A Roman Catholic in the flesh
Martine and Philippa’s father, the Dean, was Lutheran, and when Monsieur Papin asked him for permission to teach his younger daughter singing, the first thing the Dean asked was whether Monsieur was a Roman Catholic. Papin answered that he was and saw the Dean growing little pale in face. The ironic is that the old clergyman has never seen a live Roman Catholic, and when the one turned up he simply did not know how to behave. Narrow-mindedness of the clergyman is mocked.
French life
When Babette appeared with the letter in her hands before the doors of the sisters, they surely accepted her to the house due to the goodness of their hearts. As soon as they were reminded that Babette was Frence and a cook, and the fact that people in France eat frogs, they became scared and “showed Babette how to prepare a split cod and an ale‐and‐ bread‐soup”, hoping that no frogs will be cooked in their kitchen. Also “the idea of French luxury and extravagance next had alarmed and dismayed the Dean’s daughters. The first day after Babette had entered their service they took her before them and explained to her that they were poor and that to them luxurious fare was sinful. Their own food must be as plain as possible; it was the soup‐pails and baskets for their poor that signified». Both the situations show how hidebound the sisters were, their vision of the world has limited frames, and they have no idea of what life really is.
True values
Becoming a general, becoming well-off and luckily married, Lorens Loewenhielm still felt that there was something missing in his life and he did not understood what was the reason for his worrying. He started considering world as something mystic and concern ad when “he looked into the mirror, examined the row of decorations on his breast and sighed to himself ‘Vanity, vanity, all is vanity!’ On the example of the general Lorens Loewenhielm the author wants to show that true life values are the ones tha are hidden in the heart and not seen by others, but felt.
Lemonade
When at the Dean’s birthday dinner champagne was served, everyone present thought it was lemonade, only General Loewenhielm looking at his glass recognized Veuve Cliquot 1860, which is very expensive champagne.
