How Is Fortinbras A Foil To Hamlet

Fortinbras is a stronger political leader then Hamlet, and his actions to avenge his father’s death show Hamlets cowardly behaviour. Fortinbras is a strong political leader and takes rapid action to seek revenge for his father’s death. Fortinbras is willing to risk not only his life but also the lives of two thousand soldiers to fight for his father’s vengeance. The captain says to Hamlet, “ We go to gain a little patch of ground/That hath in it no profit but the name.” (4.4.18-19). Fortinbras is willing to fight for worthless land if it is in his father’s name. The land may not be worth anything, but to Fortinbras it is worth the battle to honour his father. This proves Fortinbras is a strong political leader because he is showing his

Consider Horatio’s account of the battle between old Hamlet and old Fortinbras and the descriptions of the late king

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,

Hamlet see’s Fortinbras as a man of action, which he is. He is leading his army to fight over a small piece of insignificant land: “Truly to speak, and with

Hamlet really wanted the revenge on Claudius but was really on the fence of what to actually do to follow through with then plan. Claudius was brave to feel so free, as Hamlet had opportunities to take advantage of him and had plenty of hate towards him for more than one reason. The action Hamlet may want and outcome of it, may be completely different as to what his father would do or like him to do.

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.

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.

Oftentimes, the minor characters in a play can be vital and, among other things, function to further the action of the play or to reveal and illuminate the personalities of other characters. In Hamlet, Fortinbras, the Norwegian Prince, serves as the most important foil of Hamlet and provides us with the actions and emotions in which we can compare to those of Hamlet and better reveal Hamlet’s own character. Because Hamlet and Fortinbras both lost their fathers and have sworn to avenge their deaths, Fortinbras is a perfect parallel of Hamlet. He was also very crucial to the play’s ending and to bring a remedy to the corruption that has plagued Denmark.

Shakespeare’s Hamlet is a tale of multiple characters whose personalities are clashing at the bits whenever one is introduced to another. Each character in the play exhibits a tragic flaw in one character, but happens to be another characters greatest strength. For example, Prince Hamlet and Prince Fortinbras cannot be so different from each other in the beginning, yet they happen to be so similar in circumstances. Both characters fathers have been murdered and both have the ambition to seek revenge on the killer. Hamlet and Fortinbras contrast each other in their character in that they both exhibit opposing tragic flaws, display differing strengths, yet they come together to form a symbiotic relationship.

When Hamlet is on his way to England he runs into Fortinbras and his army. He learns that Fortinbras is leading a huge army for a small piece of land that is not worth anything. He is greatly inspired by him though because he is willing to do it to protect his family and his father’s honor. After seeing them Hamlet says, “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. 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.” Hamlet (IV.iv.47-56) Hamlet realizes that he wants to

A foil is a minor character that helps the audience better understand a major character. A foil may exist as a comparison character, with similarities between the two, as well as differences that bring to light an important contrast between the foil and the main character. A foil may also just be someone for the main character to talk to, so we can know and understand their thoughts and feelings. Foils help us understand the obvious as well as the arcane. In the classic tragedy Hamlet, we see William Shakespeare employ foils to illustrate both examples. They become important literary tools that help the reader rationalize the concurrent theme of the play -

In this case, Hamlet is obsessed with yet unable to act out his revenge since he is a man of thought and reflection, not of action and impulsiveness. "Revenge, said Francis Bacon in his essay on the subject, is a kind of wild justice, and something in Hamlet is too civilized for stealthy murder," says Northrop Frye (Frye). While he knows it is his duty to avenge his father's murder, Hamlet's desire to fulfill this obligation constantly wavers. In self-pity he cries, "O cursed spite / That ever I was born to set it right!" (1.5. 188-189), and yet in rage he utters, "Now could I drink hot blood / and do such bitter business as the day / Would quake to loot on," (3.2. 397-399). Hamlet hesitates numerous times to fulfill his duty to avenge his father, and in the end he must actually convince himself to kill Claudius. "... I do not know / Why yet I live to say 'This thing's to do', / Sith I have cause, and will, and strength, and means / To do't... / ... / O, from this time forth, / My thoughts be bloody, or be nothing worth!" (4.4. 43-46, 65-66). This unusual flaw leads to Hamlet's inevitable demise, and is the most convincing evidence that Hamlet is, indeed, a tragedy. The protagonist, however, is not the only character in the play that experiences a want for revenge. Shakespeare uses all three of the sons seeking vengeance to reveal the complexity of the human yearning for

At his first appearance, young Fortinbras is shown to be inferior to Hamlet; being "of unimproved metal, hot and full" (1.1.96) Fortinbras is initially shown as a sharp contrast to the "sweet and commendable" (1.2.87) Hamlet introduced in the next scene. Despite going through emotional and mental highs and lows, Hamlet seems to constantly be in a state of regression and thought:

    William Shakespeare wrote the classic play, Hamlet in the sixteenth century.  Hamlet would be a very difficult play to understand without the masterful use of foils.  A foil is a minor character in a literary work that compliments the main character through similarities and differences in personality.  The audience can identify similarities and differences between any of the characters and Hamlet, however, there are two characters that share so much in common with Hamlet that they have to be considered the most important foils in the play.  These two characters are Laertes and Fortinbras.  It is the great similarities between Laertes, Fortinbras, and Hamlet that make the

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