Theme Of Xenophobia In Ivanhoe

Normans, Saxons and Jews dwell on the island of pre-established England. Because all these separate civilizations have different beliefs and value vastly different things, it’s no wonder that people got a little hostile. There is much racial prejudice between characters in Ivanhoe. The lives between these characters were greatly influenced because of this xenophobia in various ways. It shaped people’s romantic relationships and affected their lifespans.
One of the main themes of the film seems to be xenophobic tension and tragedy. Throughout the entire story, the audience follows the love triangle between Wilfred of Ivanhoe and the Saxon beauty, Rowena, and him and the Jewess, Rebecca. Rebecca is hesitant to love Ivanhoe because he is a Gentile and does not share her religious beliefs. Rowena is kept from Ivanhoe for most of the movie because a more worthy (and conveniently not disowned) Saxon suitor is promised her hand by her guardian, Cedric.
Cedric is ashamed to be in company …show more content…
RIchard referred to himself as the king of England rather than the King of the Normans. He understood how important it was to treat people with respect and to unify several people’s into one group in order to be strong against other nations. Robin Hood didn’t mind who it was that they saved, as long as they were good people. Gilbert, in his last moments, loved Rebecca enough to die for her. He looked past her ethnicity, as he’d done in his lust for her in the first place, and then looked past even her beauty in order to see her innocence, capacity to love, strength, admirable faith and self-reliance. Rebecca became a person in his heart and mind. Not just a Jewess, not merely a pretty plaything. He didn’t see her as a lesser race but rather as a wonderful individual who didn’t deserve to die as consequence of his own beastly