Horatio's Speaking Of Fortinbras

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There are many characters in the classic Shakespearean play Hamlet, many of whom are both his Equals and his Opposites. These include, but are not limited to, his best friend Horatio, his father’s rival Fortinbras, his villain uncle Claudius, and his crush’s brother Laertes. How are these characters similar to Hamlet, and how are they different? Horatio is Hamlet’s best friend since they were children, and they spend time together for a majority of the play. Horatio is one of the first people to see the ghost of King Hamlet, and eagerly informs Hamlet of this experience. However, Horatio doesn’t know what the ghost told Hamlet until halfway through the play, when Hamlet exposes Claudius’s misdeeds. Hamlet and Horatio work side by side …show more content…

Once Horatio learns of Hamlet’s plan to kill Claudius, he becomes very nervous, caring more about Hamlet’s safety than about Hamlet’s desires. Secondly, when Hamlet is in his dying moments, Horatio wishes to commit suicide to join him, but Hamlet tells him to survive and tell his tale, and to protect , and to protect the kingdom of Denmark from whatever plans Fortinbras may have up his sleeve. Fortunately, Horatio agrees. Speaking of Fortinbras, his father was killed by King Hamlet during the war between Denmark and Norway, and Fortinbras wants revenge against King Hamlet, just like how Hamlet wants revenge against Claudius for killing his father. Both of them deceive their Uncles, Fortinbras making his Uncle believe that he has no intention of reigniting the war between the two kingdoms, Hamlet making his Uncle believe that he is insane. This deception helps them both achieve their goals for avenging their …show more content…

Hamlet is equally sneaky, as his pretense to be insane goads others into slipping up and bending to his grand scheme to destroy Claudius, such as his rejection of Ophelia to protect her from his war, his pretense to not recognize Polonius to confuse him and throw his spying reports off track, his play to expose Claudius’s true nature, and ultimately his escape from the ship to England, sending Rosencrantz and Guildenstern to their