Between the first and second acts, one—and the principal one—of the two intervals in the play occurs; a lapse of time, as will hereafter be shown, of a little more than two months.
In ACT II., Scene i., Polonius says:
I will go seek the king.
and in Scene ii. he enters the Audience Chamber and announces that he has found
The very cause of Hamlet's lunacy.
In the same scene the players arrive, and Hamlet says of the play of “The Murder of Gonzago:”
We'll ha't to-morrow night.
This act, therefore, covers but one day, while the first scene of the next act occurs on the following day, as is proven by the words of Rosencranz in reference to the actors:
They have already order