Synopses & Reviews
Synopsis
Hailed by Victor Hugo as "the real epic of our age," Ivanhoe was an immensely popular bestseller when first published in 1819. The book inspired literary imitations as well as paintings, dramatizations, and even operas. Now Sir Walter Scott's sweeping romance of medieval England has prompted a lavish
new television production.
In the twelfth century, Sir Wilfred of Ivanhoe returns home to England from the Third Crusade to claim his inheritance and the love of the lady Rowena. The heroic adventures of this noble Saxon knight involve him in the struggle between Richard the Lion-Hearted and his malignant brother John: a conflict that brings Ivanhoe into alliance with the
mysterious outlaw Robin Hood and his legendary fight for the forces of good.
"Scott's characters, like Shakespeare's and Jane Austen's, have the seed of life in them," observed Virginia Woolf. "The emotions in which Scott excels are not those of human beings pitted against other human beings, but of man pitted against
Nature, of man in relation to fate. His romance is the romance of hunted men hiding in woods at night; of brigs standing out to sea; of waves breaking in the moonlight; of solitary sands and distant horsemen; of violence and suspense." For Henry James, "Scott was a born
storyteller. . . . Since Shakespeare, no writer has created so immense a gallery of portraits."
Reading Group Guide
1. In what way-or ways-does the bloody conflict between the Normans and the Saxons serve as a mirror for Wilfred's personal struggle in the novel? Is it possible to separate the two? How does the love story inform the larger leitmotif of strife, and vice versa?
2. Certain critics have drawn attention to the novel's various anachronisms. Do you feel that Scott succeeded as far as historical accuracy is concerned? How important is historical accuracy to the narrative, in your opinion?
3. Discuss the importance of heroism and the chivalric code in the novel. How do the precepts of chivalry inform the action that occurs throughout? How do these honorable practices reconcile with the Third Crusade and all of its attendant violence?
4. Discuss the novel's language. Did you find it archaic, or did you think it helped in creating a more effective experience of a different time?
5. Discuss Cedric's unwillingness to accept Wilfred's love for Rowena. How does this illuminate the role of politics at the time? Is Cedric singularly obstinate, or do you think his view would be commonly held? Why does he change his views?
6. Discuss the significance of Rebecca's character. How do she and Isaac reveal Scott's views on the discrimination common at the time, if at all?
7. Ivanhoe is roundly held to be the progenitor of the historical romance. Do you agree with this assessment, or not? What, in your opinion, makes a book a romance?