The Scarlet Pimpernel

:"We seek him here, we seek him there, / Those Frenchies seek him everywhere. / Is he in heaven?--Is he in hell? / That demmed, elusive Pimpernel."

The literary character

The action takes place during the French Revolution, when a secret society of English aristocrats, called the "League of the Scarlet Pimpernel", is engaged in rescuing their French counterparts from the guillotine. Their leader, the Scarlet Pimpernel, takes his nickname from the small red flower (illustration, left) with which he signs his messages. No one except his small band of followers knows his true identity.

Related Topics:
French Revolution - Secret society - Guillotine - The small red flower

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Orczy wrote numerous sequels. Other of her works are related to the series, including The Laughing Cavalier (1914) and The First Sir Percy (1921), about an ancestor of the Pimpernel's; Pimpernel and Rosemary, about a descendant; and The Scarlet Pimpernel Looks at the World (1933), a depiction of the 1930s world from the point of view of Sir Percy. Some of her non-related Revolutionary-period novels reference the Scarlet Pimpernel or the League, most notably The Bronze Eagle (1915).

Related Topics:
The Laughing Cavalier - 1914 - The First Sir Percy - 1921 - Pimpernel and Rosemary - The Scarlet Pimpernel Looks at the World - 1933 - 1930s - The Bronze Eagle - 1915

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