While absent from most of the play, the character of Fortinbras in Shakespeare’s Hamlet is significant to Hamlet’s character development. According to Latham, the name Fortinbras is derived from ferri brachium, meaning arm of iron (Rolfe, 173). In Act IV Scene IV, Fortinbras exemplifies this forceful characterization. He remains a means of power with his threat to Poland, displaying to the reader a strong “iron arm” leader, opposite of Hamlet’s leadership style: consisting solely of words in the absence of action. Fortinbras’s character also reflects that of Hamlet. Fortinbras, the Prince of Norway, and Hamlet, the Prince of Denmark, were both replaced from power by their uncles upon the death of their fathers, but the parallel ends when