How we cite our quotes: (Line Number)
Quote #4
Chese yow a wyf in short tyme, atte leste,
Born of the gentilleste and of the meste
Of al this lond, so that it oghte seme
Honour to God, and yow, as we can deme. (130-133)
Walter's nobles naturally want him to take a highborn wife. Doing so will not just do him and God honor, as they say here. If the wife comes from a powerful family, his marriage will also further secure his hold on power through the forging of an alliance.
Quote #5
"Ye wol," quod he, "myn owene peple dere,
To that I never erst thogte streyne me.
I me rejoysed of my libertee
That selde tyme is founde in marriage;
Ther I was free, I moot been in servage." (143-147)
If Walter has really never thought he would have to get married, then he's way naive. The continuation of his bloodline by means of a legitimate heir was one of a nobleman's most pressing duties. Walter's focus on the idea of marriage as a prison shows that he's thinking primarily in terms of himself and not of his responsibilities. Now, we can also question whether feudal responsibilities are inherently limiting of personal freedoms, but that's a question the tale doesn't bring up directly.
Quote #6
For thogh the peple have no greet insight
In vertue, he considered ful right
Hir bountee, and disposed that he wolde
Wedde hire only, if ever he wedde sholde. (242-245)
One of the ways we know that the "Clerk's Tale" is fictional is that Walter has the freedom to choose a wife merely for her virtue. In real life, a nobleman would have to marry someone from a rich and powerful family as a way of cementing his own power.