The dream of utopian socialism -- meaning liberation from the laws, wealth and stratification of society (and incidentally the destruction of that society, as indicated by the phrase "the end of the world") -- comes to rest on the shoulder of Sulaco's highest-placed aristocratic lady, wife to the leader of the material interests which have created the current stratification of wealth and class. It is a "withered flower" indeed, and a moment fit to make the altruistic, nature-loving Mrs Gould bitter.