How we cite our quotes: (Chapter. Paragraph)
Quote #10
The child's welfare was a sacred duty to her, not a matter of pride or even of sentiment. (5.159)
Miss Abbott is convinced that it's her duty to rescue the baby, and now it's the only thing she has her heart set on. But is Miss Abbott's sense of duty in this case more morally commendable than Mrs. Herriton's? Does Miss Abbot really have the child's interests in mind or is she only secretly trying to ease her own guilty conscience?
Quote #11
"It upsets one's plans terribly," she remarked, as she squeezed out her sponges, "but obviously it is my duty." (6.2)
Like her mother, Harriet adheres very strictly to what she thinks is a moral code of duty. In a way, we have to give Harriet credit for her steely determination not to break this code. But what if Harriet's so-called "duty" in rescuing the baby isn't actually the right thing to do… for anyone involved?
Quote #12
Philip acknowledged her reproof to be true. He did not care about the baby one straw. Nevertheless, he meant to do his duty, and he was fairly confident of success. If Gino would have sold his wife for a thousand lire, for how much less would he not sell his child? It was just a commercial transaction. Why should it interfere with other things? (6.48)
The Herriton clan can't see where duty ends and meddling jerkdom begins. Philip, like his mother and sister, blindly sticks to an arbitrary code of duty that he thinks is ethical. But is it ethical to think about a baby in terms of a "commercial transaction," as something that can be bought and sold?