Fortinbras

Fortinbras

His name is not Norwegian in origin, but is a French–English hybrid (fort in bras) meaning "strong in arm."^[3][4]

Role in the play

Although Fortinbras makes only two brief appearances in the latter half of the play, he is referred to throughout:

Fortinbras also serves as a parallel to Hamlet in many ways: like the latter, he is motivated largely by the death of his father, whose name he also bears (as Hamlet does his), and both serve as princes of their respective countries. In other respects, Fortinbras serves as a

Fortinbras orders that Prince Hamlet be given a soldier's funeral, describing him as "likely, had he been put on, to have proved most royally."

Screen adaptations

Hamlet, with a running time in the range of four hours, is seldom performed in its entirety. Consequently, the role of Fortinbras is sometimes omitted, as it was in the

Fortinbras also appears in the 1964 BBC television Hamlet, starring Christopher Plummer, and here he was played by Donald Sutherland, in what was his first important role.

Other stage adaptations

Fortinbras is the protagonist of the 1992 play Fortinbras by Lee Blessing.^[5] The plot of Fortinbras follows that of Hamlet; the first scene is the death of Hamlet in the original Shakespearean text. The rest of the play is in a vernacular, modern English. Major characters from Hamlet appear as ghosts in this sequel.^[6]

References