How we cite our quotes: Citations follow this format: (Line). We used the line numbering found on Librarius's online edition.
Quote #4
'Thou art so loothly and so oold also,
And therto comen of so lough a kynde,
that litel wonder is though I walwe and wynde.
So wolde God, myn herte wolde breste!'
(1106 – 1109)
Henceforth we have only learned of the lady's loathsomeness and age, suggesting that the knight's accusation that she's lowborn comes from his disgust at these other qualities. This assumption reveals an arrogance on his part for which his wife duly takes him to task.
Quote #5
Now, ther ye seye that I am foul and old,
Than drede you noght to been a cokewold;
For filthe and elde, al so moot I thee,
been grete wardeyns upon chastitee.
(1219 – 1222)
This passage recalls one in the Wife of Bath's Prologue where she claims her husband decries marriage to a young, attractive wife because it will be impossible to keep other men from having sex with her. Recall that there, in contrast to the implication of this passage, ugly wives were also undesirable – in that case because they were thought to be like spaniels jumping on the first man they could find.
Quote #6
'Chese now,' quod she, 'oon of thise thynges tweye:
To han me foul and old til that I deye,
and be to yow a trewe humble wyf,
and nevere yow displese in al my lyf.'
(1225 – 1228)
This passage draws upon the lady's argument above about the benefits of having old, ugly wives. That passage implied that it is only natural for ugly wives to be faithful, because they can't find anyone else willing to have sex with them.