1. Hamlet
Act 2, Scene 2

2. Act 2, scene 2
In a state room of the castle, Claudius and Gertrude welcome Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, boyhood friends of Hamlet’s, and ask their help in learning what has caused such a change in Hamlet- they agree and go off in search of Hamlet.
Polonius enters, announcing the return of the ambassadors to Norway and confiding that he has discovered the cause of Hamlet’s madness.

3. Act 2, scene 2
Attending first to state business, Claudius learns that the king of Norway has ordered Fortinbras to stop his military activity against Denmark but has requested permission for Fortinbras to pass through Denmark en route to a military action in Poland.
After the ambassadors leave, Polonius declares that Hamlet has been driven mad by Ophelia’s rejection of him.

4. Act 2, scene 2
As part of his long0winded proof of this theory, he produces an eccentric love letter written by Hamlet to Ophelia. When Claudius asks for further proof of this theory, Polonius suggests a scheme wherein he and Claudius will spy on an arranged meeting between Ophelia and Hamlet.

5. Act 2, scene 2
Hamlet enters and talks briefly with Polonius before contemptuously dismissing him. Hamlet then warmly greets Rosencrantz and Guildenstern and asks the reason for their return to Denmark. As the conversation continues, Hamlet grows increasingly suspicious of them and finally forces Rosencrantz and Guildenstern to confess that they are in Elsinore because the king and the queen have sent for them.

6. Act 2, scene 2
Although Hamlet is disappointed in his old friends, he is interested in news they bring of an acting company that has just arrived in Elsinore.
The players enter, along with Polonius, and Hamlet requests that the First Player recite a lengthy speech from a play based on the Aeneid- a speech that recounts Hecuba’s agony following the death of her husband King Priam.

7. Act 2, scene 2
Then Hamlet privately asks the First Plater to perform a play called The Murder of Gonzago the following night, including lines that Hamlet will write.
After all but Hamlet exit, he reveals that the lines he plans to write will contain details of a murder similar to that his father. By Claudius’s reaction to this part of the play, Hamlet will know whether the king is guilty of murdering Old Hamlet.