This question is missing the passage. I was able to find it online. It is the following:
BRUTUS.
He is not doubted.-A word, Lucillius.
How he received you let me be resolved
LUCILLIUS
With courtesy and with respect enough,
But not with such familiar instances,
Nor with such free and friendly conference,
As he hath used of old.
BRUTUS
Thou hast described
A hot friend cooling. Ever note, Lucillius:
When love begins to sicken and decay
It useth an enforced ceremony.
There are no tricks in plain and simple faith;
But hollow men, like horses hot at hand,
Make gallant show and promise of their mettle;
But when they should endure the bloody spur,
They fall their crests and, like deceitful jades,
Sink in the trial. Comes his army on?
Answer:
The conflict Brutus describes in the passage is:
A. his external conflict with Cassius.
Explanation:
Brutus, Cassius, and Lucillius are characters in Shakespeare's play "Julius Caesar". Brutus and Cassius are guilty of plotting against the Roman Emperor Julius Caesar and killing him. Lucillius is a minor character who is faithful to Brutus.
In the passage we are analyzing here, Brutus is worried about his friendship with Cassius. He is asking Lucillius about the way Cassius treated him (Lucillius), and he is told that Cassius is acting in a civil manner, but not as friendly and warm as he used to. Upon hearing this news, Brutus quickly realizes he and Cassius are no longer the friends and allies they once were, and that he can no longer trust Cassius.
That is an example of external conflict. In literature, conflict is the struggle between two opposing forces. An external conflict happens between the character and another element in the story - another character, nature, society, technology, etc. In this case, it is a character vs. character type of conflict.
