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{{work}}
{{Infobox book
[[File:Ivanhoe_8441.jpg|frame|Ivanhoe and the [[Black Knight]] -- Costumes for the 1828 Stage Adaptation]]▼
| title = Ivanhoe
| original title = Ivanhoe: A Romance
| image = Ivanhoe_8441.jpg
▲
| author = Walter Scott
| central theme =
| elevator pitch =
| genre = Historical fiction, Chivalric romance
| publication date = December 1819
| source page exists = yes
| wiki URL =
| wiki name =
}}
'''''Ivanhoe: A Romance''''' is an 1819 [[Historical Fiction|historical novel]] by Sir [[
The novel was originally something of a [[Money, Dear Boy|Pot-boiler]]. Scott's popularity as a poet was waning in the face of the more exotic verses of Lord Byron, and his over-gentrified lifestyle and a life-threatening bout of illness had left his pocketbook in an equally sickly condition. His [[Bonnie Scotland|Scottish]] novels were popular enough, but of limited appeal; Scott felt, moreover, the need for a fresher source of inspiration -- so he turned to History and [[The Middle Ages]], the object of his lifelong and devoted -- if not always pedantically accurate -- study. The novel won immediate, long-lasting, and deserved popularity, restored Scott's fortunes, and helped to launch the entire [[Historical Fiction]] genre.▼
'''<big>Adaptations</big>'''
▲'''''Ivanhoe: A Romance''''' is an 1819 [[Historical Fiction|historical novel]] by Sir [[Walter Scott (Creator)|Walter Scott]], set in the reign of King [[Richard the Lion Heart]] and largely concerning the long-smouldering antagonism between the [[People of Hair Color|Normans and Saxons]] in the centuries after the Norman Conquest -- an antagonism which, at that date, is highly [[Anachronism Stew|anachronistic]] (one might call it a sort of [[Hollywood History]]) and largely the product of Scott's teeming imagination. In the face of severe criticism by his own contemporaries on this and other historical inaccuracies, Scott himself admitted, "It is extremely probable that I may have confused the manners of two or three centuries," but [[MST3K Mantra|comforted himself]] that "errors of this kind will escape [[Viewers are Morons|the general class of readers]]." And indeed, despite the author's [[Author Tract|Whig history]] limitations and prejudices (which are [[Writer On Board|evident]]), ''Ivanhoe'' is a stirring and colourful tale, with plenty of action, lovable heroes and heroines and hissable villains, and a real feeling for the genuine -- if ''extremely [[Flanderization|exaggerated]]'' -- romance of [[The High Middle Ages]].
▲The novel was originally something of a [[Money, Dear Boy|Pot-boiler]]. Scott's popularity as a poet was waning in the face of the more exotic verses of Lord Byron, and his over-gentrified lifestyle and a life-threatening bout of illness had left his pocketbook in an equally sickly condition. His [[Bonnie Scotland|Scottish]] novels were popular enough, but of limited appeal; Scott felt, moreover, the need for a fresher source of inspiration -- so he turned to History and [[The Middle Ages]], the object of his lifelong and devoted -- if not always pedantically accurate -- study. The novel won immediate, long-lasting, and deserved popularity, restored Scott's fortunes, and helped to launch the entire [[Historical Fiction]] genre.
* In 1850, [[Vanity Fair|William Makepeace Thackeray]] produced the [[Affectionate Parody|parodic]] [[Fan Sequel]], ''[http://www.hicom.net/~oedipus/books/randr.html Rebecca and Rowena: A Romance Upon Romance]'', in which [[Take That, Scrappy!|Athelstane]] and [[Die for Our Ship|Rowena]] die and Wilfred [[Fan-Preferred Couple|marries]] a [[Values Dissonance|converted]] Rebecca.
▲Scott's novel has had a number of adaptations.
▲* A stage version was prepared as early as 1828.
▲* In 1850, [[Vanity Fair|William Makepeace Thackeray]] produced the [[Affectionate Parody|parodic]] [[Fan Sequel]], ''[http://www.hicom.net/~oedipus/books/randr.html Rebecca and Rowena: A Romance Upon Romance]'', in which [[Take That Scrappy|Athelstane]] and [[Die for Our Ship|Rowena]] die and Wilfred [[Fan-Preferred Couple|marries]] a [[Values Dissonance|converted]] Rebecca.
There have been several [[The Film of the Book|Film Adaptations]].
* Two appeared in 1913:
** ''Ivanhoe'' was a US production, directed by Herbert Brenon, and starring King Baggot as Ivanhoe, Leah Baird as Rebecca, Herbert Brenon as Isaac, Evelyn Hope as Rowena, and Wallace Widdicombe as Bois-Guilbert;
** ''Rebecca the Jewess'' was directed by Leedham Bantock and featured Lauderdale Maitland, Ethel Bracewell, Hubert Carter, Nancy Bevington, and Harry Lonsdale in the same rôles, respectively. (Oddly, both were filmed in the same locations at Chepstow Castle in Wales.)
* In 1952, [[Metro Goldwyn Mayer]] produced what is probably the best remembered film version, ''Ivanhoe'', directed by Richard Thorpe, and starring Robert Taylor as Wilfred, [[Elizabeth Taylor]] as Rebecca, Felix Aylmer as Isaac, Joan Fontaine as Rowena, George Sanders as Bois-Guilbert, [[Bonnie Scotland|Finlay Currie]] as Cedric. This version was nominated for three [[Academy Award|Academy Awards]], for Best Picture, Best Colour Cinematography, and Best Score for [[Miklos Rozsa|Miklós Rózsa]]; it stressed the spectacular and [[Swashbuckler|swashbuckling]] elements.
* A Russian adaptation in 1983, ''The Ballad of the Valiant Knight Ivanhoe'' (''Баллада о доблестном рыцаре Айвенго, Ballada o Dovlestnom Ryzare "Ayvenho"'') appeared, directed by Sergey Tarasov, starring Peteris Gaudins as Ivanhoe and featuring songs by [[Vladimir Vysotsky]].
There have also been quite a number of [[Live
* A 1958 television series with Roger Moore as Ivanhoe.
* A 1970 miniseries starring Eric Flynn.
* A very well regarded adaptation in 1982 with [[Anthony Andrews]] as Ivanhoe, Olivia Hussey as Rebecca, James Mason as Isaac, Lysette Anthony as Rowena, and Sam Neill as Bois-Guilbert.
* A 1986 Australian [[Animated Adaptation]] by Burbank Films, ''Young Ivanhoe''.
* A 1995 television series starring Kristen Holden-Ried, ''Ivanhoe, the King's Knight''
* A 1997 [[Animated Adaptation]] by [[Cinar]] and France Animation.
* Another 1997 production, a mini-series produced by A&E and the BBC, starring Steven Waddington, with Susan Lynch as Rebecca, Victoria Smurfit as Rowena, [[Christopher Lee]] as Beaumanoir, and Ciarán Hinds as Bois-Guilbert.
* ''Darkest Knight'', a 2000 Channel 5 adaptation starring Ben Pullen as Ivanhoe and Charlotte Comer as Rebecca.
Interestingly, there have been several operatic versions: Gioachino Rossini's ''Ivanhoé'' (a pastiche which did not impress Scott, who attended a performance), Thomas Sari's ''Ivanhoé'', Bartolomeo Pisani's ''Rebecca'', A. Castagnier's ''Rébecca'', Otto Nicolai's ''Il Templario'', and Heinrich Marschner's ''Der Templer und die Jüdin''. The best known, however, is probably [[Gilbert and Sullivan|Sir Arthur Seymour Sullivan]]'s rather [[Serious Business|turgidly solemn]] 1891 adaptation, which impressed [[
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== The Book ==
* [[Abhorrent Admirer]]: Athelstane and de Bracy for Rowena; Bois-Guilbert for Rebecca; Prince John for Alicia Fitzurse.
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* [[Anticlimax]]: In the trial by combat to determine the fate of Rebecca, Brian de Bois-Guilbert, the invincible [[The Knights Templar|Templar]], is facing Wilfred of Ivanhoe, who is still recovering from his wounds -- but when they actually joust, Bois-Guilbert simply {{spoiler|keels over dead}}, "a victim of his own contending passions," and Wilfred is left standing there, looking awkward.
* [[Arrow Gram]]
* [[Aristocrats Are Evil]]: Most of them, at least among Normans: Cedric, Athelstane and Richard himself are exceptions.
* [[Attempted Rape]]: Bois-Guilbert is foiled in this by Rebecca's threatening to throw herself off the tower ''See'' [[Driven to Suicide]]'', below.''
* [[Badass Preacher]]: Friar Tuck
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* [[Betty and Veronica]]
* [[Big Damn Heroes]]: The Black Knight for Ivanhoe, Ivanhoe for Rebecca.
* [[Big Fun Guy]]: Both Pryor Aymer and Friar Tuck in different ways. Probably not good examples of Churchmen but could be a lot worse.
* [[Black and White Morality]]: [[Your Mileage May Vary|YMMV]]. Certainly most of the Goodies are ''very '' good, and most of the Baddies ''very'' bad, but it does not prevent them from being memorable characters. One is inclined to say that, rather than being Black and White, they are all rendered in primary colours.
* [[Black Knight]]: "''Le Noir Faineant''" (aka The Black Sluggard)
* [[Blood Knight]]: Front-de-Bœuf
* [[Boisterous Bruiser]]: Perhaps the most outstanding examples are Friar Tuck and [[Richard the Lion Heart|Cœur-de-Lion]] himself.
* [[Burn the Witch]]: Rebecca's fate if her champion loses the [[Trial
* [[The Caretaker]]: Rebecca the [[Florence Nightingale Effect|beautiful]] [[Culture Clash|Jewish]] maiden cares for [[Knight in Shining Armor|Sir Wilfred]] of Ivanhoe after he is wounded in the tournament at Ashby-de-la-Zouche.
* [[Character Title]]
* [[Cold-Blooded Torture]]: As when Front-de-Bœuf threatens to roast Isaac alive on a grill.
* [[Christianity Is Catholic]]: The setting dictates this, though Sir Walter throws in a number of [[Writer
* [[Corrupt Church]]: Sir Walter, being a conventional if not convicted Presbyterian, invented quite a few corrupt churchmen as [[Take That|Take Thats]] against the Roman Catholic Church: the worldly Prior Aylmer, the proud, cruel, and lustful Bois-Guilbert, the ignorant and violent "hedge-priest" Friar Tuck, the unscrupulous Malvoisin, the fanatical Beaumanoir, the greedy and treacherous Abbot Wolfram who betrays Athelstane. Indeed, there is not a single completely ''decent'' cleric in the whole novel.
**It should be noted that the Prior is ''only'' worldly. That is his vices are good-natured and would be more or less tolerable in a layman. The fact that he is a Churchman means he has a harsher example to live up to. Nevertheless, he is not a tyrant nor does he use his position to hurt people. He is in fact no worse then a fairly lazy country squire except for the fact that clergy are supposed to have higher standards.
* [[Courtly Love]]: Played straight by Wilfred and Rowena (and {{spoiler|Rebecca for Wilfred}}; subverted by Athelstane and de Bracy for Rowena; beaten all to hell and back by Bois-Guilbert for Rebecca
* [[The Crusades]]: Where many of the main characters are returning from -- specifically, the Third Crusade.
* [[Dark Is Not Evil]]: ''See'' the [[Black Knight]]'', above.''
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* [[The Dulcinea Effect]]: Ivanhoe champions Rebecca, who is not his [[Love Interest]]. Of course, he [[I Owe You My Life|owed her his life]].
* [[The Dung Ages]]: Averted in Scott's original novel, though some adaptations have depicted at least parts of the setting this way.
**Though the picture of injustice, corruption, gratuitous violence and general grimness makes it clear it is not exactly presented as the "clean and bright ages".
* [[Estrogen Brigade]]: In-universe. In the first volume, the narrator spends a lot of time repeatedly pointing out how much the ladies enjoy tournaments and matches between knights even more enthusiastically than many men.
* [[Evil Chancellor]]: Waldemar [[Names to Run Away From Really Fast|Fitzurse]] -- not personally depraved, but certainly ruthlessly ambitious -- and a heck of a lot smarter than nearly all the other baddies.
Line 79 ⟶ 94:
* [[Foil]]: Rowena and Rebecca, as Scott shows by paralleling their reactions to their would-be-rapists.
* [[Greedy Jew]]: Isaac of York in Ivanhoe is somewhere between an example and a subversion.
* [[Happiness in Slavery]]: When offered manumission Wamba instead asks that it be bestowed on Gurth claiming that slaves get to sit by the fire and no one asks them to go to war. He may of course be jesting to disguise a sacrifice he is making for his friend who really does want to be free. Your Mileage May Vary.
* [[The High Middle Ages]]: To be exact, the year 1194 A. D. (''But see'' [[The Middle Ages]]'' below.'')
* [[Historical Fiction]]: One of the [[Trope Codifier|Trope Codifiers]].
* [[Historical Domain Character]]: Prince John and [[Richard the Lion Heart|Richard Cœur-de-Lion]]
* [[Historical Hero Upgrade]]: [[Richard the Lion Heart|Richard I]] -- though Scott's depiction is not uniformly a positive one; his Richard is proud, reckless, a bit sensual, rather violent, and perhaps on the whole not an entirely inaccurate depiction of the [[Warrior Prince|warrior king]]. Still, he does seem to leave out the king’s extreme arrogance, deviousness, intolerance, morbidity, and occasional bouts of almost insane fury. (The theory, by the way, that Richard was a [[Ho Yay|homosexual]] -- which would doubtless have [[No Yay|scandalized]] the strait-laced Puritan Scott -- was not seriously advanced until after his time.)
* [[History Marches On]]: The view popularised by Sir Walter, of plucky "English" commoners still resisting their "
* [[Hollywood Costuming]]: Scott's descriptions of clothing and armour are wildly at variance with our knowledge of 12th century costume.
* [[Hollywood History]]: At times nearing [[Critical Research Failure]].
* [[Holywood Tactics]]: Subverted. How does a horde of angry peasants manage to storm a castle, however good they are with bows? Easy. It was an inside job. [[Fridge Brilliance|The way most castles were captured.]]
* [[Honor Before Reason|Honour Before Reason]]: Wilfred tries to explain this concept to Rebecca, who still insists on Reason before Honour.
* [[Hypocritical Humor]]: Friar Tuck and the Black Knight(I.E. [[Tempting Fate|the King of England]]) have a friendly banter about just ''how'' the Friar had obtained that delicious venison.
* [[I Can Still Fight]]: What the wounded Wilfred asserts for Rebecca's trial by combat.
* [[I Gave My Word]]: As Bois-Guilbert tells Rebecca: “Many a law, many a commandment have I broken, but my sworn word, never.”
Line 97 ⟶ 115:
* [[The Knights Templar]]: Most importantly Brian de Bois-Guilbert, but also Albert de Malvoisin, Grand Master Lucas de Beaumanoir, ''et al''.
* [[Knight Templar]]: Averted, oddly enough, by most of the actual [[The Knights Templar|Templars]] in the story, but played ''absolutely straight'' by Lucas de Beaumanoir, who is a [[Knight Templar]] in both senses of the term — indeed, the Grand Master of the Order.
* [[Lawful Neutral]] : Bois-Guilbert points out to Rebecca that the same Templar soldiers that will take her to her death if found guilty will come to her rescue if Bois-Guilbert tries to molest her before hand-because [[Just Following Orders|these are the rules]] in either case.
**Rebecca when told she was being brought before the Grandmaster claims she is willing to face even a bigoted judge rather then Bois-Guilbert's lawlessness.
* [[Literary Agent Hypothesis]]: Scott originally published the novel under the pseudonym Laurence Templeton, in which guise he claimed he was merely transcribing and editing an actual medieval document, the "Wardour Manuscript" <ref> a pun on "Wardour Street" in London, which was known for its shops that sold antique furniture of dubious provenance</ref> -- though the author’s actual identity seems to have been an open secret.
* [[Love Dodecahedron]]: Rowena for Wilfred; Athelstane for Rowena, Maurice de Bracy for Rowena, Wilfred for Rowena; Rebecca for Wilfred; Bois-Guilbert for Rebecca.
Line 102 ⟶ 122:
* [[Matzo Fever]]: Rebecca
* [[Medieval Morons]]: Averted for the most part; though some play is made of the credulity of the crowd during Rebecca's trial, it is made clear that the accusing witnesses found by Malvoisin are acting more out of greed, envy, and political corruption rather than out superstition. (Beaumanoir, though a [[Knight Templar|fanatic]], is not exactly a moron.)
* [[The Middle Ages]]: Scott's Early Romantic, "Look-to-the-Knight-of-the-Fetterlock-Fair-Rebecca" conception of the 12th century [[
* [[Names to Run Away From Really Fast]]: A lot of these. The Templar Preceptor Albert de Malvoisin ("bad neighbour").and his brother Philip; Reginald Front-de-Boeuf ("Or 'Beef-head'" as Richard Armour put it, in ''The Classics Reclassified''). Waldemar Fitzurse's last name means "Son of the [[Everything's Worse
* [[Never My Fault]]: Bois-Guilbert, refusing to realize that Rebecca is in danger of being sentenced to burn mainly because ''he kidnapped her''.
* [[Nobody Calls Me Chicken]]: How Wilfred goads Bois-Guilbert into dueling him in the third volume.
Line 118 ⟶ 138:
* [[Public Domain Character]]: [[Robin Hood]]. Scott was not the first, by any means, but he is probably the most influential author in linking the outlaw's legend with [[Richard the Lion Heart]] and Prince John; more original with Scott was the linking of the legend with a supposed racial animosity between the [[People of Hair Color|Normans and the Saxons]]. Scott also popularised the name "Locksley" as associated with the outlaw.
* [[Purple Prose]]: As an example, Ulrica’s parting [[Take That]] to Front-de-Bœuf:
{{quote|
* [[Poisonous Friend]]: Malvoisin to Bois-Guilbert.
* [[Rape Is a Special Kind of Evil]]
* [[Reality Is Unrealistic]]: The almost impossibly noble Rebecca is said to be the only character based directly one of Scott's contemporaries -- a friend of Scott's friend Washington Irving -- a Jewish lady from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, named Rebecca Gratz.
* [["The Reason You Suck" Speech]]: Rebecca constantly tries to acquaint Brian de Bois-Guilbert with [[Obliviously Evil|how wrong he is]] about his [[Scarpia Ultimatum|actions]] and [[It's All About Me|motivations]] regarding [[Playing the Victim Card|his treatment of her]], to no success.
* [[Retcon]]: Sir Walter invented a role for [[Robin Hood]] against Prince John in [[Richard the Lion Heart]]'s absence to plug some holes in his plot.
* [[Rightful King Returns]]: "Take heed to yourself, for the Devil is unchained!"
* [[Rhymes
* [[Richard the Lion Heart]]: A major character.
* [[Roaring Rampage of Revenge]] / [[Roaring Rampage of Rescue]] : The storming of Front de Boefs castle. [[Kick the Son of
{{quote|
* [[Royal Brat]]: Prince John, who is constantly referred to as petty and spoiled, is an unusual adult version of this trope.
* [[Scarpia Ultimatum]]: Two:
** Maurice de Bracy to Rowena: "Marry me, or I'll kill your guardian and your boyfriend." (This is over in the same chapter it appears in.)
** Brian de Bois-Guilbert to Rebecca: "Marry me, or at least have sex with me, or I'll let them kill you." (This lasts until {{spoiler|Bois-Guilbert's death}}.)
* [[Scary Black Man]]: A couple of times black men appear as slave enforcers or torturers for Templars. In fact [[Truth in Television|it was fairly common]] in the Middle East for a long time to give such work to slaves(it is unpleasant in itself, and might get any kin one has nearby in a feud) and Templars adopting the custom is at least believable. However the real reason they were put there was simply that their black skin fit the aesthetic desired especially for readers who had seldom seen a black person.
* [[Screw This, I'm Outta Here|Screw This -- I'm Outta Here]]: Maurice de Bracy's reaction to {{spoiler|King Richard's return}}.
* [[Secondary Character Title]]: Wilfred of Ivanhoe is physically present only for about 25% of the book and unconscious or incapacitated for half of that.
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* [[Those Two Guys]]: Gurth, a swineherd, and Wamba, a jester, whose conversation opens the novel.
* [[Token Good Teammate]]: [[Richard the Lion Heart|King Richard]] is like this to [[Robin Hood|Locksley]]'s men.
* [[Trial
* [[Unfortunate Names]]: De Bigot, Prince John's seneschal, mentioned in a throwaway line. Very nearly a [[Mel Brooks]] character.
* [[Unrequited Love]]: Quite a lot. ''See'' [[Love Dodecahedron]], ''above.''
* [[Useless Protagonist]]:: Wilfred Not quite useless, but useless for most of the book.
* [[Warrior Prince|Warrior King]]: [[Richard the Lion Heart|Cœur-de-Lion]]
* [[Well, Excuse Me, Princess!|Well, Excuse Me, Princess]]: Rowena, especially when she tells off de Bracy.
Line 165 ⟶ 186:
* [[Combat Pragmatist]]: Ivanhoe has no compunctions about sneaking up behind people and stabbing them in the back, or hiding in dark corners and popping out to stab them in the back.
* [[The Evil Prince]]
* [[Death
* [[Dull Surprise]]: Robert Taylor's performance edges into this at (a few) points.
* [[Epic Flail]]: Bois-Guilbert's weapon in the climatic duel.
* [[Face Death
* [[Fighting for Survival]]
** [[Friend in
** [[The Cavalry]]: Locksley's men
* [[Childhood Marriage Promise]]
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== Tropes Present in the 1982 TV Adaptation ==
* [[Hey, It's That Guy!]]: Ivanhoe is [[Brideshead Revisited|Lord Sebastian Flyte]] and [[The Scarlet Pimpernel (1982
Line 224 ⟶ 245:
{{reflist}}
[[Category:Historical Fiction Literature]]
[[Category:
[[Category:Ivanhoe]]▼
[[Category:Literature]]
[[Category:Multiple Works Need Separate Pages]]
[[Category:British Literature]]
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