Ivanhoe Summary
Walter Scott

Ivanhoe by Sir Walter Scott Sit Walter Scott was born in Edinburgh, Scotland, in 1771. Scotland had only recently (in 1707) united with England to form the United Kingdom. At the time of union, Sco... Read more

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Biography EssayWalter Scott was the most influential novelist in world literature. Relying on his capacious memory and drawing on medieval and Renaissance verse romance, his eighteenth-century forerun... Read more

In the following excerpt, an early reviewer describes the plot and characters of Ivanhoe, and praises the complexity and originality of the work. As this exquisite romance belongs to a class gener... Read more

In the essay that follows, Sroka argues that Ivanhoe combines elements of realism with more conventional romantic tropes, particularly in the characters who display both heroism and human limitations.... Read more

In the following essay, Bossche claims that Ivanhoe, as a work of historical fiction, attempts to bridge the distance between past and present by mingling elements of an earlier culture with more fami... Read more

In the essay that follows, Lackey examines the role of medieval religion in Ivanhoe through the contrast between the corruption of official representatives of the Church and the faith and compassion o... Read more

In the following excerpt, Sutherland studies the conceptions of race and nationality in Ivanhoe, as seen both in the conflict between Normans and Saxons and in the ambivalent depiction of anti-Semitis... Read more

In the following introduction to Ivanhoe, written ten years after the original publication of the novel, Scott both explains his decision to set the action of Ivanhoe outside of Scotland and in the m... Read more

In the following excerpt, Buchan criticizes Ivanhoe 's pageantry and artificiality, as well as its concern with ornament, rather than with a more serious representation of medieval England. ... Read more

In the following essay, Duncan argues, against earlier critics, that Ivanhoe is "neither juvenile nor romantic" but is a serious examination of the transition between a period of heroic... Read more

In the following excerpt, Johnson claims that the romanticism of Ivanhoe is supplemented by a critical attention to the "worldly manifestations of feudalism. " Ivanhoe plunges back in... Read more

Codes of Chivalry Comparison In "Ivanhoe", which was directed by Richard Thorpe, knights were supposed to follow the code of chivalry. Some knights had more loyalty to follow the code, while others b... Read more

Ivanhoe Book Notes is a free study guide on Ivanhoe by Sir Walter Scott. Browse the summary below:   Author Biography / Context of the Work   One-Page Plot Summary   Character Des... Read more