There are few things that activate my gag reflex like Baroness Orczy. The Scarlet Pimpernel has been called "a stirring tale of romance and adventure set in the French Revolution." Historical accuracy in this work was that there was indeed a Revolution in France in the late 18th century and that England is, in deed, separated from France by the English Channel. Obviously not content to incorporate reality into her story, the Baronness totally fabricated the brutal bloodthirsty Reign of Terror of 1792. So unfortunate for her that it began in September of 1793. Furthermore, she ignores the fact that the historical Chauvelin was a *marquis* and that by the time the Reign of Terror started England and France has ceased to be on diplomatic relations (hence, the fact that they were at war...). In this book, the entire French Republic is assumed to have the collective IQ of a giant turnip, a stereotype of the French people which may explain why Marguerite, supposedly the "cleverest woman in Europe", takes half of the novel to discover that her husband is, indeed the elusive Pimpernel himself....despite the fact that Sir Percy wears a pimpernel ring, and that pimpernels are the family flower. Perhaps Marguerite is bright in other ways. Furthermore, I find the Baronness' fulsome, if not particularly well-written, nostalgia for the Ancien Regime absolutely sickening. You notice how Sir Percy never dirties his hands rescuing commoners who are wrongly accused...oh no, certainly not. But I am not a pedant normally when it comes to books, as long as they have literary merit or an interesting plot. So sad for the Pimpernel that it really lacks both. If one cannot guess by the 5th page that a) Percy is the Pimpernel and b) he will rescue whatever aristo he's after and be quite fine by the end of the novel then perhaps one should consider repeating the 6th grade. In place of in-depth characters, Baronness Orczy's relies on absolutely nauseating stereotypes; Chauvelin "evil, fanatical, and, lest we forget, fox-like and shrewd revolutionary", Sir Percy the unsinkable Englishman, and, of course, there is Orczy's revolting anti-Semitism in dealing with Percy's disguise as a "loathesome" Jew. I am at a loss to explain for the popularity of this novel. It is just a Hungarian aristocrat reveanging herself on the world for chasing her family out of their 36-bedroom-chateau when she was a child. As the venerable Hilary Mantel (if you want to read real French Revolution stuff, try A Place of Greater Safety) said so well, "The plot of the Scarlet Pimpernel is weak; it depends on people who are said to be clever and quick-witted doing stupid things very slowly, and dropping messages, saying 'I will be in the supper room at one o'clock precisely.'"
Sink me if the lady isn't right.
