Beatrice
The adopted daughter of the Bishop of Ferrara, revered as a prophetess, who believes heaven has given her to Castruccio.
She wants to do what she believes heaven is telling her to do.
The book
Valperga
Mary Shelley
Who they are in the book
Spoiler-freeBeatrice is passionate, gifted and sincere, and she trusts her visions completely. Godwin called her the jewel of the book.
How Beatrice Is Portrayed
- A secret birthIn Volume II, Chapter II, the bishop tells Castruccio in confidence who her mother was: Wilhelmina of Bohemia, whose secret followers believed her the Holy Spirit in a woman's body.
- The ordeal by fireIn Volume II, Chapter III, she walks blindfold and barefoot over red-hot ploughshares and comes through unhurt. The crowd hails her as a saint.
- Love as revelationIn Volume II, Chapter IV, she prays over her feelings for Castruccio and decides that heaven commands them. When he says he must leave, she knows at once what he means.
- In the Inquisition's prisonIn Volume III, Chapter II, the inquisitors seize her at Lucca. Euthanasia finds her in her cell, and Castruccio orders her release.
- The truth about the ordealIn Volume III, Chapter IV, she asks the bishop how she survived the hot ploughshares. He tells her someone used fraud to save her, and she loses her trust in her visions.
- Three lost yearsAlso in Volume III, Chapter IV, she tells Euthanasia she was held for three years in a house near Rome by a cruel and powerful man. She will not describe what she saw there.
In Volume III, Chapter VII, a witch in the forest gives her a drug. She sees Castruccio ride past with Tripalda, whom she believes dead, and falls into convulsions. She dies quietly some days later, with Euthanasia beside her.
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