Generosity and Compassion Theme Analysis

In “The Model Millionaire,” Wilde suggests that generosity and compassion are the most consequential traits a person can have. The story opens with a catalogue of pragmatic “great truths of modern life,” asserting that romance and charm are privileges of the wealthy. Tenderhearted Hughie Erskine never learned these truths: both charming and romantic, he nevertheless subsists on a meager family allowance. He lacks the intellect and competitive edge to succeed in any of his attempted careers, and though his charm and good looks gain him wide popularity, his poverty ensures his romantic disappointment: he cannot marry his love Laura without 10,000 pounds. At first, Hughie’s “personal charm” attracts the painter Alan Trevor, but it is his “generous, reckless nature” that wins Alan’s deeper friendship as well as permanent access to his studio. Significantly, this allows Hughie to be present when the millionaire Hausberg models as a beggar for Alan, a sight that compels Hughie to give the disguised Hausberg his last sovereign. Hughie’s generosity is foolish from a practical perspective, impoverished as he is, but it ultimately earns him Hausberg’s immense generosity in response. Perhaps surprisingly, the harsh “truths of modern life” still hold true at the story’s end: romance and charm would have continued to bind Hughie to disappointment and, in this way, they remain wealthy luxuries. Greater intellect or competitive drive, Wilde implies, would not have changed Hughie’s life for the better. In the end, it’s Hughie’s generous nature that triggers the chain of events that improves Hughie’s life and brings him happiness.