Read the excerpt from Act IV of Hamlet. Claudius: He made confession of you,
And gave you such a masterly report
For art and exercise in your defence,
And for your rapier most especially,
That he cried out, ’twould be a sight indeed
If one could match you; the scrimers of their nation,
He swore, had neither motion, guard, nor eye,
If you oppos’d them. Sir, this report of his
Did Hamlet so envenom with his envy
That he could nothing do but wish and beg
Your sudden coming o’er, to play with him.

Which correctly evaluates Shakespeare’s use of theme in the passage?

When Claudius uses flattery to convince Laertes to kill Hamlet, Shakespeare emphasizes the theme “Pride leads to downfall.”
By having Claudius compliment Laertes, Shakespeare introduces the theme “Love is possible in the face of despair.”
By comparing Laertes’s expertise to Hamlet’s jealousy, Shakespeare emphasizes the theme “Jealousy leads to failure.”
When Claudius reveals Hamlet’s feelings for Laertes, Shakespeare illustrates the theme “Truth is hard to see.”

Read this paragraph from chapter 5 of the prince. there are, for example, the spartans and the romans. the spartans held athens and thebes, establishing there an oligarchy: nevertheless they lost them. the romans, in order to hold capua, carthage, and numantia, dismantled them, and did not lose them. they wished to hold greece as the spartans held it, making it free and permitting its laws, and did not succeed. so to hold it they were compelled to dismantle many cities in the country, for in truth there is no safe way to retain them otherwise than by ruining them. and he who becomes master of a city accustomed to freedom and does not destroy it, may expect to be destroyed by it, for in rebellion it has always the watchword of liberty and its ancient privileges as a rallying point, which neither time nor benefits will ever cause it to forget. and whatever you may do or provide against, they never forget that name or their privileges unless they are disunited or dispersed, but at every chance they immediately rally to them, as pisa after the hundred years she had been held in bondage by the florentines. what idea is stressed in the passage? the desire for liberty the establishment of an oligarchy the dismantling of an acquired state the tendency toward rebellion