Baroness Emma Orczy published The Scarlet Pimpernel in 1905, more than 100 years after the French Revolution. As a result, the novel contains some references to events that transpired after the revolution's conclusion.
Chapter 1, for example, contains an allusion to the reign of Napoleon Bonaparte:
The hour, some little time before sunset, and the place, the West Barricade, at the very spot where, a decade later, a proud tyrant would raise an undying monument to the nation's glory and his own vanity.
Napoleon, a French military commander and political leader, rose to prominence during the French Revolution and went on to become the Emperor of France. The "undying monument" likely refers to the Arc de Triomphe de l'Étoile, a Paris monument that honors those who fought and died during the French Revolution and the Napoleonic Wars.
Napoleon's reign left a powerful political and cultural legacy in Europe, and he is alternately viewed as a celebrated or controversial leader. Orczy, who opposed the French Revolution and aligned her interests with Great Britain (which fought against Napoleon during the Napoleonic Wars), chooses to characterize him as a vain tyrant. From her 20th-century perspective, she is aware that Napoleon's reign ended in disgrace, and she uses that knowledge to retroactively portray the French Revolution as an endeavor ultimately doomed to fail.
The Scarlet Pimpernel contains other allusions to real-life historical figures. The character of Chauvelin is inspired by François-Bernard de Chauvelin, marquis de Grosbois, a nobleman and official within the French Republic. Orczy's Chauvelin bears almost no resemblance to his historical counterpart. Orczy ascribes traits to him that have no basis in historical fact, doing so in order to make the novel more dramatic and emphasize her belief in the immorality of the French Revolution.
At several points throughout The Scarlet Pimpernel, Orczy uses figurative language relating to snakes and serpents. She first introduces the image in Chapter 7, where it is associated with Marguerite:
The gentle sea-breeze blew Marguerite's hair about her face, and sent the ends of her soft lace fichu waving round her, like a white and supple snake.
This reference to snakes is likely a Biblical allusion to the serpent in the Garden of Eden, a figure associated with treachery. The allusion calls to mind the fate of Eve, who disobeyed God and brought about the fall of mankind after being deceived by the serpent. By using this allusion in relation to Marguerite, Orczy signals that she has committed acts of treachery in the past—most notably her role in the execution of the Marquis de St. Cyr and his family. Orczy also foreshadows events that occur later in the novel, in which Marguerite unwittingly betrays her husband after being blackmailed by Chauvelin.
Orczy explicitly links Chauvelin with the image of snakes in Chapter 9:
A figure had emerged from under one of the benches; with snakelike, noiseless movements it crept closer and closer to the two men, not breathing, only gliding along the floor, in the inky blackness of the room.
The biblical serpent, in addition to its traditional association with treachery, is also sometimes interpreted as Satan in animal form. At other points in The Scarlet Pimpernel, Orczy explicitly likens Chauvelin and his men to demons from hell. These comparisons, along with this allusion to the biblical serpent, align Chauvelin—and, by extension, the French Republic—with the forces of ultimate evil.
Snake-related imagery makes another appearance in Chapter 16, when Marguerite and Sir Percy are on their way home from Lord Grenville's ball:
The river wound in and out in its pretty delicate curves, looking like a silver serpent beneath the glittering rays of the moon.
This and the earlier simile from Chapter 7 are both visually appealing, representing the contrast between Marguerite's beauty and apparent innocence and her past misdeeds. This simile also reminds the reader that Marguerite, on orders from Chauvelin, has just committed another act of treachery at Lord Grenville's ball.
Chapter 7 of The Scarlet Pimpernel, in which Marguerite ponders the brutality of the French Revolution, contains a Shakespearean allusion:
[T]hat relentless and stern France which was exacting her pound of flesh, the blood-tax from the noblest of her sons.
The phrase "pound of flesh" is a reference to The Merchant of Venice. The play features the character Shylock, a Jewish moneylender who demands a pound of flesh from a Christian merchant named Antonio as payment for an unpaid debt. Although Shakespeare's depiction of Shylock is undeniably antisemitic, certain parts of the play portray him as quite sympathetic.
On a practical level, Shylock's demand for a pound of flesh, though grotesque, is legally and morally justified. Antonio owes him a substantial debt, which he is unable to repay through traditional means. In addition, Antonio has treated Shylock with flagrant disrespect and appalling racism, and the audience can sympathize with Shylock's desire for revenge. Nevertheless, Shakespeare still frames Shylock as the villain of the story.
In The Scarlet Pimpernel, Orczy accomplishes something similar by exclusively focusing on the brutality of the Reign of Terror whilst downplaying the cruelty and excess of the French aristocracy, which led to the French Revolution in the first place.
The Scarlet Pimpernel, like The Merchant of Venice, also contains some atrociously racist depictions of Jewish people, namely Sir Percy's disguise as Benjamin Rosenbaum. Orczy chiefly employs antisemitic tropes to emphasize Chauvelin's prejudice and villainy, but it is clear that some of these views are her own.
At several points throughout The Scarlet Pimpernel, Orczy uses figurative language relating to snakes and serpents. She first introduces the image in Chapter 7, where it is associated with Marguerite:
The gentle sea-breeze blew Marguerite's hair about her face, and sent the ends of her soft lace fichu waving round her, like a white and supple snake.
This reference to snakes is likely a Biblical allusion to the serpent in the Garden of Eden, a figure associated with treachery. The allusion calls to mind the fate of Eve, who disobeyed God and brought about the fall of mankind after being deceived by the serpent. By using this allusion in relation to Marguerite, Orczy signals that she has committed acts of treachery in the past—most notably her role in the execution of the Marquis de St. Cyr and his family. Orczy also foreshadows events that occur later in the novel, in which Marguerite unwittingly betrays her husband after being blackmailed by Chauvelin.
Orczy explicitly links Chauvelin with the image of snakes in Chapter 9:
A figure had emerged from under one of the benches; with snakelike, noiseless movements it crept closer and closer to the two men, not breathing, only gliding along the floor, in the inky blackness of the room.
The biblical serpent, in addition to its traditional association with treachery, is also sometimes interpreted as Satan in animal form. At other points in The Scarlet Pimpernel, Orczy explicitly likens Chauvelin and his men to demons from hell. These comparisons, along with this allusion to the biblical serpent, align Chauvelin—and, by extension, the French Republic—with the forces of ultimate evil.
Snake-related imagery makes another appearance in Chapter 16, when Marguerite and Sir Percy are on their way home from Lord Grenville's ball:
The river wound in and out in its pretty delicate curves, looking like a silver serpent beneath the glittering rays of the moon.
This and the earlier simile from Chapter 7 are both visually appealing, representing the contrast between Marguerite's beauty and apparent innocence and her past misdeeds. This simile also reminds the reader that Marguerite, on orders from Chauvelin, has just committed another act of treachery at Lord Grenville's ball.
At certain points throughout The Scarlet Pimpernel, Orczy makes allusions to figures in classical Greek and Roman mythology.
Chauvelin is frequently described as resembling a cat, but in Chapter 11, Orczy specifically compares him to a sphinx, referring to "the placid, sphinx-like face of the Frenchman." In Greek mythology, the sphinx was a creature with a woman's face, a lion's body, and bird's wings. She is depicted as a treacherous, intelligent, and ravenous figure who eats humans who are unable to answer her riddles. This allusion serves to emphasize Chauvelin's impressive cunning, as well as the deadly plans he has in store for the Scarlet Pimpernel.
Chapter 12, in which Marguerite schemes to snatch a scrap of paper with a secret message away from Sir Andrew, contains an allusion to Roman mythology, as she says:
"I do believe it was Cupid himself who stood by you."
Marguerite references Cupid in order to tease Sir Andrew about his hypothetical lover, whom Marguerite has invented as part of a lie to conceal her true motivations. In Roman mythology, Cupid was the god of desire, and he is usually depicted as a youthful archer whose arrows can inspire either love or hate in his targets. This allusion can be read as a reference to Marguerite's marriage to Sir Percy, which was founded on genuine devotion but has grown cold due to resentment.
At several points throughout The Scarlet Pimpernel, Orczy personifies the concept of fate. In part, this personification is an allusion to the Fates in Greek mythology—a trio of female deities responsible for mortal destiny. But Orczy also uses the motif of personified fate to advance her argument about the superiority of the English aristocracy.
In Chapter 14, Marguerite personifies fate in an attempt to justify her decision to help Chauvelin in his attempts to capture the Scarlet Pimpernel:
Fate had decided, had made her speak, had made her do a vile, abominable thing, for the sake of the brother she loved.
By blaming "Fate" for her actions, Marguerite refuses to acknowledge her own agency in the situation. She is responsible for the choice to help Chauvelin, just as she was responsible for her actions back home in France, which led to the execution of the Marquis de St. Cyr and his family. But by placing the blame on Fate, an all-powerful mythical entity, Marguerite can avoid the guilt she feels.
In Chapter 30, after Marguerite finally takes full responsibility for her actions and seeks to atone for them, Orczy implies that Fate has actually been on the side of the Scarlet Pimpernel all along:
It really seemed as if some potent Fate watched over that daring Scarlet Pimpernel, and his astute enemy almost felt a superstitious shudder pass through him, as he looked round at the towering cliffs, and the loneliness of this outlying coast.
In this passage, Chauvelin almost feels "a superstitious shudder" at the realization that the Scarlet Pimpernel has slipped through his fingers once again. The Scarlet Pimpernel's luck, to Chauvelin, appears almost supernatural.
In Chapter 31, after Sir Percy and Marguerite have successfully escaped Chauvelin, Sir Percy also expresses his opinion that Fate is on his side:
"I thought that Fate and I were going to work together after all."
By having the forces of fate align to aid Sir Percy, Orczy implies that his mission, as well as the superiority of the English aristocracy, is somehow divinely sanctioned.
At several points throughout The Scarlet Pimpernel, Orczy uses figurative language relating to snakes and serpents. She first introduces the image in Chapter 7, where it is associated with Marguerite:
The gentle sea-breeze blew Marguerite's hair about her face, and sent the ends of her soft lace fichu waving round her, like a white and supple snake.
This reference to snakes is likely a Biblical allusion to the serpent in the Garden of Eden, a figure associated with treachery. The allusion calls to mind the fate of Eve, who disobeyed God and brought about the fall of mankind after being deceived by the serpent. By using this allusion in relation to Marguerite, Orczy signals that she has committed acts of treachery in the past—most notably her role in the execution of the Marquis de St. Cyr and his family. Orczy also foreshadows events that occur later in the novel, in which Marguerite unwittingly betrays her husband after being blackmailed by Chauvelin.
Orczy explicitly links Chauvelin with the image of snakes in Chapter 9:
A figure had emerged from under one of the benches; with snakelike, noiseless movements it crept closer and closer to the two men, not breathing, only gliding along the floor, in the inky blackness of the room.
The biblical serpent, in addition to its traditional association with treachery, is also sometimes interpreted as Satan in animal form. At other points in The Scarlet Pimpernel, Orczy explicitly likens Chauvelin and his men to demons from hell. These comparisons, along with this allusion to the biblical serpent, align Chauvelin—and, by extension, the French Republic—with the forces of ultimate evil.
Snake-related imagery makes another appearance in Chapter 16, when Marguerite and Sir Percy are on their way home from Lord Grenville's ball:
The river wound in and out in its pretty delicate curves, looking like a silver serpent beneath the glittering rays of the moon.
This and the earlier simile from Chapter 7 are both visually appealing, representing the contrast between Marguerite's beauty and apparent innocence and her past misdeeds. This simile also reminds the reader that Marguerite, on orders from Chauvelin, has just committed another act of treachery at Lord Grenville's ball.
Chapter 18 of The Scarlet Pimpernel—in which Marguerite begins to suspect that there is more to her husband than meets the eye—contains an allusion to a French folktale:
Gently, on tiptoe, she crossed the landing and, like Blue Beard's wife, trembling half with excitement and wonder, she paused a moment on the threshold, strangely perturbed and irresolute.
"Bluebeard," the most famous surviving version of which was written by Charles Perrault, concerns a woman who discovers that her husband has been systematically murdering his previous wives and narrowly avoids the same fate.
In the folktale, Bluebeard gives his new bride the keys to his castle but forbids her from entering one specific room. One day, when her husband is out of the house, the wife's curiosity gets the best of her, and she goes to investigate the secret room, where she discovers the corpses of her predecessors.
This allusion highlights the illicit nature of Marguerite's activities and foreshadows the reveal that her husband, like Bluebeard, has been keeping a major secret from her. The allusion recurs later in the chapter, when Marguerite is leaving her husband's study:
Her head began to ache, she turned away from this strange Blue Beard's chamber, which she had entered, and which she did not understand.
These allusions are, of course, highly ironic. Unlike Bluebeard, Sir Percy is not secretly a serial killer. Rather, he is far more intelligent and heroic than he appears. And while Perrault's folktale ends with Bluebeard's wife being rescued in the nick of time from the clutches of her murderous husband, The Scarlet Pimpernel ends with Marguerite and Sir Percy rescuing one another.
In Chapter 23 of The Scarlet Pimpernel, Sir Andrew spies Chauvelin (who is preparing to capture Sir Percy) heading toward "The Chat Gris." Chauvelin is in disguise as a curé—a type of priest—which Sir Andrew finds highly ironic.
[H]e was disguised as a curé, so that Satan, his own guardian, would scarce have known him.
Chauvelin's disguise strikes Sir Andrew and Marguerite as ironic because they view him as an evil, devilish figure. The disguise is also situationally ironic because Chauvelin is acting on behalf of the French Republic, a government that opposes religion.
At several other points in the novel, Orczy emphasizes Chauvelin's villainy by associating him with demons. Chapter 24, which features Chauvelin in his priestly disguise, even includes an allusion to The Divine Comedy:
He laughed, as Dante has told us that the devils laugh at the sight of the torture of the damned.
The Divine Comedy, a 14th-century Italian narrative poem by Dante Alighieri, contains a detailed imagining of the nine circles of Christian Hell. This allusion, which explicitly likens Chauvelin to a demon, emphasizes his sadistic nature and symbolically aligns the cause of the French Revolution with the forces of evil.
In Chapter 23 of The Scarlet Pimpernel, Sir Andrew spies Chauvelin (who is preparing to capture Sir Percy) heading toward "The Chat Gris." Chauvelin is in disguise as a curé—a type of priest—which Sir Andrew finds highly ironic.
[H]e was disguised as a curé, so that Satan, his own guardian, would scarce have known him.
Chauvelin's disguise strikes Sir Andrew and Marguerite as ironic because they view him as an evil, devilish figure. The disguise is also situationally ironic because Chauvelin is acting on behalf of the French Republic, a government that opposes religion.
At several other points in the novel, Orczy emphasizes Chauvelin's villainy by associating him with demons. Chapter 24, which features Chauvelin in his priestly disguise, even includes an allusion to The Divine Comedy:
He laughed, as Dante has told us that the devils laugh at the sight of the torture of the damned.
The Divine Comedy, a 14th-century Italian narrative poem by Dante Alighieri, contains a detailed imagining of the nine circles of Christian Hell. This allusion, which explicitly likens Chauvelin to a demon, emphasizes his sadistic nature and symbolically aligns the cause of the French Revolution with the forces of evil.
At several points throughout The Scarlet Pimpernel, Orczy personifies the concept of fate. In part, this personification is an allusion to the Fates in Greek mythology—a trio of female deities responsible for mortal destiny. But Orczy also uses the motif of personified fate to advance her argument about the superiority of the English aristocracy.
In Chapter 14, Marguerite personifies fate in an attempt to justify her decision to help Chauvelin in his attempts to capture the Scarlet Pimpernel:
Fate had decided, had made her speak, had made her do a vile, abominable thing, for the sake of the brother she loved.
By blaming "Fate" for her actions, Marguerite refuses to acknowledge her own agency in the situation. She is responsible for the choice to help Chauvelin, just as she was responsible for her actions back home in France, which led to the execution of the Marquis de St. Cyr and his family. But by placing the blame on Fate, an all-powerful mythical entity, Marguerite can avoid the guilt she feels.
In Chapter 30, after Marguerite finally takes full responsibility for her actions and seeks to atone for them, Orczy implies that Fate has actually been on the side of the Scarlet Pimpernel all along:
It really seemed as if some potent Fate watched over that daring Scarlet Pimpernel, and his astute enemy almost felt a superstitious shudder pass through him, as he looked round at the towering cliffs, and the loneliness of this outlying coast.
In this passage, Chauvelin almost feels "a superstitious shudder" at the realization that the Scarlet Pimpernel has slipped through his fingers once again. The Scarlet Pimpernel's luck, to Chauvelin, appears almost supernatural.
In Chapter 31, after Sir Percy and Marguerite have successfully escaped Chauvelin, Sir Percy also expresses his opinion that Fate is on his side:
"I thought that Fate and I were going to work together after all."
By having the forces of fate align to aid Sir Percy, Orczy implies that his mission, as well as the superiority of the English aristocracy, is somehow divinely sanctioned.
At several points throughout The Scarlet Pimpernel, Orczy personifies the concept of fate. In part, this personification is an allusion to the Fates in Greek mythology—a trio of female deities responsible for mortal destiny. But Orczy also uses the motif of personified fate to advance her argument about the superiority of the English aristocracy.
In Chapter 14, Marguerite personifies fate in an attempt to justify her decision to help Chauvelin in his attempts to capture the Scarlet Pimpernel:
Fate had decided, had made her speak, had made her do a vile, abominable thing, for the sake of the brother she loved.
By blaming "Fate" for her actions, Marguerite refuses to acknowledge her own agency in the situation. She is responsible for the choice to help Chauvelin, just as she was responsible for her actions back home in France, which led to the execution of the Marquis de St. Cyr and his family. But by placing the blame on Fate, an all-powerful mythical entity, Marguerite can avoid the guilt she feels.
In Chapter 30, after Marguerite finally takes full responsibility for her actions and seeks to atone for them, Orczy implies that Fate has actually been on the side of the Scarlet Pimpernel all along:
It really seemed as if some potent Fate watched over that daring Scarlet Pimpernel, and his astute enemy almost felt a superstitious shudder pass through him, as he looked round at the towering cliffs, and the loneliness of this outlying coast.
In this passage, Chauvelin almost feels "a superstitious shudder" at the realization that the Scarlet Pimpernel has slipped through his fingers once again. The Scarlet Pimpernel's luck, to Chauvelin, appears almost supernatural.
In Chapter 31, after Sir Percy and Marguerite have successfully escaped Chauvelin, Sir Percy also expresses his opinion that Fate is on his side:
"I thought that Fate and I were going to work together after all."
By having the forces of fate align to aid Sir Percy, Orczy implies that his mission, as well as the superiority of the English aristocracy, is somehow divinely sanctioned.
