The formalistic approach to literature has to do with paying attention to the text itself - disregarding the author and the historical circumstances under which that particular author wrote that work of literature. So, this approach studies the structure of the text, and not really the metaphors and other figures of speech. Having that in mind, the correct answer is - The play includes repeated references to death and decay.
This is taking a look at the structure of the text - you can see which words are used often and base your analysis on that if you want to use this approach.
