A contrast to Hamlet

Fortinbras is one of the three characters (the other two being Horatio and Laertes) who present a vivid contrast to Hamlet. The young Prince of Norway is a man of action, and Hamlet is a scholar and philosopher. He is never happy unless he is occupied with some campaign or the other.

He is an ardent militarist. We learn early in the play that he has a plan to invade Denmark because he wants to regain some territory which has been lost to Denmark by his late father. Horatio describes Fortinbras as a young man “of unimproved mettle hot and full”. However, Fortinbras abandons this plan under the instructions of his old uncle to whom Claudius has sent a message of peace and friendliness. This gesture of Fortinbras in obeying his uncle’s wish raises him in our estimation.

Fortinbras then turns his attention to Poland and marches against that country in order to gain some territory. It is this campaign that sets Hamlet thinking again about his neglect of his duty in avenging his father’s murder. The information that Fortinbras is leading an army of two thousand soldiers against Poland in order “to gain a little patch of ground/that hath in it no profit but the name” makes Hamlet feel ashamed of his own inaction so that he forms the following resolve:

O, from this time forth,

My thoughts be bloody, or be nothing worth,

Act 4, Scene 4

Fortinbras tribute to the dead Hamlet

While dying, Hamlet leaves the throne to Denmark to Fortinbras, and we feel sure that Denmark will be safe in the hands of this man. He is sorry to learn of the circumstances of Hamlet’s death as narrated to him by Horatio and says

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.

Act 5, Scene 2

In other words, Fortinbras accepts the offer of the throne of Denmark as almost his due. The play closes with a speech by Fortinbras who is broad-minded enough to pay a tribute to the dead Hamlet for whom he orders a soldier’s burial.