Jews in "Ivanhoe"

Sir Walter Scott's novel Ivanhoe makes Jews central to the plot, but it is not an anti-Semitic book. Despite the inclusion of some traditional stereotypes which -- given the largely "antiquarian" nature of Scott's interests (to recall the word he uses) in telling this tale -- are aimed above all else at historical accuracy for the time period of the book and are not intended to be offensive, Scott writes as though some tenet of Christian chivalry entails tolerance and open-mindedness towards the Jewish population in England in the Middle Ages. In this paper I will suggest that a thorough examination of the novel's portrayal of twelfth-century Judaism reveals that Scott is really writing from a deep understanding of what life is like at the margins -- perhaps because he is writing as a Scotsman and as a physically disabled person (Scott famously had a club-foot) --...
[ View Full Essay]