E212: British Literature since 1760

Sir Walter Scott Study Questions

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Ivanhoe

1. Find a few points where Scott's narrator self-consciously mediates between the reader of 1820 and the medieval setting and characters of the novel. Why might a narrator impose a strong "historical consciousness" upon the story he tells rather than simply relate it without such treatment?

2. Describe the tension between the conquered Saxons and the conquering Normans--what, aside from the initial subjugation of Saxon England by William of Normandy in 1066--do Saxons like Cedric have against their Norman rulers? How do their values and habits differ?

3. How does the narrator explore the social order amongst the Saxons themselves? For example, what is the relation between Gurth the Swineherd and Cedric, and between Wamba the Fool and Cedric? To what extent do you think Scott, in depicting the Saxons as he does, is proffering an ideal social vision for his contemporaries?

4. What picture emerges of Prince John, brother of the Crusader Richard the Lion-Hearted? What are the circumstances of his rule, and how do his subjects appear to regard him?

5. Do an internet search for information about the Knights Templar--how did this order originate, and what are the order's values and objectives?

6. Isaac of York and his daughter Rebecca are major figures in Scott's novel. Hundreds of years before the twentieth-century holocaust in Germany, Jews were already the objects of intense persecution. To what extent does the narrative support the negative view of Jews prevalent even in Scott's time? How do Isaac and Rebecca serve as a focal point for our view of some of the novel's other main characters?

7. How does the narrative deal with the status of women in the medieval society Scott describes? It is obvious that men like Cedric, Ivanhoe, and Brian de Bois-Guilbert are the power-figures in this society, but the women play a complex and important role. Find an instance or two where this complexity shows best, and discuss.

Edition: Scott, Walter. Ivanhoe. New York: Signet, 2001. ISBN 0451527992.