How we cite our quotes: (Section.Paragraph)
Quote #7
Monsieur Bourais helped her to choose a school. The one in Caen was said to be the best. Paul would be sent there. (2.54)
A very important part of being bourgeois is keeping up appearances. Madame Aubain sends her son Paul to "the best" school, not because he's the best student, but because she wants to maintain the family's slightly tarnished status. If he rubs elbows with the best (in terms of class), maybe he can pull them out of their rut. Unfortunately, all these efforts may be in vain. Madame Aubain certainly shouldn't get her hopes up with this unruly son of hers.
Quote #8
Madame Aubain wanted to make her daughter an accomplished person. As Guyot could not teach her either English or music, she decided to send her as a boarder to the Ursuline convent school in Honfleur. (3.10)
Virginie finds herself in a similar position to Paul. She's to be "accomplished," not by being a doctor or an architect, but by being a good, middle-class wife. And to do that she needs to know some slightly useless skills that make her seem educated, like how to speak English and how to play piano. Off to the nuns with her.
Quote #9
'Oh, your nephew!' Shrugging her shoulders, Madame Aubain resumed her pacing, as if to say, 'I'd forgotten all about him! And why should I care anyway? A ship's boy, a rogue, so what? Whereas my daughter… Think of that!' (3.38)
When Félicité has the nerve to compare the way she misses her nephew to the way that Madame Aubain misses her daughter, all kinds of snobbery comes flowing out of dear Madame. For her it's obvious that the two children are incomparable, but only because of their social classes.