Act 5

12/20/2013

Why is Fortinbras's presence important at the end of the play? His appearance serves many purposes. What are they?

Fortinbras has a very limited role in the play as we only see his presence in the beginning, middle, and end of the play. However every time we do see is presence there is an importance. Specifically at the end of the play Fortinbras’s appearance serves many purposes. As mentioned in previous post he disposes of his threats to Denmark if allowed safe passage through. His dream to gain reign of Denmark has been crushed but we can see that he takes no action on this and moves on. The fact that he shows up towards the end of the plot shows that Fortinbras won his dreams by default. He comes to visit the King of Denmark to give thanks for the agreement they put in place only to find the entirety of the royal family at a point of implosion. Fortinbras did not directly cause Denmark to fall under his reign but the fact that he showed up at that moment is what has given him reign. At the very last seconds of his life, Hamlet gives the right to the throne to Young Fortinbras “O, I die… But I do prophesy th’election lights on Fortinbras. He has my dying voice” (5.2.370-371). In the end it is ambiguous whether we can claim if Fortinbras will be fit for the job since he hasn’t really done anything throughout the plot to prove himself. However it is in our hopes that Young Fortinbras can rule Denmark with honour.

4 Comments

Zaeem Sagri

12/20/2013 07:44:34 am

Hey,

I liked how you took a completely different approach to this blog compared to me. You stated that Fortinbras won his dream, I am leaning to disagree with that statement as I believe that it was Fortinbras duty to regain his father's lost land compared to a dream. You also made a statement relating back to Fortinbras possible success or failure at the throne. I think you should have made a stronger connection back to how he could possibly fail or prevail. From my point of view I believe, that he would not be successful because the only reason he was capable of invading Denmark is because King Claudius was not paying attention to Fortinbras intentions, other kings would easily see though Fortinbras. Lastly I feel that you could have gone into future detail relating back to what if Hamlet was alive when they invaded Denmark? You were very concise in your blog which made it easy to understand yours points. Good Luck in the future !!!!

Simran Bhullar

12/20/2013 08:32:45 am

I disagree with the fact that you think Claudius wan't paying attention to Fortinbras because in Act one Scene 2 during the coronation of Claudius, he states in his long speech the following " Fortinbras, holding weak supposal of our worth , or thinking our late brother's death our state be disjoint and out of frame, colleagued with his dream of his advantage, he hath not failed to pester us with message. Importing the surrender of those lands lost by his father" (1.2.17-24). Here he not only mentions that Fortinbras's dream is to gain reign of their lands but he also mentions how he can see right through his motives which is why I disagree with your opinion.

Harsh link

12/20/2013 12:43:26 pm

I really like the connections you made between the Royal and the Polonius’s family. Throughout the play I have been seeing them as individual characters, by reading your connection I begin to think of the play as two parts-sub and main. I agree with you on the part that both families are foil to each other, In my view I would like to elaborate on it. Laertes tells his sister to beware of hamlet because he is a prince and whatnot, this shows how much Laertes cares and loves for his sister. In the royal family, Hamlet does not show any signs of love even towards his mother. Another thing that is contrasts between them is the treatment of women, Polonius capitalizes on the fact that Ophelia is his daughter and will do what he says. Hamlet also capitalizes on Gertrude, by judging her for being in a relationship with Claudius, and has an enmity towards Claudius even before meeting the ghost; because then the ghost tell him who is the murderer of King Hamlet. Hamlet playing a dominant role toward his mother becomes more apparent at the end of the play. In my opinion, these contrast between the two families help us better understand the main conflicts by intensifying and enhancing them.

gnimat chahal link

12/21/2013 04:32:07 am

I do agree with the connections you have made. Also something i missed out on the blog i wrote for this section is that will he succeed or fail i did not give this any thought. But as i read this I believe that he would succeed because Hamlet usually did have good intuition,good judgements about people and he himself was the one to give him permission. I think you also should have shed some light on the viewers/readers and what this scene did for them which in my opinion gave them some relief because even thought Hamlet did not get the throne someone he trusted and appointed has.

Act 5

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