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Character Analysis: FORTINBRAS
Character Profile – At a Glance
Role: Prince of Norway; son of the late King Fortinbras (who was killed by King Hamlet).
Key Traits: Decisive, ambitious, martial (warlike), pragmatic, and opportunistic.
The Core Conflict: Seeks to reclaim the lands lost by his father to Denmark. He represents an external political threat throughout the play.
Key Function: Serves as a foil to Hamlet, representing action and military resolve without philosophical hesitation.
Key Actions: Gathers an army of "lawless resolutes," marches across Denmark to fight in Poland, and ultimately arrives at Elsinore to claim the crown.
Famous Quote: "For me, with sorrow I embrace my fortune: I have some rights of memory in this kingdom." (Act 5, Scene 2).
The Outcome: Becomes the King of Denmark after the death of the entire royal family, restoring political order.
The Man of Action: A Foil to Hamlet
Prince Fortinbras is a crucial foil to Prince Hamlet. Although he appears briefly on stage, his presence is felt throughout the play as a looming political and military threat. Like Hamlet and Laertes, Fortinbras is a son seeking to avenge his father and reclaim his inheritance.
His father, Old Fortinbras, was killed in single combat by Old King Hamlet, resulting in the forfeiture of Norwegian lands. Young Fortinbras's response to this loss contrasts sharply with Hamlet's. While Hamlet is paralysed by grief and intellectual analysis, Fortinbras immediately takes decisive, physical action. He gathers an army of "lawless resolutes" to reclaim the lost territory by force.
Horatio describes him early in the play as being "Of unimproved mettle hot and full" (Act 1, Scene 1). This energy and willingness to act without overthinking highlight Hamlet's own hesitation.
Discipline and Pragmatism
Unlike Laertes, whose desire for revenge is chaotic and rebellious ("I dare damnation"), Fortinbras demonstrates military discipline and political pragmatism. When his uncle (the current King of Norway) discovers his plot against Denmark and rebukes him, Fortinbras obediently stands down.
However, he shrewdly redirects his ambition. He agrees to attack Poland instead, fighting for a "little patch of ground" that has no inherent value other than honour. This ability to channel his aggression into state-sanctioned warfare makes him a successful leader, whereas Hamlet and Laertes act as individuals.
Hamlet encounters Fortinbras's army in (Act 4, Scene 4) and is struck by the contrast. He marvels that Fortinbras can find the will to sacrifice thousands of lives "Even for an egg-shell," while he, Hamlet, has a much greater motive (a murdered father) but remains inactive.
Original:
...Witness this army of such mass and charge
Led by a delicate and tender prince,
Whose spirit with divine ambition puff'd
Makes mouths at the invisible event... (Hamlet – Act 4, Scene 4)Shakespeare Retold (Modern Verse):
(Insert your Retold version here)
The Restoration of Order
Fortinbras is the ultimate victor of the play. He arrives in the final scene (Act 5, Scene 2) just as the Danish royal family has destroyed itself. The timing of his arrival suggests a form of opportunism, but also inevitable destiny.
With the death of Claudius and Hamlet, a power vacuum is created. Fortinbras steps in to fill it, claiming the throne based on "rights of memory" (historical claims). Importantly, he has Hamlet's "dying voice" (endorsement).
Original:
But I do prophesy the election lights
On Fortinbras: he has my dying voice... (Hamlet – Act 5, Scene 2)Shakespeare Retold (Modern Verse):
But I predict the crown from this election
For Fortinbras: he has my dying vote.
Fortinbras represents the restoration of order to the "rotten" state of Denmark. However, it is a military order imposed by a foreign power. His final command to "Go, bid the soldiers shoot" signifies that the era of philosophical introspection (Hamlet's era) is over, replaced by the era of the soldier.
“Fortinbras is the man of action who, simply by being the man of action, takes over the world that the man of thought has been unable to set right.”
Key Quotes by and about Fortinbras
Quote 1:
Original:
Now, sir, young Fortinbras,
Of unimproved mettle hot and full,
Hath in the skirts of Norway here and there
Shark'd up a list of lawless resolutes... (Horatio – Act 1, Scene 1)Shakespeare Retold (Modern Verse):
But then, young Fortinbras,
Hot-headed, inexperienced but bold,
Scoured the distant hinterlands of Norway,
Gathering a rough-cut bag of thugs…
Quote 2:
Original:
Rightly to be great
Is not to stir without great argument,
But greatly to find quarrel in a straw
When honour’s at the stake. (Hamlet, regarding Fortinbras – Act 4, Scene 4)Shakespeare Retold (Modern Verse):
But being great
Does not require a monumental reason
To fight, but finding nothing much to fight for
When honour is at stake.
Quote 3:
Original:
For me, with sorrow I embrace my fortune:
I have some rights of memory in this kingdom,
Which now to claim my vantage doth invite me. (Fortinbras – Act 5, Scene 2)Shakespeare Retold (Modern Verse):
For me, with sorrow, I’ll take my good luck:
I have traditional rites upon this kingdom:
Fortuitous circumstance now grants it mine.
Quote 4:
Original:
Let four captains
Bear Hamlet, like a soldier, to the stage...
Go, bid the soldiers shoot. (Fortinbras – Act 5, Scene 2)Shakespeare Retold (Modern Verse):
Let four captains
Lift Hamlet, like a soldier, to the stage…
Go, tell the soldiers shoot.
Key Takeaways
Fortinbras serves as a foil to Hamlet, embodying decisive action, military ambition, and leadership without hesitation.
Like Hamlet and Laertes, he is a son seeking to avenge his father, but he does so through political and military manoeuvring rather than private revenge.
His willingness to fight for honour (even for an "egg-shell") inspires Hamlet to finally commit to action.
His ascension to the throne in the final scene marks the restoration of political order in Denmark, though it signals a shift from an intellectual court to a martial one.
Study Questions and Analysis
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Fortinbras contrasts with Hamlet primarily through his capacity for decisive action. Both men are princes whose fathers have been killed, and both have lost their inheritance.
While Hamlet spends the play agonising over the morality and consequences of revenge, becoming paralysed by thought ("thinking too precisely on the event"), Fortinbras acts immediately. He raises an army to reclaim his father's lost lands. He represents the "man of action" as opposed to Hamlet's "man of thought." Hamlet explicitly compares himself to Fortinbras in his soliloquy in (Act 4, Scene 4), admiring the Norwegian prince's resolve.
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Fortinbras claims the throne based on "rights of memory" (Act 5, Scene 2). This refers to the historical connection between the two families and the lands that were lost by his father to King Hamlet.
More importantly, his claim is legitimised by the complete destruction of the Danish royal line. With Claudius and Hamlet dead, there is no direct heir. Hamlet provides the final stamp of legitimacy by giving Fortinbras his "dying voice" (vote/endorsement). Fortinbras seizes the opportunity ("my vantage") to step into the power vacuum.
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Hamlet admires Fortinbras because he possesses the qualities Hamlet lacks: certainty, resolve, and the ability to act without overthinking.
In Act 4, Scene 4, Hamlet observes Fortinbras's army marching to fight for a worthless piece of land ("an egg-shell") simply for the sake of honour. Hamlet is ashamed that he, who has a much greater motive (a murdered father and a stained mother), has failed to act. He views Fortinbras's "spirit with divine ambition puff'd" as a model of how a prince should behave.
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The ending is ambiguous. On one hand, Fortinbras represents the restoration of order. The "rotten" corruption of Claudius's reign has been purged, and a strong leader has taken control, preventing anarchy.
On the other hand, Denmark has fallen to a foreign power. Fortinbras is a soldier, not a philosopher. His final commands relate to military rites ("bid the soldiers shoot"), suggesting that the intellectual and cultural richness of Hamlet's Elsinore may be replaced by a rigid martial regime. It is a return to stability, but perhaps at the cost of the humanist ideals Hamlet represented.
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Both Fortinbras and Laertes are men of action who contrast with Hamlet, but they differ in their discipline. Laertes is passionate and chaotic; he raises a mob and storms the castle in a rebellious rage, willing to use treachery (poison) to get his way.
Fortinbras, however, is disciplined and pragmatic. When his uncle forbids him from attacking Denmark, he obeys and redirects his army to Poland. He operates within the bounds of statecraft and military strategy. While Laertes is destroyed by his own passion, Fortinbras survives and thrives through his disciplined ambition.
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Old Fortinbras (Fortinbras's father) serves as a mirror to Old King Hamlet. Both were warrior kings who settled disputes through single combat. Their duel, described by Horatio in (Act 1, Scene 1), established the political context of the play.
The death of Old Fortinbras and the loss of Norwegian lands provide the motivation for Young Fortinbras's aggression. It establishes the cycle of violence and revenge that permeates the play: sons attempting to settle the debts of their fathers.
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Despite his limited stage time, Fortinbras is essential to the play's structure and themes. He provides the external political threat that keeps the court of Elsinore on edge.
Thematically, he broadens the scope of the play beyond the domestic tragedy of the Danish royal family to the geopolitical consequences of their corruption. He serves as a constant benchmark against which Hamlet judges himself. Finally, he is necessary for the tragic conclusion; without him, the play would end in total chaos with no one left to rule.