Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Ivanhoe, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
The Merits of Chivalry
Disguise and Discovery
Inheritance and Displacement
The Vulnerability and Power of Women
History vs. Romance
Summary
Analysis
Attendants show the Disinherited Knight to a pavilion and, out of a mix of professionalism and curiosity, offer to help him doff his armor. He refuses the help of any but his own attendant, who turns out to be Gurth in disguise. Soon the squires of the five challengers come to the tent with their masters’ forfeited horses and armor. The Disinherited Knight ransoms all but Sir Brian de Bois-Guilbert’s for 100 gold coins each; he tells Sir Brian’s squire to remind his master that he and the Disinherited Knight have unfinished business since Sir Brian drew his sword against the Disinherited Knight in the lists. Then the Knight counts some of the coins into a purse and sends Gurth into town to repay his debt to Isaac.
Gurth’s presence all but confirms that the Disinherited Knight is Ivanhoe, since no one else could have persuaded the loyal servant to abandon his master. Obeying the customs of chivalry, the challengers send their forfeited goods to the Knight, and he shows himself to be a man of principles when he ransoms the items at a reasonable rate and immediately sends Gurth to discharge his own debt. In contrast to Sir Brian’s loss of control in the lists, the Knight proves himself responsible and in control of himself, suggesting yet again the inherent superiority of the Saxons to their Norman conquerors.
Themes
Literary Devices
Isaac and Rebecca sit in the opulently decorated house of a Jewish family that lives in Ashby—Jewish people, Templeton informs readers, were as liberal in hosting each other as they were miserly towards Christians. Isaac paces, anxiously complaining about Prince John taking his purse of 50 gold coins. When Gurth appears, he bargains hard with the swineherd-turned-squire, settling the Disinherited Knight’s debt at 80 coins plus the return of the horse. Isaac argues with himself while counting out the last ten coins, in a way that suggests that his avarice compels him to overcharge the Knight.
Again, the contrast between the helplessness and poverty Isaac claims whenever he’s in the presence of powerful Saxon and Norman lords contrasts sharply with the opulence and riches he seems to command. In a way, this moment shows him taking advantage of a noble Saxon just as much as the despised Normans. The contrast between the two sides of Isaac feeds on and contributes to the antisemitic stereotypes which led to persecution and violence against Jewish people in the Middle Ages and beyond.
Themes
While Isaac counts the money, Rebecca slips from the room. When Gurth leaves, she appears at his elbow out of the dark and hands him a bag with 100 gold coins, telling him that he should return to the Disinherited Knight his payment of 80 and keep the rest himself. Gleeful at the prospect of earning 30 coins—ten from his master and now 20 from Rebecca—Gurth takes the purse, eagerly imagining the day he can buy his own freedom.
Rebecca’s generosity aligns her (both in terms of values and in terms of where she puts her money and effort) more with the Christians noblemen than her Jewish father. Although she holds steadfastly to her Jewish faith throughout the novel and comes across as noble and exceptionally conscientious for truly living up to values that many others only pay lip service to (like justice, faith, honesty, and generosity) the contrast between her actions and her father’s still serves to perpetuate antisemitic stereotypes that cast Jewish people as unnaturally greedy.
Themes
