How we cite our quotes: (Line)
Quote #1
"We shul first feyne us cristendom to take,—
Coold water shal nat greve us but a lite –
And I shal swich a feeste and revel make,
That, as I trowe, I shal the Sowdan quite." (351-354)
The Sultan's mother references the possibility that the cold water of Baptism might upset the Muslims. The idea is rejected, but it, does call to mind the medieval Christian belief that the bodies of evil people will reject the holy sacrament. Think about what holy water does to vampires, in like every vampire movie you've ever seen. Yeah—it's like that.
Quote #2
O Sowdanesse, roote of iniquitee!
Virage, thou Semyrame the secounde!
O serpent under femynynytee
Lik to the serpent depe in helle ybounde! (358-361)
Semiramis was an ancient Babylonian queen who is said to have had her many lovers slain after she had sex with them. Harsh. Supposedly, she was afraid that they would take the fact that she slept with them as an invitation try to steal power from her. Calling the Sultaness both Semiramis and serpent links her to the evil figures of both pagan and Christian traditions. In other words, it's not a compliment.
Quote #3
O feyned womman, al that may confounde
Vertu and innocence thurgh thy malice
Is bred in thee, as nest of every vice! (362-364)
Since we already know Custance to be the paragon of virtue and innocence, this passage positions the Sultan's mother as her nemesis. And if Custance is the paragon of virtue and innocence, what does that make her sworn enemy?
Quote #4
O Sathan, envious syn thilke day
That thou were chaced from oure heritage,
Wel knowestow to wommen the olde way!
Thou madest Eva brynge us in servage;
Thou wolt fordoon this Cristen mariage.
Thyn instrument, so weylawey the while!
Makestow of wommen, whan thou wolt bigile. (365-371)
By linking the Sultan's mother to Eve beguiled by Satan, the narrator implies that the extent of her evil is as great as what was unleashed into the world during the Fall of Man. Referring to her as Satan's "instrument" takes away her responsibility for her actions at the same time as it demonizes her. And this passage elevates Custance's status because she gets to be the "Mary" that makes up for the sins of this "Eve."
Quote #5
"O cleere, o welful auter, hooly croys,
Reed of the lambes blood, ful of pitee,
That wesshe the world fro the olde iniquitee,
Me fro the feend and fro his clawes kepe,
That day that I shal drenchen in the depe." (451-455)
Custance fears the real Devil more than the figurative devil she has just escaped. Which, fair. Her reference to the blood that washed the world from "iniquitee" is a call for a different kind of liquid to envelop her as she floats upon the ocean. She hopes the blood of Christ will save her from the evil before which she finds herself helpless just as it saved humankind from their sins according to the teachings of Christianity.
Quote #6
"Victorious tree, proteccioun of trewe,
That oonly worthy were for to bere
The Kyng of Hevene with his woundes newe,
The white lamb that hurt was with the spere,
Flemere of feendes out of hym and here
On which thy lymes feithfully extenden,
Me keep, and yif me myght my lyf tamenden." (456-462)
Custance calls upon Christ the "flemere of feendes" in her time of trials. Her reference to the battle between God and the Devil is yet another connection between her battle and the ultimate battle between good and evil. This connection places the events of Custance's life on a higher and more meaningful plane. She's not just any lady—she's the center of the Big Fight.
Quote #7
This lettre spak, the queene delivered wa
Of so horrible a feendly creature
That in the castel noon so hardy was
That any while dorste ther endure;
The mooder was an elf, by aventure,
Ycomen by charmes or by sorcerie,
And every wight hateht hir compaignye. (750-756)
The irony of this passage is that the narrator is about to invoke a similar claim against Donegild herself, saying that she's not human, but a spirit from hell. Donegild lacks the religious framework of Christianity. Her use of elves and demon-children to represent evil reflects a medieval English perspective on the content of ancient paganism. Which is to say, it's not good.
Quote #8
O Donegild, I ne have noon Englissh digne
Unto thy malice and thy tirranye;
And therfore to the feend I thee resigne,
Lat hym enditen of thy traitorie!
Fy, mannysh, fy? – O nay, by God, I lye –
Fy, feendlych spirit! for I dar wel telle,
Though thou heere walke, thy spirit is in helle. (779-784)
The narrator says Donegild isn't any better than a devil of Hell. This passage again frames the conflict between Custance and her mother-in-law as one between the forces of good and evil.