How we cite our quotes: (Part.Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #4
He jokingly suggested, to repay her a little for her contention that he was the best preacher of the revival, that she was the best cook among the women. She timidly suggested that he was here at a flattering disadvantage, for she had heard all of the preachers, but he had not, for a very long time, eaten another woman's cooking. (2.2.74)
Deborah and Gabriel compliment each other by saying they are good at what a woman and man should be good at, respectively. Imagine if Deborah were to compliment Gabriel's cooking, or he were to compliment her preaching. That might be normal today, but it was unthinkable during their time.
Quote #5
Deborah was one of the serving-women, and though she did not speak, and despite his discomfort, he nearly burst each time she entered the room, with the pride he knew she felt to see him sitting there, so serene and manly, among all these celebrated others, in the severe black and white that was his uniform. (2.2.76)
Gabriel feels like a man because of the position he's in. He's upstairs, being served food by women, and he's surrounded by other men. It's more the relationship to his surroundings, to the other men, that makes him manly, than he himself. His uniform, for example, props him up, like a neon sign blazing "man."
Quote #6
"You be careful," said Esther, "how you talk to me. I ain't the first girl's been ruined by a holy man, neither."
"Ruined?" he cried. "You? How you going to be ruined? When you been walking through this town just like a harlot, and a-kicking up your heels all over the pasture?" (2.2.241-42)
Let's be clear. Gabriel and Esther committed the same sin, at the same time, together. They had sex without being married. In fact, Gabriel is married, but to someone else, so his sin is actually worse. But because he's a man and she's a woman, he can still be considered a holy man, while she's called a harlot.