3. From one angle the play is about the relationship between fathers and sons. Compare the relationships of Hamlet, Fortinbras and Laertes. Use textual support. All three characters react differently when their fathers are murdered.
Through distinct archetypal parallels between Hamlet and Fortinbras and their aspirations for revenge, Shakespeare composes an alternative conclusion of his tragedy Hamlet through Prince Fortinbras, indicating Hamlet’s corruptible nature and hierarchy for revenge ultimately led to his ruin and instructing against the condensation of desire through depravity and disregard for consequences. In Act 1 of Hamlet, Shakespeare introduces the conflict between Denmark and Norway through the former king of Denmark’s ghost. From the perspective of Prince Hamlet’s acquaintance Horatio, Shakespeare establishes the background of his story. Horatio informs the audience that “Our last king . . .
Its is clear that he is strategic as he asks for permission beforehand to go through Denmark to get to the land that he wants to win back. He is aware of the disorder in Denmark so he plans for it to be that time when he will cross Denmark as everyone will be too distracted to pay much attention to him and his plans. Fortinbras has an achievable, and meaningful goal which is one of his largest strengths that will lead to his success in this play. Fortinbras’ goal is not just to avenge his father’s death but to reclaim his father’s honor by winning back the land he had lost. Unlike Laertes he does not jump right into the first way to get revenge, instead he is strategic and makes sure his plan is fool proof.
He thinks that reclaiming the land lost in the conflict will bring Norway back to its dignified pre-conflict state. However, while Hamlet sits around waffling between life and death, Fortinbras makes a decisive and prompt decision to raise an army to retake
On the contrary, because the end that Fortinbras south was not personal, but rather honor-based, he was not constrained by the same obligations. Thus, he took action and channeled his frustrations through his efforts to regain the Norwegian land won by Old King Hamlet. In fact, it was this intense desire Fortinbras had that was the catalyst that Hamlet admittedly needed to catapult himself out of
This shows Fortinbras ambition and courage, and with this he was able to win those lands back, and become king of Denmark as Hamlet nominates him moments before he died. This relates to a young individual’s life because, there is always people who will work hard for what they want, and will end up successful. Horatio plays the role of Hamlets best friend in the play, and is very relatable to adolescents as they all have that one friend who deeply cares and loves them, and is always there to support them through the hardest of times. When Hamlet follows the ghost so he can find out what his business is, Horatio is that one friend that tells him, “What if tempt you toward the flood, my lord,/ Or to the dreadful summit of the cliff/That beetles o’er his base into the sea,”(1.4.69-71). Horatio warns Hamlet of how dangerous this can be and tries to dissuade him from speaking with the ghost, since he can get fooled into his death.
In William Shakespeare’s well known play Hamlet , there are several acts of violence that often keep the readers on their toes constantly wondering what will happen next. It all begins with the death of King Hamlet and comes to an end with no royal family in control of the castle, Elsinore, in Denmark. Each character has their own unique motive for self gain throughout the play, but Hamlet has a strong drive for the dangerous game of revenge. Hamlet wants to earn justice for his father who had his kingdom, wife, and crown all stolen out from underneath him when his life is innocently taken by his greedy uncle. “To be or not to be?” is the question
Denmark ended up winning this war, and the spoils that came along with it included killing Fortinbras Sr. and some land that originally belonged to Norway. At the beginning of the play, we find out that Fortinbras is angry about this, and wants to get his revenge on Denmark for taking everything away from him and restore Norway’s honor. However, Fortinbras Sr. agreed to the conditions of the war before it even began. This is shown on page 8 where it reads, “...who by a seal’d compact...Did forfeit, with his life, all those lands.” Fortinbras is not justified in getting revenge on Denmark at all.
Within the classic Shakespeare play of Hamlet, many overarching themes can be found. However, when one looks more closely, they can see that the idea of revenge has huge impacts on the plot. When watching the movie adaptations, one directed by Franco Zeffirelli in 1990 and the other by Kenneth Branagh in 1996, some discrepancies can be seen throughout the story. The way the directors depicted certains scenes has changed the way the views see the ideal of revenge. By analyzing the depictions of Hamlet’s personality throughout all three versions of Hamlet, the audience realizes the importances of revenge in the plot.
Revenge is an easily recognizable theme throughout the play, The Tragedy of Hamlet, by William Shakespeare. Hamlet goes down a path of destruction after being told to revenge his father’s murder. Consequently, Hamlet’s actions as revenge are never justifiable. They are seen as misguided actions. Revenge can cause people to have an increase in hatred, make irrational actions, as well as cause more problems than intended.
Another foil created by Shakespeare to shed light on Hamlet’s character flaw of indecisiveness is Prince Fortinbras of Norway. Much like Prince Hamlet, Prince Fortinbras’ father has recently been murdered and Fortinbras is enraged. He decided with little thought to lead his own army into a battle in an attempt to reclaim the land that his father had lost, to honour his father. In Act 4 Scene 4 Hamlet comes across Fortinbras and comments on his courage and honour
Hamlet, by William Shakespeare’s most notorious play, depicts the story of a young man who lives in Denmark and sets out to avenge his father, killing his uncle who is now king, which was told to him by his father’s ghost: “The serpent that did sting thy father 's life/ Now wears his crown” (1.5). The play is set up to make a cast of characters, through foils, give the character of Hamlet more life and thus enhance the play. Fortinbras and Laertes are the predominant foils to Hamlet; they will be analyzed and compared in the following essay, weighing out the importance of this foil effect to the plot & the effect of the play. Prince Fortinbras of Norway and Laertes depict the exact opposite of Hamlet’s character. All of these characters seek revenge for the death of their fathers by taking the matter into their own hands: Fortinbras seeks war against Denmark (former King Hamlet killed Fortinbras’ father), while Laertes returns from Paris to Eslionor to fight for his dead father 's honor.
Hamlet could have succeeded in both avenging his father and staying alive to tell the story, like Fortinbras, but failed. Even though Hamlet ended up successful in killing Claudius, he dies by the same sword, therefore, making him unsuccessful overall. Fortinbras’s goal was to avenge his father and gain back the land he had lost. He gains the territory, avenges his father, and now is in line for Denmark’s throne as well as Norway’s, an overall success. By adding this comparison, the audience empathizes with Hamlet, even more, adding to the simple classical
Fortinbras does not make regular appearances in Hamlet as he is conquering lands for most of the duration of the play, unlike Hamlet who spends most of his time procrastinating. Shakespeare gives similar back stories to both characters in order to contrast them. Both Fortinbras and Hamlet have lost their fathers due to murder which puts them both in a position to avenge their father’s deaths. Fortinbras is seen as the ideal figure who takes action straight away and seeks vengeance by regaining the lands his father lost. By acting quickly, Fortinbras was able to achieve his goal and ultimately achieve what he wanted.
“Now, sir, young Fortinbras, of unimprovèd mettle hot and full, hath in the skirts of Norway here and there sharked up a list of lawless resolutes, for food and diet, to some enterprise that hath a stomach in ’t, which is no other— as it doth well appear unto our state— but to recover of us, by strong hand,” (Page 13). He wants to get revenge by killing King Claudius. He also is trying to reclaim the land that was wagered on when his father lost the battle with King Hamlet. Young Fortinbras never really gets the revenge that he is looking for in the way he wanted. He wanted to be the one to kill King Claudius to get revenge, reclaim what his kingdom had lost, and to prove
