Fortinbras

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Fortinbras is the name of two minor fictional characters from William Shakespeare's tragedy Hamlet.

The most notable is a Norwegian crown prince with a few brief scenes in the play, who delivers the final lines that represent a hopeful future for the Danish monarchy and its subjects. His name in French literally means "strong armed."

Fortinbras is also the name of the former king of Norway and father of the crown prince Fortinbras. King Fortinbras was slain in the play's antecedent action in battle with King Hamlet. The battle between the two is disseminated by Horatio in act one, scene one (I,i) of the play.

As Hamlet, with a running time in the range of four hours, is seldom performed in its entirety, the role of Fortinbras is sometimes omitted, as it was in both the 1948 film starring Laurence Olivier, as well as the 1990 film starring Mel Gibson. He was included, however, in the 1996 film starring Kenneth Branagh and the 2000 film starring Ethan Hawke, although in the 2000 film, he is an enemy of business. In these films he was played by Rufus Sewell and Casey Affleck, respectively.

v • d • e William Shakespeare's Hamlet Characters Hamlet • Claudius • Gertrude • Ghost • Polonius • Laertes • Ophelia • Horatio • Rosencrantz and Guildenstern • Fortinbras • The Gravediggers • Yorick Speeches "To be, or not to be" • "What a piece of work is a man" • "Speak the speech" Sources & Criticism Legend of Hamlet • The Spanish Tragedy • Ur-Hamlet • Critical approaches • Bibliographies Influence Phrases from Hamlet in common English • References to Hamlet • References to Ophelia Performances Moscow Arts Theatre (1911) Adaptations The Lion King • Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead • Hamletmachine • Hamlet (opera) • Strange Brew • Gertrude and Claudius Hamlet in film 1920 film • 1948 film • 1964 film • 1969 film • 1990 film • 1996 film • 2000 film