How we cite our quotes: Citations follow this format: (Line). We used the line numbering found on Librarius's online edition.
Quote #4
As help me God, I laughe whan I thynke
How pitously a-nyght I made hem swynke.
(207-208)
The Wife's reference to how she made her husbands "swynke," or work very hard, recalls her earlier intention to have a husband who is a thrall, or slave. The slave-labor she wishes to extract from him is sexual.
Quote #5
But sith I hadde hem hoolly in myn hond,
And sith they hadde me yeven all hir lond,
What sholde I taken keep hem for to plese,
But if it were for my profit and myn ese?
(211-214)
Here the Wife reveals how control over material possessions, like land, leads to power in a relationship. When she has this control, she has no need to try to please her husband. This statement raises a chicken-or-egg question, though, about which comes first: does power come from control of material wealth, or does a woman gain control over material wealth because she has power over husband?
Quote #6
I governed hem so wel after my lawe
That ech of hem ful blisful was and fawe
To bringe me gaye thinges fro the fayre.
(225-227)
The Wife's assertion that she "governed" her husband "after my lawe" subtly references the medieval notion that a husband should rule his household and wife the way a king rules his lands and people. Of course, this version of household government sets that notion on its head, with the wife taking on the role of king.