‘Ivanhoe’ Essay Sample
Why is the character of Ulrica introduced in “Ivanhoe”? Does she add to the story or detract from it?
Introduced as Urfried at the beginning of her part in the story, Ulrica is Sir Walter Scott’s way of embodying a premonition of a future (for Rebecca) based on similar predicaments, a living proof of the tolls of the said circumstances and at the same time the key figure in stopping the fate from happening.
With her words, Ulrica, on the surface, mocks Rebecca for being held by Normans and is smug about the things that will surely happen to her that will strip her off her identity and turn her into an objectified means to an end (Chapter XXIV). She also turns down Rebecca’s solicitation of consolation with a snide resignation pointing to what Lackey (1992) refers to as, Rebecca’s idealistic calmness (Chapter XXIV).
As the character’s history was revealed, Ulrica’s essential role in supporting the story’s central struggle, according to Lackey (1992), of different ideas of brutality and primitive beliefs as shown in her final act of revenge against Front-de-Boeuf by setting fire to the castle where they both die with her chanting a death song (Chapter XXX – XXXI); at par with justice through channels of religion as was depicted in Cedric’s attempt to get her to repent (Chapter XXVIII).
In the span of her character’s role in the development of the story, Ulrica further adds to the plot by being the representation of the ugly toll of war on the innocents, in a time where conquests are glorified through the fun-loving nature of tournaments among medieval knights. (Shmoop Editorial Team, 2008) The interesting contrast between what Ulrica says and does proves her ability to empathize despite her life being ruined by Front-de-Boeuf.
References
- Scott, Walter (1820). Ivanhoe. Retrieved from http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/6818
- Lackey, Lionel (1992). “Vainly Expected Messiahs: Christianity, Chivalry and Charity in Ivanhoe,” Studies in Scottish Literature: Vol. 27: Iss. 1. Available at: http://scholarcommons.sc.edu/ssl/vol27/iss1/13
- Shmoop Editorial Team. (2008, November 11). Ulrica (Urfried) in Ivanhoe.
- Retrieved November 14, 2016, from http://www.shmoop.com/ivanhoe/ulrica-urfried.html
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