The Scarlet Pimpernel
Summary
The Scarlet Pimpernel, written in 1905 by Baroness Emma Orczy, begins suddenly in Paris during the climax of the French Revolution. Approximately one hundred heads roll each day in the squares of the blood-soaked city. The first few pages of the novel describe a strikingly successful ploy of the "Scarlet Pimpernel," a supposed Englishman with a band of wealthy comrades, delivering a family of French aristocrats or aristos.
After describing the means by which the family escapes the barricades of Paris, the story follows them across the Channel to an inn named "The Fisherman's Rest," where the family of three rests with the accompaniment of two of the Scarlet Pimpernel's men. In the presence of two suspicious men, they eat. Their two escorts both of stature within England, the family is well treated and protected. After the dinner, Orczy introduces the major named protagonist, Marguerite Blakaney. Marguerite, having grown up in France as plebeian and a Republican, rose in European social ladders and married the wealthy, yet self-professedly "dimwitted" Sir Percy Blakaney. Renown as an actor and the leader of both English style and culture, Marguerite leads the story into action. Her brother, Armand, had been leaving to France in attempts to help the people. At this moment, as he leaves willingly, the plot truly develops as a problem arises. From then, forward, Marguerite seeks some means to bring her brother back from the hands of the newly formed French government. Near this same sea-side tavern, she supposedly meets an old friend of her by fortune soon after. He, Chauvelin, is a French Republican sent to function as an acting ambassador to England, while subsequently providing intelligence to the Committee of Public Safety in France. Chauvelin ultimately becomes the antagonist of The Scarlet Pimpernel.
After describing the means by which the family escapes the barricades of Paris, the story follows them across the Channel to an inn named "The Fisherman's Rest," where the family of three rests with the accompaniment of two of the Scarlet Pimpernel's men. In the presence of two suspicious men, they eat. Their two escorts both of stature within England, the family is well treated and protected. After the dinner, Orczy introduces the major named protagonist, Marguerite Blakaney. Marguerite, having grown up in France as plebeian and a Republican, rose in European social ladders and married the wealthy, yet self-professedly "dimwitted" Sir Percy Blakaney. Renown as an actor and the leader of both English style and culture, Marguerite leads the story into action. Her brother, Armand, had been leaving to France in attempts to help the people. At this moment, as he leaves willingly, the plot truly develops as a problem arises. From then, forward, Marguerite seeks some means to bring her brother back from the hands of the newly formed French government. Near this same sea-side tavern, she supposedly meets an old friend of her by fortune soon after. He, Chauvelin, is a French Republican sent to function as an acting ambassador to England, while subsequently providing intelligence to the Committee of Public Safety in France. Chauvelin ultimately becomes the antagonist of The Scarlet Pimpernel.