The Moonstone Society and Class Quotes

How we cite our quotes: Collins doesn't use traditional chapters in The Moonstone, so the citations are a little trickier than in other Victorian novels. Citations follow this format: (Period.Narrative.Chapter.Paragraph).

Quote #10

People in high life have all the luxuries to themselves—among others, the luxury of indulging their feelings. People in low life have no such privilege. Necessity, which spares our betters, has no pity on us. We learn to put our feelings back into ourselves, and to jog on with our duties as patiently as may be. I don't complain of this—I only notice it. (1.1.20.7)

Gabriel Betteredge makes another radical socio-political statement. He remarks that servants and members of the working class don't have the "luxury of indulging their feelings." In other words, when something tragic happens, like Rosanna's suicide, the rich are able to cry and take the time to grieve, while servants just have to grin and bear it, and continue to go on with their work.

Quote #11

'Mr Betteredge, the day is not far off when the poor will rise against the rich. I pray Heaven they may begin with him. I pray Heaven they may begin with him.' (1.1.23.28)

Lucy Yolland, Rosanna's best friend, blames Franklin Blake for Rosanna's suicide. This is why she's particularly angry with Franklin Blake. But the statement that begins this passage is the most radical that appears in the novel: she asserts that, someday soon, there will be a revolution and "the poor will rise against the rich." This is actually a common fear during the Victorian period, when the gap between rich and poor was tremendous.