Sometime 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 depicts the revenge a young prince seeks against his uncle for murdering his father, inheriting the throne and subsequently marrying his mother. Prince Hamlet, a university student, is an extremely philosophical and thoughtful character. After the death of his father, the King of Denmark, Hamlet returns home and is presented with evidence suggesting that his uncle Claudius may be responsible for his father's murder. In the first acts of the tragedy, Hamlet seeks to prove his uncle's guilt and considers all his actions and options, before seeking revenge. Less than two months after the death of his father, Prince Hamlet's mother, Gertrude, remarried his father's brother, Claudius, which greatly upset the prince. During Hamlet's first important soliloquy, he declares: O God! a beast who wants a discourse on reason, would have cried longer, — married to my uncle, my father's brother; but no more like my father than I with Hercules: in a month; before the salt of the most unjust tears had left the redness in her feverish eyes, she married: — O, wickedest speed, to post with such dexterity to the incestuous sheets! (I.ii.148-158) who expresses her displeasure 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 that they were not like that before her marriage to Claudius. Hamlet's comment regarding Gertrude's shoes suggests that he believes that his mother has somehow become Claudius' slave. This first soliloquy is the...... middle of a sheet of paper ...... for Denmark's national security. Hamlet also doesn't think about the internal threats to Denmark's stability. Overall, Hamlet's actions prove that he is a depressed, resentful, and cynical character. Initially, he is an indecisive and hesitant character. However, after returning from England, he becomes more brash, impulsive and quick to act. He is full of hatred towards his uncle and disgusted by his mother's sexuality, and these two emotions eventually drive him to madness. Many critics would say that the way Hamlet behaves is fair and understandable because of the many difficulties he faced in such a short time. According to Shakespeare critic Eleanor Prosser, “Hamlet is stuck between two worlds. The moral code from which he cannot escape is fundamentally medieval, but his instincts are with the Renaissance…” (Gottschalk 156).