The Wreath: Kristin Lavransdatter #1

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 1920

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Summary

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Part 1, Chapters 1-4

Part 1, Chapters 5-7

Part 2, Chapters 1-4

Part 2, Chapters 5-8

Part 3, Chapters 1-4

Part 3, Chapters 5-8

Character Analysis

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Important Quotes

Essay Topics

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Themes

Complex Family Dynamics

Family dynamics and relationships are an important aspect of the novel. The most consequential relationships are those between Kristin and her father and mother, with additional importance added when considering her younger sister Ulvhild and the dynamic that develops between them before Ulvhild’s untimely death. The most interesting dynamic is the unfailing love that Lavrans and Ragnfrid (Ragnfrid to a lesser degree) exhibit towards Kristin even though they would be within their rights to shun her for her entanglement with Erlend.

Time and again Kristin ends up disappointing her parents, no time greater than when she breaks her engagement with the steady and honorable Simon for the infamous, womanizing Erlend, and yet they stand by her side through it all, always attempting to make the best decision for Kristin and not falling prey to any petty desire to see Kristin suffer the consequences of her actions. Even in the end, Lavrans consents to Kristin’s marriage to Erlend because he thinks it best for Kristin’s soul in the long run due to her stubbornness.

Furthermore, for most of Kristin’s relationship with Erlend she has to wonder if she is going to be a mother. As her relationship with Erlend develops, she has to ponder the reality of the decisions that she has made, realizing that she is eventually going to be a mother and that Erlend will be a father. This reality both excites and frightens Kristin, especially in light of the fraught relationship that Erlend already has with two children from his previous relationship. It is clear throughout the novel that family relationships are complicated, but the relationships that prove to be the strongest are those which are based on love of the other person, regardless of whether that person follows the rules. Lavrans’s strong Christian beliefs would dictate that he shun or even excommunicate Kristin for her actions. He could have insisted that Kristin stay at the convent and marry neither Simon nor Erlend on account of her behavior, however, he prioritizes Kristin’s independence, even if he thinks she is making the wrong decision, which would have been unusual for a God-fearing man of that time.

The Loss of Innocence

The Wreath is a coming-of-age story for Kristin, and Undset does not make the protagonist’s path to self-awareness an easy one. One of the very first moments of liberation is Kristin’s encounter with the elf maiden at the river. This moment represents a change in perspective for Kristin when she realizes that the world is a large, wild place and that it is not always friendly. Fortunately, she is saved from any harm by her father Erlend, but as the reader will soon come to realize, Kristin’s father will not always be there to save her from herself.

As Kristin grows up, unfortunate events chip away at her innocence and introduce her to a world that is harsh, spiteful, and unforgiving. Her little sister is injured almost fatally in an accident. Kristin is the victim of a sexual assault. Her best friend, Arne, is killed in a dispute over her reputation, and she realizes too late that she was actually in love with him. She falls in love with Erlend, a man who never should have pursued her after realizing she was betrothed, and he seduces her. Little by little, Kristin loses her childlike innocence and in the process of becoming a woman becomes both more experienced and more grieved over the pain that has come into her life. Although there is an even mix of sorrow caused by her own doing and caused by forces beyond her control, The Wreath is a narrative that traces the life of a young woman from childhood to womanhood, giving a brutally honest look at the messy situations that contribute to the complex adult she has become.

The process of going from innocence to maturity entails that the protagonist violently break away from her family’s values in order to live her own life. In the process, the protagonist learns hard truths about the world and cannot return to the blissful, protected life she lived as a child. Even though Kristin’s childhood was not perfect, she could rely on her father’s support and did not question his beliefs. This is why she accepted Simon and rejected Arne. If she had trusted her own feelings sooner, she could have refused her engagement to Simon and chosen Arne; at that point in her life, however, she had no reason to disobey her father’s wishes. In fact, upholding her parents’ values at the time of her engagement was her greatest priority. She had to experience misfortune and true passion to realize that the life is not about simply adhering to a set of values no matter the cost. When Erlend pressures her to be with him, she gives in to her desires without caring about the consequences. Someone has already taken her innocence with impunity, and she realizes that neither her father nor her upstanding Christian values could save her. Becoming disillusioned with life at the convent, she decided to follow her passion, regardless of the consequences. Becoming an adult means living with the consequences of one’s decisions whether or not those decisions make one happy. Kristin’s exhaustion on her wedding night suggests that her decisions may not make her happy in the end, but at least she avoided an unhappy life that someone else decided for her.

Suffering & Death

There is nothing that Kristin is more familiar with, or more honest about, than suffering. Aware from an early age that her mother is not like other women, Kristin subconsciously mourns an absent mother for most of her childhood, understanding this in an explicit way only later in life when she is mature enough to realize that she could have had a more loving and conscientious mother. Ragnfrid’s distant personality is a result of the suffering she endured when she married Lavrans without loving him and then having to endure the death of her first three children.

Kristin’s younger sister, too, is not spared death after she is permanently injured in an accident and eventually dies from the complications caused by this injury. This leaves Kristin and the youngest child Ramborg, who barely appears in the narrative, as the only surviving children of their parents six offspring. Other deaths in the story include Arne (Kristin’s childhood friend who had fallen in love with her), as well as Brother Edvin (who dies of an illness), and Eline (who tries to kill Kristin and, when unsuccessful in her attempt, dies at her own hands instead after attempting to stab Erlend).

Even apart from the literal deaths that occur over the course of Kristin’s youth, there is also the emotional devastation that she wreaks on numerous other people, and finally the damage that she does to herself as a result of bad choices and poor judgment. She rebuffs Arne because she is afraid to go against her father’s wishes. She betrays Simon by having an affair with Simon while they are still engaged and attempts to get him to take all the blame. She is indirectly responsible for the death of Eline since Kristin sparked Eline’s jealousy.

Kristin does untold damage to her own person because she refuses to admit that she has made mistakes. She fears what her parents will think in the wake of her assault, and so she hides it from her father and mother. She has to live with the pain of rejecting Arne and realizing too late that she actually loved him. She fails to be honest with herself or anyone else about her apathetic feelings towards Simon, simply going along with the plan as it is presented to her. This backfires when she meets Erlend because she actually feels passionate love for him but is too weak in character to be patient enough to break things off with Simon before starting an affair. Unable to break the downward spiral, the novel ends with Kristin despondent and completely out of control of the events surrounding her.