Lovel brings to the novel, which is the male dichotomy when dealing with social etiquette. While the two bicker, they reveal how important it is for men to behave in a certain manner.
The Captain's response to the entire event also brings our attention to the importance of male social behavior in the novel. Men, too, must be aware of how to behave in social situations and clearly, Mr. Lovel sees himself above most etiquette. If we look at the Captain's remarks, we find how significant it is for men to establish themselves socially because Lovel's comeback reinforces how men will use social activities to display their manhood. When the two go at it, there is no mention of women in their exchange; therefore, we see how very little women matter when it comes down to it. Mr. Ben is a man, according to the Captain, and later he declares that there "i'n't so much as one public place, besides the play-house, where a man, that's to say, a man who is a man, ought not to be ashamed to shew his face" (Burley 193). There is no mention or consideration for women in this remark and this is certainly part of the accepted societal norms of the day.
His second fault is that he cannot see how pretentious he is when he makes such an admission. Kenneth Moler observes that Mr. Lovel is a "vicious socialite" (Moler 173) and Mr. Lovel's snobbery seems to cross gender lines as he is portrayed as the biggest fool in the novel. As previously mentioned, Mr. Lovel has already demonstrated that he is, at best, shallow with his remarks regarding the theater and his reasons for attending. He cares not who is acting but rather who is attending the performance - an attribute that indicates the most shallow of human beings. With the overarching theme is behavior in social circles and with the character of Mr. Lovel, Burney is extending the role of the pretentious fool to include men. At a time when women were seen as inferior to men and expected to behave certain ways, we rarely think of men in circumstances that embarrass themselves. Certainly, we would expect Evelina, a young and innocent woman to make social faux pas but Mr. Lovel is neither innocent nor very young and his mistakes are of the worst kind because he thinks he is being coy and clever. With him, Burney illustrates how pretension knows no gender boundaries and class is something that belongs to the respectable.
According to Joanne Cutting-Gray, the novel portrays a "public sphere in which no one really knows what to say about all the culture that surrounds them. Among both the bourgeoisie and the aristocracy, culture seems, at best, a diversion, at worst a place...
One way that Coca-Cola could have avoided the lawsuit, then, would have been to enforce its existing regulations concerning diversity. The evidence supported that these codes were ignored, even at the senior management level. In addition, the acrimonious relationship between primarily white managers and primarily black workers should have been an indication that there were issues of discrimination. Aside from taking recognizing troubles and reacting early, there are systemic ways that
Our semester plans gives you unlimited, unrestricted access to our entire library of resources —writing tools, guides, example essays, tutorials, class notes, and more.
Get Started Now