How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #4
The Taster to his highness the Prince of Wales was there also, prepared to taste any suspicious dish upon requirement, and run the risk of being poisoned. He was only an ornamental appendage at this time, and was seldom called to exercise his function; but there had been times, not many generations past, when the office of taster had its perils, and was not a grandeur to be desired. Why they did not use a dog or a plumber seems strange; but all the ways of royalty are strange. (7.1)
Why do you think the narrator says that all the ways of the royalty are strange? What does having a royal taster say about how the court values the humanity of lower class people? Maybe the narrator means that the entire idea of royalty is pretty strange; after all, if the basic idea underlying royalty is strange, then it's no surprise that all the customs surrounding royalty would be strange, too.
Quote #5
Tom examined the turnips and the lettuce with interest, and asked what they were, and if they were to be eaten; for it was only recently that men had begun to raise these things in England in place of importing them as luxuries from Holland. (7.6)
Tom apparently has never been to Whole Foods. But seriously: the rich and the poor are even divided in terms of what they eat. We're pretty sure that poor English people would enjoy turnips and lettuce as much as rich English people; the only difference is that the rich people can afford these things, whereas the poor people can't.
Quote #6
But the next moment he was himself disturbed by it, and showed discomposure; for this was the only service he had been permitted to do with his own hands during the meal, and he did not doubt that he had done a most improper and un-princely thing. (7.6)
Right before this, Tom shoved a bunch of nuts into his pockets. Not exactly princely behavior, right? Tom is already realizing that what it means to be a high-class person is that you never do anything for yourself.