Ben-Hur by Lew Wallace

First published: 1880

Type of work: Novel

Type of plot: Historical

Time of plot: Time of Christ

Locale: Antioch and Jerusalem

Principal characters

• Ben-Hur, a Roman-educated Jew
• Balthasar, an Egyptian
• Simonides, a Jewish merchant and a friend of Ben-Hur
• Esther, his daughter, later Ben-Hur’s wife
• Iras, the daughter of Balthasar
• Messala, a Roman and an enemy of Ben-Hur

The Story:

In the Roman year 747, three travelers—an Athenian, a Hindu, and an Egyptian—meet in the desert, where they have been led by a new bright star shining in the sky. After telling their stories to one another, they journey on, seeking the newborn child who is King of the Jews. In Jerusalem, their inquiries arouse the curiosity of King Herod, who orders that they be brought before him. Herod then asks them to let him know if they find the child, for he, too, wishes to adore the infant whose birth has been foretold.

Arriving at last in Bethlehem, the three men find the newborn child in a stable. Having been warned in a dream of Herod’s evil intentions, however, they do not return to tell the king of the child’s whereabouts.

At that time, there lived in Jerusalem three members of an old and eminent Jewish family named Hur. The father, who had been dead for some time, had distinguished himself in service to the Roman Empire and had, consequently, received many honors. The son, Ben-Hur, is handsome, and the daughter, Tirzah, is likewise beautiful. Their mother is a fervent nationalist who has implanted in their minds a strong sense of pride in their race and national culture.

When Ben-Hur was still a young man, his friend Messala returned from his studies in Rome. Messala had become arrogant, spiteful, and cruel. Ben-Hur left Messala’s home after their meeting, and was hurt, for he realized that Messala had so changed that their friendship must end.

A few days later, while watching a procession below him in the streets, Ben-Hur is implicated when a piece of tile, accidentally dislodged, falls on the Roman procurator. The Roman believes that the accident was an attempt on his life. Led by Messala, who has pointed out his former friend to the soldiers, the Romans arrest the Hur family and confiscate their property.

Ben-Hur is sent to be a galley slave. While he is being led away in chains, a young man takes pity on him and gives him a drink. One day, while he is rowing at his usual place in the galley, Ben-Hur attracts the attention of Quintus Arrius, a Roman official. Later, during a sea battle, Ben-Hur saves the life of Quintus, who adopts the young Jew as his son. Educated as a Roman citizen, Ben-Hur inherits his foster father’s wealth when Quintus dies.

Ben-Hur goes to Antioch, where he learns that his father’s old servant, Simonides, is now a prosperous merchant. In effect, the wealth of Simonides is really the property of the Hur family, for he has been acting as agent for his dead master. Simonides assures himself that Ben-Hur is really the son of his old master and begs that he be allowed to serve the son as well. Ben-Hur is attracted to Simonides’s daughter, Esther.

In company with a servant of Simonides, Ben-Hur goes to see a famous well on the outskirts of Antioch. There an aged Egyptian is watering his camel, on which sits the most beautiful woman Ben-Hur has ever seen. While he looks, a chariot comes charging through the people near the well. Ben-Hur seizes the lead horse by the bridle and swerves the chariot aside. The driver is his false friend, Messala. The old Egyptian is Balthasar, one of the wise men who had traveled to Bethlehem. The beautiful woman is his daughter, Iras.

Learning that the arrogant Messala is to race his chariot in the games at Antioch, Ben-Hur wishes to defeat and humiliate his former friend. He has Simonides and his friends place large wagers on the race, until Messala has staked his whole fortune. The day of the race comes. At the turn, Messala suddenly strikes with his whip at the horses of the chariot Ben-Hur is driving. Ben-Hur manages to keep his team under control, and then in the last lap around the arena, he drives his chariot so close to Messala’s vehicle that the wheels lock. Messala is thrown under his horses and crippled for life. Since Messala had attempted foul play earlier in the race, the judges allow Ben-Hur to be proclaimed the winner. Messala is ruined.

From Balthasar, Ben-Hur learns that the King of the Jews to whom the Egyptian and his companions had paid homage some years before is not to be the king of a political realm, but of a spiritual one. Simonides, however, convinces Ben-Hur that the promised king will be a real deliverer who will lead the Jews to victory over the Romans.

From Antioch, Ben-Hur goes to Jerusalem to search for his mother and sister. There he learns the part Messala had played in the ruin of his family. After Ben-Hur’s arrest, his mother and sister had been thrown into prison, and Messala and the procurator had divided the confiscated property between them. Messala knew nothing of the fate of the two women after the procurator had ordered them confined to an underground cell. There they had contracted leprosy. When Pilate, the new procurator, arrived, he had ordered all political prisoners freed, so the two women had been set at liberty. There was no place for them to go except to the caves outside the city where the lepers were sent to die. A faithful old servant found them and carried food to them daily, under sacred oath never to reveal their names. When Ben-Hur meets the old servant, she allows him to believe that his mother and sister are dead.

Meanwhile, Simonides, acting for Ben-Hur, buys the Hur home. He, Esther, Balthasar, and Iras take possession of it. Ben-Hur himself can visit it only at night and in disguise. He is plotting to overthrow the Roman rule and is recruiting an army to follow the future King of the Jews. He goes one day near the place where the lepers usually gather on the hill beyond the city gates. On the way, he meets a young man whom he recognizes as the one who had given him a drink of water years before when he was being led away to slavery. The young man is the Nazarene. That day, the old servant persuades Tirzah and her mother to show themselves to the Nazarene as he passes. The women are cured, and Ben-Hur sees the two lepers transformed into his mother and sister.

Ben-Hur’s attitude toward the King of the Jews is slowly changing. When he witnesses the crucifixion in company with Simonides and old Balthasar, any doubts that he might have had are removed. He is convinced then that Christ’s kingdom is a spiritual one. From that day on, he and his family are Christians.

Some years later, in the beautiful villa at Misenum, Ben-Hur’s wife, Esther, receives a strange visit from Iras, the daughter of Balthasar. Iras tells Esther that she has killed Messala for the misery he had brought her. When he learns of the visit, Ben-Hur is sure that on the day of the crucifixion, the day that Balthasar himself had died, Iras had deserted her father for Messala.

Ben-Hur is happy with Esther and their two children. He and Simonides devote their fortunes to the Christian cause. When Nero begins the persecution of the Christians in Rome, it is Ben-Hur who goes there to build the catacombs under the city, so that those who believe in the Nazarene can worship in safety and peace.

Bibliography

Allmendinger, Blake. “Toga! Toga!” In Ten Most Wanted: The New Western American Literature. New York: Routledge, 1998. Discusses the circumstances in which Wallace wrote Ben-Hur, making the case that the work is essentially a Western novel in an Asian setting.

Gutjahr, Paul. “’To the Heart of the Solid Puritans’: Historicizing the Popularity of Ben-Hur.” Mosaic 26, no. 3 (Summer, 1993): 53-67. Offers reasons for Ben-Hur’s pleasing even those readers mistrustful of novels. One reason mentioned is that the novel advocates feeling and faith to counter the scientific challenges to the Bible and to traditional Christianity.

Mayer, David, ed. Playing Out the Empire: “Ben-Hur,” and Other Toga Plays and Films, 1883-1908: A Critical Anthology. New York: Oxford University Press, 1994. Includes introductory commentary and notes on Wallace’s novel, William Young’s 1899 play, and the 1907 Kalem Company film version.

Miller, Howard. “The Charioteer and the Christ.” Indiana Magazine of History 104, no. 2 (June, 2008): 153-175. Examines the impact of Ben-Hur on American culture, focusing on the transformation of the charioteer and the Christ figures in the novel’s many stage and screen adaptations. Explains how Wallace wrote the novel when his personal view of Christ was gaining popularity in the United States.

Pentz-Harris, Marcia L., Linda Seger, and R. Barton Palmer. “Screening Male Sentimental Power in Ben-Hur.” In Nineteenth-Century American Fiction on Screen, edited by R. Barton Palmer. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2007. A detailed discussion of Ben-Hur, placing the work within the context of nineteenth century religion, society, and literature. Discusses the novel’s influence on subsequent novels and films, and its immense popularity. According to the authors, “rarely, if ever, has a novel aroused such passion in the American public.”

Quinn, Arthur Hobson. American Fiction: An Historical and Critical Survey. East Norwalk, Conn.: Appleton-Century-Crofts, 1936. Praises Ben-Hur for its magnificent opening, presentation of rival forces (Judaism, Christianity, Roman imperialism), key dramatic scenes (lepers’ cell, naval battle, chariot race), absence of anti-Semitism, minor characters, and relation of all of the characters to Ben-Hur. Dated but still useful.

Wallace, Lew. Lew Wallace: An Autobiography. 2 vols. 1906. Reprint. New York: Harper and Brothers, 1969. Wallace’s autobiography, completed posthumously. Includes a reprint of Wallace’s 1895 interview, “How I Came to Write Ben-Hur.”