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
After a few hours of walking, Locksley, Gurth, and Wamba reach a wide clearing graced by an enormous oak tree. The yeomen resting under it snap to attention at the sound of approaching footsteps, dropping their bows only when they hear their leader’s voice. He immediately orders the present bandits to rally everyone they can find by daybreak and dispatches two to follow the masquerading bandits and their captives to Front-le-Boeuf’s castle, Torquilstone. Then he brings Gurth and Wamba with him to collect one he calls “the friar.”
As the meeting place of the predominantly Saxon would-be rescuers, the oak tree yet again shows up to suggest resilience and Englishness. The book draws a sharp contrast between the general anarchy of Norman oppression and the impressive discipline of Locksley’s band. In contrast to the self-interested Prince John and his ambitious followers—or even to the uncompromising Cedric—Locksley shows what unifying leadership looks like.
Themes
The trio approaches the hermitage where Wamba expresses surprise to hear the Cleric and the Black Knight loudly singing drinking songs within. Gurth replies that everyone knows the Cleric of Copmanhurst as an accomplished poacher. Inside the hermitage, on hearing Locksley’s knock at the door, the Black Knight and the Cleric hasten to disguise themselves and hide away the evidence of their carousing while the Cleric very loudly shouts out a prayer to cover the noise. Locksley identifies himself and the Cleric prepares to open the door.
Despite not knowing much about each other, it’s clear that the Cleric and the Black Knight have become fast friends over their evening together, recognizing each other’s character despite their mutual disguises. The book repeatedly suggests that a physical disguise cannot hide a person’s character, and this affinity born of deception confirms that claim. This, combined with the suspicion that one is Norman while the other is clearly Saxon, suggests the possibility of reconciliation between the dispossessed and oppressor.
Themes
Only momentarily taken aback to find a stranger there too, Locksley tells the Cleric to grab his weapons and prepare to join the rest of the “merry men.” Then, taking the Cleric aside, Locksley chides him for admitting a stranger into his confidence against the band’s rules. The Black Knight interrupts to say that he compelled the Cleric to entertain him. While they talk, the Cleric quickly strips off his brown robe and changes it for a green yeoman’s outfit, with Wamba’s help. Locksley, meanwhile, recognizes the Black Knight as Ivanhoe’s helper on the second day of the tournament. Locksley appeals to the Knight as a true Englishman—the knight promising there can be none truer—and a helper of the weak and asks him to join their party in freeing Cedric and his companions from Torquilstone.
Readers who are familiar with the folklore surrounding Robin Hood may have already recognized the use of Robin Hood’s other name, “Locksley;” the reference to the famous robber’s “merry men” here provides another hint to his identity, although his disguise has thus far prevented other characters from discerning it. Continuing the theme of vague, half-recognitions, Wamba remembers the Black Knight from the tournament, and when the Knight protests that he is the truest Englishman, he hints at his royal identity. And he announces his intention to join the fight by reference to his chivalric virtues, including defense of the weak.
Themes
The Black Knight agrees to join the party and, with the Cleric now dressed in green and washing his face in the fountain to sober up, Wamba wonders at the additions to their party. For his part, Gurth asserts, he would accept the help of the Devil himself to save Cedric and Rowena from their captors. Locksley silences the conversations and insists that they leave quickly; they must gather more forces if they wish to be successful against a man like Reginald Front-de-Boeuf. The Black Knight exclaims in surprise over learning that Torquilstone now belongs to that thieving, oppressive man. Grimly agreeing about the deficits of Front-de-Boeuf’s character, Locksley leads the band away from the hermitage.
Although cagy about his identity, the Cleric only dons a disguise when he can no longer rely on the anonymity of the forest to protect him. But, like Locksley and the rest of the bandits, his disguise suggests a larger truth about Norman abuses of Saxon subjects. The Black Knight’s surprise at the reappropriation of Torquilstone suggests that he’s been away (perhaps on the Third Crusade, like Ivanhoe and Richard) for some time—yet another clue pointing toward his identity. And it also indicates the Norman malice that Prince John embodies.
Themes
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