93 pages • 3 hours read
Emma OrczyThe Scarlet Pimpernel
Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 1905A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more. For select classroom titles, we also provide Teaching Guides with discussion and quiz questions to prompt student engagement.
Introduction
The Scarlet Pimpernel
- Genre: Fiction; historical romantic adventure
- Originally Published: 1905
- Reading Level/Interest: Lexile 1140L; college/adult
- Structure/Length: 31 chapters; approx. 250 pages; approx. 8 hours, 19 minutes on audio
- Protagonist and Central Conflict: The Scarlet Pimpernel is an elusive hero, the daring and cunning rescuer of nobles in 1792 revolutionary France. Marguerite St Just, pro-revolutionary and recently wed to English aristocrat Sir Percy Blakeney, discovers that her husband is the Scarlet Pimpernel in disguise.
- Potential Sensitivity Issues: Potential antisemitic depiction and treatment of a Jewish character; violence
Baroness Emma Orczy, Author
- Bio: 1865-1947; born in Hungary but fled with family during the Hungarian revolution in 1868; studied art in London and showed work at the Royal Academy; began writing stories and novels to ease financial burdens for herself and her husband; she and her husband worked together on a dramatized version of the story of the Scarlet Pimpernel, which was successful in London; met with great popular success with the publication of the novel version of The Scarlet Pimpernel; went on to write sequels to the story as well as dozens of other novels
- Other Works: The Emperor’s Candlesticks (1899); In Mary’s Reign (1901); The Elusive Pimpernel (1908); The Honourable Jim (1924); The Uncrowned King (1935)
CENTRAL THEMES connected and noted throughout this Teaching Unit:
