Blendea Maria-Emilia

Romanian-English 1
2nd year

IVANHOE
WALTER SCOTT

Is a historical novel published in 1819 by Walter Scott as one of the Waverley novels.
Ivanhoe became one of Scott`s best-known and most influential novels.1

Dedicatory Epistle

I want to start with the definition of the epistle. An epistle is a letter in verse, usually
addressed to a person close to the writer. The first chapter of Ivanhoe is actually a dedicatory
epistle written by Laurence Templeton, who is Walter Scott himself. This is addressed itself
to Dr. Jonas Dryasdust. Here we find that Templeton is worried that Dryasdust would not
approve of Ivanhoe`s historical setting because Templeton jumped back over six hundred
years just to write Ivanhoe and he was also scared about how people would react. In fact,
Templeton doesn`t understand why there aren`t more novels about this period because that
period was the most flourishing in history. Then was the time of Robin Hood and other
ancient English customs. In other words, Templeton used modern language to describe
ancient times to not bore his readers, because he wants to make sure that the story of Ivanhoe
stays readable for a broad audience. He also said that he was inspired by the Manuscript
Wardour but is a fictional joke. Templeton ends his epistle with some personal notes to
Dryasdust.

Analysis

To start properly, I will start with the title " Ivanhoe" this suggests the main character and
the hero of the novel, but the reader will not know that until he will read more and more
pages, then he will be made curious by the writer about the places he goes, about the people
he meets, about his feelings and his adventures. Ivanhoe is the son of Cedric but he doesn`t
want his son back because he left his family and decided to go with the norman King Richard

1
Wikipedia, “Ivanhoe”, Wikipedia
Ivanhoe - Wikipedia
I to war. That is the moment when we realize that there is a misunderstanding between the
Normans and the Saxons.

The main themes of this novel are the culture clash, chivalry, courtly love, and quest.

The culture clash is about the war between the Saxons and Normans. The Saxons were crude,
mischievous, and uneducated to the Normans and the Normas were boasters and arrogant. At
his comeback, Ivanhoe appears disguised as a religious pilgrim at the tournament at Ashby,
where he fights against his mortal enemy Brian de Bois-Guilbert for his love Rowena. In the
fight, he receives help from a mysterious Black knight, and even if Ivanhoe wins the battle
and claims Rowena he is badly wounded. In the meantime, Prince John, the brother of King
Richard hears a rumor about his brother returning to England and he tries to do everything to
keep him at distance.

After that, Upon returning home, de Bracy kidnaps Cedric, Rowena, Athelstane and Isaac,
and Rebecca, as well as Ivanhoe. Rebecca is the only one who wanted to help Ivanhoe after
the battle of Ashby. at Torquilstone, the place where the kidnapped were taken, Bracy insists
that Rowena marry him, while de Bois-Guilbert tries to seduce Rebecca. Rebecca begins to
fall in love with Ivanhoe, is from what seems he is not immune to Rebecca's attention. but all
these plans are broken when robin hood and the black knight make their appearance to save
all these innocent people. After a hard fight, they all manage to escape, but the Bois-Guilbert
manages to kidnap Rebecca and takes her to Templestowe where she is sentenced to death if
no knight makes his appearance to save her. in the end Ivanhoe did not forget that Rebecca
was by her side in the hardest moments and goes to save her. gotten there he will have to
fight with the de Bois, but it dazzled by feelings towards Rebecca let himself be defeated. at
the end of the battle it is revealed that the black knight is King Richard and resumes his
throne, the social war ends and a middle ground is found between the Saxons and the
Normans and Rowena and Ivanhoe finally receive the blessing of getting married.2

2
Study Guide, “Ivanhoe identity”, Shmoop
Ivanhoe Identity | Shmoop
Love triangle: Rebecca-Ivanhoe-Rowena

What I found interesting was that both women Rowena and Rebecca wore veils. These veils
meant modesty and goodness in public. After Rebecca was rescued by Ivanhoe, she went to
Rowena to thank her for everything, and then it was a significant moment because Rebecca
asked Rowena to lift the veil she wore after her wedding to Ivanhoe just to see what a
beautiful face she has. Rowena wore the veil because it signifies her new status as a wife. she
tells Rowena that she will be happy knowing what Ivanhoe has. which I thought was strange,
because knowing that her rival has such unimaginable beauty, it can't be easy for her. I
believe that the departure of Rebecca and Isaac was also determined by the marriage of the
two and the pain that Rebecca was going through. Perhaps the fact that she did not show the
pain in her soul that Ivanhoe had caused was an act of showing that she is a cerebral and
humble woman. what I didn't understand was Ivanhoe's choice of his love life. Although
Rowena was downright gorgeous and with an angel face at the base she had a basic behavior
and thinking, while Rebecca was much more mysterious and much deeper in her thinking,
perhaps also much more mature in her choices. however, I realized that more tragedy was
needed in this love triangle and that the narrator wanted a tragic end for Rebecca. ever since
then women were independent and masterful of their emotions, we have the example of
Rebecca, who gave up her love for Ivanhoe to realize herself medically, fulfill her dreams,
and be looked at with different eyes by the world, because she was Jewish and to start a
happy life.

The narrative

the narrative in Ivanhoe is clearly made in the third person because we do not have any "I" to
address directly to the reader in the story. It's clear that we're dealing with an omniscient
narrator because he knows everything about his characters. What makes this narrative
interesting? the fact that he doesn't reveal everything he knows about his characters. We have
the example of the black knight, the reader did not know who he was until the other
characters found out. Even if the character remained anonymous, we were not removed by his
feelings and we were informed of all their experiences.
but now you wonder why most of them appear in disguise? . why Ivanhoe appears so at first,
why the black knight why robin hood? From my point of view, all these disguises are made
for the suspense to be maintained.

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