Question
Read the excerpt from Act IV of Hamlet.
Gentleman: She speaks much of her father; says she hears
There's tricks i' the world; and hems, and beats her heart;
Spurns enviously at straws; speaks things in doubt,
That carry but half sense: her speech is nothing . . .
Horatio: 'Twere good she were spoken with, for she may strew
Dangerous conjectures in ill-breeding minds.
Gertrude: Let her come in. [Exit Gentleman.]
To my sick soul, as sin's true nature is,
Each toy seems prologue to some great amiss:
So full of artless jealousy is guilt,
It spills itself in fearing to be spilt.
How does Gertrude’s reaction advance the plot of the play?
by introducing her maternal kindness toward Ophelia
by resolving readers’ concerns about Ophelia’s madness
by reaching a height of conflict as Gertrude decides to punish Ophelia
by suggesting that Ophelia’s madness is a sign of greater troubles
Gentleman: She speaks much of her father; says she hears
There's tricks i' the world; and hems, and beats her heart;
Spurns enviously at straws; speaks things in doubt,
That carry but half sense: her speech is nothing . . .
Horatio: 'Twere good she were spoken with, for she may strew
Dangerous conjectures in ill-breeding minds.
Gertrude: Let her come in. [Exit Gentleman.]
To my sick soul, as sin's true nature is,
Each toy seems prologue to some great amiss:
So full of artless jealousy is guilt,
It spills itself in fearing to be spilt.
How does Gertrude’s reaction advance the plot of the play?
by introducing her maternal kindness toward Ophelia
by resolving readers’ concerns about Ophelia’s madness
by reaching a height of conflict as Gertrude decides to punish Ophelia
by suggesting that Ophelia’s madness is a sign of greater troubles
Answers
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by suggesting that Ophelia’s madness is a sign of greater troubles
Explanation: Gertrude reads Ophelia’s strange behavior as a symptom or omen of deeper guilt and danger ("Each toy seems prologue to some great amiss…It spills itself in fearing to be spilt"), which raises tension, foreshadows unfolding consequences, and pushes the plot toward the revelations and conflicts that follow.
Explanation: Gertrude reads Ophelia’s strange behavior as a symptom or omen of deeper guilt and danger ("Each toy seems prologue to some great amiss…It spills itself in fearing to be spilt"), which raises tension, foreshadows unfolding consequences, and pushes the plot toward the revelations and conflicts that follow.
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