Although all the women in
Ivanhoe are vulnerable to male violence, Rebecca is doubly so because of her marginalized status as a Jewish woman. Dispossessed of her own nation or country, she depends entirely on the kindness of people who have been trained to hate her and her people. The casual disregard with which Front-de-Boeuf consigns her to her fate with Sir Brian suggests that he considers her far less than human. And his feigned surprise over the fact that Jewish people—like all other human beings—love their children yet again points to antisemitic stereotypes about Jewish greed, which the book seems to criticize and reinforce at the same time.