Ivanhoe

The Normans keep their captives in different rooms of the castle. Isaac is treated worst of all: He is thrown into a dungeon and threatened with torture unless he pays Front-de-Boeuf a ransom of 1,000 pounds of silver. Isaac finally agrees to pay Front-de-Boeuf, but when he discovers that his daughter Rebecca has been claimed by Bois-Guilbert as his share of the “spoils,” he is distraught and declares that he will not give Front-de-Boeuf anything unless Rebecca is set free. Front-de-Boeuf is about to start torturing Isaac when he hears the horn.

While Front-de-Boeuf is with Isaac, Bracy speaks with Rowena in another room of the castle—one of the best rooms in the castle, in fact. Bracy dons his best Norman finery and declares his love to Rowena, who says she does not know him. Disappointed with Rowena’s cold response, Bracy finally grows angry and tells her he will never let her go unless she becomes his wife. Bracy also tells her that the wounded knight traveling with Isaac and Rebecca—now a captive as well—is Ivanhoe, and he threatens to kill both him and Cedric if Rowena refuses him. The distraught Rowena begins weeping, and Bracy, not knowing how to comfort her, panics.