Question

Read the excerpt from act ii of Hamlet. Hamlet: am I not I’ the right, old Jephthah? Polonius: if you call me Jephthah, my lord, I have a daughter that I love passing well. In the excerpt, Hamlet calls Polonius Jephthah, after the priest in the Old Testament who sacrifices his daughter to God. What does this allusion suggest about Polonius’s treatment of Ophelia?

Options:
Option 1: Polonius is sacrificing his daughter to trick Hamlet.
Option 2: Polonius is a better father than Hamlet’s father was.
Option 3: Polonius is very protective of his innocent daughter.
Option 4: Polonius is very loyal to the royal family of Denmark.

Answer 1

Hamlet's allusion to Jephthah when speaking to Polonius suggests that Polonius is sacrificing his daughter's well-being to serve his own interests, thereby tricking Hamlet.

Step-by-step explanation:

In the excerpt from Act II of Hamlet, when Hamlet refers to Polonius as Jephthah, he is drawing an allusion to the Old Testament story in which Jephthah sacrifices his daughter to fulfill a vow to God. This allusion suggests that Polonius is sacrificing his daughter to serve his own purposes, which align more closely with the interests of the royal family of Denmark than with Ophelia's well-being.

Thus, the correct interpretation of Hamlet's allusion to Jephthah is that Polonius is sacrificing his daughter to trick Hamlet into revealing his true state of mind or intentions. This is in keeping with Polonius's manipulative and self-serving character throughout the play.