Ivanhoe

The colorful pageantry and festive atmosphere of the tournament stands out in contrast with the grim political realities of England. King Richard is reputed to still be in captivity while his brother, Prince John, is doing everything he can to prolong his brother’s captivity so he can take the throne for himself. John’s cruelty also eggs on the Normans in their abuses of the commoners as well as the old Saxon nobility. Yet all classes of England are able to come together in relative harmony to watch the tournament. Even Isaac is able to relax his guard somewhat, confident that at the public tournament at least he will be protected by general law, and his confidence shows itself in the fact that when he comes to the tournament, he is wearing much nicer clothing than what he wore when he came to Cedric.

But the tensions arising from Hierarchies of Religion, Class, and Gender in Medieval Europe are by no means completely absent at the tournament. There are a few moments when hostility nearly boils over into violence, for instance in John’s exchanges with Cedric and Athelstane or with the yeoman archer. The knights taking part in the tournament also have divided loyalties. The competition sometimes becomes more violent and bloody because some knights continue to feel a sense of loyalty to the absent Richard, while the main challengers are notable supporters of John. It is generally John who stokes the tensions and resentments of the time: He antagonizes the Saxon nobles (to whom he derogatorily refers as “churls”) by forcing them to give their seats to Isaac and Rebecca on the first day of the tournament and by openly mocking them when they dine with him at Ashby castle after the tournament. He repeatedly vents his anger on the yeoman archer Locksley and he flirts with the idea of making everybody angry by naming the “Jewess” Rebecca as the Queen of Love and Beauty. It is John’s Norman advisors—especially Fitzurse—who often have to assume a conciliatory role to save face for him. Despite John’s obvious lack of wisdom, however, the way the nobles and commoners respond to him highlights above all their complacency. Athelstane, nicknamed “the Unready,” is a good representation of the general apathy of the Saxons, who have by and large adapted to their reduced position under the Normans (Cedric, who belligerently asserts Saxon rights and even dreams of a Saxon king on the English throne, is very much the exception that proves the rule). The Jewish characters, Isaac and Rebecca, similarly accept their social position and do their best to adapt to it, though Rebecca, in contrast to her defeatist father, exhibits a tendency to find good even in their situation, telling him that “[w]e are like the herb which flourisheth most when it is trampled” (97).

Existing outside of the ordinary social system are the outlaws introduced in these chapters. Thieves and bandits are generally feared by the English nobles and commoners of the novel, often preying on travelers, stealing from them or even killing them. But the robbers who capture Gurth are no ordinary outlaws. Instead of harming him or stealing from him, they let him go when they find out his leader shares their animosity toward Bois-Guilbert and his ilk. These robbers have their own version of honor. As will soon be revealed, these honorable robbers are none other than the legendary “Merry Men” of Robin Hood. The increasingly important role played by Robin Hood in the novel calls attention to another important theme, namely, The Relationship Between History and Legend. History and legend are often hard to tell apart in this distant period of English history, as the narrator notes, and this is why the Medieval period is so frequently romanticized and idealized. At several points, the narrator interrupts his story with general commentary on the political, social, economic, or military realities of the period, seeking to contextualize the familiar legends with a degree of historical rigor.

Knightly ideals contribute to the romanticized image of Medieval England, and Scott views these ideals from a critical perspective, presenting Chivalry as a Means of Legitimating Power. Chivalric codes and expectations are strongly emphasized in the tournament. The cry of the heralds during the melee illustrates the values of chivalry: “Fight on, brave knights! Man dies, but glory lives!—Fight on—death is better than defeat!—Fight on, brave knights! for bright eyes behold your deeds!” (112). The Disinherited Knight in particular impresses the crowd with his bravery and honor, contributing all the more to the stir that is caused when he is finally revealed to be Wilfred of Ivanhoe, Cedric’s disinherited son. Ivanhoe’s sudden materialization affects different characters in different ways: Rowena cries out and praises his chivalry; Cedric is stunned but stubbornly refuses to reconcile with him and John (like his nobles) fears that Ivanhoe—a supporter of Richard—will be followed soon by his hated brother. The arrival of Ivanhoe thus prefigures the developments that are about to take place, as the religious, social, and political tensions continue to mount as Richard’s return looms on the horizon.