How we cite our quotes: (Line)
Quote #7
Yeres and dayes fleteth this creature
Thurghout the See of Grece unto the Strayte
Of Marrok, as it was hir aventure.
On many a sory meel now may she bayte;
After hir deeth ful often may she wayte,
Er that the wilde wawes wol hire dryve
Unto the place ther she shal arryve. (463-469)
This passage makes it apparent how the open ocean serves as a symbol of fate at whose hands human beings are helpless. Custance drifts "as it was hir aventure." "Aventure" is a word that refers to what happens to a person by chance, beyond her control. Custance is also shown to "wayte / Er that the wilde wawes wol hire dryve / Unto the place ther she shal arryve." All she can do in this situation is wait, helpless, for the waves (or fortune, fate) to take her where they will.
Quote #8
Crist, which that is to every harm triacle,
By certeine meenes ofte, as knowen clerkis,
Dooth thyng for certein ende, that fuld erk is
To mannes wit, that for oure ignorance
Ne konne noght knowe his prudent purveiance. (479-483)
Finally, a note of hope in all his gloomy talk of man's helplesseness in the face of cruel fate. The narrator claims that God has a purpose for the things that He does, whether or not we can understand it. Our characters trust in this idea. Their faith allows them to weather the unpredictable twists of fate with patience.
Quote #9
"Welcome the sonde of Crist for everemoore
To me, that am now lerned in his loore!
Lord, welcome be thy lust and thy plesaunce,
My lust I putte al in thyn ordinaunce.
Kepeth this child, al be it foul or feire,
And eek my wyf, unto myn hoom-comynge;
Crist, whan hym list, may sende me an heir
Moore agreable than this to my likynge." (760-767)
This is King Alla's response when given the (false) news of the birth of a demon-child. He welcomes it as the "sonde," or "sending" of Christ. Although Alla's response models the proper Christian approach to misfortune (trust that God will provide), the fact that he's contemplating a demon child raises an important question: does God "send" even evil things?