Question

read the excerpt below from the short story \subha\ by rabindranath tagore and answer the question that follows.
when the girl was given the name of subhashini, who could have guessed that she would be dumb? her two elder sisters were sukheshini and suhashini, and for the sake of uniformity her father had named his youngest girl subhashini. she was called subha for short.
why is the girls name ironic?
it means \lovely locks,\ and she was born bald.
its ironic because subha is the youngest daughter.
it means \sweetly speaking,\ and the girl cannot speak.
subha will not be able to find a husband.

Explanation:

Irony occurs when there is a contrast between what is expected and what actually happens. In the story, the name "Subhashini" (shortened to Subha) implies "sweetly speaking" (a positive, expected trait of speech), but the girl is dumb (cannot speak, the opposite of the expectation). The other options either have no ironic contrast (e.g., being the youngest daughter) or lack textual support (e.g., no mention of her being bald or inability to find a husband being related to the name's irony).

Answer:

It means "sweetly speaking," and the girl cannot speak.