The Scarlet Pimpernel--Baroness Orczy

Finishing The Scarlet Pimpernel for the third time provided me almost as much enjoyment as the first time. (Once you know the plot, it's hard to create quite the same level of anticipation during a second or third reading.) I had a number of reasons to read the novel again. After reading both A Tale of Two Cities and The Secret History of the Pink Carnation I was interested in re-reading one of my all-time favorites. I had extra incentive, since this was my book club's selection for the month and I'm in charge of leading the discussion (in which case, if you're in my book club, you may want to skip this so our meeting isn't redundant).

Orczy is interesting. (If that doesn't entice you to keep on reading, I don't know what would!) Aside from being actuall royalty (albiet Hungarian and not British royalty), she was a very prolific writer. The Scarlet Pimpernel was her first book to be published, but she had a difficult time getting it published. She intentionally wrote the book so that it could be easily translated into a stage play and this became the novel's saving grace. It was originally performed on the stage before a publisher was willing to pick up the novel. While critics disparaged the novel, it became an immediate success with the public. Over the course of the next 35 years Orczy wrote many sequels to her original Pimpernel novel, but none were quite as popular as the first.

The Pimpernel's popularity lead to the establishment of many standard stereotypes in today's literature and culture. The creation of characters such as James Bond, Zorro, Batman, Superman, and other masters of espionage can be traced straight back to Sir Percy Blakeney's foppish and clever ways. For this very reason, The Scarlet Pimpernel becomes a necessary read for anyone hoping to gain further clarity and understanding about the world we live in today.

Aside from reading the Pimpernel for esoteric reasons, Orczy presents an entertaining and enjoyable plot. The story follows the beautiful and witty Lady Marguerite Blakeney as she is forced to decide between sacrificing her much-loved brother Armand St. Just or the identity of the elusive Scarlet Pimpernel. After much indecision, Marguerite makes a choice that drives the rest of the novel and provides multiple opportunities for the Scarlet Pimpernel to demonstrate not only his daring and dashing abilities, but his more romantic and sensitive side as well.

All in all, the book is enjoyable and well worth the read. I just have one minor issue. Throughout the novel Marguerite is continually refered to as "the cleverest woman in Europe," yet the novel never actually has her do or say anything witty or clever. In fact, compared to the Scarlet Pimpernel she is downright dull and needy. Oh well, I guess that's the lot of women in the late eighteenth century.