Question

What do the first two lines "How vain have prov'd the Labours of the Stage, In striving to reclaim a vitious Age!" suggest?

• A. The speaker considers actors a self-important group.
• B. The speaker considers the theater world to be full of back-stabbing heathens.
• C. The speaker considers that the theater's attempt to improve society's morality has failed.
• D. Acting requires more work than most common citizens understand.
• E. Through good theater, people can be metaphorically transported back in time.

Answer 1

Answer: (C)

The speaker considers that the theater's attempt to improve society's morality has failed.

Option C is the correct answer. Like all mediums of art, theater also reflects the society, and attempts to improve the moral standing of the people. In this poem, the poet has tried to illustrate theater's role in reforming the society, and its failure in being able to do so. The poem carefully exemplifies the pillar of society,i.e. the church and its inefficiency to make the people virtuous. The statements of options A,B,D and E are not relevant to the statement of the passage, and thus, are incoherent with its tone. Hence, they are incorrect.