to characterize the bloody deeds that Hamlet cannot descend to. Hamlet praises Fortinbras, “Exposing what is mortal and unsure / To all that fortune, death, and danger dare, / Even for an eggshell” (4.4.53-5). Therefore, Shakespeare allows the audience to see how Hamlet admires a man who can act on an action that is much smaller than Hamlet’s cause of action. That is, hamlet is conflicted, and he proclaims, “My thoughts be bloody or be nothing worth!”
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, 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.
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
... 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 Hamlet’s case he is watching one of the Players act, and notices that even though it is just a play, the actor still takes haste to cry. “Yet I a dull and muddy-mettled rascal, peak like john-a-dreams, unpregnant of my cause, and can say nothing--no, not for a king upon whose property and most dear life, a damned defeat was made. Am I a coward”(2.2.593-598)? Hamlet on the other hand is not so quick to gather his rage, to avenge his father’s death. He realizes how much he is procrastinating, and how indecisive he has been on decision making. As result of this, Hamlet evaluates himself and questions if he is a coward. Further, Hamlet evaluates his procrastination and indecisive nature when he see Prince Fortinbras trying to replenish his kingdom. “Witness this army of such mass and charge, led by a delicate and tender prince, whose spirit with divine ambition … To all that fortune, death, and danger dare, even for an eggshell ”(4.4.50-69). Hamlet can see that Fortinbras is willing to do anything to strengthen his kingdom and to gain what his father has lost, and seeing this ambition makes him think about why he is taking so long to get his father's revenge. Hamlet sees that Fortinbras is fighting virtually for nothing but he at least put in an effort towards his cause. Hence, Hamlet’s lack of
In the play, the background stories of Fortinbras and Hamlet are similar. Both of their uncles are king, when the rightful throne should be theirs; however, the two princes deal with the aftermath differently. While Fortinbras deals by going out and conquering other countries, Hamlet distracts himself with thinking and plotting against Claudius. In Hamlet's soliloquy in Act 4, he compares and contrasts the differences between himself and Fortinbras. Hamlet explains that he would be more like Fortinbras with his actions.
Fortinbras was a mix of the previous two. He carefully planned out his strategy, and then acted on it when it was finished. He showed that he was not too reckless by sending his captain ahead of him to announce that he was coming, so that the king might have repay him instead of fighting him and losing men. He also was not slow in acting; he didn't make excuses not to like Hamlet did. If Hamlet had not hesitated, things probably would have worked out for him, maybe even better than he expected, like they did for Fortinbras.
Hamlet sees that Fortinbras is willing to risk his own life just to avenge his father and his name. After becoming crowned prince after his father’s death, Fortinbras rallies his forces in Norway and marches off to war and rev...
The theme of vengeance is apparent within the tragedy before the tragedy even begins. King Fortinbras is defeated by King Hamlet, leaving Prince Fortinbras orphaned. This naturally brings about bitterness between Prince Fortinbras and King Hamlet. Prince Fortinbras is angry, within reason. His father was just killed, his lands stolen, and now he is the person to whom all of the duty is left. These feelings lead Fortinbras to a state of angered reactions. He prepares an army to march into Poland and Denmark to recover the lands that his father had lost. He takes action, leaving the rest of his life behind, and marching over to get retaliation against the man who killed his father. He sets his mind on what he has to do, and sets off, away from his home, in a strong, purposeful manner. When Fortinbras prepares to march through Denmark, his address to King Claudius is direct, purposeful, and unemotional.
In William Shakespeare's tragedy Hamlet, Laertes, Fortinbras and Hamlet find themselves in similar situations. While Hamlet waits for the right time to avenge his father's death, Laertes learns of his father's death and immediately wants vengeance, and Fortinbras awaits his chance to recapture land that used to belong to his father. Laertes and Fortinbras go about accomplishing their desires quite differently than Hamlet. While Hamlet acts slowly and carefully, Laertes and Fortinbras seek their revenge with haste. Although Laertes and Fortinbras are minor characters, Shakespeare molds them in order to contrast with Hamlet. Fortinbras and, to a greater extent, Laertes act as foils to Hamlet with respect to their motives for revenge, execution of their plans and behavior while carrying out their plans.
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.
Throughout the play, Hamlet admires Fortinbras for his unwavering ability to act and do what is necessary. Hamlet views this as honorable, and desires to have this trait as well, especially when in regards to enacting revenge. Hamlet’s idolization of Fortinbras is exceedingly clear when on his deathbed hamlet says “On Fortinbras, he has my dying voice” (5.2.393), which means Hamlet wished for Fortinbras to take over the kingdom. This emphasizes Hamlet’s idolization as he could see no one else who was fit enough to take over the kingdom like Fortinbras, and this was do to the traits Hamlet saw in him. While idolizing Fortinbras for these traits, earlier in the play, Hamlet begins to compare himself to him and begins to perceive himself as honorable as well.