How we cite our quotes: (Line)
Quote #7
Yeres and dayes fleteth this creature
Thurghout the See of Grece unto the Strayte
Of Marrok, as it was hir aventure.
On many a sory meel now may she bayte;
After hir deeth ful often may she wayte,
Er that the wilde wawes wol hire dryve
Unto the place ther she shal aryve. (463-469)
Yep, our Custance is pretty powerless at the hands of fate. It's her "aventure" (fate) to simply sit and wait for death, at the mercy of the "wilde wawes." Custance has absolutely no control over whether she lives or dies. But hey, she does have prayer.
Quote #8
For as the lomb toward his deeth is broght,
So stant this innocent bifore the kyng. (617-618)
In the face of a false accusation, the narrator compares Custance with a lamb brought to slaughter. Here again he links her suffering with that of Christ, who is also often referred to as a lamb. Um, sensing a pattern here?
Quote #9
"O myghty God, if that it be thy wille,
Sith thou art rightful juge, how may it be
That thou wolt suffren innocentz to spille,
And wikked folk regnen in prsperitee?" (813-816)
The Constable cries passionately to God, asking why He allows innocents to suffer while the wicked live like kings. We'd never hear this kind of thing from Custance. Part of her virtue lies in her willingness to accept whatever God ordains for her—even if the rest of us would want to rage against the machine. These sentiments may be what the narrator and audience are thinking, however, and so the Constable becomes their mouthpiece.