How we cite our quotes: Citations follow this format: (Line). We used the line numbering found on Librarius's online edition.
Quote #1
But now kan man se none elves mo, For now the grete charitee and prayers Of lymytours and othere hooly frers, That serchen every lond and every streem, As thikke as motes in the sonne-beem, Blessynge halles, chambers, kichenes, boures, Citees, burghes, castels, hye toures, Thropes, bernes, shipnes, dayeryes, This maketh that ther been no fayeryes. For ther as wont to walken was an elf, Ther walketh now the lymytour himself. (870 – 880)
This passage takes great pains to emphasize the sheer prevalence and reach of friars, and by extension Christianity, with its long list of the places these men go with their prayers. Christianity portrayed itself as a force of order against supernatural or occult forces of chaos.
Quote #2
For which opressioun was swich clamour And swich pursute unto the kyng Arthour That dampned was this kynght for to be deed, By cours of lawe, and sholde han lost his heed – Paraventure, swich was the statut tho. (895 – 899)
The people express their anger at the knight’s crime to the king because it was the king’s job to maintain order and enforce the laws in the land. Although he might have a law-keeping force to help him with his job, he was the seat of justice. He alone was portrayed as responsible for the maintenance of law in his lands.
Quote #3
But that the queene and othere ladyes mo So longe preyeden the kng of grace, Til he his lyf hym graunted in the place, And yaf hym to the queene al at hir wille, To cheese wheither she wlde hym save or spille. (900 – 904)
The queen of the land often plays the role of merciful intercessor before the king in medieval romances. This role draws upon the Church’s portrayal of Mary as merciful intercessor for sinful people before God. It also owes its origin to a stereotype that women were more emotional than men, who were supposedly more rational. Women, the belief went, were more likely to take pity on criminals condemned because of the reasonable justice of the king.
Quote #4
‘Thou standest yet,’ quod she, ‘in swich array That of thy lyf yet hastow no suretee. I grante thee lyf, if thou kanst tellen me What thing is it that women moost desiren. Be war and keep thy neke-boon from iren! And if thou kanst nat tellen it anon, Yet shal I yeve thee leve for to gon A twelf-month and a day to seche and leere An answere suffisant in this mateere. (908 – 916)
These are the rules governing the justice the queen proposes to the knight. She wants to make it very clear, as she does at this passage’s beginning, that his life is still in doubt, still not his own. She does this by reminding him that his life’s not in "suretee," or secure, and saying "I grante thee lyf" to emphasize her role as his life’s protector (or destroyer).
Quote #5
And suretee wol I han, er that thou pace, Thy body for to yelden in this place. (917 – 918)
In essence what the queen is asking for is a guarantee that the knight will return to court at the year’s end. A friend could “stand surety” for someone by agreeing to keep the friend’s promise should he fail to do so. It was kind of like co-signing on a loan.
Quote #6
Wo was this knight, and sorwefully he siketh; But what! He may nat do al as hym liketh. (919 – 920)
This passage is yet one more example of the tale’s emphasis on how the knight has forfeited his body and will once he yields to the demands of justice. It could also be an outraged exclamation along the lines of, "You can’t just rape someone and expect to go unpunished."
Quote #7
And somme seen, how that we loven best For to be free, and do right as us lest, And that no man repreve us of oure vice, But seye that we be wise, and nothyng nice. (940 – 943)
By connecting women’s freedom to their desire to be free of reproof from vices, the narrator may be implying that women desire freedom from the constraints of morality, in particular. This idea would certainly be in keeping with those expressed in the Wife of Bath’s Prologue.
Quote #8
‘Plight me thy trouthe, here in myn hand,’ quod she, ‘The nexte thing that I require thee, Thou shalt it do, if it lye in thy might, And I wol telle yow, er it be nyght.’ ‘Have heer my trouthe,’ quod the knight, ‘I grante.’ (1015 – 1019)
Pledging troth was a sacred ritual in medieval romance. More than a simple promise, it was a binding-up of one’s own self to the will of another person. A huge part of a knight’s worthiness was tied up in his fidelity to the troths he had pledged.
Quote #9
Ful many a noble wyf, and many a mayde, And many a wydwe, for that they been wise, The queene hirself sittynge as a justise, Assembled been, his answere for to here; And afterward this knyght was bode apeere. (1032 – 1036)
The way this passage takes care to describe all the different kinds of women assembled to hear the knight’s answer emphasizes the way in which this judgment of the knight represents the judgment of all women of one who has assaulted one of their own.
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.
Quote #13
‘Thanne have I gete of yow maistrie,’ quod she, ‘Syn I may chese and governe as me lest?’ ‘Ye, certes, wyf,’ quod he, ‘I holde it best.’ (1241 – 1243)
By using the word "governe" to describe a woman’s control over her husband, the wife emphasizes the way in which a household is like a little kingdom. It seems to be very important to the lady that she get verbal acknowledgement of her husband’s cession of "maistrie;" she’s not satisfied he’s given it without his "ye, certes."