Epilogue: Ivanhoe and Historical Fiction

Abstract

In this epilogue, I want to expand upon my remarks at the end of Chapter 4, examining Ivanhoe in relation to the historical fiction that preceded it. With Ivanhoe, Scott took a position in opposition to the historical fiction of his time, distinguishing his novel from other books of its type in order to increase its sales. To set Ivanhoe apart from the dozens of historical novels set in the Middle Ages that preceded it, Scott implicitly posits a caricatured model of his predecessors to define his practice against, while still attempting to capitalize on the genre’s popularity. In this chapter, I examine three ways in which Scott distinguished his book from its rivals. First, I look at the ways Scott caricatures his predecessors thematically. Next, I turn to Ivanhoe’s character-system, wherein Scott pointedly decenters his hero in order to distinguish his book from historical fiction of the heroic variety. Finally, I look at Scott’s use of narrative simultaneity as a means of distinguishing his more complex narrative from its more simply structured rivals. Through tactics such as these, Scott was able to extend his reach to a new type of historical fiction while retaining his market dominance.