How we cite our quotes: (Line)
Quote #4
O Sathan, envious syn thilke day
That thou were chaced from oure heritage,
Wel knowestow to wommen the olde way!
Thou madest Eva brynge us in servage;
Thou wolt fordoon this Cristen mariage.
Thyn instrument, so weylawey the while!
Makestow of wommen, whan thou wolt bigile. (365-371)
By linking the Sultan's mother to Eve beguiled by Satan, the narrator implies that the extent of her evil is as great as what was unleashed into the world during the Fall of Man. Referring to her as Satan's "instrument" takes away her responsibility for her actions at the same time as it demonizes her. And this passage elevates Custance's status because she gets to be the "Mary" that makes up for the sins of this "Eve."
Quote #5
"O cleere, o welful auter, hooly croys,
Reed of the lambes blood, ful of pitee,
That wesshe the world fro the olde iniquitee,
Me fro the feend and fro his clawes kepe,
That day that I shal drenchen in the depe." (451-455)
Custance fears the real Devil more than the figurative devil she has just escaped. Which, fair. Her reference to the blood that washed the world from "iniquitee" is a call for a different kind of liquid to envelop her as she floats upon the ocean. She hopes the blood of Christ will save her from the evil before which she finds herself helpless just as it saved humankind from their sins according to the teachings of Christianity.
Quote #6
"Victorious tree, proteccioun of trewe,
That oonly worthy were for to bere
The Kyng of Hevene with his woundes newe,
The white lamb that hurt was with the spere,
Flemere of feendes out of hym and here
On which thy lymes feithfully extenden,
Me keep, and yif me myght my lyf tamenden." (456-462)
Custance calls upon Christ the "flemere of feendes" in her time of trials. Her reference to the battle between God and the Devil is yet another connection between her battle and the ultimate battle between good and evil. This connection places the events of Custance's life on a higher and more meaningful plane. She's not just any lady—she's the center of the Big Fight.