Between Scenes iii. and v. the second interval of the play occurs; a period, probably, of not less than two weeks, nor more than about a month.
In the last words of Scene v. the king says to Laertes:
I pray you go with me,
and the conversation between them is concluded in Scene vii. In the same scene the letter from Hamlet is read, in which he writes:
To-morrow shall I beg leave to see your kingly eyes.
Ophelia's burial, in Act v., Scene i., takes place on the following day, for the king says to Laertes:
Strengthen your patience in our last night's speech:
and there is no reason for thinking the action of the final scene to be delayed beyond the close of the same day, for in it Hamlet concludes his explanations to Horatio, and is welcomed “back to Denmark” by Osric, who must, therefore, then meet him for the first time since his return. Moreover, the words of the king in his last speech, in Scene i.,
We'll put the matter to the present push,
indicate clearly that it was not his intention to allow any delay to occur.