How we cite our quotes: (Part.Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #7
Lou turned to his brother. "This is what comes of letting a woman meddle in business," he said bitterly. "We ought to have taken things in our own hands years ago. But she liked to run things, and we humored her." (2.10.26)
Lou and Oscar obviously resent Alexandra's success, and—no surprise, here—they blame their woes on her being a woman. In this section, the narrator lets us see the way Lou and Oscar's misogyny, the way they look down on women, comes from their feeling of envy and powerlessness in the face of Alexandra's triumphs.
Quote #8
Oscar spoke up solemnly. "The property of a family really belongs to the men of the family, no matter about the title. If anything goes wrong, it's the men that are held responsible." (2.10.28)
Lou and Oscar don't like the idea of Alexandra being able to deal with her property as she sees fit. In their minds, the property really belongs to them, since they're the men of the family and are "held responsible" for whatever happens with the land. Now, compare this to Alexandra's view on land ownership, at the end of the novel: "The people who love [the land] and understand it are the people who own it for a little while." (5.3.25)
Quote #9
"If I were big and free like you, I wouldn't let anything make me unhappy. As old Napoleon Brunot said at the fair, I wouldn't go lovering after no woman." (4.2.16)
While Marie is attracted to Emil's freedom and lack of ties, she also resents him. This is an moment when we get the sense that Marie feels constrained by her role as a woman and as Frank's wife.