Question

king henry iv part ii
by william shakespeare
act 2, scene 2

in this excerpt from king henry iv, part ii, the plays main protagonist, prince henry, has returned from war. he is accompanied by poins, one of his friends. prior to this scene, henry was a young, carefree prince who preferred spending his time in taverns, rather than learning the responsibilities of being a king. but having experienced war, henry is considering an earlier promise made to his father that he will reform and act like a true prince.

london. another street.

(enter prince henry and poins)

prince henry: before god, i am exceeding weary.

poins: ist come to that? i had thought weariness durst not have attached one of so high blood.

prince henry: faith, it does me; though it discolours the complexion of my greatness to acknowledge it. doth it not show vilely in me to desire small beer?

poins: why, a prince should not be so loosely studied as

select the correct answer.

which detail reveals prince henrys motivation for not showing his sadness about his fathers illness?

\my heart bleeds inwardly that my father is so/sick\ (lines 47-48)
\every man would think me an/hypocrite indeed\ (lines 56-57)
\thou art a blessed fellow to think as every man thinks\ (lines 53-54)
\by this hand thou thinkest me as far in the devils/book as thou\ (lines 44-45)

Explanation:

Analyze the question and target motivation

The question asks for the specific detail that reveals Prince Henry's motivation for not showing his sadness about his father's illness.

Evaluate the options against the text

• "my heart bleeds inwardly..." shows that he actually is sad, but not why he hides it.
• "every man would think me an/hypocrite indeed" directly explains that if he showed public grief, people would perceive him as insincere or hypocritical given his past wild behavior.
• The other options do not address his motivation for hiding his grief.

Answer:

• (A) "my heart bleeds inwardly that my father is so/sick" (lines 47–48)
• (B) "every man would think me an/hypocrite indeed" (lines 56–57) (Correct answer)
• (C) "thou art a blessed fellow to think as every man thinks" (lines 53–54)
• (D) "By this hand thou thinkest me as far in the devil's/book as thou" (lines 44–45)