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Mr. Dagonet is the patriarch of the venerable New York Dagonet family; he’s also Ralph Marvell and Laura Fairford’s grandfather. Despite her reverence for the members of New York high society, Undine Spragg finds Mr. Dagonet unimpressive, and indeed, his family isn’t nearly as wealthy as it once was. Mr. Dagonet even has to ask Mr. Spragg for help supporting Ralph when Ralph is set to marry Undine. Although Mr. Dagonet embodies the influence of tradition, he also shows how tradition alone isn’t enough and how even the most venerable families face losing their reputation once the money starts to run out.
Mr. Dagonet Quotes in The Custom of the Country
The The Custom of the Country quotes below are all either spoken by Mr. Dagonet or refer to Mr. Dagonet. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Chapter 7 Quotes
“Oh, it all depends on you! Out in Apex, if a girl marries a man who don’t come up to what she expected, people consider it’s to her credit to want to change. You’d better think twice of that!”
“If I were only sure of knowing what you expect!” he caught up her joke, tossing it back at her across the fascinated silence of their listeners.
“Why, everything!” she announced—and Mr. Dagonet, turning, laid an intricately-veined old hand on, hers, and said, with a change of tone that relaxed the tension of the listeners: “My child, if you look like that you’ll get it.”
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This passage contains a conversation between Undine, her new fiancé Ralph, and Ralph’s grandfather, Mr. Dagonet. It’s the first time that Undine goes to meet many of her future in-laws. Despite Undine’s attempts earlier in the dinner to be an acceptable future wife to Ralph, she can sense disapproval from many of the family members. As a result, she becomes more outspoken by the end of dinner. When the topic of Mabel Lipscomb comes up, Undine fears that Mr. Dagonet will look down on her, so she defends Mabel (even though Undine herself often looks down on her). Undine boldly Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore in. Eligendi atque placeat. Molestiae earum eum. Libero sit beatae. At a deserunt. Sint aperiam consequatur. Mi
Chapter 10 Quotes
Mr. Spragg mused. “Wasn’t he ever taught to work?”
“No; I really couldn’t have afforded that.”
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This quote comes from a conversation between Mr. Spragg and Mr. Dagonet before Ralph Marvell and Undine Spragg’s upcoming marriage. Mr. Dagonet acts grand and important when he comes to see Mr. Spragg, but in fact, Mr. Dagonet has come to ask for a slightly embarrassing favor: he wants Mr. Spragg to contribute a significant amount of money to help support Undine and Ralph. Mr. Spragg tries to use humor to get out of this obligation, but Mr. Dagonet remains insistent, refusing to beg or plead with Mr. Spragg, simply acting as if Mr. Spragg has no choice but to Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque
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Mr. Dagonet Character Timeline in The Custom of the Country
The timeline below shows where the character Mr. Dagonet appears in The Custom of the Country. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 7
...who gave Undine the ring. Undine ends up seated at the table next to old Mr. Dagonet , who is less imposing than she expected. She can tell that Mrs. Marvell doesn’t...
(full context)
...with Ralph, even though she isn’t acting and feels that she really does love him. Mr. Dagonet asks about Mabel Lipscomb. When Undine tells Mr. Dagonet that Mabel’s husband is a stockbroker,...
(full context)
Chapter 10
...New York weddings are, particularly now that Undine is moving the date up for hers. Mr. Dagonet has come to discuss the wedding with Mr. Spragg, and Mr. Spragg’s attempts to joke...
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...make money—he mostly just writes poetry and receives three thousand a year from his grandfather, Mr. Dagonet . Mr. Dagonet says he couldn’t teach Ralph how to work because it would’ve been...
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Chapter 12
...anyone in his family could help them out with money. Ralph is reluctant to ask Mr. Dagonet for more, although when Undine persists that he should ask his sister (Laura Fairford), he...
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Chapter 18
...hide her excitement. A day or two before her departure, she takes Paul to see Mr. Dagonet , and on the way back, she runs into Elmer. Elmer says it’s nice to...
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Chapter 23
...people in his life avoid scandals. His family doesn’t really understand divorce, least of all Mr. Dagonet .
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