Monday, January 1, 2018

The Scarlet Pimpernel- Baroness Orczy

I've spent most of the day making marmalade, it stubbornly refused to set for a very long time (I hope it's done now, it was looking positive, but now it's in the jar it's still looking very liquid) which at least gave me time to gather my thoughts about 'The Scarlet Pimpernel'.

The new edition from Oxford World's Classics officially comes out on the 11th, but I couldn't wait to read it, or write about it. I don't quite know why this book in particular so caught my imagination as a child, but it did. I read it over and over again, carried away by the mix of adventure, fashion, and history. I have re read it as an adult, but easily more than a decade ago, so however familiar the story, some of the details had become hazy - getting my hands on this copy was a real treat, not just for the chance to revisit the book, but to have an introduction to it.

That introduction is excellent, I really didn't know anything about Baroness Orczy (I think I'd always rather assumed it was a pen name) but she sounds like a colourful personality, and this book made an unexpected fortune for her. It also sets the plot in the context of concerns about immigration both in the 1790's and in 1903 when it was written. Something else Nicholas Daly points out is how much of the book focuses on Marguerite, rather than the Pimpernel. Something adaptations have tended not to do, and which I had forgotten.

There are aspects of the book that feel a little clunky now (the slang, the merry England bits, the tone of some of the more romantic episodes) and there are some plot holes (the league could be rather more discreet; given some of their actions it's amazing they've escaped capture for so long) but it doesn't really matter - the essential charm and power of the story is still there.

What surprised me was the ambivalence Orczy shows towards her french aristocrats, again and again there are examples of disagreeable pride, abuse of power, selfish thoughtlessness, obstinacy, and rudeness. Orczy has even less sympathy for the fanatical revolutionaries she creates, and a deep rooted dislike of the mob, but it's a more complex picture than I had remembered. Her heroine, Marguerite, is a middle class girl with liberal tendencies who had earnt her own living as an actress before marrying her English husband.

And that's the other thing, whilst it might be the daring exploits of the Pimpernel (mostly as played by Anthony Andrews) that I recall, the book is really about the impossible choices that Marguerite has to make, and how she sets about dealing with the consequences of her actions - which is much more interesting.

Something else that's interesting is the ending where the disguised Pimpernel deliberately lets himself be humiliated in a decidedly un-heroic way. It's the intelligent and pragmatic thing to do, but how often does that happen in tales of daring-do? And that's why the book has retained its magic for me.

I can see it's faults now, but still, when I finished it I felt somewhat bereft, and tempted to turn straight back to page one, just as I did when I was 11. Orczy wrote several sequels, most of which I read back in the day (long enough ago that you still had a good chance of finding them in local libraries). None are anywhere near as good as 'The Scarlet Pimpernel', but 'The Scarlet Pimpernel' itself is worth a few hours of anyone's attention.


6 comments:

  1. I had to read The Scarlet Pimpernel for summer reading in middle school. Like you, I immediately fell in love with it. I have re-read it countless times since and it stands up well. Your post caused me to realize that it's time to read it again. That last scene when he is so humiliated makes it for me. It shows what he really is made of.

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    1. I agree, and hadn't really appreciated the power of those last chapters before when there's so much time spent being powerless. It's a remarkable book really, apparently she wrote it in only 5 weeks, which impresses me even more, yes there are some plot holes and bits that don't bear much scrutiny, but there's so much good stuff it doesn't matter. It also seems that after it's first success it was increasingly marketed to teenage girls, presumably because it's almost all seen from Marguerite's point of view. I find her much more interesting now than I did as a pre teen, inevitably because I have more sympathy for the dilemmas she's faced with and the decisions she makes. I'm delighted it still has all its old magic for me.

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  2. I bow my head in shame and admit that I have never read The Scarlet Pimpernel, although I have definitely seen the film. I should do something about that. Who is the Introduction by?
    By the way, if the marmalade hasn’t set, The Bears would like you to know that it will still make good sandwiches and that they will be delighted to eat them for you should you not feel up to it yourself.

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    1. The introduction is by Nicholas Daly I think, and yes you should definitely read it. It doesn't take long and rattles along nicely so it's no great chore. Having the introduction in this edition is a real bonus for setting the book in the context of it's times, and certainly gave me fresh perspectives on it.

      It's also one of the books that built me without my really realising it I think. Reading now I'm much more aware of the female author, the relatively complex heroine, and how popular it was in its day. Its books like this that made me so sure there must be other great women writers back when finding those voices was much harder than it is now.

      The marmalade did set (I think, it's in jars now and doesn't look to gloopy) and would make excellent sandwiches for bears, who would be very welcome to a jar.

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  3. I loved this and read and reread it many times as a pre-teen, as well. I read it again a after a 35 year hiatus and saw, like you, why I would have loved it then; and also saw, like you, that there are problems with it. Problems, perhaps, from an adult POV. I'd still recommend it with all my heart to my favourite 10- or 11-year-old.

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    1. The advantage of this edition is that it sets the book in a set of contexts I would not otherwise have considered - Marguerite's relationship to the New Woman for example. I'd definitely recommend it to any 10 or 11 year old and hope they found it as enjoyable as I did. I think it stands up fairly well to adult reading, certainly to adult re-reading. After a few doubts at the beginning I was surprised by how quickly I got sucked back into it, and how much more complex some of the issues seemed. All the little woman but at the end set my teeth on edge though!

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