Somewhere between the years 1599 and 1602, William Shakespeare wrote his longest, most influential and powerful tragedy, The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark. Set in the Kingdom of Denmark, the play dramatizes the revenge that a young prince seeks against his uncle for killing his father, inheriting the throne and subsequently marrying his mother. Prince Hamlet, a university student, is an extremely philosophical and thoughtful character. When his father, the King of Denmark, dies, Hamlet returns home only to receive evidence suggesting that his uncle Claudius may have been responsible for his father's murder. In the opening acts of the play, Hamlet seeks to prove his uncle's guilt and contemplates all his actions and options, before seeking revenge. Less than two months after his father's death, Prince Hamlet's mother, Gertrude, remarries her father's brother, Claudius, which shocks the prince immensely. During Hamlet's first major soliloquy, he states: O God! a beast that does not want to speak of reason, would have cried longer, married to my uncle, my father's brother; but no more like my father than I with Hercules: within a month; even before the salt of the most unjust tears had left the redness in his irritated eyes, he married: – O, most wicked speed, to post with such dexterity to incestuous sheets! (I.ii.148-158) who expresses her dissatisfaction with her mother's choice to marry her father's inferior brother. Hamlet refers to his mother's shoes, which he describes as worn, and how they had not been that way before her marriage to Claudius. Hamlet's comment regarding Gertrude's shoes suggests that he believes his mother has become a kind of slave to Claudius. This first soliloquy is the one... at the center of the card... which concerns Denmark's national security. Hamlet also does not think about threats from within to Denmark's stability. Overall, Hamlet's actions demonstrate that he is a depressed, resentful, and cynical character. Initially, he is an indecisive and hesitant character. However, after his return from England, he becomes more impetuous, impulsive and ready to act. He is filled with hatred for his uncle and is disgusted by his mother's sexuality, and both of these emotions are ultimately what drives him to madness. Many critics argue that the way Hamlet behaves is fair and understandable due to the numerous difficulties he faced in such a short period of time. According to Shakespeare critic Eleanor Prosser, “Hamlet is caught between two worlds. The moral code from which he cannot escape is fundamentally medieval, but his instinct is Renaissance..." (Gottschalk 156).