ACT Reading 1.7 Humanities Passage
ACT Reading: Humanities Passage Drill 1, Problem 7. Which of the following characters is specifically mentioned as a personification of "horror and dismay" in Shakespeare's later tragedies?
| ACT Reading | Draw conclusions from multiple texts Humanities Passage |
| Foreign Language | Arabic Subtitled Chinese Subtitled Korean Subtitled Spanish Subtitled |
| Language | English Language |
| Literary | Archetypes |
| Product Type | ACT Reading |
| Reading | Identify and Interpret Details |
Transcript
we're in tune with Professor Bradley's opinion on the matter.
Let's take a look at (C).
Richard the third does all kinds of bad stuff to get the throne of England and doesn't
sit on it too long before he gets... skewered.
However, the passage mentions none of these details. Instead, it specifically mentions
the fact that Richard III was one of Shakespeare's earliest tragedies.
We're sure it doesn't fit the bill here, because we know from the question that we're
looking for one that came later.
Does (D) have it right?
Brutus does conspire with a bunch of other dudes to kill his pal Caesar, because he feels
it was the right thing to do.
Still, though, this is not the character Bradley is referring to.
Let's take a look at choice (B)
Claudius from Hamlet kills his brother by pouring poison in his ear, then takes his
brother's throne and marries his brother's wife.
Yet again, this apparently isn't horrible and dismaying enough for Professor Bradley.
In lines 86 through 88, the Professor specifically mentions Lady Macbeth as an example of Shakespeare's "super bad guys."
According to the Professor, she's so evil that we don't sympathize with her at all.
This makes choice (A) the correct answer.
Bradley should probably be careful saying this kind of stuff about Lady M.
She's really not someone you want on your bad side...