“ Rebecca! she who could prefer death to dishonour, must have a proud and a powerful soul. ”
Walter Scott, Ivanhoe (1820). copy citation
| Author | Walter Scott |
|---|---|
| Source | Ivanhoe |
| Topic | death pride dishonour |
| Date | 1820 |
| Language | English |
| Reference | |
| Note | |
| Weblink | http://www.gutenberg.org/files/82/82-h/82-h.htm |
Context
“And if they have reserved it, as priests tell us, to themselves, it is because they hold it an enjoyment too precious for the possession of mere mortals.—And ambition? it is a temptation which could disturb even the bliss of heaven itself.» —He paused a moment, and then added, «Rebecca! she who could prefer death to dishonour, must have a proud and a powerful soul. Mine thou must be!—Nay, start not,» he added, «it must be with thine own consent, and on thine own terms. Thou must consent to share with me hopes more extended than can be viewed from the throne of a monarch!—Hear me ere you answer and judge ere you refuse.—The Templar loses, as thou hast said, his social rights, his power of free agency, but he becomes a member and a limb of a mighty body, before which thrones already tremble,—even as the single drop of rain which mixes with the sea becomes an individual part of that resistless ocean, which undermines rocks and ingulfs royal armadas.”
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Meaning and analysis
