Scene i
Polonius tells Reynaldo to go to France to spy on Laertes. Ophelia tells Polonius that Hamlet is acting mad, because his clothes are rumpled and he is not dressed properly. She also tells him of love letters that Hamlet had sent her. He decides to tell King Claudius that the reason for Hamlet's madness was because Ophelia was ignoring Hamlet.
Scene ii
Claudius and Gertrude have Guildenstern and Rosencrantz go spy on Hamlet to see if they can determine the cause of Hamlet's madness. After they leave the ambassadors return and say that they have been able to keep Denmark out of a war. Polonius follows them and tells Claudius that he knows the reason for Hamlet's madness. Claudius doesn't really think that Ophelia is the reason, but he decides to spy on Hamlet with Polonius to fibd out for sure. Guildenstern and Rosencrantz talk to Hamlet to see if they can figure out what's wrong with him. Hamlet quickly figures out that Claudius sent them to spy on him. An acting troupe arrives and Hamlet asks the lead actor to recite a speech for him. Hamlet then gets ashamed of himself, because the actor put more passion into the speech than Hamlet put into Old Hamlet's death. Hamlet then decides to find out if Cladius is guilty of Old Hamlet's murder. He plans to watch the King's reaction to The Murder of Gonzago.