Question

the tragedy of hamlet, prince of denmark
act ii. scene ii. (continued)
enter polonius.
polonius: well be with you, gentlemen!
hamlet: hark you, guildenstern; and you too; at each ear a hearer; that great baby you see there is not yet out of his swaddling-clouts. (275)
rosencrantz: happily he’s the second time come to them; for they say an old man is twice a child.
hamlet: i will prophesy he comes to tell me of the players; mark it. you say right, sir; o’ monday morning; ’twas so indeed.
polonius: my lord, i have news to tell you.
hamlet: my lord, i have news to tell you. when roscius was an actor in rome,—
polonius: the actors are come hither, my lord. (280)
hamlet: buzz, buzz!
polonius: upon my honour,—
hamlet: then came each actor on his ass,—
polonius: the best actors in the world, either for tragedy, comedy, history, pastoral, pastoral-comical, historical-pastoral, tragical-historical, tragical-comical-historical-pastoral, scene individable, or poem unlimited: seneca
read the excerpt from act ii of hamlet.
remorseless, treacherous, lecherous, kindless villain!
o! vengeance!
the figurative language in these lines is an example of
an apostrophe.
a simile.
a metaphor.
personification.

Explanation:

In the excerpt "O! vengeance!", Hamlet is directly addressing "vengeance" as if it is a person or entity that can hear him. An apostrophe is a figure of speech where a speaker addresses an absent person, an abstract idea, or a non - human entity. A simile requires "like" or "as" to make a comparison, a metaphor makes a direct comparison without "like" or "as", and personification gives human traits to non - human things. Since Hamlet is directly addressing "vengeance", it is an apostrophe.

Answer:

an apostrophe.