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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
Prince John returns to the castle at Ashby which he has claimed as his own, even though it properly belongs to an absent crusader. In a show of largesse—and a desperate attempt to increase his low popularity among the people—the prince has invited not only his Norman supporters but also the most important Saxon families. Templeton explains to readers that Prince John cannot disguise his true feelings, even when it would be politic to do so. Still, he manages to keep his laughter to himself when he receives Athelstane and Cedric in their “ancient Saxon garb.” The Normans pass judgement on the Saxons during the meal for unwittingly breaching “several of the arbitrary rules” of Norman table manners and mock them, but jollity and excitement over the day’s events generally keep things pleasant for all the guests.
It seems that almost everything Prince John owns comes to him via theft. The Crusaders left Europe on a mission which modern readers could interpret as an act of religious war and colonial aggression. But to medieval Europeans—and likely to most of the book’s original audience—theirs was a noble, if futile effort. Therefore, the fact that John steals land and resources not just from oppressed Saxons but from men thought to be doing God’s work on earth emphasizes his lawlessness, selfishness, and abuse of power. Likewise, despite the vulnerability of his position, especially when King Richard returns, he can’t—or won’t—control himself and his courtiers. As a result, they end up further alienating their Saxon guests.
Themes
When Prince John eventually proposes a toast to Wilfred of Ivanhoe, Cedric protests that he disinherited his disobedient son and is not yet content to be reconciled with him. He explains to Prince John that Ivanhoe disobeyed his father by joining the court of the Norman King Richard I and consenting to hold as a vassal an estate which his Saxon ancestors held free of oversight. Front-de-Boeuf offensively declares that he’d sooner be called a Saxon than let anyone take the land from him. Cedric replies that any Norman should be honored to be counted a Saxon. This inspires the prince to tell an anti-Saxon joke; Front-de-Boeuf, Malvoisin, Aymer, De Bracy, and Sir Brian join in. An irate Cedric icily declares that Saxons would never treat Norman guests so ungraciously. Besides, he points out, a single Saxon defeated Malvoisin, De Bracy, Brian, Front-de-Boeuf, and others that very day.
Cedric lists his reasons for disinheriting Ivanhoe, which boil down to disapproving of Ivanhoe’s attempts to assimilate. Since the book anticipates a future where Norman and Saxon cultures will converge into an English identity, it doesn’t judge Ivanhoe so harshly for his choice to serve Richard. Still, because the book also prefers the native Saxons to the interloping Normans, it portrays Cedric’s choice to put politics over family sympathetically. And Ivanhoe’s victory over four of the Normans’ best knights also points to the Saxons’ inherent superiority.
Themes
Prince John turns to his Norman guests and asks in a faux-astonished voice if they hadn’t better get on ships now and return to France before the defeated Saxons get their fighting spirit up. He would continue, but Fitzurse counsels him to respect his guests’ feelings. The prince drinks a toast to Cedric and one to Athelstane. But Prince John doesn’t know when to stop. In return for his courtesy, he demands Cedric name a Norman to whose health he would drink. Cedric, still fuming over the insulting treatment he’s received, drinks to the health of King Richard. In the consternation that follows, Cedric and Athelstane bid their host good night and depart.
Prince John, feeling comfortable thanks to the superior fighting force and economic might of the ruling Norman minority, continues to mock the Saxons. He might be a terrible ruler, but if he gives the Norman nobility what they want (which includes the rights to take what they want and mistreat native Saxons), they will support him. Only the return of his brother truly threatens his reign. And it’s this very possibility that Cedric raises with his toast, naming the one Norman capable of earning the Saxons’ trust.
Themes
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When Prior Aymer tries to follow the Saxons, Prince John frets about his supporters abandoning him. Fitzurse follows the monk to convince him to remain by Prince John’s side. The prince casts blame on his counselors for advising him poorly and expresses his fear over King Richard’s impending return, as De Bracy and Fitzurse quietly bemoan the difficulties of advising such a cowardly and indecisive man.
Aymer demonstrates the weakness of Prince John’s grasp on power: the loss of any one of his supporters may be fatal to his cause. And instead of taking responsibility for the flaws of his character or his political mistakes, John turns on his advisors. To whatever extent chivalry exists as a force for good in the world, John’s selfish devotion to his own interests removes it from his reach.
Themes
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