How we cite our quotes: (Part.Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #7
Then they deplored the immorality of servants, a topic suggested by a theft which a valet-de-chambre had committed, and they began to indulge in tittle-tattle. (1.8.8)
The guests at the Dambreuse house associate low class with low morals. And as much as Frederick wants to be one of them (the high class, that is), he at least realizes that this shallow gossip is pretty ridiculous.
Quote #8
It could at once be seen that this was the most frequented room in the house, and, so to speak, its true moral centre. The walls, the armchairs, and a big divan with a spring were adorned with a chintz pattern on which was traced a great deal of foliage. On a white marble table stood two large washhand-basins of fine blue earthenware. Crystal shelves, forming a whatnot overhead, were laden with phials, brushes, combs, sticks of cosmetic, and powder-boxes. The fire was reflected in a high cheval-glass. A sheet was hanging outside a bath, and odours of almond-paste and of benzoin were exhaled. (1.7.21)
Prepare yourself for a racy moment: Rosanette takes Frederick into her boudoir. Ooh la la. But think about Flaubert and his use of irony here: could a room that fits this description really serve as a moral center?
Quote #9
It seemed to Regimbart that Arnoux was a man full of heart and imagination, but decidedly of lax morals, and therefore he was quite unceremonious towards a personage he respected so little, refusing even to dine at his house on the ground that "such formality was a bore." (1.9.21)
Just as Frederick is getting to know Arnoux, he learns that not everyone looks up to him like he does. Here, Regimbart questions the art dealer's morality—a position that Frederick will take up before too long, too.