Read the given passage and answer the four questions that follow:-
Unless one is wealthy, there is no use in being a charming fellow. Romance is the privilege of the rich, not the profession of the unemployed. The poor should be practical and prosaic. It is better to have a permanent income than to be fascinating. These are the great truths of modern life which Hughie Erskine never realized. Intellectually, he was not of much importance. He never said a brilliant or even ill-natured thing in his life. But he was wonderfully good-looking, as popular with men as he was with women, and had every accomplishment except making money. His father had bequeathed him a cavalry sword and a History of the Peninsular War in fifteen volumes. Hughie hung the first over his looking-glass, put the second on a shelf between Ruff's Guide and Bailey's Magazine, and lived on two hundred a year from an old aunt. He had tried everything. He had gone on the Stock Exchange for six months; but what was a butterfly to do among bulls and bears? He had been a tea-merchant for a little longer but soon tired of pekoe and souchong. Then he tried selling dry sherry. That did not answer. Ultimately, he became nothing; a delightful, ineffectual young man with a perfect profile and no profession.
To make matters worse, he was in love with Laura Merton, the daughter of a retired Colonel. Laura adored him, and he worshipped her, but neither had a penny to their name. Though the Colonel liked Hughie, he refused to approve their engagement.
Which of the following best describes the tone of the passage?
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 1
The correct answer is Option (1) → Satirical in its depiction of Hughie's life and circumstances
A satirical tone uses humour and irony to mock a person or the values of a society. The passage opens with mock-serious "great truths of modern life" (romance belongs to the rich, the poor should be prosaic), and then laughs gently at Hughie: a butterfly lost "among bulls and bears", a man who tired of tea, and in the end "a delightful, ineffectual young man with a perfect profile and no profession". The humour is aimed both at Hughie and at a society that values only money.
Example: The play is a satirical look at the lives of greedy politicians.
Why the Other Options are Incorrect?
Option 2: Sympathetic towards Hughie's struggles — Incorrect. Misread: the writer is fond of Hughie, but his failures are described with amusement, not with pity for his struggles.
Option 3: Critical of Hughie's lack of intellectual abilities — Incorrect. Overstated: his intellect is mentioned in a single light remark; the passage is not a serious attack on his mind.
Option 4: Romantic in its portrayal of Hughie's love for Laura — Incorrect. Too narrow: the love story comes only at the end and is presented as a problem ("To make matters worse"), since neither of them has money.