Eveline Berenger’s Epipolesis to Different Nations in The Betrothed: The Greco-Roman Historiographical Sources of Walter Scott

Abstract

In one of the lesser-known novels of Sir Walter Scott, The Betrothed, we clearly observe the direct influence of classical historiography on the literary production of one of the most important Romantic writers. In this paper we will first examine the research done by the Scottish author and the sources he used in creating the character of Eveline Berenger. Second, we will show how Scott’s knowledge of classical and especially Roman historiography is evident at the beginning of Chapter VIII where he follows the model of Alexander the Great’s epipolesis prior to the Battle of Issus, as reported by Quintus Curtius (3.10). In this passage, the heroine, Eveline Berenger, goes around the walls of the fortress haranguing the different nations that make up her army, as if she were a general in a description of a battle in ancient historiography.