How we cite our quotes: (Line)
Quote #10
Eft were hise lettres stolen everychon
And countrefeted lettres in this wyse,
"The king comandeth his constable anon
Up peyne of hangyng and on heigh juyse
That he ne sholde suffren in no wyse
Custance inwith his reawme for t'abyde." (792-797)
Here, Donegild issues a command to the Constable, stealing power that rightfully belongs to her son. This passage is just one more of the ways the tale emphasizes the authority-flouting of its "evil" women, whose sin is just as much trying to usurp male authority as it is being deceptive.
Quote #11
And thus, by wit and sotil enquerynge,
Ymagined was, by whom this harm gan sprynge.
The hand was knowe that the lettre wroot,
And al the venym of this cursed dede,
But in what wise certeinly I noot.
Th'effect is this, that Alla, out of drede,
His mooder slow. (888-894)
Again we see King Alla in his role of inquirer into the truth, which he learns through "wit and sotil enquerynge" just as he learned the truth of Custance's innocence through deeper "enquere" into the knight's testimony. As happened in that instance, the liar receives death for her deception.