By viewing this excerpt through a historical lens, the reader can conclude that shakespeare uses the promise of violence to a)keep his audience engaged. b)comment on the monarchy. c)remind the audience to value life. d)show the need for intellectual growth.

the correct answer is a. keep his audience engaged.

in this excerpt, we can see the conversation between claudius and laertes who are conspiring against hamlet as both of them want him dead. claudius wants hamlet to die so as not to reveal that he was the one who murdered the king, and laertes wants to kill hamlet for murdering his father.

shakespeare uses this excerpt in order to keep his audience engaged - the audience wants to know what is going to happen in the following scenes. they might be wondering if hamlet is going to escape somehow, but unfortunately, he is not - in the end, almost everyone is going to die.

there are no comments on the monarchy in the excerpt; the author is definitely not reminding anyone to value life as he is talking about murder; there is no intellectual growth through such a heinous act.

the answer should be

the simple past tense of strive.

hope this !