How we cite our quotes: (Line)
Quote #1
For whan they cam from any strange place,
He wolde, of his benigne curteisye,
Make hem good chiere, and bisily espye
Tidygnes of sondry regnes, for to leere
The wondres that they myghte seen or heere. (176-182)
This is not the first time that merchants bearing tales have made an appearance. Don't forget that the narrator claims to have had this tale from a merchant he met along the way. In a world without telephones or newspapers, these travelers' tidings might be the only contact one would have with foreign places. Details of daily life in these places might indeed seem like "wondres" to those who had never encountered them before.
Quote #2
Thanne saw they therin swich difficultee
By wey of reson, for to speke al playn
By cause that ther was swich diversitee
Bitwene hir bothe lawes. (218-221)
The Sultan's advisers rightly see the cultural differences between Custance and the Sultan as an almost insurmountable obstacle to their marriage. In a tradition in which "like should marry like," the "diversitee" between the two potential partners here would be a foreboding signal of problems to come. Which, hello—totally true.
Quote #3
Allas, what wonder is it though she wepte,
That shal be sent to strange nacioun
Fro freendes that so tendrely hir kepte,
And to be bounden under subjeccioun
Of oon, she knoweth nat his condicioun? (267-271)
Although it's true that Custance marries someone who comes from a different culture, the details of her situation—the separation from familiar friends, fear of an unknown husband—might be common to any noblewoman who was required to leave home in an arranged marriage. That's why we think this passage seems to humanize Custance's situation. Many women of the time would've been able to sympathize with Custance's plight, even if they'd never been shipped off to anywhere as exotic as Babylon.