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
Meanwhile, at the Preceptory of Templestowe, crowds gather to watch the judicial combat, anxious and bloodthirsty. The fight will take place on a field adjacent to the preceptory where the Templars train and host tournaments; for this reason, it is already outfitted with galleries and benches. At one end of the field sits a throne from which Beaumanoir will direct the proceedings; at the opposite end, a stake stands ready to burn Rebecca to death should her challenger lose. Four Black men enslaved by the Order stand ready to carry out the sentence. In their foreignness—for few if any in medieval England had ever seen a non-white person—they seem diabolical to the crowd.
The availability of tournament grounds ready to receive a crowd of anxious spectators suggests that the Templars’ motivations in the world are at best mixed between religious devotion and a desire for chivalric adventure. Given that readers already know how morally compromised Sir Brian, Albert de Malvoisin, and Sir Brian are, the way that they set the stage for their mockery of justice merely emphasizes their hypocrisy and abuse of power. Their use of enslaved Black people to do their dirty work confirms it, too.
Themes
Rumors of devilish circumstances fly through the crowds; a young minstrel clad in green (later identified as Allan-a-Dale) overhears two monks—one of whom turns out to be the Cleric of Copmanhurst—discussing Athelstane’s recent return from the dead. The sound of bells tolling in the nearby church silences their conversation.
Templeton has pointed out the superstitious nature of medieval England at several points; by placing superstitious rumors in the mouths of the crowd, the book attempts to create some distance between the bloodthirsty prejudices of its medieval characters and its 19th-century and modern readers, suggesting a view of history that tends toward enlightenment and progress.
Themes
Soon the gates of the preceptory open and a procession of Templars approaches the field. Grand Master Beaumanoir looks splendid in his austere garments, while Sir Brian seems pale, distracted, and full of emotional turmoil. Mountfitchet and Albert de Malvoisin ride beside him. Four black-clad wardens lead Rebecca, clothed only in a simple white dress, to the field. Even stripped of her finery, her courage, resignation, and beauty inspire sympathy in the most hard-hearted and bigoted onlookers.
The last time readers saw Sir Brian, Albert de Malvoisin was certain that he’d helped the knight get over his infatuation with Rebecca and regain his fighting spirit. His appearance in the parade suggests otherwise. In contrast to his pallor and distress, Rebecca enters the lists just as brave and beautiful as ever; she shows what happens when a person truly believes what they claim to believe and truly acts in a righteous way.
Themes
After completing a circle of the tournament field, the Templar grandees arrange themselves on their platform. Rebecca’s guards convey her to a chair placed near the stake and although she shudders when she first sees it, within moments, she regains control of her emotions and sits down with impressive calm. Albert de Malvoisin formally delivers Rebecca’s challenge to Beaumanoir, who demands that Sir Brian swear before God that his quarrel is “just and honorable.” Albert replies that Sir Brian already did, thus neatly avoiding the conflict that was sure to arise if Beaumanoir tried to make Sir Brian publicly agree with the Templars’ charges against Rebecca.
Rebecca’s halting approach to the stake reminds readers that she is, after all, a human being, not just an empty paragon of virtue. Her courage and steadfastness don’t come without effort. But by mastering her own fears, she demonstrates the greatness available to anyone—like Sir Brian, or even perhaps readers—who learns to master their own emotions. Albert acknowledges (to readers, if not to Beaumanoir) that Sir Brian will not willingly swear before God that his cause is righteous because he knows it isn’t. Still, his overpowering ambition and thirst for power outweigh his interest in the truth.
Themes
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A herald introduces Sir Brian and announces the challenge. When, after several moments, no champion appears for Rebecca, Beaumanoir sends the herald to ask if she expects one. She replies that God may still deliver her, and Beaumanoir decrees that he will wait until the hour of noon. If no one has come by then, he will declare her guilt and proceed with her execution. While Rebecca patiently waits, an anguished Sir Brian offers one final time to rescue her; unwilling to accept his proclamations of love and respect in light of being kidnapped and exposed to danger because of his lust, Rebecca refuses yet again.
Readers know that Ivanhoe—and maybe even King Richard—are at this very moment heading toward the tournament grounds; Rebecca does not and must rely on her own courage and resilience to face the increasingly likely possibility of her death. Her equanimity contrasts sharply with Sir Brian’s distress, proving once again that she is the better, braver person, even though she finds herself in this vulnerable position.
Themes
Just as the restless crowd seems about to give up hope of a champion appearing, a knight thunders up to the tournament field on an exhausted and sweaty horse. Naming himself openly as Wilfred of Ivanhoe, he formally accepts the Templars’ challenge. In a hollow voice, Sir Brian tries to protest that he will not fight a knight so recently wounded, but Ivanhoe refuses to back down, and needles his opponent with the memory of their past clashes, all of which Ivanhoe won. Beaumanoir declares Ivanhoe’s right to fight if Rebecca accepts him as her champion; she does, but not without concern for his health. Throwing himself on the mercy of God, Ivanhoe prepares to face Sir Brian despite his wounds and his horse’s fatigue.
When Ivanhoe arrives, his horse’s state of exhaustion and his own recovering strength place the judicial combat squarely into the hands of divine providence. In a fair fight, he and Sir Brian are more evenly matched (although he’s already defeated Sir Brian twice). But in judicial combat, God joins the side of the righteous. Sir Brian’s attempts to delay the fight implicitly acknowledge his own lies and weakness of character; on the wrong side, he feels doomed to lose. Conversely, wholly trusting in his own superior sense of right and wrong, Beaumanoir greets the arrival of such an obviously weak champion with delight. By setting up the conflict in this way, the book comes as close as it ever will to indulging in the sort of miraculous and marvelous events that typically occur in medieval romances.
Themes
Sir Brian and Ivanhoe take their places and wait for the herald’s signal. On the first charge, Sir Brian predictably strikes down both Ivanhoe and his exhausted horse. Less expectedly, however, although Ivanhoe’s lance barely touches Sir Brian’s shield, he too falls from the saddle. Ivanhoe regains his feet almost instantly and quickly places his foot on Sir Brian’s chest and his sword at Sir Brian’s throat. He asks the Templar to yield, but Sir Brian remains silent. Begging him to spare Sir Brian’s life, Beaumanoir declares Ivanhoe the winner. Then he descends into the lists and removes Sir Brian’s helmet only to discover the once fearsome Templar lying dead, a victim of his own warring passions. Looking towards heaven, Beaumanoir declares that the result cannot be anything but the clear will of God.
Although the book attempts to posit a rational explanation for Sir Brian’s collapse—claiming that nervous exhaustion killed him—the fact that he dies in the course of judicial combat cannot help but suggest the possibility of divine intervention. Regardless of what exactly gave Ivanhoe the victory, this moment asserts the reordering of England in several important ways. A Saxon has defeated an ignoble, abusive Norman once and for all. Truth has triumphed over lies. An innocent victim has been vindicated. And for all his faults, Beaumanoir acknowledges his defeat.
Themes
