The Scarlet Pimpernel: Satisfaction in Heroic Escapades

Disclaimer: While not graphic, the article discusses an unrated movie. Younger readers, please read at your parents’ discretion.  

A romanticized hero. Insurmountable odds. A triumphal, fairytale-like ending snatched rewardingly from the jaws of defeat. Somehow, these common narratorial antics, though recycled and appearing in innumerable works, still satisfy the viewer when done correctly. Very few, if any, tales so aptly utilize this common trope in such an entertaining manner nor depict a more beloved hero than with The Scarlet Pimpernel and its protagonist, Sir Percival Blakeney Baronet.  

Baroness Orczy’s first draft of the story, when released in the form of a play, obtained a heightened sense of drama and the action on stage necessary to hold the attention of the audience. Set during the French Revolution, the story, seen through the eyes of his wife Marguerite, follows the wealthy Englishman Sir Percival Blakeney and his comrades as they gallantly smuggle out French aristocrats from a country intent on sentencing them to death by guillotine. Later debuting with The Scarlet Pimpernel novel, Orczy maintained the elements of the theatrical in the story and created a quickly successful adventure for the public to indulge in. The story was again adapted several times into a musical, TV series, and a variety of films, reaching the pique portrayal of Percy and his Robin Hood-esque band in Clive Donner’s 1982 movie rendition. Though credit belongs to Orczy for the creation of the Scarlet Pimpernel and his league, the 1982 film transforms the narrative into its most superior form and rendition. The plot, while decently changed from that of the novel, in fact strengthens the overall presentation of the story, particularly in the way it reworks the narratorial perspective and tweaks the character development for the better. 

One of the greatest shortcomings of Orczy’s novel when compared to the film reproduction lies in her lack of including Sir Percy in the majority of the scenes. Told from the perspective of Marguerite Blakeney, the writings center more around her movements and emotions, even though Percy fills the role of hero in the story. By structuring the point of view as such, Orczy maintains a sense of mystery as the reader cannot tell which character in each scene is the elusive Scarlet Pimpernel and shrouds Percy’s wellbeing with suspense, and yet her strategy to obtain suspense leaves the reader with few first-hand interactions with the hero. By giving Percy arguably the majority of air time in the 1982 film, the movie surpasses the book in this aspect, allowing viewers to enjoy lengthy sessions of Sir Percival Blakeney’s humor and the heroic escapades of his Scarlet Pimpernel guise. Indeed, with more Sir Percy scenes, the film carries a considerably more comedic feature through the extended banter and foolish persona exhibited by the hero, allowing for a lighthearted tone to contrast sensationally with the heavier aspects of conflict and suspense.

Marguerite’s character improves in Donner’s adaptation as well. In both the novel and the film, one of the main conflicts centers around her alleged betrayal of turning in one of the aristocratic families, sentencing them to the guillotine; after hearing this, Percy holds her in suspicion, unwilling to risk the confidentiality of his men, and thus begins the romantic relational drama that makes the whimsical happily-ever-after ending exponentially more satisfying. In the book, Marguerite actually does report the aristocratic family, and the explanation of her innocence becomes that she acted in a hasty, childish manner; she did not truly mean to send them to their deaths, and the whole situation resolves itself in a romantic scene where they dismiss the betrayal as a thing of the past. 

While some perhaps view the book’s versions of the conflict as more realistic, the movie tweaks it in a debatably more agreeable fashion. The film constructs the matter so that Marguerite is forced into giving the information to the antagonist who maliciously places her signature as informant on the arrest warrant without her consent or prior knowledge. With the betrayal displayed like so, Marguerite becomes the victim, and the audience can easily sympathize with the woman cast unjustly under suspicion for deeds not done of her own volition. Her character becomes generally more agreeable, maintaining a more innocent quality as well as a sense of maturity and wisdom lost in the book Marguerite, who acted so quickly on an impulse that had such dramatic consequences.  

Though the story may lack some immensely deep themes seen in other narratives, the 1982 film The Scarlet Pimpernel delivers a captivating, fanciful tale filled with action, romance, and that simple yet satisfying fairytale ending. The characters, fast falling into the category of beloved, carry the viewer through the story with waves of immense humor and suspense. The Scarlet Pimpernel provides an awaiting adventure ready to rope a broad audience into the escapades of Sir Percival Blakeney Baronet. 

Photo Credit:

http://miss-dashwood.blogspot.com/2012/04/defending-sir-percy.html