The Foil Character Of Fortinbras In Shakespeare's Hamlet

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

Hamlet vs Fortinbras HAMLET AND FORTINBRAS In Hamlet the character of Fortinbras, a young Norwegian prince, has been used as a foil for the main character Hamlet, the Prince of Denmark. Hamlet and Fortinbras have both lost their fathers to untimely deaths. Hamlet's father, King Hamlet, was killed by his uncle Claudius and Fortinbras' father was killed by King Hamlet. Both Hamlet and Fortinbras have vowed to take revenge for the deaths of their fathers.

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.

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

Shakespeare’s character, Hamlet, is known for his indecisive personality. It is a trait that humanizes Hamlet in the sense that every man is flawed. However, this feature is Hamlet’s main

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.

Hamlet has a conversation with the Capitan of the Fortinbras army, and it was that conversation that influenced Hamlet to finally kill Claudius. Talking to the Capitan made Hamlet realize he has to take action, if the Fortinbras army can go to war over a miniscule matter, Hamlet can go to war over a huge matter that has been haunting him. After talking to the Capitan Hamlet realizes he has been very hesitant in seeking revenge because of over-analyzing his thoughts, and he vows that he will finally take action. He does.

A lot of people would see insanity and corruption to play the most important role in Hamlet. However, other people may argue that the main theme in Hamlet is Shakespeare’s use of actors and acting and the way it is used as framework on which insanity and corruption are built. Shakespeare demonstrates the theme of actors and acting in his characters, the illusion that the individuals assume and the introduction of the ‘play within a play’. This connection allows certain characters to wield the actions and thoughts of others.

In Hamlet,the author portrays a foil between Fortinbras and Hamlet. Fortinbras. Fortinbras’ characteristics bring out both the terrible and the best qualities out of Hamlet throughout the play. Fortinbras and Hamlet are the Prince of their own country. Both have lost their fathers’ and wanted to take vengeance for them..

As the play begins, Hamlet is in a grieving period over the death of his father. What makes it worse is that only a few

In Hamlet William Shakespeare employs many difficult situations in the characters’ lives to enlighten us on his view of important life lessons. The play Hamlet teaches us of redemption and the struggle within us that comes with it, moral truths that the characters fight to find, and a just society that mankind has always wanted. In Act I, redemption is shown as Fortinbras’ mission to take back the lands lost by his father to the Old King in a battle unfolds. Then we learn about his attempt at redeeming the honor lost to Norway by his actions against Poland in Act IV.

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.

For example, how the overall conflict is how Hamlet is unable to come to a certain decision about killing Claudius as revenge for his father in risking a chaotic shift of power and be open to possible war. However, there's a character of Lord Fortinbras, of whom faces similar predicaments but, decides with certainty “exposing what is moral and unsure” (4.4.54). Lord Fortinbras is a foil for Hamlet, as everything Hamlet lacks, Fortinbras makes up for. And for his admiration, Hamlet appreciates “the delicate and tender prince’s” decision making abilities (4.4.51). However, there's the questioning of that, although Fortinbras seem certain of his actions, is he making the right choices. As he drive several hundred men out to battle for a mundane grass patch, many died for nothing. This creates the hint of Fortinbras not being everything he is described an admiration from Hamlet. Lord Fortinbras brings unnecessary chaos and war because of his rash certainties while, it appears to the reader that Hamlet is wiser for thinking about it. For, rather than headfirst into killing the king because a ghost told him so and risk plunging Denmark into a chaotic state, Hamlet thinks the most reasonable way of proceeding. Furthermore, thinking more and more will only exemplify the true impossibility of being certain of any decision since the consideration of benefits and

The King and the Prince Fortinbras are foil characters to the protagonist of the story Hamlet, and his father King Hamlet. In the story King Hamlet is already dead, so he appears as a ghost or spirit. He appears as a ghost to tell his son that something is not right and it needs to be fixed as soon as possible. This coming from a ghost is very sicking, so Hamlet listened to the dead King as well as his father. For the other characters above we do not meet King Fortinbras in the play and only see Prince Fortinbras.

In the closing lines of William Shakespeare Hamlet, Fortinbras claims that if Hamlet had become king he “was likely…/To have proved most royal” (5.2.376-77), however the truth of this statement is questionable. Shakespeare expresses the importance of a king possessing several qualities throughout the play and it is debatable as to whether Hamlet meets the plays standards for a good king, particularly when compared to the plays other real and potential kings. Shakespeare expressed the importance of a king’s strong military presence through both Fortinbras and King Hamlet. The revenge plots of Fortinbras and Hamlet display the strong sense of honour that a successful king requires as well as a king’s willingness to defend that honour. A strong sense of morality is another quality stressed throughout Hamlet, achieved through Shakespeare’s treatment of Queen Gertrude’s relationships with Claudius, King Hamlet and Hamlet.