Scene I. A room in POLONIUS' house.
In the first scene set in Polonius’s house, Polonius instructs his servant Reynaldo to travel to Paris and subtly investigate his son Laertes. He tells Reynaldo to spread innocuous rumors about Laertes—mentioning possible gambling, drinking, fencing, swearing, and quarrelling—so that acquaintances will reveal Laertes’ true habits. Polonius emphasizes that the rumors should be phrased as “in part” and carefully crafted to avoid outright scandal, allowing Reynaldo to gauge Laertes’ character through the reactions of others. Reynaldo agrees to carry out the task.
Later Ophelia enters, visibly shaken, and recounts an encounter with Hamlet. She describes Hamlet’s disheveled appearance (doublet loose, no hat, filthy stockings, pale shirt, trembling knees) and a desperate, sorrowful expression that seemed “loosed out of hell.” She recounts his erratic gestures—grasping her wrist, touching his brow, shaking his head, sighing profoundly—before he fled, apparently blind, stumbling out of the doors. Polonius interprets Hamlet’s condition as “the very ecstasy of love,” a madness caused by his affection for Ophelia. He rebukes Ophelia for rejecting Hamlet’s advances, blames his own earlier advice for Hamlet’s state, and resolves to go to the king to report the matter, believing that Hamlet’s “madness” may have political consequences. The scene ends with Polonius ordering Ophelia to “observe his inclination in yourself” and to “let him ply his music,” then both depart.