There is a decidedly sexual energy in this line. The pairing of "teeth" and "bite" between Mrs Gould and Monygham suggests their mutual desire, but we are also reminded of Sotillo's "men of many teeth" , in which teeth represented ferocity. This dialogue portrays two characters who are utterly disillusioned with the new society (to Monygham it is "inhuman," to Mrs Gould it is a vast forgetting of the "lesson" of Separation), but who nevertheless adhere to social forms. For the sake of propriety they repress their own desire and interfere with the love life of others, while on the political level Monygham at least advocates extending the "inhuman" system to the rest of Costaguana. There is indeed a certain ferocity to their alliance, albeit with the "teeth" seldom showing.