Thus communed these; while to their lowly dome,
The full-fed swine return'd with evening home;
Compell'd, reluctant, to the several sties,
With din obstreperous, and ungrateful cries.
Pope's Odyssey
In that pleasant district of merry England which is watered by the river Don, there extended in
ancient times a large forest, covering the greater part of the beautiful hills and valleys which lie
between Sheffield and the pleasant town of Doncaster. The remains of this extensive wood are still
to be seen at the noble seats of Wentworth, of Warncliffe Park, and around Rotherham. Here
haunted of yore the fabulous Dragon of Wantley; here were fought many of the most desperate
battles during the Civil Wars of the Roses; and here also flourished in ancient times those bands of
gallant outlaws, whose deeds have been rendered so popular in English song. Such being our chief
scene, the date of our story refers to a period towards the end of the reign of Richard I, when his
return from his long captivity had become an event rather wished than hoped for by his despairing
subjects, who were in the meantime subjected to every species of subordinate oppression. The
nobles, whose power had become exorbitant during the reign of Stephen, and whom the prudence of
Henry the Second had scarce reduced to some degree of subjection to the crown, had now resumed
their ancient license in its utmost extent; despising the feeble interference of the English Council of
State, fortifying their castles, increasing the number of their dependants, reducing all around them
to a state of vassalage, and striving by every means in their power, to place themselves each at the
head of such forces as might enable him to make a figure in the national convulsions which
appeared to be impending. The situation of the inferior gentry, or Franklins, as they were called,
who, by the law and spirit of the English constitution, were entitled to hold themselves independent
of feudal tyranny, became now unusually precarious. If, as was most generally the case, they placed
themselves under the protection of any of the petty kings in their vicinity, accepted of feudal offices
in his household, or bound themselves by mutual treaties of alliance and protection, to support him
in his enterprises, they might indeed purchase temporary repose; but it must be with the sacrifice of
that independence which was so dear to every English bosom, and at the certain hazard of being
involved as a party in whatever rash expedition the ambition of their protector might lead him to
undertake. On the other hand, such and so multiplied were the means of vexation and oppression
possessed by the great Barons, that they never wanted the pretext, and seldom the will, to harass and
pursue, even to the very edge of destruction, any of their less powerful neighbours, who attempted
to separate themselves from their authority, and to trust for their protection, during the dangers of
the times, to their own inoffensive conduct, and to the laws of the land.
Richard I (8 September 1157 – 6 April 1199) was King of England from 6 July 1189 until his
death. He also ruled as Duke of Normandy, Duke of Aquitaine, Duke of Gascony, Lord of Cyprus,
Count of Anjou, Count of Maine, Count of Nantes, and Overlord of Brittany at various times during
the same period. He was known as Cœur de Lion, or Richard the Lionheart, even before his
accession, because of his reputation as a great military leader and warrior. The Saracens called him
Melek-Ric or Malek al-Inkitar - King of England. Although speaking only langue d'oïl and langue
d'oc and spending very little time in England (he lived in his Duchy of Aquitaine in the southwest
of France, preferring to use his kingdom as a source of revenue to support his armies), he was seen
as a pious hero by his subjects. He remains one of the very few Kings of England remembered by
his epithet, rather than regnal number, and is an enduring, iconic figure in England and France.
What kind of narrator is the one in the story?
He is a third person narrator. We can’t say he is omniscient because he is referring Historical events
and situations that everyone knows from the books, but we can clearly understand that he strongly
disagrees with what happened at that time because he says that ordinary people were oppressed by
the nobles who “multiplied their means of vexation and oppression”.
What is the story?
It is not well specified but it is something which happened “at the end of the reign of Richard I”
(1199), that is, the Middle Ages. So we can say it is a historical story
What is the theme?
I think it is the oppression and the struggle for freedom which is typical of the Romantic period.
What is the point of view?
It is the narrator point of view and from the words he uses we understand he is not just a teller but
he lets us know his position towards the way the nobles acted.
What is the time setting? Where is it given?
It is the Middle Ages, precisely the end of the reign of king Richard and we understand that when
the narrator says: “Such being our chief scene, the date of our story refers to a period towards the
end of the reign of Richard I”
What is the place setting?
It is a well defined English region, the one “between Sheffield and the pleasant town of Doncaster.
The adjectives the narrator uses when he describes the place are all positive and give the image of a
peaceful and pleasant place where people can’t live unhappy. But that was not the case for the
ordinary people who lived at the time when the story takes place as we know later.
Who are the characters?
We understand that the main character could be Richard I, but he is not at this point of the story.
Here he is the hero ordinary people waited for to free themselves from the oppression of the nobles.
The lines we can read at the very beginning of the chapter are somehow an anticipation of the story:
King Richard like Ulysses went on his adventures and left his own country in the hands of people
he thought were gentlemen but revealed to be more similar to pigs, those Circe the magician grew
in her cave and they too were men transformed in pigs. The other characters are the nobles and the
ordinary people who lived in middle England in the 12th century.
(The abstract is taken from “Ivanhoe” by Walter Scott. So Ivanhoe is the main character and the
hero together with Richard I)
What kind of language is it used?
The language is simple, except for the lines at the very beginning. Sentences are quite long because
they are used to describe places, the way nobles used their power and ordinary people suffered it.
There are no dialogues, it is plain prose.