How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #7
And then they were at Tristran's old home, where his sister waited for him, and there was a steaming breakfast on the stove and on the table, prepared for him, lovingly, by the woman he had always believed to be his mother. (10.104)
After his quest is done, Tristran learns the truth behind his origins: His father's wife is not actually his mother, and instead he was born to a faerie maiden and brought across the wall as an infant. His sister, at least, is still his half-sister, but he isn't at all blood-related to his mom, which helps explain why she's always been kind of cold to him.
Quote #8
The woman flicked her ears impatiently. "In almost eighteen years, Tristran Thorn, I have not demanded one single thing of you. And now, the first simple little request that I make—the tiniest favor that I ask of you—you say me no. Now, I ask of you, Tristran, is that any way to treat your mother?" (10.183)
Lady Una sure knows how to lay the motherly guilt on thick. Maybe she learned to guilt-trip from Madame Semele, from all those decades listening to her haranguing her customers. It does raise the question, though: What do children owe their mothers? Should they do everything their mothers ask of them?
Quote #9
"I hope that your sisters will not be too hard on you, when you return to them without it." (10.208)
Yvaine, talking to the witch-queen who is now incapable of cutting out her heart, learns that the witch-queen had planned to take it back and share it with her sisters. Yvaine also figures out that they're not going to be too happy when the witch-queen comes home empty-handed. Seems like every family has issues that they fight about; star-hearts are just one more thing to bicker over.