Novel Insights Guide To

The Scarlet Pimpernel

by Baroness Emmuska Orczy


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TABLE OF CONTENTS


Author Biography ..................................... 1
Background Information ..................................... 3
Chapter 01 - 02 ..................................... 5
Chapter 03 - 04 ................................... 12
Chapter 05 - 07 ................................... 19
Chapter 09 - 11 ................................... 27
Chapter 08 - 10 ................................... 28
Chapter 11 - 15 ................................... 35
Chapter 16 - 18 ................................... 44
Chapter 19 - 21 ................................... 52
Chapter 22 - 24 ................................... 59
Chapter 25 - 28 ................................... 66
Chapter 29 - 31 ................................... 74
Vocabulary Tests ................................... 80
Test Questions .................................. 108
Vocabulary Crossword Puzzle .................................. 117
Selected Bibliography .................................. 130


Chapters 01 - 02

Chapter one begins in Paris, with a description of the city under the Reign of Terror, as the guillotine does its work and those of the aristocracy attempted to flee the city in any way means at their disposal. As the people gather at the western gate in the evening awaiting the approval of their exit visas, they are entertained by the soldier in charge, telling of the latest exploit of the Scarlet Pimpernel. This daring plotter is an Englishman with nineteen young men working under him who have taken an oath to rescue the lives of the condemned French aristocrats. A week earlier, The former guard had allowed a cart with casks, driven by an old man with a boy beside him, to go through the barricade. Shortly later, a captain of the guard with a handful of men came running up, saying the man was the Scarlet Pimpernel. The soldiers ran through the gate in pursuit of the cart, and it was later learned that the Scarlet Pimpernel had been dressed as the captain of the guard, with the aristocrats dressed as soldiers. As the guard is relating his story, a hideous hag who has been seen knitting under the guillotine drives up. As he begins to inspect her cargo, she tells him her grandson has the smallpox, or maybe the plague. At this, she is quickly sent on her way. Some time later, the captain of the guard appears, telling him that the old hag was the Scarlet Pimpernel in disguise.

The scene switches to an The Fisherman's Rest, an English inn, where preparations are being made for new arrivals who are expected to be coming soon, and the local guests discuss the merits of the French Revolution and its effects on England, the intolerable British weather, and the political differences between William Pitt and Edmund Burke concerning what position England should take in relation to the situation. (William Pitt was the Prime Minister whose policy was to attack French trade and colonies, while subsidizing allies to fight the French on land. Edmund Burke was an Member of Parliament from Ireland who was opposed to the French Revolution. Charles James Fox, who had been a friend of Burke's, supported the Revolution. Their friendship ended after a parliamentary debate over the subject in 1791, and the two never spoke again.) As the local guests are carrying on their dialogue, Jimmy Pitkin notices that there are special preparations being made, and asks Jellyband, if he is expecting special guests. Jellyband says that Lord Tony and Sir Andrew Ffoulkes are bringing in some French aristocrats who have been saved from the French. This opens the debate again, and Mr. Jellyband says there are "clever spies" who are in the land, trying to sway the opinions of honest Englishmen. Jellyband states that no "frog-eaters" will sway his opinion, for he will not even speak with them, and would not so much as drink a cup of ale with one of them. At this, a stranger who has been present but has not spoken, says that Jellyband is obviously too smart for twenty Frenchmen, and then offers him the rest of his bottle. Jellyband accepts, and the stranger makes a loud toast to the host.


Suggested Activities - Chapters 01 - 03

  1. Assign different historical figures to different students for research: Jean-Paul Marat, Georges Danton, Maximilian Robespierre, William Pitt, Edmund Burke, Lord Grenville, Bernard-Francoise Chauvelin, Charles James Fox, George IV, Prince of Wales.
  2. Have students draw maps showing the relationship between England and France, indicating the locations of Paris, Dover (where the Fisherman's Rest is located), and London. Locations can be added to this map as they are mentioned in the story.
  3. Have a discussion with students. The League of the Scarlet Pimpernel break the French law every time they rescue a family of aristocrats from the guillotine. Today, people who smuggle Bibles into countries where it is illegal to own a Bible are breaking the law. When is it right to break the law? What must be the basis for that decision?

Review Questions - Chapters 01 - 03

  1. The Scarlet Pimpernel is set during what period in history?
  2. The genre of this story is historical fiction, meaning that, although the story is fictional, the setting is historical and there are also historical figures involved. Who are the Committee of Public Safety, Robespierre and Danton, and Foucquier-Tinville?
  3. Flashback is a literary device in which the author begins in the present, then flashes back to a previous time in order to fill the reader in on background information. How does the author use flashback in chapter one?
  4. Who was the Scarlet Pimpernel? What was he doing that was causing a problem for the French?
  5. How had the Scarlet Pimpernel fooled the guard at the gate the week before?
  6. What were the women doing as the executions were taking place?
  7. Read Ec. 9:3; Jer. 17:9; Mk 20-23; Matt. 13:15; II Tim. 3:13. What do these verses say about the heart of man? How does that relate to the women under the guillotine?
  8. Describe the old woman driving the cart.
  9. What did she tell Bibot that shocked him?
  10. After he sent the cart through the gate, what did Bibot learn?
  11. What was the name of the English inn located in Dover?
  12. What was the innkeeper's name?
  13. As they discussed the politics of England, the positions of several prominent British politicians came up. According to the innkeeper, what was the position of William Pitt, the British Prime Minister?
  14. How did the innkeeper sum up the position of Edmund Burke?
  15. What special guests are they expecting?
  16. Who are the two members of the League of the Scarlet Pimpernel whose names have been mentioned?
  17. For what reason does the innkeeper say some of the Frenchmen are coming over to England?
  18. As they discuss the possibility of foreign spies, what happens at one of the tables?
  19. In what way does Jellyband feel sure he would be able to detect a French spy?
  20. Why do you think the "humorous smile" continues to play around the corners of the stranger's mouth as he offers Jellyband a drink?

Review Question Answers - Chapters 01 - 03

  1. The French Revolution
  2. The Committee of Public Safety set up by the National Convention on, formed the de facto executive government of France during the Reign of Terror. Robespierre controlled the Committee of Public Safety. Danton was also a member, and was influential over the people until he became appalled with the bloodthirstiness of the Reign of Terror, and was executed. Foucquier-Tinville was the prosecutor of the Committee.
  3. By having Bibot tell the story of what had happened the week before at the gate, Orczy effectively uses flashback to explain who the Scarlet Pimpernel is and what he is doing.
  4. The Scarlet Pimpernel is an Englishman who has been rescuing French aristocrats from being executed.
  5. By disguising himself as a captain of the guard, then telling the guard at the gate that the Scarlet Pimpernel had driven through in one of the carts, the Scarlet Pimpernel was able to lead the aristocrats, who were dressed as French soldiers, out of the city.
  6. The women were sitting under the platform of the guillotine, knitting while the executions were taking place.
  7. The heart is exceedingly wicked, and is progressively hardened when exposed to sin. These women, who were able to sit placidly under the platform and knit while feeling no horror at the bloodbath taking place around them, illustrate this truth taken to the extreme.
  8. The woman was old, with huge, bony fingers. She had attached locks of hair from the victims of the guillotine to her whip handle, and she laughed with a course laugh at the prospect of getting more.
  9. She told him her grandson had small pox, or maybe the plague.
  10. He learned the hag had actually been the Scarlet Pimpernel.
  11. The Fisherman's Rest
  12. Jellyband
  13. " Mr. Pitt says 'Let 'em murder'"
  14. "Stop 'em!"
  15. They are expecting noblemen who have been rescued from France.
  16. Lord Tony and Sir Andrew Ffoulkes.
  17. He says that there are Frenchmen coming over to influence the opinions of Englishmen.
  18. The two strangers who have been listening to their conversation smile somewhat, and ask how they could have talked his friend into such ideas.
  19. Jellyband says he will be able to tell a Frenchman by his speech.
  20. The strangers are obviously spies who are outwitting Jellyband even as he is describing his friend's experience, and are drinking with him even as he says he would never drink with a Frenchman.