In his initial works, the playwright made physical disease (blank 1) factor in the action; from this, his early critics inferred that he had a predilection for focusing on (blank 2) subject major.
Blank 1: blank 2
a pivotal recondite
a non existence uncomplicated
an obscure morbid
I am not able to find the answer for blank 1
For this question, we see that there is a “;” in the sentence. This suggests a support between the first and second part of the sentence. Since early critics inferred he had a predilection (preference) for focusing on this subject, then the playwright must have made it a “central” factor in the action. Then, think of what type of subject is “physical disease” → morbid. Thus, “a pivotal” and “morbid” must be the answer pair.