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A review by foraging_pages
The Scarlet Pimpernel by Baroness Orczy
4.0
The Scarlet Pimpernel is one of those books I’ve always heard of but never sought out. I even had an older cousin once exclaim “you’ve never read The Scarlet Pimpernel?!” And I was like no…why would I have? But now that I know it’s a compelling and adventurous look at the French Revolution through French and English eyes, I understand.
The story is told (or at least begins) through duality. We have the French “frontlines” if you will of captains and guards of the Republic of France trying to catch fleeing aristocrats and sentence them to death by guillotine. We also have the English “interiors” showing how the regular working class and aristocracy sympathizers move within inns, opera houses, and manors.
Most encourage a republic for France but they find fault in the way the French republicans are going about it. Keeping the cities on lockdown, denying fair trials when most are innocent, and killing whole families simply for their aristocratic status. Enter the Scarlet Pimpernel as a secret agent of espionage and rescue. Everyone in the English court adores him and no one is more prominent within the English court than Marguerite Blakeney.
As a French actress who recently married and moved to England, she is admired by the English people for her connections yet despised by the rescued French aristocrats who blame her for putting into motion the reign of terror. They’re all too happy to be saved by the Scarlet Pimpernel and co., but they won’t bow down to the woman who plays both sides. Marguerite enjoys a pivotal role while trying to save her brother from the guillotine.
This novel, like any good classic, begs many questions and opens much discourse. Do the English wish to help the French aristocracy from the bloody, vile republican rebels because they do not wish to have a rebellion of their own and would like its citizens to feel indebted and less likely to go against the monarchy? Who does the Scarlet Pimpernel work for, if anyone? Does he truly wish to preserve life and prevent murder like any moral being would? Who does one save? The life of one beloved or the lives of hundreds of innocents?
The last third of the book turned out to be quite adventurous and fun. I enjoyed the dangerous rescue along the French coast! I also ended up loving Marguerite and her husband Percy Blakenley as protagonists. They make quite the dynamic duo.
The story is told (or at least begins) through duality. We have the French “frontlines” if you will of captains and guards of the Republic of France trying to catch fleeing aristocrats and sentence them to death by guillotine. We also have the English “interiors” showing how the regular working class and aristocracy sympathizers move within inns, opera houses, and manors.
Most encourage a republic for France but they find fault in the way the French republicans are going about it. Keeping the cities on lockdown, denying fair trials when most are innocent, and killing whole families simply for their aristocratic status. Enter the Scarlet Pimpernel as a secret agent of espionage and rescue. Everyone in the English court adores him and no one is more prominent within the English court than Marguerite Blakeney.
As a French actress who recently married and moved to England, she is admired by the English people for her connections yet despised by the rescued French aristocrats who blame her for putting into motion the reign of terror. They’re all too happy to be saved by the Scarlet Pimpernel and co., but they won’t bow down to the woman who plays both sides. Marguerite enjoys a pivotal role while trying to save her brother from the guillotine.
This novel, like any good classic, begs many questions and opens much discourse. Do the English wish to help the French aristocracy from the bloody, vile republican rebels because they do not wish to have a rebellion of their own and would like its citizens to feel indebted and less likely to go against the monarchy? Who does the Scarlet Pimpernel work for, if anyone? Does he truly wish to preserve life and prevent murder like any moral being would? Who does one save? The life of one beloved or the lives of hundreds of innocents?
The last third of the book turned out to be quite adventurous and fun. I enjoyed the dangerous rescue along the French coast! I also ended up loving Marguerite and her husband Percy Blakenley as protagonists. They make quite the dynamic duo.