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 tale steps back in time to the point where Cedric escaped the castle. He immediately encourages Locksley, the Black Knight, and the Cleric of Copmanhurst to prepare for the attack. All four agree on the importance of rescuing the Saxons, especially Rowena and Wamba. Then, they begin the first attack, which the book has already described from the perspective of those within the castle. During the lull, the Black Knight and his troops make a raft bridge for crossing the moat. Then, anxious to complete the assault before the day ends (or reinforcements arrive), they prepare a diversion to cover their attempt to breach the inner castle walls.
The reasons given for rescuing the others left in the castle align with each character’s values: Cedric wants Athelstane safe because of his royal Saxon blood; as a chivalric knight errant, the Black Knight wants to protect the honor of a lady like Rowena; Locksley recognizes the human value of his fellow non-noble, Wamba. Notably, no one mentions or seems worried about Rebecca and Isaac. The attack plays out as a contest between Saxon and Norman Englishfolk, in which Jewish subjects are at best, onlookers—and at worst, unremembered victims.
Themes
Unarmed and unarmored, Cedric follows the Black Knight through the outer wall and onto a bridge exposed to missiles and arrows from the defenders on the walls. As Locksley catches sight of Ulrica’s promised red flag on the battlements, he shouts encouragement, and his archers renew their attack. Men fall dead on all sides of De Bracy, who stands on the wall to direct the defense. De Bracy himself fights valiantly until Sir Brian arrives; his news, that the castle is in flames, panics De Bracy. Keeping a cool head, Sir Brian takes charge of the defense, sketching out a quick plan of attack for De Bracy and his forces to push the attackers back to the outer wall.
Although he rejects the refined and stylized form of Norman-influenced chivalry, Cedric and the Black Knight show that enough common ground exists between Saxons and Normans to imagine a unified country: both fight bravely and put the good of their causes (Saxon restitution in Cedric’s case, and upholding the values of chivalry in the Knight’s case) above their own safety. And while the knights within the castle also fight well, their abusive oppression and lack of true virtue dooms their cause to failure.
Themes
Yet, De Bracy and his men cannot hold off the furious Black Knight, who soon demands De Bracy’s surrender. When De Bracy refuses to surrender to an unknown man, the Black Knight whispers his true name into the Norman’s ear. De Bracy not only yields but tells the Black Knight where to find Ivanhoe.
The Black Knight’s whispered name remains inaudible to readers but adds yet more evidence to the theory that he’s King Richard, who would have a vested interest in protecting Ivanhoe and punishing his brother’s supporters.
Themes
Meanwhile, Ivanhoe and Rebecca are becoming increasingly aware of the smoke and cries for water. Ivanhoe tells Rebecca to save herself, but she refuses to leave him. While they argue, Sir Brian bursts in, intent on rescuing Rebecca. She refuses to go willingly unless he also saves Isaac and Ivanhoe. Coolly replying that he doesn’t care at all about the death of a Jewish man, Sir Brian picks her up and carries her from the room over her protests. Ivanhoe shouts in impotent rage and the Black Knight bursts into the room, scooping him up with as much ease as Sir Brian bore Rebecca.
Even as he protests his powerlessness over his feelings for Rebecca, Sir Brian remains calm and collected generally. And she remains literally powerless against his superior strength. This, in combination with the fact that he refuses to honor her wishes, suggests that perhaps his feelings aren’t as deep or as real as he claims—or that the power courtly love allegedly gives the lady merely provides cover for male violence and control. It’s impossible to separate his tortured love for Rebecca from his ambitious desire for world domination—and it is possible to interpret his fascination with a Jewish woman as a projection of his feelings about the Templars losing control of Jerusalem and its Jewish Temple.
Themes
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A fierce battle rages in the castle’s lower floors, which the fire has yet to penetrate. Cedric and Gurth push through this confusion of strife and death until they find Rowena. Cedric charges Gurth with getting her out of the castle, while he continues the search for Athelstane. Soon, Wamba’s cries alert him to the room where the last Saxon royal and Cedric’s faithful jester wait.
At several points, the book suggests that Cedric cannot resist the whims of Rowena, whom he has spoiled; in this moment, it becomes clear that her feminine power over her male guardian remains limited and subject to his broader aims, like Saxon restitution. He’s more interested in rescuing Athelstane than her.
Themes
Athelstane sees Sir Brian preparing to flee the castle with Rebecca—whom Athelstane mistakes for Rowena. Vowing to save his love, and over Wamba’s objections that he has misidentified the lady, he seizes the nearest weapon and charges the Templar, who fells the great Saxon with one blow to the head. Then Sir Brian retreats, intent on reaching the safety of his Templar preceptory—especially after De Bracy enigmatically warns him that “hawks are abroad.”
The fact that Athelstane can’t tell the blonde Rowena from the dark-haired Rebecca suggests that he may not really be in love with his fiancée—or at least that he’s barely paid attention to her thus far. His act of rushing to her rescue, while it does show some otherwise uncharacteristic bravery, thus suggests that, like Cedric, he is more in love with the idea of himself as king than anything else.
Themes
Literary Devices
Ulrica appears high on the castle walls, her long disheveled hair whipping in the wind. She sings a furious Saxon battle song that invokes heroes and encourages warriors to fight with fury in hopes of reaching Valhalla. She reigns as “empress of the conflagration” until her tower collapses.
Importantly for the book’s historical thrust toward a mixed, Saxon and Norman English identity, the castle falls as the result both of the Norman Black Knight’s actions outside the castle, and the Saxon Ulrica’s inside the castle. This suggests that only together can the Normans and Saxons make England truly powerful.
Themes
