Conversationally, this seems to describe a charming, emotive sympathy with her
interlocutor. But in its larger meaning, "self-forgetfulness" is of
course the essence of altruism. "Universal comprehension," in turn,
is exactly what Nostromo posits as impossible in the world of isolating
subjectivity. (See .)
Note that Mrs Gould only "suggests" the latter; she does not achieve
it. The passage's hidden meaning can be translated as: "The impression of
understanding another human being can be given only by forgetting the isolating
limits of the self," though this bleak interpretation is concealed by a narrative
charm mirroring Mrs Gould's own.