Fortinbras

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.

In the 1996 version of "Hamlet", Fortinbras seems to be a rather sinister figure, rather than the noble prince that Hamlet believes him to be. Disegarding Shakespeare's original stage directions in the play's final scene, Fortinbras's army enters violently through the glass windows, literally bursting into the throne room of the castle just after Hamlet's death; they also cock their rifles should they meet with any opposition (this production is set in the nineteenth century). As Shakespeare presents it, Fortinbras's army simply marches solemnly into the throne room of the castle at the end. Shakespeare also gives the impression that Fortinbras assumes the kingship modestly, while at the end of Branagh's film, he has an expression on his face vaguely indicating that he is enjoying his new status as the - in this version - conquering King of Denmark.