Ivan The Terrible Character Analysis

The Ambiguous Reality of Ivan the Terrible’s Childhood While Ivan’s childhood years were mild factually, it is evident through his writings that he perceived them as being difficult, predominantly due to how he was treated by the boyars, the Russian aristocrats. Consequently, Ivan’s emotional scars instigate his anti-boyar policies and actions in the 1550’s and 1560’s. Ivan became the ruler of Russia at the young age of 3 after his father Grand Prince Vasilii III died. Upon his death, his father “ordered the boyars” and his wife Elena Glinskaia to protect Ivan until he reached manhood (Halperin, 47). Thus, Ivan’s mother became his regent and a fierce defender of his claim to the throne, even imprisoning her brother-in-law, Prince Andrei Ivanovich, who attempted to usurp the …show more content…
For example, the Nike Chronicle posits that Prince Andrei Shuiskii “tried to lure Boris Gorbatyi into supporting Iurii,” who was one of Vasilii III’s brothers (Halperin, 48). This action demonstrates that the Shuiskii clan’s intentions were not as pure and honest as they may appear. Furthermore, the young tsar listened closely to his tutor and spiritual advisor Sil’vestr, but later in life he comes to hate the man and recalls that he “tried to scare him with childhood boogeymen” (Pavlov & Perrie, 62). It is possible that, since Sil’vestr did benefit from his closeness to the tsar, he did indeed attempt to monopolize power by scaring the child to a position of submission. Unfortunately, it is difficult to assess intent and motive given the incomplete nature of Russian sources. Aside from Ivan’s damaged relationship with the boyars, his childhood was potentially more difficult due to illness. Vasilii III, in a series of letters to his wife Elena, “[enquired] about the health of their elder son,” which suggests that Ivan may have been a sickly child (Pavlov & Perrie,