# Fortinbras — Hamlet character guide

> Fortinbras in Hamlet by William Shakespeare.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** young Fortinbras, Prince Fortinbras, Fortinbras of

**First appearance:** 0001-act-i

## Snapshot

The young Norwegian prince marching his army across Denmark for a worthless patch of Polish ground, whose sheer willingness to act shames Hamlet into reckoning with his own delay.

## Who they are

Fortinbras is the son of the old Norwegian king slain by Hamlet's father, now leading troops through Denmark under license from Claudius. His campaign against Poland is almost absurdly trivial — 'a little patch of ground that hath in it no profit but the name' — yet he commits to it with a spirit Hamlet can only envy. Encountering the captain on the plain, Hamlet is stung into his final soliloquy: 'My thoughts be bloody, or be nothing worth!' Fortinbras embodies the decisive honor Hamlet cannot summon.

## In the story

### [Scene IV](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/hamlet_se/chapters/act-iv-scene-iv)

Leads his army across Denmark to attack a small part of Poland, demonstrating decisive action.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/hamlet_se/characters/fortinbras
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/hamlet_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/hamlet_se/characters