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
On the second day of the tournament, knights jostle to join sides for the open battle, a more popular option than individual challenges, especially among knights who lack the confidence to face renowned challengers. Sir Brian captains one group which includes De Bracy and other followers of Prince John. Cedric discovers, much to his dismay, that Athelstane has opted to join Sir Brian. Athelstane refuses to admit his reason to Cedric, but he’s upset that the Disinherited Knight paid attention to Rowena, whom Athelstane himself expects to marry, even though his indolent nature has prevented him from doing anything to gain her attention or affection.
Questions arise about the value of chivalry on the second day of the tournament, which attracts knights (including Athelstane) who are interested in glory but not brave enough to face the scrutiny of individual battles and a very public defeat. Further, he supports Sir Brian, who represents an ignoble form of Norman chivalry. Athelstane’s possessive attitude toward Rowena, despite his lackluster attention to wooing her, points to the vulnerable, objectified position of women in this book.
Themes
When Rowena arrives, Prince John assumes the gallant, courteous attitude that comes easily when he’s in a good mood. He escorts Rowena to her throne and other noble ladies vie for positions close to her. After a blast of trumpets, the heralds call for silence so they can proclaim the tournament’s rules, designed to make the inherently dangerous enterprise somewhat safer and to ensure a fair fight—for example, knights on horseback cannot attack unhorsed combatants. Any vanquished knights forfeit their horses and arms to their vanquishers. Prince John will end the fight at his command, and any knights breaking the rules or the code of chivalry will be expelled and dishonored.
Although Prince John never dons an actual disguise, the book criticizes his disingenuous nature. While the disguises of the Black and Disinherited Knights showcase rather than hide the truth, Prince John’s thin veneer of courtesy cannot hide his cowardice and weakness. The rules of the melee simultaneously highlight chivalric values like having a fair fight while also calling into question these values, since all the knights in the melee risk financial and physical ruin just to show off their fighting skills.
Themes
After surveying the arrayed knights and confirming that the two sides are even, the field marshal thunders “Laissez aller!” and the knights break into movement, clashing in the middle of the field so furiously that their cloud of dust initially obscures the battle. When it settles, all the lances have been shattered and many knights have been unhorsed. The battle rages fiercely, with Sir Brian’s men rallying to the cry of “for the Temple” and the Disinherited Knight’s chanting “Desdichado!” The ladies watch the combat with no less relish than the men, although occasionally they might cry out or pale a little if they see a brother, lover, or husband injured.
Tournaments feature fighting nearly as intense as outright war, raising questions about whether chivalric virtue provides a net benefit to society or not. The bloodthirsty attention of the ladies suggests that the violence chivalric virtue encourages might outweigh its more positive values. As on the tournament’s first day, the second day’s melee proves to be a testing ground for the claims of Norman vs. Saxon supremacy, embodied in Sir Brian and the Disinherited Knight.
Themes
The general crush and confusion of the mock battle frustrates the early attempts of Sir Brian and the Disinherited Knight to single each other out. But when injury and forfeit have thinned the ranks, they cross their swords furiously, to the delight and excitement of all the onlookers. Sir Front-de-Boeuf and Athelstane simultaneously decide to ride to Sir Brian’s aid, and they bear down on the Disinherited Knight from opposite directions. The shouts of the crowd alert him and he avoids the charge, yet still finds himself facing three furious opponents.
In this Norman-on-Saxon contest, Saxon Athelstane joins with Norman Front-de-Boeuf and Sir Brian thanks to his injured sense of romantic pride. His misaligned priorities suggest that he is not a viable contender to the throne, even compared to the ill-suited Prince John. The rules of chivalry also don’t prevent three knights from ganging up on the Disinherited Knight, suggesting the limits of chivalry as a value system.
Themes
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The outnumbered Disinherited Knight seems to face grave danger and people in the crowd begin to suggest that Prince John end the fight. He refuses, content to allow Sir Brian to get his revenge on the upstart stranger. But then, a mysterious knight in black armor (subsequently called the Black Knight), named “The Black Sluggard” by the crowd because he has not fought much yet, rides to the Disinherited Knight’s aid. After dealing decisive blows to Athelstane and Front-de-Boeuf, he retreats, leaving the Knight to defeat Sir Brian. Only when his favored champion seems to be in grave danger does Prince John end the fight and declare the Black Sluggard the winner. The crowd objects loudly, but he insists, only declaring the Disinherited Knight the rightful winner when it becomes clear that the Black Sluggard has disappeared.
Normans (plus Athelstane) press their advantage unfairly against the Disinherited Knight, and Prince John’s initial refusal to follow the tournament rules (and the will of the audience) points toward Norman aggression and his inability to enforce the rule of law. He only gets involved when he fears one of his friends and necessary supporters might be injured, betraying his—and most of the Normans’—true motive: self-interest. Even then, he hesitates to crown the Disinherited Knight the victor, betraying not just selfishness but pettiness—he still holds it against the Disinherited Knight for embarrassing him the previous day when picking the queen. Although readers will later discover more about the Black Knight’s reasons for obscuring his identity, his mask also shows humility—he fights for the glory of it and to protect Ivanhoe without needing any recognition from the crowd or the prince.
Themes
The field marshals conduct the victor to Prince John, who declares him the winner but insists that he remove his helmet for Rowena to crown him. Over his weak protests, the prince’s attendants cut away the helmet to reveal the pale and blood-streaked yet handsome face of Cedric’s disinherited son, Ivanhoe. No sooner has Rowena crowned him than he faints. The field marshals, removing his armor, discover that he has been wounded severely in battle.
Finally, the book confirms that the Disinherited Knight is Ivanhoe. Notably, despite Prince John’s attempts to behave with chivalric decorum, Ivanhoe’s unmasking is itself an act of aggression on the part of the Normans, who reveal him against his wishes. Even—or especially—in defeat, the Normans show themselves to be unprincipled bullies.
Themes
Literary Devices
