Scarlet Pimpernel Plot

The plot of the story, The Scarlet Pimpernel, begins in September, 1792, in France. Nobles are losing their heads to the guillotine. The Scarlet Pimpernel, who was given that name because he leaves images of that very flower on slips of paper, has been sneaking those who would be targeted to lose their heads in France, out of the country. Sergeant Bibot, an agent of the Committee of Public Safety, is watching the West Gate of the city of Paris. Sergeant Bibot feels that no one will get past him when he is guarding the West Gate. This includes the Scarlet Pimpernel. However, Bibot lets pass a cart driven by what he describes as “an old hag” who he later learns, to his disgust that it was the Scarlet Pimpernel in disguise. Lady Blakeney is approached by a French secret agent who wants her to help him in his search for the elusive Scarlet Pimpernel. She does have a personal interest in finding the Scarlet Pimpernel because her brother has been found to be collaborating with the Scarlet Pimpernel. The members of the League of the Scarlet Pimpernel meet at a pub in Dover, England. Lord Antony Dewhurst is at this pub called The Fisherman’s Rest; he is meeting with three refugees –the Comtesse de Tournay, her young friend, Susan, and the Vicomte de Tournay. Sir Andrew Ffoulkes accompanies the refugees. The Comtesse de Tournay expresses to Lord Antony that she does not have much hope for the release of her husband, the Comte de Tournay. At this meeting, it is announced that there are twenty members of the League of the Scarlet Pimpernel. At the end of the meeting Sir Percy Blakeney and his wife Lady Marguerite Blakeney arrive at the pub. The Comtesse de Tournay's son challenges Sir Percy Blakeney to a duel because his mother hate...

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...ope is also a major theme in the novel; the people who are rescued waited patiently until it was their turn to be rescued from the cabin. Lady Blakeney and Percy Blakeney also reconcile at the end of the novel, showing another solution to a problem. Fulfilled hopes and solutions to problems are major themes in The Scarlet Pimpernel.

The message of hope written into the novel by the author, Baroness Orczy, was important to me because hope is a universal emotion. Although the novel was biased toward those of a wealthy background, I thought the message of hope in the novel was more important than the message of sympathy because everyone can feel hope, but not everyone could feel sympathy toward characters such as Lady Marguerite Blakeney and Sir Percy Blakeney because they had lived lives of privilege before falling into difficult times.