Sir Percy Blakeney is a wealthy English baronet who rescues individuals sentenced to death by the guillotine. He soon reveals himself to be a master of disguise, an imaginative planner, a formidable swordsman and a quick-thinking escape artist. With each rescue he taunts his enemies by leaving behind a card showing a small flower—a scarlet pimpernel. The identity of the Scarlet Pimpernel thus becomes a topic of widespread popular interest and the hero himself becomes the subject of an international manhunt by the French revolutionary authorities. To hide his true identity, Sir Percy presents himself in everyday life as a dim-witted, foppish playboy. His secret is kept by a band of friends known as the League of the Scarlet Pimpernel. The league operates as an undercover team in enacting Sir Percy’s rescue plans. The Scarlet Pimpernel is the first novel in a series of historical fiction by Baroness Orczy, published in 1905. It was written after her stage play of the same title (co-authored with Montague Barstow) enjoyed a long run in London. Orczy’s premise of a daring hero who cultivates a secret identity disguised by a meek or ineffectual manner proved enduring. Zorro, Doctor Syn, the Shadow, the Spider, the Phantom, Superman and Batman followed within a few decades, and the trope remains a popular one in serial fiction today. Read by Stan Lee as a boy, the Marvel co-creator called The Scarlet Pimpernel “the first character who could be called a superhero.”
First Appearance The Scarlet Pimpernel at the New Theatre in London’s West End beg. 5 January 1905
First Publisher Hutchinson
Appearance List Novels: The Scarlet Pimpernel (1905), I Will Repay (1906), The Elusive Pimpernel (1908), Eldorado (1913), Lord Tony’s Wife (1917), The Triumph of the Scarlet Pimpernel (1922), Sir Percy Hits Back (1927), A Child of the Revolution (1932), The Way of the Scarlet Pimpernel (1933), Sir Percy Leads the Band (1936), Mam’zelle Guillotine (1940). Films: Scarlet Pimpernel (1917; silent), The Elusive Pimpernel (1919; silent), I Will Repay (1923; silent), The Triumph of the Scarlet Pimpernel (1928), The Scarlet Pimpernel (1934), The Return of the Scarlet Pimpernel (1937), The Elusive Pimpernel (1950). Stage: The Scarlet Pimpernel (1903, revived ten times between 1905 and 1985), The Scarlet Pimpernel (1910). Radio and television, too. Comics: Stories by Famous Authors #1.
Description Sir Percy Blakeney is a wealthy English baronet who rescues individuals sentenced to death by the guillotine. He soon reveals himself to be a master of disguise, an imaginative planner, a formidable swordsman and a quick-thinking escape artist. With each rescue he taunts his enemies by leaving behind a card showing a small flower—a scarlet pimpernel. The identity of the Scarlet Pimpernel thus becomes a topic of widespread popular interest and the hero himself becomes the subject of an international manhunt by the French revolutionary authorities. To hide his true identity, Sir Percy presents himself in everyday life as a dim-witted, foppish playboy. His secret is kept by a band of friends known as the League of the Scarlet Pimpernel. The league operates as an undercover team in enacting Sir Percy’s rescue plans. The Scarlet Pimpernel is the first novel in a series of historical fiction by Baroness Orczy, published in 1905. It was written after her stage play of the same title (co-authored with Montague Barstow) enjoyed a long run in London. Orczy’s premise of a daring hero who cultivates a secret identity disguised by a meek or ineffectual manner proved enduring. Zorro, Doctor Syn, the Shadow, the Spider, the Phantom, Superman and Batman followed within a few decades, and the trope remains a popular one in serial fiction today. Read by Stan Lee as a boy, the Marvel co-creator called The Scarlet Pimpernel “the first character who could be called a superhero.”
