Ivanhoe

QUESTIONS

1. Professor Wood reminds us of parallels between the circumstances of the time in which Ivanhoe was written and those of the time in which it was set. He also reminds us why, later, American southerners found it attractive. But the novel has had, and continues to have, many readers who know nothing about such matters. What is its appeal?

2. Is the artificial dialogue in Ivanhoe a problem? Think how hard it would be to recover the colloquial English of Ivanhoe’s time. If you wanted to write a sequel, how would you solve the problem, on the one hand, of avoiding anachronisms and, on the other, of writing dialogue that is true to the way people spoke at that time? How would you know what was accurate and what was a product of your imagination?

3. How would you describe the function of the material about Robin Hood within the novel as a whole? Do he and his band serve as an implied commentary on the lifestyles of the other characters? Does he represent another, alternative way of living?