Ivanhoe by Sir Walter Scott

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Ivanhoe by Sir Walter Scott
Ivanhoe is one of the best renowned works by Sir Walter Scott. The story incorporates a variety of aspects that are common in society. Such include politics and government as well as love. The plot of the story helps the reader to remain captivated to the storyline as it is based on familiar things that affect human existence.
The plot starts with King Richard being captured and held captive in an Australian prison. He is captured on his way back home from a crusade. This makes his brother, Prince John takes over the leadership of the throne. His brother is a wicked leader and this causes Norman nobles to violate their supremacy. Saxons and the Normans were not in good terms even before the capturing of King Richard. The negative change of leadership intensified the antagonism between the two (Scott 16). Saxon lands are repossessed and many landowners become serfs.
A critical look into the type of governance in the story creates the impression of incompetent governing. From the story, the type of governance described is that of a monarchial system (Scott 23). Leaders are chosen by the mere fact of nobility. It is clear that in as much the leadership position is passed from person to another within the same family, the way of governance is not the same. While one may be a competent and loyal leader, the other may be a complete opposite. It is clearly described by King Richard and his brother John.
A society’s government is quite sensitive.

The way of governance tends to affect the overall performance of society, socially and economically. The determination of a society’s leaders, therefore, needs to be done in a critical and efficient way other than mere nobility. Another theme is on social beliefs where Cedric disinherits his son Ivanhoe for following King Richard to war. It is necessary for a society to have norms and rules to guide behavior, but the loyalty to some beliefs gets out of hand. The act of Ivanhoe distorts his relationship with his dad because his dad is a staunch loyalty of the Saxons. The family is the basic unit of socialization, therefore, the relations in a family should be close knit to ensure that the same is maintained at the macro- level unit of the society at large.

Society is never without challenges, but some factors that affect the majority of society need to be given the attention they require to ensure efficient functionality. Most things that negatively impact society can be avoided if members are sensitive and keen on the matters that affect them such as governance.
Work cited
Scott, Walter. The Works of Sir Walter Scott. London: T. Nelson, 2004. Print.