History Literature / Ivanhoe

%%* PoisonousFriend: Malvoisin to Bois-Guilbert.

''Ivanhoe: A Romance'' is an 1819 [[HistoricalFiction historical novel]] by Sir Creator/WalterScott, set in the reign of King UsefulNotes/RichardTheLionHeart and largely concerning the long-smouldering antagonism between the [[PeopleOfHairColor Normans and Saxons]] in the centuries after the Norman Conquest -- an antagonism which, at that date, is highly [[AnachronismStew anachronistic]] (one might call it a sort of HollywoodHistory) 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 [[MST3KMantra comforted himself]] that "errors of this kind will escape the general class of readers." (And to be fair, this romantic idea of early British history remained popular enough that Creator/ArthurConanDoyle used it 72(!) years later, in ''Literature/TheWhiteCompany'', which takes place centuries after the events of Ivanhoe). Despite the author's [[AuthorTract Whig history]] limitations and prejudices (which are [[WriterOnBoard 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 TheHighMiddleAges.

** The idea of lingering animosity between the Saxons and Normans by the time of the novel is ahistorical, except for some diehard eccentrics.

* The French composer Victor Sieg won the prestigious Prix de Rome for his dramatic cantata ''Ivanhoé'', which was first performed in 1864.
* For English-speakers, the best known operatic adaptation is probably [[Music/ArthurSullivan Sir Arthur Seymour Sullivan]]'s rather [[SeriousBusiness turgidly solemn]] 1891 adaptation, which impressed UsefulNotes/QueenVictoria and ran for over 150 performances.

** Bois-Guilbert starts out merely lusting after Rebecca, but grows to appreciate her intelligence and spirit; by the end he's genuinely in love with her, [[spoiler: aids Isaac's escape from the Templars so he can attempt to get some help, tries to help her escape the night before her execution, and allows Ivanhoe to kill him during their duel so that her life will be spared.]]
** Most of the protagonists are generally far nicer to Isaac and Rebecca than they were in the novel and their differing religions never seem to be too much of an issue.

* GreedyJew: Isaac of York in Ivanhoe is somewhere between an example and a subversion. He's a moneylender with seemingly unlimited stores of riches who is very concerned with his money, but he helps Ivanhoe out of gratitude when he is hurt and frequently expresses that his love for his daughter trumps all of his wealth and even his own life.

* ColdBloodedTorture: As when Front-de-Bœuf threatens to roast Isaac alive on a grill.

* AdultFear: Being part of a subjugated race. Check. Having arrogant [[AristocratsAreEvil aristocrats]] able and willing to do whatever they want to do to you with the approval of the law. Check. Having a CorruptChurch tell you that you are ''supposed'' to be subjugated. Check. Being mocked because your ancestors lost a battle. Check. Being kidnapped by a would-be rapist. Check.

* PeopleOfHairColor: Although Scott’s assertion of a lingering racial animosity between Normans and Saxons was not ''absolutely'' without basis (there was in Henry II's time a Saxon noble called "William with the Beard" who refused to shave as a protest against the Conquest), there can be absolutely no doubt that such feelings were highly eccentric, uncommon, and of no practical social or political importance by the reign of [[UsefulNotes/RichardTheLionHeart Richard I]].

* PurpleProse: As an example, Ulrica’s parting TakeThat to Front-de-Bœuf:

* ButtMonkey: Athelstane is hit in the groin with the wood end of a spear, knocked away by Sir Brian when he flees with Rebecca and gets hit by a fleeing Norman soldier, causing him to hit the side of a lean-to, which collapses on him. All in about two minutes.

** Yellow and Black for Front-de-Boeuf.

** Instead of being “merely” a literal KnightTemplar, Lucas de Beaumanoir is power-hungry and sadistic without even the redeeming qualities he had in the book. Especially noticeable after the [[spoiler:final battle of Bois-Guilbert and Ivanhoe]]: in the book, Beaumanoir immediately accepts the result as the judgment of God and [[spoiler:declares Rebecca innocent]], but in the series he plans to kill [[spoiler:her and Ivanhoe]] and would have done so, if not for Robin Hood’s men providing backup.

* IGaveMyWord: As Bois-Guilbert tells Rebecca: “Many a law, many a commandment have I broken, but my sworn word, never.”

* AdaptedOut: Ulrica is not present and most of the castle is still standing, with only thatch roofs getting set on fire by Saxon archers.

* IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy: Rebecca. She swears to the jealous Rowena that she had never loved Ivanhoe or vice versa – and then confesses to her father that though she lied, it was “for the noblest cause of all”.

* A very well regarded adaptation in 1982 with Creator/AnthonyAndrews as Ivanhoe, Olivia Hussey as Rebecca, James Mason as Isaac, Creator/LysetteAnthony as Rowena, Sam Neill as Bois-Guilbert and Creator/JohnRhysDavies as Reginald Front-de-Boeuf.

* Another 1997 production, a mini-series produced by A&E and the BBC, starring Steven Waddington as Ivanhoe, with Susan Lynch as Rebecca, Victoria Smurfit as Rowena, Creator/ChristopherLee as Beaumanoir, and [[Creator/CiaranHinds Ciarán Hinds]] as Bois-Guilbert.

* UnfortunateNames: De Bigot, Prince John's seneschal, mentioned in a throwaway line. Very nearly a Creator/MelBrooks character.

* NotSoDifferent: Bois-Guilbert tells Rebecca several times that she is like him.

** Yellow for Ivanhoe, coupled with [[BlueIsHeroic blue]] for his time as the Disinherited Knight.

* CorruptChurch: Sir Walter, being a conventional if not convicted Presbyterian, invented quite a few corrupt churchmen as [[TakeThat 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. To be fair, few are completely unsympathetic villains. Prior Aymer's faults are made up for to a large degree by his good nature. He is fonder of the wine, the women and the hunt more than a churchman should be but he is not cruel like many of the characters and not a KnightTemplar. Beaumanoir for his part ''is'' one, but is portrayed as [[LawfulStupid completely sincere]] rather than deliberately malicious, while Bois-Guilbert gets CharacterDevelopment and becomes almost a NobleDemon. And of course, corrupt priests like this ''did'' exist--rather, it's the bias in favor of it without any good ones which is telling.

* TheDreaded: Despite being at the Black Knight's mercy, De Bracy refuses to surrender to a "nameless peasant". But when the Black Knight reveals (in a whisper) that he is [[spoiler:King Richard in disguise]], [[OhCrap the color drains from De Bracy's face]] and he meekly surrenders.

* TheDreaded: Despite being at the Black Knight's mercy, De Bracy initially refuses to plead for mercy from a "nameless peasant". But when the Black Knight reveals (in a whisper) that he is [[spoiler:King Richard in disguise]], [[OhCrap the color drains from De Bracy's face]] and he meekly surrenders.

* TheJester: Wamba is Cedric's jester. His role allows him to calm tense situation. For example, when Prince John orders Isaac to sit with the Saxons at Ashby, Wamba dares to stop Isaac and Prince John fogives him, because he is a jester.

* GoOutWithASmile: Sir Brian when Ivanhoe stabs him.

''Ivanhoe: A Romance'' is an 1819 [[HistoricalFiction historical novel]] by Sir Creator/WalterScott, set in the reign of King UsefulNotes/RichardTheLionHeart and largely concerning the long-smouldering antagonism between the [[PeopleOfHairColor Normans and Saxons]] in the centuries after the Norman Conquest -- an antagonism which, at that date, is highly [[AnachronismStew anachronistic]] (one might call it a sort of HollywoodHistory) 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 [[MST3KMantra comforted himself]] that "errors of this kind will escape the general class of readers." (And to be fair, this romantic idea of early British history remained popular enough that Creator/ArthurConanDoyle used it 72(!) years later, in Literature/TheWhiteCompany, which takes place centuries after the events of Ivanhoe). Despite the author's [[AuthorTract Whig history]] limitations and prejudices (which are [[WriterOnBoard 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 TheHighMiddleAges.

* RealityIsUnrealistic: 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 [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rebecca_Gratz Rebecca Gratz]].

* MeaningfulEcho: When Bois-Guilbert is about to force himself on Rebecca, she tells him that "Reason is a gift from God to civilized men; it has no place in this room." When Rebecca is on trial, Bois-Guilbert repeats this word-for-word to Beaumanoir.

* HistoricalHeroUpgrade/HistoricalVillainUpgrade. Quite an interesting case, as this is actually discussed and deconstructed near the end of the series. [[spoiler:Eleanor of Aquitaine confronts both her sons and chews out not only John, but Richard as well. If anything she's more annoyed with the latter, since he's spent all but three or four months of his reign in the Holy Lands and has near bankrupted England to pay for his wars - leaving John to do the unpleasant but necessary task of raising the money for these wars ''and'' Richard's ransom, as well as keeping the country running. As she points out, 'John may be a miserable little ''runt,'' but at least he's ''' ''been'' ''' here!']]

** Bois-Guilbert starts out merely lusting after Rebecca, but grows to appreciate her intelligence and spirit; by the end he's genuinely in love with her, [[spoiler: facilitates Isaac's escape from the Templars so he can attempt to get some help, tries to help her escape the night before her execution, and allows Ivanhoe to kill him during their duel so she can live.]]
** Most of the protagonists are generally far nicer to Isaac and Rebecca than they were in the novel.

** Bois-Guilbert not only betrayed King Richard to the Austrians but pinned the blame for it on Ivanhoe, leaving the latter disgraced and having to clear his name.

* AgeLift: Reginald Fitzurse was born in 1145 and marrying age for men at that time was seventeen thus Waldemar has to be thirty-two at the oldest. Waldemar is played by Ronald Pickup who was fifty-seven at the time, though really Waldemar has never been played by a man in his thirties.
* AnimalMotifs: Prince John is identified with a falcon.

* ArtisticLicenseHistory: Cedric and Athelstane are shown having their beards tugged at the banquet of Lord John, as he was historically called due to being the first Lord of Ireland. This episode actually happened in real life, many times in fact, except John's courtiers were doing it to Gaelic Irish men, not Saxon men.

* BigDamnHeroes: Robin and the outlaws arrive at Templestowe in order to ensure Rebecca and Ivanhoe's safety.

** Another that first the definition of "extremely strange case": would be Eleanor of Aquitaine. Yes, she was a historical figure but she had not appeared in the original novel. The only members of the House of Plantagenet to appear, be it from being born into the house or marrying into it, are Richard and John. Of course, with her making appearances in Robin Hood adaptations it was only a matter of time until she appeared in an adaptation of ''Ivanhoe.''

%%* DeathSeeker

* DeathByAdaptation: De Bracy, Fitzurse and Gurth all die in contrast to the novel where they all were still alive by the end of it.

* EyeScream: What happens to Bois-Guilbert at the trial by combat. [[{{Squick}} And then he turns his head so we can get a good look at the empty socket.]]
* ExpositoryHairstyleChange: Lampshaded. Gurth asks why Ivanhoe is so shaggy.

* HistoricalHeroUpgrade: Somewhat played with, as is the HistoricalVillainUpgrade. Near the end of the series Eleanor of Aquitaine confronts both her sons and chews out not only John, but Richard as well. If anything she's more annoyed with the latter, since he's spent all but three or four months of his reign in the Holy Lands and has near bankrupted England to pay for his wars - leaving John to do the unpleasant but necessary task of raising the money for these wars ''and'' Richard's ransom, as well as keeping the country running. As she points out, 'John may be a miserable little runt, but at least he's ''' ''been'' ''' here!'

* ItsPersonal: This time around Ivanhoe has a personal vendetta against Bois-Guilbert, as the latter was the one who betrayed Richard and pinned the blame on Ivanhoe, leaving him trying desperately to salvage his ruined reputation.

* MeaningfulEcho: When Bois-Guilbert is about to rape Rebecca, she tells him that "Reason is a gift from God to civilized men; it has no place in this room." When Rebecca is on trial, Bois-Guilbert repeats this word-for-word to Beaumanoir.
%%* MyGodWhatHaveIDone

* PetTheDog: Little John defending Rebecca from a random lech at the tournament; and later, helping Gurth carry the injured Fangs.

* TheResenter: John is very aware that few people like him.
* SadisticChoice: Presented by Beaumanoir to Bois-Guilbert. Either Bois-Guilbert fights against Rebecca’s champion, or he’ll have to light the fire at her stake himself and then be sentenced along with her.

* SlouchOfVillainy: John during the trial in contrast to Beaumanoir who is sitting straight