How we cite our quotes: Citations follow this format: (Line). We used the line numbering found on Librarius's online edition.
Quote #4
'My lige lady, generally,' quod he,
'Wommen desiren to have sovereynetee
As wel over hir housbond as hir love,
And for to been in maistrie hym above.'
(1043 – 1046)
The knight's expression of women's desire for sovereignty is a powerful moment in the character development of the night. Because his crime was to forcibly deprive a woman of sovereignty over herself, his acknowledgment that women most desire sovereignty over their lovers is a step in his rehabilitation, as well as a chastening of him for his crime.
Quote #5
'This is youre mooste desir, though ye me kille.
Dooth as yow list, I am heer a youre wille.'
(1047 – 1048)
The knight's yielding of himself to the will of the queen might represent his internalization of the truth he has just spoken about women's desire for sovereignty.
Quote #6
'Mercy,' quod she, 'my sovereyn lady queene,
Er that youre court departe, do me right.
I taughte this answere unto the knyght,
For which he plighte me his trouthe there,
The firste thyng I wolde of hym requere,
He wolde it do, if it lay in his myght.'
(1054 – 1059)
This passage is rife with the language of power; the loathly lady refers to the queen as "my sovereyn," in a moment in which she asks the queen to use that sovereignty to grant her sovereignty. The knight has promised to do what the hag asks if it lays in his "might" or power. This moment represents a real test of the knight's ability to yield sovereignty to another, which he doesn't exactly ace.