How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #4
Then he was so ill, and she felt he would be weak. Then she would be stronger than he. Then she could love him. If she could be mistress of him in his weakness, take care of him, if he could depend on her, if she could, as it were, have him in her arms, how she would love him! (7.5)
In this moment, Miriam seems to reverse her earlier desire to be a passive object for a man to manipulate. She now wants Paul to be weak so she can take care of him and be like a (dare we say it?) mother to him. There's consistency with Miriam's earlier views here, though, because whether she's a caregiver or a passive object, Miriam wants to sacrifice herself to a man.
Quote #5
"Let me take the rug," said Miriam over-gently.
"I can carry it," he answered, rather injured. But he yielded it to her. (7.13-7.14)
When Paul is still recovering his health, Miriam offers to carry a heavy rug for him into the Leivers' house. Paul feels shame at letting a delicate girl take over a physical task for him; but in this case, good sense trumps wounded pride, and he gives Miriam the rug. Way to go, buddy.
Quote #6
"You go," she pleaded.
Almost for the first time in her life she had the pleasure of giving up to a man, of spoiling him. (7.99)
When Paul and Miriam go inside the Leivers' barn and find a swing, Paul does the "manly" thing and offers to let Miriam go first. Miriam, however, has spent her entire young life dreaming of sacrificing herself to a man. So she takes more pleasure in forgetting her own desires than in fulfilling them. Here, you can see the extent to which Miriam's training as a girl has warped her relationship to her own desires. It's pretty icky, really.