|Question 9Verbal

Source Texts

Text
The following text is adapted from William Shakespeare's 1597 play The Tragedy of King Richard III. Richard is reflecting on the recent arrest of his brother, the Duke of Clarence, on suspicion of treason against King Edward IV. Derby, Hastings, Buckingham, Rivers, Dorset, and Grey are also members of the English nobility.

RICHARD: I do the wrong, and first begin to brawl.
The secret mischiefs that I set [flowing]
I lay unto the grievous charge of others.
Clarence, whom I indeed have cast in darkness,
I do beweep to many simple [gullible people],
Namely, to Derby, Hastings, Buckingham;
And tell them 'tis the Queen and her allies
That stir the King against the Duke my brother.
Now they believe it, and withal whet me
To be revenged on Rivers, Dorset, Grey.
Which choice best describes what happens in the text?
Richard attributes Clarence's troubles to both his own secret plotting and the distrust of Clarence that the queen and her allies Derby, Hastings, and Buckingham have planted in the king's mind.
A
Richard describes having wept as he informed Derby, Hastings, and Buckingham that the queen and her allies convinced the king to act against Clarence, and says that the earnestness of his grief caused them to accept his version of events.
B
Richard acknowledges that his mischievous nature has spurred him to commit misdeeds in the past, including instigating enmity between the king and Clarence, but he reports that he has hitherto not lost the trust of the queen and her allies.
C
Richard indicates that he has pretended to be aggrieved about Clarence's situation and has proclaimed it to be the fault of the queen and her allies, but in reality, he has caused the hostility the king feels toward Clarence.
D