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The Moonstone Marriage 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 #4

'The late Mrs Betteredge possessed a good many defects, sir,' says I. 'One of them (if you will pardon my mentioning it) was never keeping to the matter in hand. She was more like a fly than a woman: she couldn't settle on anything.' (1.1.5.11)

Whenever Betteredge wants to make a point about women in general, or whenever he needs a comparison, he brings up his late wife as a point of reference.

Quote #5

'In the time of the late Mrs Betteredge,' I said, 'I felt pretty often inclined to try your philosophy, Mr Franklin. But the law insists on your smoking your cigar, sir, when you have once chosen it.' (1.1.22.15)

Again, Betteredge brings up his wife to make a point about women in general. The metaphor he and Franklin Blake are using to describe women is rather sexist, but kind of funny at the same time: they compare women to cigars. If you don't like the cigar, you throw it away and try another. But, as Betteredge points out, the marriage laws require a man to "smok[e his] cigar" after he's chosen it (i.e., after he's chosen a wife).

Quote #6

'Do you know many wives, my dear Rachel, who respect and admire their husbands? And yet they and their husbands get on very well. How many brides go to the altar with hearts that would bear inspection by the men who take them there? And yet it doesn't end unhappily—somehow or other the nuptial establishment jogs on.' (2.1.5.53)

Godfrey wants to persuade Rachel that it's okay to marry him without loving him. It's enough if you respect the person you marry – love isn't really necessary. After all, he argues, people do it all the time. And the institution of marriage continues! It's not a very romantic view, but it might be a true one for the time.