Let us get something straight right off the bat. “Hamlet” is not an omelet filled

with ham.

Although that sounds delicious, the Hamlet we’re talking about is even worse for you.

Especially if you happen to be hiding behind a tapestry.

In fact, so many people die in Hamlet…

… that Rambo has body count envy. So if practically everyone gets sent to meet

their maker…

…why does this Fortinbras guy… who’s only in the play for two-point-two seconds…

get to make it out alive? First of all, Fortinbras shows up just after

all the madness and bloodshed has wrapped.

Pretty convenient if you ask us.

So… was it simply a matter of good timing?

Everyone who had a problem with anyone was already pushing up daisies by the time he

came traipsing through the door…

…so maybe good fortune was just shining on the guy.

It’s good to be the Prince. But would Shakespeare have spared the guy

just because he arrived on the scene fashionably late?

We know how much Billy Shakes loved bumping his characters off… surely he had a better

reason? Was it because he wanted to comment on the

scene of death and destruction left in Hamlet’s wake?

Horatio was one of the fortunate few who witnessed all the carnage and lived to tell the tale…

…and it was only fitting that he acted as a narrator in the waning moments…

…but having Fortinbras stroll in gives Horatio someone’s ear he can bend.

Otherwise, Horatio would have had to deliver a monologue…

…and Hamlet had already fulfilled the monologue quota for the day.

But wait… when has Shakespeare ever shied away from ending with a big ol’ monologue?

Was there another reason Fortinbras gets to keep breathing?

Perhaps he was a foil for Hamlet.

In other words, maybe we are supposed to see the drastically different lives of these two

princes, and contrast them.

By witnessing the military success and lack of emotional turmoil exhibited by this Prince…

…we can imagine where Hamlet might be today if he hadn’t been dealt such an unfortunate

set of circumstances. Did Fortinbras simply avoid the sweet release

of death because of an uncanny sense of timing?

Was he nothing more than a literary device, so that Horatio had someone to tell his story

to?

Or was he meant to represent Hamlet… new and improved?

Shmoop amongst yourselves.