A study guide for Sir Walter Scott's "Ivanhoe"

By Gale and Cengage

A study guide for Sir Walter Scott's "Ivanhoe", excerpted from Gale's acclaimed Novels for Students series. This concise study guide includes plot summary; character analysis; author biography; study questions; historical context; suggestions for further reading; and much more. For any literature project, trust Novels for Students for all of your research needs.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Cengage Learning - Gale
• Release date: May 2, 2016
• ISBN: 9781535833226

Book preview

10

Ivanhoe

Walter Scott

1819

Introduction

Sir Walter Scott began his writing career as a poet, but in the early nineteenth century, he turned his talents primarily to fiction. He is generally regarded as the originator of the historical novel, a term that refers to a novel that weaves plots and characters around actual historical events. His early novels were set in Scotland and structured around events in recent Scottish history. Ivanhoe, published in 1819 and arguably Scott's most popular novel, differs in that it is set entirely in England, and its historical setting is the late twelfth century. It details the actions not only of the title character but also of King Richard I, known to history as Richard the Lion-Hearted for his exploits during the Crusades (a series of wars in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries between Christian Europe and Muslims in Palestine). After Ivanhoe became a runaway bestseller, Scott turned his attention to more English historical events.

Ivanhoe is principally an adventure tale. It contains all the trappings of a story about English knights during the medieval period, including castles, jousting, disguises, chivalry, heroes and villains, dungeons, and damsels in distress. It is also noteworthy for its heroine, Rebecca, a Jew whom Scott depicted with sympathy and admiration at a time when prejudice against Jews was commonplace in Great Britain. Because of its immense popularity over generations, the novel is widely available in paperback and hard cover, including illustrated and collectors' editions; a recent edition was published as part of the Barnes and Noble Classics series in 2005.

Author Biography

Scott was born on August 15, 1771, in Edinburgh, Scotland, the son of a lawyer. As a child he endured a bout of polio that left him lame, though in time he largely overcame this lameness. A key event in his early life was his residence with an aunt in the Scottish Borders region (so called because it lies on the border between Scotland and England). There he was exposed to the region's colorful tales and ballads of adventure.

After completing his education at the University of Edinburgh, Scott was apprenticed to his father to become a lawyer, but his true love was literature. In the late 1700s he published English translations of literature from the European continent, and throughout his career he published collections of the poetry and plays of earlier British authors, along with historical works, biographies, and a wide range of miscellaneous writing. He also published collections of romantic tales and ballads from the Border region. Scott first made a name for himself as a poet in his own right with the 1805 publication of a long narrative poem, The Lay of the Last Minstrel. He followed this successful poem with such poems as Marmion (1808) and The Lady of the Lake (1810).

Scott's career as a novelist began in 1814 with the publication of the enormously popular Waverley.