I dub thee . . . Rebekah

(The following comments were posted at 11:05 a.m. Monday morning.)

Although I have never actually sat down and read Sir Walter Scott's Ivanhoe, I have seen every film version in existence (even the one with the comatose Robert Taylor) and I have a pretty clear understanding of the 2 main female characters. From the start, Rowena sounds as though she would be fascinating: a fair-haired Saxon woman who has won the heart of the great Ivanhoe and waits for him as he battles fierce Normans on his perilous journey back to her. At first, the imagination creates the strong picture of J.R.R. Tolkien's shield-maiden Éowyn of Rohan, with her fair cold beauty and a warrior's heart.

Unfortunately, quite HOW Rowena came to be viewed as Ivanhoe's "one true love" is revealed to be an utter mystery. The importance of her alleged beauty falls by the wayside as it becomes clear that she can't really do anything BUT sit and wait for Ivanhoe. While he languishes from terrible wounds, she gazes out of the window and complains about life. At least she can weave or do embroidery (I hope, anyway), though it doesn't really help out her boyfriend.

This is what the idea of the 1775 "princess" brought to mind from the "Halloween" episode: from the drawing in Giles's book, Buffy gets one initial image (which is, for Rowena, the Éowyn-like one) stuck in her mind and becomes convinced that Angel would like her that way. Of course, here it takes a completely different course: the woman is under the misconception that the man would prefer some other ideal, some other image, to the one she has to offer. She feels, down somewhere fairly deep in her constitution, that she is inferior and doesn't, in her present state, even DESERVE the man she has won with her own natural gifts. Cordelia is always dealing damage (often unwittingly), and here we see that the comments of another woman–even those of a vain and vapid one–have a tremendous effect on the strong but still-developing female character. Her self-professed immaturity is, in a way, her own undoing. Of course, she never could have foreseen what would take place that night, but already her "plan" was doomed to failure: Angel, to quote Billy Joel, "wants her just the way she is." It is a big step for Buffy herself, as well as for her relationship with Angel, for them to have the discussion about "interesting girls." Angel comments that he "hated the girls back then" and called them "dull, simpering morons." Rowena, zero. Buffy–AND Rebekah–3!

Here I come to Rowena's contrast character in Ivanhoe: Rebekah. A Jewess with dark, quiet beauty and powerful convictions, Rebekah and her father rescue Ivanhoe from the Normans and she then saves his life by nursing him back to health. Naturally, she falls in love with the noble Saxon warrior in the process, but wisely keeps her own counsel, as he is always yammering on about his "true love," Rowena (and unfortunately not only while he's delerious). Eventually, Rebekah is captured and imprisoned by a Norman Knight Templar who has become infatuated with her, and she spends her days fighting him off. Finally Ivanhoe has to settle the score and rescue HER. They seem destined to be together! [Even children's book writer Edward Eager points this out in Knight's Castle–a glorious and hysterically funny story based on the old movie–and ultimately has Ivanhoe marry the courageous Rebekah rather than the tiresome Rowena. Everyone should watch the old Robert Taylor film and then read this book. It is much more satisfactory.]

But alas, Ivanhoe is NOT Angel, even if Rowena is represented by the noblewoman from 1775 and Rebekah is the real Buffy: he still ends up with "dull, simpering" Rowena in the end. Sir Walter Scott should have jumped a few centuries of style and at least left the conclusion of his novel "open-ended," so that all the readers can just imagine him riding off into the sunset with Rebekah instead.

All the viewers/readers have come to the same conclusion as Angel about the Rowena/18th century noblewoman and Rebekah/Buffy: Buffy the Vampire Slayer is MUCH stronger, MUCH more interesting, MUCH more useful, and frankly much COOLER than any upper-class ingenue from 1775. The following quotes are the best explanation:

Willow (as a ghost): "Buffy! What do we do?!"
Buffy (as 1775 girl): *faints* . . . . . . "It's not our place to fight! Surely the men will protect us!"

Of course, there are still remnants of this idea in people's minds, even in a town like Sunnydale, even for one of Buffy's best friends, Xander. Her "violation of the guy code" when she prevented his taking "manly" action against the guy who almost pummeled him by the drink machine created yet another contrast with the characters of Buffy and Angel. It was even expounded upon later in "What's My Line" when he shrieks to Cordelia that they'll wait for Buffy to come rescue them and Cordelia calls Buffy a "superchick or whatever" and Xander a "coward."

Still, the balance between strong characters (strong in the sense of being able to fight or protect themselves) is a good one: Angel, Buffy, the mysterious "new slayer" Kendra who appears in "What's My Line"–even Giles is revealed as being more than capable of beating someone down (I adore that twist, but WHAT?!! I want to know!). Generally, everyone does his or her best when there's a big free-for-all (like at the end of Part 2), but there are clear differences between, say, Buffy's and Willow's abilities. Kendra is an excellent twist; Giles really should have thought of the possibility of another slayer showing up before, since Buffy really DID die (albeit briefly) at the end of season 1.

To further the semblance between Ivanhoe characters, Buffy and Angel do take turns saving one another's lives. It's actually rather romantic–maybe even better than going to an 18th-century ball.