Question

Gentleman: She speaks much of her father; says she hears There's tricks i' the world; and hems, and beats her heart; Spurns enviously at straws; speaks things in doubt, That carry but half sense: her speech is nothing . . . Horatio: 'Twere good she were spoken with, for she may strew Dangerous conjectures in ill-breeding minds. Gertrude: Let her come in. [Exit Gentleman.] To my sick soul, as sin's true nature is, Each toy seems prologue to some great amiss: So full of artless jealousy is guilt, It spills itself in fearing to be spilt. How does Gertrude’s reaction advance the plot of the play? by introducing her maternal kindness toward Ophelia by resolving readers’ concerns about Ophelia’s madness by reaching a height of conflict as Gertrude decides to punish Ophelia by suggesting that Ophelia’s madness is a sign of greater troubles

Answer 1

D. by suggesting that Ophelia’s madness is a sign of greater troubles

Answer 2

I believe the correct answer is the final option - by suggesting that Ophelia’s madness is a sign of greater troubles.
Ophelia went mad because of Hamlet and because of the way he treated her, even though she presumably loved him. Her madness, according to Gertrude, was only a sign that something even worse may happen, and it did - Ophelia killed herself.