Torture Scene

Richard Doyle

Hand-coloured wood engraving by the Dalziels

4¾ x 3½ inches

Titmarsh, M. A. [W. M. Thackeray],Rebecca and Rowena, facing 76.

This disturbing scene shows ‘Roger de Cartwright’ about ‘to extort’ from an ‘elderly Israelite’ his ‘hundred crowns’ (76). Once again, Doyle and Thackeray reveal the racial hatred that underpins the Crusaders’ campaigns and ridicule, with grim humour, the chivalric pretensions of Scott’s novel. The ironic disjuncture between the cartoon style and the cruelty it depicts is a powerful affront to readers’ sensibilities, both Victorian and modern.

Scanned image and text by Simon Cooke.

[You may use this image without prior permission for any scholarly or educational purpose as long as you (1) credit the person who scanned the image and (2) link your document to this URL in a web document or cite the Victorian Web in a print one.]