Read the excerpt from Act IV of Hamlet. Claudius: Not that I think you did not love your father, But that I know love is begun by time, And that I see, in passages of proof, Time qualifies the spark and fire of it . . . That we would do, We should do when we would, for this 'would' changes, And hath abatements and delays as many As there are tongues, are hands, are accidents; And then this 'should' is like a spendthrift sigh, That hurts by easing. But, to the quick o' the ulcer; Hamlet comes back; what would you undertake To show yourself your father's son in deed More than in words? Claudius’s reaction advances the central conflict of the play because he

encourages Laertes to seek revenge against Hamlet.
offers forgiveness for Laertes’s impulsive action.
suggests a peaceful resolution to Laertes’s conflict.
accepts the blame for Polonius’s death.

The correct answer is the following: option A. Claudius's reaction advances the central conflict of the play because he encourages Laertes to seek revenge against Hamlet. As the excerpt from Act IV shows, when Laertes finds out that Hamlet is returning to Denmark, Laertes is pleased as now he will have the opportunity to seek revenge. Claudius not only agrees with Laertes that he has the right to seek revenge against Hamlet, but he even encourages him to take his plan into action and kill Hamlet. Claudius's reaction fuels the central conflict of the play that is the topic of revenge and how far can a person go to fulfill it.