Baroness Orczy: Eldorado (1913)

Edition: Hodder & Stoughton, 1939
Review number: 523

In Eldorado, one of the better novels featuring the Scarlet Pimpernel, he becomes involved in one of the most famous plots of the French Revolution, the attempt to rescue the child heir to the French throne from imprisonment in Paris. His ultimate fate is one of the unknowns of history, though it is almost certain that he died in prison. The main character in reality in the various plots which centred around him was the Austrian-financed agitator, the Baron de Batz. I think Orzcy's portrayal of him is basically accurate: an egocentric, who kept himself safe by betraying his friends and paying large bribes.

The Scarlet Pimpernel becomes involved in the situation when he makes his own plans to rescue the Dauphin, which are endangered when one of his agents falls in love with a Parisian actress. This romantic side of the plot is less sentimentally handled than in some of the other Orczy novels (though there are still plenty of passages that are better skipped). In the end, this part of the plot assumes more importance than the liberation of the prince, and this is perhaps a good thing, as it reduces the amount of space Orczy has available to eulogise the late eighteenth century Bourbons. Orczy's faults are apparent in the novel, but the story is strong enough to overcome them. just as happens (to a greater extent) in The Scarlet Pimpernel itself.

Baroness Orczy: The Triumph of the Scarlet Pimpernel (1922)

Edition: Thames Publishing Co., 1960
Review number: 500

Though better than I Will Repay, The Triumph of the Scarlet Pimpernel is far inferior to The Scarlet Pimpernel. The cloying romantic side of I Will Repay is omitted, yet the story is less interesting and less exciting than the first novel. Like the other Scarlet Pimpernel novels The Triumph of the Scarlet Pimpernel presents a one sided view of revolutionary France, and here it is even less balanced than before. Almost every sentence is tinged with contempt for the poor of Paris, and those who ruled France are demonised to such an extent that it is difficult to see why anyone would have supported their rise to power. (However, to be fair to Orczy, there are many contemporary and near contemporary views of the Nazis or Saddam Hussein which equally remove any trace of humanity from them - people are more complicated than makes for simple stereotypes!) I would not want to condone their actions, but I do feel that no one can be pure evil.

Baroness Orczy: I Will Repay (1906)

Edition: Thames Publishing Co.
Review number: 485

In this melodramatic romance set during the French Revolution, the factor that has ensured it a measure of survival (the involvement of the Scarlet Pimpernel) is fairly incidental to the plot, as he is basically a supernatural element to bring a successful resolution in an impossible situation. It is the silliest and least realistic of the Scarlet Pimpernel novels, and it is also the one which has dated the most.

The plot is about revenge (hence the title, from Romans 12:19 paraphrasing Deuteronomy - "Vengeance is mine, saith the Lord: I will repay"). Before the revolution, Paul Déroulède was wealthy enough to be accepted by aristocratic society despite his bourgeois oeigins until he is forced into a dued by the stupid Vicomte de Varny and kills his opponent. The Vicomte's father forces his devout daughter Juliette to make a solemn promise to avenge his death (even though this was honourable by the standards of the time). After the Revolution, Juliette is able to carry out this vow when she discovers that Déroulède is involved in a plot to rescue the imprisoned queen, even though she has herself fallen in love with the man supposed to be her enemy.

The ludicrous plot - almost bad enough for a third rate opera - is accompanied by a romantic style full of phrases which today seem extremely old fashioned. Sentences like "Man-like, he did not understand to the full that great and wonderful enigma which has puzzled the world since primeval times; a woman's heart" are hard to take seriously; they seem more like a deliberate parody of the worst of romantic fiction.

Baroness Orczy: The Scarlet Pimpernel (1905)

Edition: Heron
Review number: 471

The Scarlet Pimpernel is undeniably one of the world's great adventure stories, its hero attaining an almost mythological status in English speaking culture; Sherlock Holmes is one of the very few fictional characters to have higher prominence. It is not the writing which has made this happen - Orczy wrote a great number of other novels which have all sunk into oblivion - but the quality of the idea of the Scarlet Pimpernel, the romance of his actions.

Orczy's flaws as a writer are fairly obvious. Her characters are two dimensional at best (the only ones in the novel that even reach this level are the Blakeneys and Chauvelin). Her prose is fairly pedestrian, particularly when descriptive. The plot is obvious; most first time readers will guess the secret identity of the Scarlet Pimpernel pages before its revelation. The historical background is one sided, presenting a view of the French Revolution which is seriously distorted. And yet, the reader is drawn in, becoming engrossed as the climactic confrontation approaches. The drama of the idea is so strong that it overcomes all the barriers to enjoyment of the novel.