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
The tournament in question happens at an unsettled moment in British history: enemies hold King Richard I captive abroad; at home, his younger brother Prince John plots and plans to extend Richard’s imprisonment and seize the throne for himself; the aristocracy rule over their lands like “petty tyrants,” and bands of rough outlaws rove the forests and the wastes. Between the bandits, the barons, and nature, the common people face extortion, violence, and endemic diseases. Thus, people happily flock to tournaments as a welcome distraction from the ongoing trials of their lives.
The book casts the medieval tournament as a medieval manifestation of the bread and circuses which Roman emperors once used to distract the downtrodden lower classes from their misery. And the fact that the tournament—a showcase of chivalric values such as bravery and martial skill—happens at such an unsettled moment in English history points toward the book’s ongoing debate about the merits of chivalry. With Jerusalem in Saladin’s hands, the rightful king imprisoned, and father turned against son in England, the book suggests that there might be more pressing issues than allowing a bunch of knights who are supposedly on the same side to injure and potentially kill one another for bragging rights.
Themes
Literary Devices
The tournament grounds at Ashby lie in a lush, green valley (a natural amphitheater) ringed by ancient oak trees. At one end sit the pavilions of the five challenger knights. The central tent belongs to the most honored challenger, Sir Brian de Bois-Guilbert. The other tents belong to Reginald Front-de-Boeuf, Philip de Malvoisin, Hugh de Grantmensil, and Ralph de Vipont. At the other end of the field sits an enclosed area where knights who wish to meet the challenge of these men will gather. Next to this, an assortment of armorers, farriers, blacksmiths, and others set up stalls to service the knights’ needs. A grandly decorated platform placed adjacent to the middle of the lists, or field, stands ready for the viewing pleasure of Prince John and his attendants. A seat there waits for the lady who will be chosen as the tournament’s “Queen of Love and Beauty.”
The fact that oak trees—symbolic of native (Saxon) Englishness—surround the tournament field suggests that the Norman challengers—especially Front-de-Boeuf and Malvoisin, who have been terrorizing the local area—will face defeat and rebuke for their abuse of power. The book’s descriptions here capture the noise and excitement of a medieval tournament; the support staff required suggests the vastness of the undertaking and offers modern readers a reminder that tournaments, for all that they were considered games, were more akin to actual war.
Themes
As spectators descend on the tournament grounds, tussles sometimes arise between one and another over prime seats. Isaac attends the festivities wearing his finest clothes—much better than the rags he wore at Rotherwood—because he fears little violence at the crowded tournament, especially since Prince John is currently negotiating a large loan from the Jews of York. His lovely daughter, Rebecca, accompanies him.
Isaac and Rebecca, resplendent in their expensive and exotic clothing, confirm directly what the book only implied before: that Isaac lied about his poverty and helplessness at Rotherwood. Moments like this contribute to the antisemitic attitudes the book ostensibly criticizes in its medieval characters.
Themes
Prince John arrives amid much fanfare, accompanied by the sumptuously dressed Prior Aymer, representatives of the Templar Order, and the Knights of St. John. These crusader organizations sided with Prince John over his brother King Richard and, gossip suggests, conspired to undermine the king’s efforts in Palestine to prevent him from returning to England. A great deal of enmity exists between Prince John and the few still-powerful Saxon families. A small commotion, caused by the indignation of men in the crowd over Isaac’s presence, draws the prince’s attention, and his eye immediately falls on the beautiful Rebecca, whose exotic, foreign manner of clothing only increases her appeal.
The alignment of the Templar Order with Prince John serves to underline the book’s negative portrayal of the Normans and sympathetic portrait of King Richard. And the book continues to mix antisemitic tropes with a sympathetic portrayal of its Jewish characters when it describes Rebecca’s physical beauty and the over-the-top opulence of her clothing and jewelry. This suggests that Isaac, in addition to enriching himself with Christian wealth, also enjoys flaunting it.
Themes
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Prince John, keenly appreciating Rebecca’s beauty, orders a group of “Saxon churls” to move so that she and Isaac may have their seats. The “churls” in question are Cedric and his ally and kinsman Athelstane of Coningsburgh. Most Saxon families hold Athelstane, a direct descendant of Edward the Confessor, in high regard, even though he has earned the moniker “the Unready” because of excessive drinking, habitual indecision, and stupidity. Confronted by the prince, Athelstane neither wishes to comply nor knows how to refuse. He stares openly at Prince John in disbelief—or confusion.
Prince John’s demand that a group of Saxons allow Jewish people—the lowest of the low in this social hierarchy—to have their seats contributes to the book’s negative portrayal of the Norman ruling class. It encapsulates the Saxons’ feeling of disinheritance and dispossession in a single moment. However, despite its pro-Saxon sentiment, the book must follow history and see King Richard restored to the English throne; leaning into Athelstane’s character flaws lays the groundwork for this restoration without denying the Saxons’ rightful claim to sovereignty.
Themes
Prince John orders one of his companions, a mercenary named Maurice De Bracy, to poke Athelstane into compliance, but Cedric unsheathes his sword and cuts off the pointed barb on the mercenary’s lance. Deeply affronted, the prince flushes with anger as the crowd gleefully cheers on Cedric. Prince John vents his frustration on a yeoman archer in the crowd, then, over Isaac’s protests, orders him and Rebecca to move to the better seats, daring anyone to stop them. Wamba jumps up and brandishes a side of bacon like a shield in Isaac’s face. Instinctively recoiling from food which his religion judges unclean, Isaac loses his footing and tumbles down the stairs, to the general glee of the crowd. Wamba demands a prize from Prince John for vanquishing his foe. The amused Prince orders Isaac to yield his seat to the jester, and he takes Isaac’s purse as a “loan” to reward the victorious Wamba. 10100
As if to confirm the lawlessness and vacuity at the heart of Norman rule, Prince John relies on the military support of mercenaries—soldiers who fight for the highest bidder. Because he leads from a place of weakness rather than strength, Prince John’s attempt to show dominance through his proxy backfires. The crowd disrespects him both because the Saxons among it suffer at his hands and because everyone realizes he has no ability to hold the throne he so desperately wants. And yet again, despite emphasizing the humanity of Isaac, Rebecca, and Jewish people in general, the book continues to fall prey to its own prejudicial blind spots when it plays the Jewish religious prohibition against pork products for laughs.
Themes
