Fortinbras Masculinity In Hamlet

Next, Hamlet goes on to describes Fortinbras. He asks the audience to: "Witness this army of such mass and charge Led by a delicate and tender prince, Whose spirit with divine ambition puf'd Makes mouths at the invisible event,

Fortinbras is a manly warrior and shows the ability to take action. Similarly, Laertes is known for being a good fighter, a man of action, and having the ability to lead. During the play Laertes states, “To cut his throat i’th’ church”(IV.vii. 98). Laertes here says he would go as far as to kill Hamlet in the church, something almost unheard of. This portrays Laertes’ manly characteristics as being a rash and a well known fighter. The young Prince Hamlet, however, denies a chance to take his own revenge, as shown when he

Laertes also brings revenge and betrayal out of Hamlet. Though an enemy, Laertes is a foil to Hamlet. Laertes helps in the development of Hamlet through the similarities they share. These include anger over the death of their fathers, and desire to exact revenge. Betrayal is also relevant because Laertes betrays Claudius in the end, revealing his plan to kill Hamlet. Hamlet betrays his father by verbally abusing his mother, against the wishes of his father. The differences between the two men are very strong. Hamlet would not kill Claudius in the church because he was praying. Laertes, however stated that he would kill Hamlet in a church, praying or not. Another difference is that Hamlet cannot be a man of action and a man of thought at the same time. He does not use his mind when he acts. He just acts. When he is pondering something, he is unable to act out his thoughts, and keeps quiet. Laertes, however, is able to act while thinking. He finds out that Hamlet killed his father and immediately devises a plan to kill him. This flaw makes Hamlet dangerous to himself, and is ultimately his downfall.

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.

Throughout Hamlet, not only does the audience gather information about Hamlet’s hamartia through Laertes, they also gather information from the character of Fortinbras and how he acts. The main reason that Fortinbras is such a strong foil for Hamlet’s character is also due to the similarities in both his and Hamlet’s lives. Fortinbras and Hamlet are both princes whose father’s were killed and are now seeking vengeance to achieve justice for their father’s deaths. Due to the deaths of their fathers, they also both now have their uncle’s sitting on the thrones of Denmark and Norway.

Furthermore, Fortinbras is dead set on attacking Denmark and it seems no one can stop him. The death of his father lights a fire in him to kill at any cost and instead of taking care of his ill uncle who is on his death bed, Fortinbras leaves him alone and takes his time planning and training for his attack to kill the new king of Denmark. Shakespeare reveals that Fortinbras abandons his "impotent and bedrid" (I. ii. 29) uncle and trains his troops while "The lists, and full proportions are all made out of his subject" (I. ii. 32) to defeat Denmark showing his determination. Fortinbras wants to be the one who rights the wrong that the old king of Denmark has done to his father. He would go at any length to get the job done, thus making the reader see that he does not think things through before he does anything. Hamlet on the other hand is very indecisive about killing Claudius even though he knows Claudius is guilty of his father’s death. Although, Hamlet is not sure about what he is going to do to attack. Even though he wants to avenge his father’s death and obey the ghost, he is not as active or into the attacking

It can be said that Fortinbras is an energetic leader and soldier with clear intentions from the way he can quickly assemble his men to attack Poland. Although Fortinbras says that Hamlet was a soldier, too, “and for his passage, the soldier’s music…”(5.2, 444-445), the reader sees Hamlet only as a scholar because he seems to only think things out rather than take action. Though, Fortinbras’ statement helps us understand that Hamlet was once indeed a good soldier. Scene two of the last act of Hamlet reveals the true character of Fortinbras. After arriving at Elsinore, he immediately acts upon seeing the disturbing scene, much like he acts in battle, “Let four captains bear Hamlet like a soldier…”(5.2, 441-450).

During Early Modern England, a major portion of one’s masculinity depended on their physical abilities. In terms of life expectancy of the time period, the King is approaching, or already is in, old age, and, as Casey writes, “Men may become effeminized by age such that old and tired bodies lose their defining maleness,” (11). The King may have used poison as a murder weapon because of the femininity that is associated with old age, thus meaning that he chose to act in concordance to his age, and not to his sex. Hamlet, on the other hand, is much closer to the period of heightened manhood, that is pointed out by Shepard. “Between the ages of 14 and 28. . . was the time when [men were] ‘most sensible, full of strength, courage, and activenes’” (24). This increased manhood is clearly evident when looking at how Hamlet solves his issues—he physically fights and/or kills someone with a sword or rapier, (H 11.14-15, 17.83-84,96-97). Rather than committing murder in a hands-off

In Shakespeare’s famous tragedy, Hamlet there are similarities between Hamlet, Fortinbras, and Laertes. They do have some character differences but they face many of the same challenges and are put in similar situations. All three of the men have lost their fathers and are seeking to avenge their deaths in some way. Hamlet is contemplating killing Claudius, Fortinbras has gathered an army to reclaim lands that his father lost, and Laertes will do whatever it takes to get revenge for Polonius’ death. The main difference between the three men is that Fortinbras and Laertes are willing to do whatever it takes to reach their goal while Hamlet spends the majority of his time in thought trying to decide the right thing to do.

The first important comparison and contrast to make between the three characters is that Hamlet and Laertes both share a common goal: revenge. Though Fortinbras is not on a revenge rampage like them, he shares with them the want to assert power and authority. Throughout the play, Hamlet is motivated by the idea of taking revenge against the man who murdered his father in cold blood, and after speaking with his father’s ghost, he vows to avenge his father’s death and make things right. Laertes is in a similar position to Hamlet. After returning to Denmark and learning of the death of both his father Polonius and Ophelia because of Hamlet, he comes in to meet with the king with blood boiling, vowing to get revenge on Hamlet for what he had done. Fortinbras does not display any overbearing attitude of revenge, but he certainly

Hamlet realizes that Fortinbras is going to war over a useless piece of territory in order to uphold the honor of his father. Hamlet states, “Witness this army of such mass and charge / Led by a delicate and tender prince, / Whose spirit with divine ambition puffed / Makes mouths at the invisible event, / Exposing what is mortal and unsure / To all that fortune, death, and danger dare, / Even for an eggshell.”

Hamlet’s motivation throughout the play is to kill Claudius and avenge his father’s death, so every action he makes works to accomplish that goal. On the other hand, Fortinbras’ motivation toward action does not lie exclusively for the sake of revenge. Fortinbras, like Hamlet or any other proud prince, feels a certain obligation to exact revenge on his father’s killer. However, whatever he decides to do it would not entirely be accepted as revenge because King Hamlet is already dead when the play starts. Although it is unclear if Fortinbras desires to kill Hamlet in the name of his father, killing Hamlet would not be the same as killing his father, the true murderer. Rather than act as if responding to a vendetta, Fortinbras is motivated to restore honor to his father by reclaiming the parcel land in Norway that is seized after King Hamlet kills King Fortinbras.

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

Laertes, a foil to Hamlet in the play, faces similar problems as Hamlet. Laertes learns Hamlet is responsible for the death of his father, Polonius by Claudius. But, in Act III Scene iv, Polonius was hiding behind the arras of the Queen Gertrude’s room and Hamlet killed him accidentally. Claudius took the opportunity to use his manipulative skills and convince Laertes he should kill Hamlet for what he did (Cruttwell). Claudius’ speech to Laertes implies that not acting would show no love for his father, “Not that I think you did not love your father, but that I know love is begun by time, and that I see in passages of proof”(IV. vii. 111-113). Claudius’ tone influences Laertes to immediately seek revenge on

But to recover of us, by strong hand and terms compulsatory, those foresaid lands so by his father lost” (13). This quote discusses the major theme of revenge in the play. Fortinbras wants to avenge the death of his father by creating an army that could overrun Denmark. In this quote, we learn that Fortinbras is a young, passionate man that will stop at nothing to get revenge on those who killed his father, including the dead King Hamlet. The quote is significant because it gives the reader the first concept of someone seeking revenge in the play. Also in Act I, Hamlet is visited by the Ghost, where he informs Hamlet of his murderous death completed by his brother, King Claudius. The Ghost says this to Hamlet regarding Claudius, “Revenge his foul and most unnatural murder” (57). This quote explains that the Ghost wants Hamlet to get revenge on King Claudius for killing him.