In this exchange Mrs Gould is explicitly cast as the "rich benefactress," highlighting her nature as the upper-class altruist. Allegorically, the People try to resist the burden of Teresa's plea by saying that the upper class will care for the world's children. They add cynically that, in fact, the upper class has been the "benefactress" of Republican Liberty too; i.e., such a flawed ideal could never have survived without its direct assistance. (This jibe even includes Nostromo's outwardly sarcastic reference to Giorgio as the "old man of the people," as if to say, "you are really the old man of the upper class.") The vanquished Giorgio then admits that he will permit himself to live in a society ruled by the upper class, specifically referencing Garibaldi's capitulation to the Savoy monarchy, as if to say, "even the greatest man that ever lived had to capitulate thus."

All is moving smoothly on the path to monarchy until the People suddenly recall that they are the foundation of every society, and that the children of the world do depend, ultimately, on them.