How we cite our quotes: (Line)
Quote #4
Custance, youre child, hir recomandeth ofte
Unto your grace, for I shal to Surrye
Ne shal I nevere seen yow moore with eye.
Allas! unto the Barbre nacioun
I moste goon, syn that it is youre wille. (278-282)
In stating so starkly the will of her parents that she travel to a "Barbre nacioun," Custance emphasizes the harshness of her fate. Why? Because the word "Barbre," which she uses here to mean pagan, calls to mind the attacks of Rome by ruthless, bloodthirsty barbarians, so that Custance's destination seems very scary.
Quote #5
What shode us tyden of this newe lawe
But thraldom to ure bodies, and penance,
And afterward in helle to be drawe
For we reneyed Mahoun oure creance? (337-341)
The Sultan's mother's reluctance to embrace foreign customs comes immediately after Custance's trepidation at traveling to a strange land. So in a weird way, these two ladies have something in common: both women are reluctant to give up what is familiar to them.
Quote #6
O Sowdanesse, roote of iniquitee!
Virage, thou Semyrame the secounde!
O serpent under femynynytee,
Lik to the serpent depe in helle ybounde! (358-461)
By calling the Sultan's mother a second "Semyrame," the narrator connects her to a specific group of pagans from way back in the day. Semiramis was an ancient queen of Babylon whose nation persecuted the Israelites. So the narrator's making a connection between the Sultaness and a group who historically antagonized the spiritual ancestors of the Christians.