A self-made man who falls for someone of higher birth can mistake her rank and polish for inner worth, and keep loving an image she does not live up to. The delusions of infatuation are shaped by class: what dazzles is partly the social standing the lover lacks.
A successful man may decide that his money and achievements aren't enough, and that he must first gain a bigger fortune and higher social standing to deserve the person he loves. The pursuit of the beloved turns into a pursuit of recognition from a class that looks down on him, and that wanting itself becomes his flaw.
When a fading aristocracy and a rising class of tradesmen and financiers collide, each is boxed in by its own social station. The nobility clings to standing it can no longer pay for, while the newcomers have wealth but are denied respect.
Two outlooks compete in a changing society: an older romantic idealism that looks back to past revolutions and heroic gestures, and a newer practical belief in work, science and steady progress. Each generation holds its own version of hope, and none of them sees the whole picture.
Economic and social advances are never free; someone or something is lost along the way. The book offers no easy solutions to the problems it raises, and it shows optimism and idealism carrying on beside real decline.