Information AboutIvanhoe |
| CATEGORIES ABOUT IVANHOE | |
| 1819 novels | |
| novels by walter scott | |
| scottish novels | |
| fictional knights | |
| films based on fiction books | |
| historical novels | |
| robin hood | |
| public domain characters | |
| crusade literature | |
''Ivanhoe'' is a Novel by Sir Walter Scott . It was written in 1819 and set in 12th Century England , an example of Historical Fiction . ''Ivanhoe'' is sometimes given credit for helping to increase Popular Interest In The Middle Ages in 19th Century Europe and America (see Romanticism ). PLOT INTRODUCTION Ivanhoe is the story of one of the remaining Saxon noble families at a time when the nobility was overwhelmingly Norman . It follows the Saxon protagonist, Wilfred of Ivanhoe, who is out of favour with his father owing to his courting of the Lady Rowena (promised to another man) and his allegiance to the Norman king Richard I Of England , who is returning from the Crusades incognito amidst the plotting of Richard's brother, Prince John Of England . The legendary Robin Hood , initially under the name of Locksley, is also a character in the story, as are his 'merry men,' including Friar Tuck and, less so, Alan-a-Dale . ( Little John is merely mentioned). The character that Scott gave to Robin Hood in ''Ivanhoe'' helped shape the modern notion of this figure as a cheery noble outlaw. Other major characters include Ivanhoe's intractable Saxon father, a descendant of the Saxon King Harold Godwinson ; various Knights Templar and churchmen; the loyal serfs Gurth the Swineherd and the Jester or fool Wamba, whose not-so-foolish observations punctuate much of the action; and the Jew ish moneylender, Isaac, who is torn between love of money and love of his beautiful and heroic daughter Rebecca, who, in turn, steals the story (and probably Scott's heart) from Ivanhoe and Rowena. The book was written and published during a period of increasing struggle for Emancipation Of The Jews In England , and there are frequent references to injustice against them. PLOT SUMMARY Ivanhoe was thrown out of his father's home when he fell in love with the Lady Rowena (the ward of his father Cedric), who his father had planned to marry off to the powerful Lord Athelstane, cementing a Saxon political alliance. He goes off to war with King Richard, and as the book opens, his whereabouts are unknown, and the author follows a series of characters, including Cedric and Rowena, as they attend a tournament. The victor of the tournament, a mysterious masked knight, is soon revealed to be Ivanhoe himself, returned from the Crusades. He is wounded in the competition and, still estranged from his father, is taken into the care of Isaac the Jew and his daughter Rebecca, a skilled healer. A series of events follow that result in the capture of Rowena, her guardian Cedric, her betrothed Lord Athelstane, Rebecca and the wounded Ivanhoe by agents of Prince John. King Richard, secretly returned to England and in disguise, solicits the aid of Robin Hood and Friar Tuck to free them. Richard's party is successful at rescuing Ivanhoe and Rowena, but Rebecca is carried away by Ivanhoe's old nemesis, the Templar Sir Brian de Bois-Guilbert, who lusts after her. In the fighting, Athelstane is killed attempting to rescue Rebecca, who he mistakes for Rowena. The Grand Master of the Templars is angry at de Bois-Guilbert for his sinful infatuation with Rebecca. He charges the young healer with sorcery and sentences her to death. Rebecca's only hope is that a knight will agree to be her champion, dueling de Bois-Guilbert (her accuser) in a trial of combat. Meanwhile, after Athelstane's funeral, King Richard calms Cedric and reconciles him to his son, convincing him to agree to the marriage of Ivanhoe and Rowena. Shortly afterwards, Athelstane appears -- not dead, but apparently having been buried alive by priests greedy for the funeral money. Rather than challenging Ivanhoe for Rowena, he wishes the couple the best. Meanwhile, Ivanhoe receives a message from Isaac the Jew and quickly leaves to save Rebecca. Ivanhoe defeats de Bois-Guilbert in combat, but does not kill him -- he dies "a victim to the violence of his own contending passions", which is pronounced as the judgment of God by the Grand Master, and proof of Rebecca's innocence. King Richard then arrives and arrests the agents of Prince John and dissolves the chapter of the Templars, condemning them to exile. Fearing further persecution, Rebecca and her father leave England for Grenada; she comes to bid Rowena a fond farewell. Ivanhoe and Rowena marry and live a long and happy life together, though the final paragraphs of the book note that Ivanhoe's long service was cut short when King Richard met a premature death in battle. CHARACTERS
ALLUSIONS/REFERENCES FROM OTHER WORKS
ALLUSIONS TO REAL HISTORY AND GEOGRAPHY The location of the novel is centred upon South Yorkshire and North Nottinghamshire in England . Castles mentioned within the story include Ashby De La Zouch where the opening tournament is held (now a ruin in the care of English Heritage ), York (though the mention of Clifford's Tower , likewise EH and still standing, is Anachronistic , it having been built later) and 'Coningsburgh', which is based upon Conisbrough Castle near Doncaster (also EH and a popular tourist attraction). Reference is made within the story, too, to York Minster , where the climactic wedding takes place, and to the Bishop of Sheffield . These references within the story contribute to the notion that Robin Hood lived or travelled in and around this area. The ancient town of Conisbrough has become so dedicated to the story of ''Ivanhoe'' that many of the streets, schools and public buildings are named after either characters from the book or the 12th-century castle. Influence on Robin Hood The modern vision of '') take on Wilfred of Ivanhoe's own characteristics - they are returning Crusaders, have quarrelled with their fathers, and so forth. Robin's feat of splitting his competitor's arrow in an archery contest appears for the first time in ''Ivanhoe''. Historical accuracy Although the general political events depicted in the novel are relatively accurate – it tells of the period just after King Richard's imprisonment in Austria following the Crusade, and of his return to England – the story is heavily fictionalised. Most notably, its depiction of an England in which Saxon and Norman nobles are at odds is highly anachronistic. By the late 12th century, there were no such distinctions among an upper class that generally had a common Norman French culture, with elements of English nobility, mainly due to intermarriage between the two nationalities. Possibly this error arose because Scott appears sometimes to have confused his time period with the late 11th century. Occasionally, a character refers to a father or other near relative who was alive during the Norman Conquest , which was actually 130 years earlier. One inaccuracy in ''Ivanhoe'' created a new name in the English language: Cedric. The original Saxon name is '' Cerdic '' but Sir Walter committed Metathesis . The satirist H. H. Munro , with his typical caustic wit, commented: "It is not a name but a misspelling." A major inaccuracy is that it would be quite impossible for Rebecca to be sentenced to burn for Witchcraft in England in 1194. The Church did not undertake the finding and punishment of "witches" until the 1250s, and death did not become the usual penalty until the fifteenth century; even then, the form of execution used for witches in England (unlike Scotland and Continental Europe) was hanging, burning being reserved for those also convicted of high or petty Treason . The novel's references to the Moorish king Boabdil are also anachronistic, since he lived about 300 years after Richard. FILM, TV OR THEATRICAL ADAPTATIONS The novel has been the basis for two movies, each also titled ''Ivanhoe'';
There is also a Russian movie ''The Ballad of the Valiant Knight Ivanhoe'' (''Баллада о доблестном рыцаре Айвенго'') (1983), directed by Sergey Tarasov, with songs of Vladimir Vysotsky , starring Peteris Gaudins as Ivanhoe. There have also been many television adaptations of the novel, including:
An operatic adaptation by Sir Arthur Sullivan (see Ivanhoe (opera) ) ran for over one hundred performances in 1891. Other operas based on the novel have been composed by John Parry, Otto Nicolai (''Il Templario''), Heinrich Marschner (''Der Templer Und Die Jüdin''), and Michael William Balfe (''Il Talismano''). SEE ALSO
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