And it was true, the religion she was raised in had always seemed vaguely foolish to her...for why should babies be born into sin, why should she pray to the invisible forces, why would god be a trinity, why should she, who felt her greatness hot in her blood, be considered lesser because the first woman was molded from a rib and ate a fruit and thus lost lazy Eden?
-- Marie (Part 1, Chapter 1)

Importance: This quote, which explains Marie's reluctance to go to the abbey where Eleanor has sent her, establishes three significant aspects of Marie's character: that she has no religious devotion initially, that she does not believe women are inherently inferior as most people do at this time, and that she believes deeply in her own "greatness" (5). Marie's religious belief will evolve over the course of the novel into a genuine faith, bound up in her appreciation for the female figures...