Jody
what does "ceases to be vulgar"mean? Westminster's divorce from his second wife, after five years of marriage, was creating more comment than the Duke may have wished, since it was he who appeared to be in the wrong—by reason of a nasty bit of adultery. A shocking business and, worse, earned on in a way totally at variance with the public demeanor normally observed by the British establishment, all of which made the Duke unwelcome at court. Now in Monte Carlo, he met Chanel. When she too referred to him as "the richest man in England," Gabrielle hastened to clarify her meaning: "I say this because, first of all, wealth of such magnitude ceases to be vulgar. It is beyond all envy and assumes the proportions of a catastrophe. Moreover, I say it because wealth makes Westminster the last representative of a departed civilization, a paleontological curiosity."
Oct 1, 2013 2:16 AM
Answers · 1
When was this book written? I assume that given the subject matter and the writing style, this is a book that was written some time ago (at least 50-75 years ago). If this was written that long ago, "vulgar" could have the meaning (which is a bit "dated" in English today) of "common." (Vulgar comes from the Latin word meaning "of the common people.") So in this case, "wealth of such magnitude ceases to be vulgar" means "wealth of this magnitude is uncommon." On the other hand, a modern reading of the word "vulgar" means "unrefined," but somehow I feel that "wealth of such a magnitude ceases to be unrefined" is a less preferred reading of the text.
October 1, 2013
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