In 1820, Sir Walter Scott published the novel,
Ivanhoe, whose heroine Rebecca, was a beautiful
Jewess who refused to marry out of her faith. Soon after
the book was published, it was rumored that Rebecca Gratz
was the model for Scott's dashing medieval Rebecca.
Although there is no direct evidence linking Gratz to the
novel and no indication that Gratz was ever romantically
involved with anyone, Jewish or Christian, the legend has
persisted. The origin of the myth lies in a rumored
conversation between Washington Irving (a friend of
Gratz's) and Scott. Supposedly, Scott sent Irving a
copy of the novel with a letter asking Irving if he
recognized “his Rebecca.” This letter has never
been found. Like Scott's
Rebecca, however, Gratz was beautiful and talented and
chose to remain single in a world that regarded marriage
as a woman's primary role. The Ivanhoe legend has given
generations of Jewish-Americans a way to explain the
accomplishments of a woman who defied traditional notions
of achieving status in the Jewish community. Whether or not
the legend is true, Gratz herself found Scott's work
gratifying. In 1829, she wrote to her old friend Maria
Fenno Hoffman, “I felt a
little extra pleasure from Rebecca's being a Hebrew
maiden. It is worthy of Scott in a period when
persecution has re-commenced in Europe to hold up a
picture of the superstition and cruelty in which it
originated.”
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