"An Englishman reasons, forms opinions, cogitates, and disputes; he is the mere creature of your will: the other, a being, conscious of equal importance in the universal scale with yourself, and is therefore your judge,’’
The quote from above is taken from a conversation Doricourt had with his close friend, Saville. During that conversation, the two talked about the servants around them and Saville is surprised to see that Doricourt has many foreign servants, especially French and German. The reason why Doricourt chose to has more foreign servants is mentioned above, and he admits that the English people are too proud and maybe too intelligent to be servants. An English servant will forget his place and will openly criticize his or her master. The English servant is described as being unreliable, disloyal and with high ambitions. The foreign servant is more obedient, loyal and someone who would never do anything in order to betray his master’s trust. This quote also transmits another idea and shows how the British looked at the other nations. They saw the people from different nations as being inferior to them and the British people as being on the same place as the rest, even though they may be poor or from a modest background.
"for, positively, the common events of this little dirty world are not worth talking about, unless you embellish 'em!’’
This quote has the purpose of transmitting the way many felt about truth. For them, the truth is boring, something that brings them no satisfaction. Hearing the story of a normal, everyday event, with no outstanding results brings them no joy. Because of this, many felt the need to ‘’embellish’’ the truth, that it to make is seem more than it is actually is. This quote also transmits another idea, namely how for them, adding details and changing a story does not represent a lie. They see it as being their duty to make the truth more accessible, more attractive even, by introducing details that might attract someone to listen to their story and to consider it more attractive.
"So you wo'n't trust to the good old maxim—"Marry first, and love will follow?"
The quote from above is takes from a conversation between Mrs. Racket and Letitia after Letitia talks once more about her desire to make Doricourt hate her. The reason why Letitia wants to make Doricourt hate her is because she wants to make him love her and she thinks that it is easier to turn hate into love rather than turn indifference into love. Mrs. Racket tries to convince Letitia to agree to marry Doricourt, trying to convince her that love will follow. The idea transmitted is that in those times, love was not a requirement for two people to get married. What was more important for them was to have the same social position and have the same wealth status. In many cases, when the marriages were arranged, the couple had little or no chance to meet one another or to even talk and see if they are a good match. Thus, because of this, for Mrs. Racket, love is something that should not be a requirement for marriage.
