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
Urfried shepherds Rebecca back into a castle room, then leads the monk—the disguised Cedric—to another little chamber. After locking the door, she begs him, as a fellow Saxon, to hear her woeful tale. Her name is Ulrica, not Urfried, and although everyone thought that she died with her father, the Thane of Torquilstone, she survived her family’s massacre and lived for many years as the lover of Front-de-Boeuf’s father. For playing paramour to her family’s murderer, she feels unbearable guilt. Cedric agrees she should, and curses her for failing to kill herself before sharing a Norman’s bed.
The story of the unfortunate Ulrica aligns with the dangers that Maurice de Bracy and Sir Brian pose to Rowen and Rebecca, respectively. Interestingly, however, the book protects its main female protagonists by displacing the violence they could suffer into the past. Ulrica’s story speaks to the Normans’ bloodthirsty violence and abuse of power. Unlike Rebecca, she did not have the fortitude to kill herself rather than face sexual assault, and although Cedric criticizes this as a weakness, more forgiving readers can accept her survival instinct.
Themes
Disgusted by what he considers her betrayal of the Saxon cause, Cedric tells Ulrica to as God, not him, for forgiveness. She threatens him that she can easily tell Front-de-Boeuf about his escape. Cedric retorts that he would rather face Front-de-Boeuf’s wrath than sully himself by remaining in her presence. Fine, she replies. She will take her revenge on the Normans herself. This mollifies Cedric somewhat. He pauses long enough for Ulrica to promise that she will create a diversion in the castle. The attackers should charge when a red flag flies from the eastern turret.
Although Cedric wants to discount Ulrica as a weak—and treacherous—woman, she still has great power in this situation, and she’s not afraid to use it. It seems that she may have learned a thing or two about seizing, using, and even abusing power from her Norman captors. But in the end, she refuses to side with them, and her tragic story serves as a powerful indictment against their ignoble and self-serving ways.
Themes
Ulrica vanishes through a hidden door just as Front-de-Boeuf enters the apartment, demanding to know whether the priest has finished hearing his prisoners’ confessions. In halting Norman, Cedric says he has. Noting his Saxon accent, Front-de-Boeuf promises to spare the friar from coming Norman violence if he will agree to take a message to Philip de Malvoisin.
Despite his earlier concerns, Cedric’s costume serves well enough to shield him from detection by Front-de-Boeuf. Meanwhile, Front-de-Boeuf continues to draw straight from the Norman playbook of abuse, threat, and violence.
Themes
After escorting Cedric from the castle walls, Front-de-Boeuf returns to his hall and orders his servants to bring him Athelstane and Cedric. He doesn’t realize that “Cedric” is really Wamba in disguise until the jester opens his mouth to speak. Front-de-Boeuf pulls back Wamba’s hood as De Bracy enters the room and recognizes “Cedric’s fool.” Slowly, it dawns on Front-de-Boeuf and De Bracy that Cedric has escaped. Realizing that they’ve inadvertently betrayed their plans to their enemies, the defenders know they will face the impending attack alone.
It turns out that Cedric’s disguise works in part because Front-de-Boeuf (in, it implies, typically Norman arrogance) hasn’t cared enough to figure out what the most powerful Saxon nobles in the area look like. In contrast, de Bracy (who met Cedric, Athelstane, and Wamba at the Tournament) instantly realizes the deception. But it’s too late; Norman arrogance has planted the seeds of the castle’s fall.
Themes
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De Bracy, Front-de-Boeuf, and Sir Brian belatedly try to negotiate a ransom of 1,000 marks for Athelstane and the minor members of Cedric’s party, but they refuse to consider releasing Isaac, Rebecca, Wamba, or Rowena. Athelstane could not care less about Isaac and Rebecca, but he refuses to leave his fiancée Rowena or his uncle Cedric’s beloved servant Wamba. Furthermore, he demands to be kept in a manner befitting his noble rank and he reissues his challenge of armed combat to Front-de-Boeuf. Front-de-Boeuf casually replies that he doesn’t duel with his prisoners, but he will accept a challenge from Athelstane if he ever has the luck to escape.
Athelstane shows a remarkable lack of insight when he offers to pay a large ransom on the verge of being rescued. Like Prince John, he shows himself to be a shallow, petty tyrant, more focused on his own creature comforts than the needs of his people. And his hollow challenge to Front-de-Boeuf serves to underline his weakness of character rather than counteract it. Front-de-Boeuf’s casual dismissal of it—he clearly doesn’t take it seriously—encourages readers to discount it as well.
Themes
A monk with a message from Aymer interrupts the negotiations. The prior has also been captured by Saxons and wants Front-de-Boeuf to pay his ransom or rescue him. Front-de-Boeuf refuses, declaring that he’s too busy with his own problems. This reminds the monk that, in all the excitement of delivering his message, he forgot to warn the baron that he saw the Saxon forces building ramps to scale the walls on his way to the castle. From the window, De Bracy confirms the monk’s news. Front-de-Boeuf shouts for Sir Brian and De Bracy to defend the castle walls as they realize that the Black Knight leads the Saxon forces with the skill of an experienced general. All the better, Front-de-Boeuf exclaims—now they can get their revenge on him for his part in the tournament.
Aymer’s capture, unrelated to events at the castle, seems unimportant at first but will become a key factor in the book’s third main adventure. For the moment, it further illustrates the increasingly precarious position of the arrogant and self-assured Normans. Too many years of underestimating their Saxon subjects have left them vulnerable to attack. The main conflict of the first volume pitted Saxon (Ivanhoe) against Norman (Sir Brian). The main conflict of the second volume will pit ignoble Normans (Front-de-Boeuf, de Bracy, Sir Brian) against the shining example of Norman chivalry, the Black Knight, who leads the attacking forces.
Themes
