Question

Compare and contrast the character Rowena and Rebecca. What are the diffuclties faced by each of the women?

Answer 1

In many ways, Rebecca and Rowena are quite similar: They are both beautiful, virtuous, loyal, and self-possessed; they each contend with strong-willed fathers, and they each love Ivanhoe. The main difference that emerges between them in the book is simply due to the different challenges they face: Rebecca often seems more sympathetic to readers simply because she does more, because she heals Ivanhoe and is forced to contend with her own feelings, while Rowena simply acts on her feelings. But Rebecca's large presence in the book is due at least in part to circumstance: She happens to be the person who tends to Ivanhoe after his injury at Ashby and thus puts herself in the position of falling in love with him; she simply happens to be the woman Brian de Bois-Guilbert decides to pursue, putting her in the position of being victimized at Templestowe. However, another part of the difference is due to the women's cultural backgrounds: As a Saxon, Rowena is a second-class citizen, but as a Jew, Rebecca is truly beneath everyone in the social hierarchy of twelfth-century England. The very fact that Rebecca must fight against her feelings for Ivanhoe, which makes her so sympathetic to readers, is due in large part to the impossibility of them ever being together--because she is a Jew. And the fact that the Templars are able to try her as a sorceress with no evidence whatsoever is also due to the fact that she is Jewish: They would never have done the same to a Christian Saxon such as Rowena.