Chapter 18 of 18 · 2'17"
At the dock, Sabrina and her father say their goodbyes, and he's ready to cry. But she's not leaving broken: she's over David—"I'm cured"—and now only puzzled about "how to get over the cure." Her father answers with the film's sharpest line: "Nobody poor was ever called democratic for marrying somebody rich."
❝ Monologue · 6 lines Linus Sends David to Paris
Sabrina Says Goodbye to Her Father
Linus has decided to give Sabrina up: he tells David to go home and pack, promises to handle Elizabeth and call off the merger, and sends his brother to Paris with her. At the dock, Sabrina says goodbye to her father, who expects her to be heartbroken. Instead she tells him she's over David—and that she has a new problem to get over.
The last farewell is really about what Sabrina has learned. Her father, who once warned her about the gap between their worlds, now admits the deeper truth: the world will praise a rich man for marrying down but never the poor woman for marrying up—"Nobody poor was ever called democratic for marrying somebody rich." Sabrina isn't angry at him; she echoes his old limousine lesson back to him—"There's a front seat and a back seat... And a window in between"—and takes the blame herself. What she can finally laugh about is being cured of David and then stuck with the cure: "Now how to get over the cure?" The goodbye isn't tragic; it's the moment she stops being a girl with a crush and starts speaking like his equal.
A1–C2 is the CEFR scale. Cards above the level you pick fade, and playback will not auto-pause on them.
“Of course she wants you. She's wanted you all her life.”
The shift from wants to has wanted turns a quick reassurance into a whole lifetime of longing.
Neutral
“Nobody poor was ever called democratic for marrying somebody rich.”
It flips the word democratic to expose the double standard hiding behind fine talk.
literary
“It wouldn't have worked out, really, darling.”
A past conditional rules out a future that never came, and the tenderness makes it final.
Neutral
“I want you and Sabrina to have a good time in Paris. Goodbye.”
Blessing and farewell sit in one line, and the abrupt Goodbye turns a plan into a parting.
Neutral
“I should have believed you. There's a front seat and a back seat.”
He admits his mistake, then lets two car seats carry the whole divide between their worlds.
literary
Suppose you go on home and start packing. I'll take care of Elizabeth. I'm calling off the merger at the board meeting. Miss McCardle will have your passport and your ticket. Let her know if you need any money. I want you and Sabrina to have a good time in Paris. Goodbye.
He has realised he loves Sabrina, so he gives her up to his brother: he calls off the merger, handles Elizabeth, and hands David the trip and the girl.
Yes. She tells her father, "I did get over that. I'm cured." Her only joke is that she now has to get over the cure—meaning her new feelings are for Linus.
He's being bitter and funny: a rich man who marries beneath him gets praised as open-minded, but the poor woman who marries up gets no such credit. The rules only flatter the rich.
Because his old warning about class came true: she was, in his image, riding in a different seat with a window between them. She now sees he was right about the gap.
