Exactly how steamy is this story?
PG-13
The sex in "The Man of Law's Tale" happens off-stage, but it does happen, and it's the focus of some attention. Perhaps sensing a disconnect between Custance's preferences as a chaste, pious girl and her duties as a wife, the Man of Law reminds us that "thogh that wyves be ful hooly thynges, / They moste take in pacience at nyght / Swiche maner necessaries as been plesynges / To golk that han ywedded hem with rynges" (709-712). Beyond this "necessary" sex, we have a knight who murders Hermengyld out of frustrated lust for Custance. There's also another treacherous knight who attempts to rape her, provoking the narrator's rant against "foul lust of luxurie" (925).