Who He Is
Fortinbras is the young prince of Norway, whose father lost lands that he wants back. He appears little, and always at the edges: he is the reason for the war preparations on the battlements, the subject of the news from Norway, the army on the plain and, at the end, the one who claims Denmark.
Trajectory
In scene 1 of Act I, he is the cause of the war preparations the sentinel speaks of: young Fortinbras wants back the lands his father lost. In scene 2 of Act II, the news from Norway reports that he was restrained and will attack the Poles.
In scene 4 of Act IV, on a plain, he asks for passage through Denmark to march against Poland. Hamlet finds his army and reproaches himself alone, on hearing from a captain that they will take a patch of worthless land:
How stand I then, / That have a father kill’d, a mother stain’d, / Excitements of my reason and my blood, / And let all sleep(IV.4)
In scene 2 of Act V, he is the name Hamlet indicates as successor when he dies, and he arrives at the castle after the death of the royal family.
Relationships
- Hamlet: the prince who, on the plain, envies his army and, on dying, names him successor.
- Claudius: the king of Denmark, to whom the news from Norway says Fortinbras was restrained, and from whom he asks passage.
- Horatio: who explains in scene 1 of Act I the war preparations he provokes.