Ivanhoe by Sir Walter Scott, a romantic story set in medieval England; embodies the definition of how the themes of a novel are applied to human life. The representation of Jews in Ivanhoe, through the character Rebecca, outlines the novel's major themes such as chivalry, romance, and centuries-old English anti-Semitism. Many interpret Ivanhoe as an exclusively anti-Semitic work, focusing on the rituals of the Knight Templar, highlighted in Ivanhoe's concluding chapters. The Knights Templar are described as consisting of a secret society of militant Christian men dressed in white, who condemned anyone with a dark complexion; all the traits and rituals of the Ku Klux Klan. The very name of the Ku Klux Klan echoes the romantic "clans" of Scott's fiction. However, Rebecca, a Jew, is saved from the stake after being convicted. This shows that Scott could not have written Ivanhoe as an anti-Semitic piece, otherwise the conclusion of the novel would have been completely contradictory to his views. Chivalry and romance are treated as one in Ivanhoe; the themes are intertwined within the entire novel. Rebecca, the Jewess, is the vital element of cultural mixing and its effects on chivalry within the novel. Ivanhoe's true love, before Rebecca and Rowena, is chivalry itself and his chivalric career (page 292): "you know not how impossible it is for one trained in chivalric deeds to remain as passive as a priest, or a woman, when they are to perform acts of honor around him. The love of battle is the food by which we live: the dust of the "fight" is the breath of our nostrils! We do not live - we do not wish to live - longer than when we are victorious and renowned - Such, maiden, are the laws of chivalry by which we have sworn, and by which we ... middle of paper ... ... chivalry, romance and anti-Semitism stand together While knights defend the their honor and their prose, it is the Jews who hold Ivanhoe's world together, and Rebecca is the primary means of holding the themes together. Rebecca's defiance of injustice inspires hope in readers who admire Rebecca above all for her religious choice There is much controversy regarding Scott's portrayal of Jews in Ivanhoe, but Scott portrays Rebecca, our Jewish heroine, in a sympathetic and positive manner, which demonstrates anti-Semitism, an impression commonly prevalent in the times of Scott, that's a racist and unwarranted notion. . Rebecca is the agent who demonstrates that a Jew can reveal qualities of romance and chivalry for which the Christian is known. Rebecca is an exceptional character whose humility defies everything.