How we cite our quotes: Citations follow this format: (Line). We used the line numbering found on Librarius's online edition.
Quote #10
‘My lige lady, generally,’ quod he, ‘Wommen desiren to have sovereynetee As wel over his housbond as hir love, And for to been in maistrie hym above. This is youre mooste desir, though ye me kille. Dooth as yow list, I am heer at youre wille.’ (1043 – 1048)
The idea that women should have mastery over their husbands upsets the order of things that was common in medieval portrayals of domestic life, in which the husband was supposed to rule over his household as a king did his lands and people. At the end of this passage, moreover, the knight shows that he understands that his body is still not his own, as he is still subject to the queen’s decision.
Quote #11
‘Mercy’ quod she, ‘my sovereyn lady queene, Er that youre court departe, do me right. I taughte this answere unto the knight, For which he lighte me his trouthe there, The first thyng I wolde of hym require, He wolde it do, if it lay in his myght.’ (1055 – 1060)
The loathly lady is strategic enough to know that she must repeat the knight’s troth before a court in order to get him to fulfill it. In her plea to the queen, she emphasizes the queen’s power to give commands by calling her "my sovereyn lady queene," and the justice of her demand by asking her to ‘do me right.’
Quote #12
But al for noght, the ende is this, that he Constreyned was, he nedes moste hir wedde; And taketh his olde wyf, and gooth to bedde. (1076 – 1078)
In calling the knight "constreyned," this passage emphasizes the way in which a pledging of troth is a yielding of sovereignty to another person; in this case, the knight gives up rights to his own body because he must marry and have sex with someone not of his choosing.