I'll have him hence to-night.
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.
It, therefore, appears that ACT I. represents the events of two nights and the intervening day, and that some interval of time then elapses. ACT II., Scene i., to ACT IV., Scene iii., inclusive, covers two days and the night following the second day; and, after a second interval, the events of two days are given in ACT IV., Scene v., and the remaining scenes of the play.
It now remains to determine the length of the two intervals.
ACT I. opens when the late king was
But two months dead; nay, not so much, not two;
while in the third act the time since his death is stated to be “twice two months.” The interval is, therefore, two months, or a little more. During this time Hamlet, in pursuance of his studied plan,
Fell into a sadness, then into a fast,
Thence to a watch, thence into a weakness,
Thence to a lightness, and by this declension
into his feigned madness. During this time Ophelia, in accordance with her father's commands,
Did repel his letters, and denied
His access to her.
That she had not spoken with him for some length of time is shown by her statement that the presents given her by him she had
Longed long to re-deliver,
and it was only on the day preceding the opening of ACT II. that Hamlet had carried his feigned insanity so far as to force his way into her closet and frighten her with his antics. It was at about this time also that the king decided upon his “hasty sending” for Rosencranz and Guildenstern, that they, by associating with him, might learn the cause of his affliction. The ambassadors, whose departure for Norway is mentioned in the first act, are welcomed home again in the second, thus giving us another evidence of the lapse of time. Still another indication of the length of the interval is contained in the fact that Lamond, a gentleman of Normandy, reached the Danish court after Laertes' departure and “two months” before his return.
In the second interval there has been time enough for the news of the death of Polonius to reach Laertes in Paris, and for him, “in secret,” to return and spend some time in hiding, while he
Feeds on his wonder, keeps himself in clouds,
And wants not buzzers to infect his ear
With pestilent speeches of his father's death:
until at last he raises the body of men by whose aid he breaks through the defences of the king and demands vengeance for the death of his father. The interval had also been sufficient for Fortinbras to march from Denmark to Poland, win a victory there, and then return as far as the Danish court on his way home. It was not sufficient, however, for Rosencranz and Guildenstern to reach England, there to meet their deaths, and for the news to be brought back from England to Denmark. Although Hamlet leaped upon the “pirate” ship when only two days out at sea, it is likely that a much greater time would elapse before his return. If it were only for appearances' sake, it would be necessary that he should remain on the ship for some little length of time to keep up the pretence that it was a “pirate” that had attacked him, and in order that the fact might not become known that it was in reality one of the vessels of Fortinbras that had rescued him in accordance with a plot agreed upon between the two princes. On his return he recognized the fact that the interim before the arrival of the news from England would be but short, and that in this time, if ever, he must act. In truth he had not an hour to spare, for the English ambassadors reached the Danish court only a few minutes after the death of the king.