The Scarlet Pimpernel

by

Baroness Orczy

Armand St. Just Character Analysis

Marguerite’s brother and a citizen of the French Republic. Armand and Marguerite are exceedingly close. Their parents died when the siblings were just children, and they were left to raise each other. Armand lives in France but has recently spent time in England with his sister, and she is reluctant to let him go. He is an “ardent republican” and “enthusiastic” supporter of the French Revolution, which stems in part from the beating he endured at the hands of the Marquis de St. Cyr for “daring to love” the aristocrat’s daughter. Despite his support of the French Republic, however, Armand’s political views are “moderate and conciliatory,” and he grows disillusioned with the violence of the Reign of Terror. Armand secretly betrays France and joins the League of the Scarlet Pimpernel, a fact that is revealed through a letter written by Armand to Sir Andrew Ffoulkes. Chauvelin learns of this betrayal after he finds Armand’s letter to Sir Andrew, and he uses the information to blackmail Marguerite. Chauvelin promises to secure Armand a pardon for his treason if Marguerite helps Chauvelin identify the Scarlet Pimpernel, which she begrudgingly agrees to do. Armand ultimately escapes Chauvelin and France and helps to rescue the Comte de Tournay in the process. While it nearly cost him his life, Armand is true to his moral compass, a virtue that Orczy implies is more admirable than remaining blindly loyal to one’s country.

Armand St. Just Quotes in The Scarlet Pimpernel

The The Scarlet Pimpernel quotes below are all either spoken by Armand St. Just or refer to Armand St. Just. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Social Class and the French Revolution Theme Icon
).
Chapter 5 Quotes

She went up effusively to them both, with not a single touch of embarrassment in her manner or in her smile. Lord Tony and Sir Andrew watched the little scene with eager apprehension. English though they were, they had often been in France, and had mixed sufficiently with the French to realise the unbending hauteur, the bitter hatred with which the old noblesse of France viewed all those who had helped to contribute to their downfall. Armand St. Just, the brother of beautiful Lady Blakeney—though known to hold moderate and conciliatory views—was an ardent republican; his feud with the ancient family of St. Cyr—the rights and wrongs of which no outsider ever knew—had culminated in the downfall, the almost total extinction, of the latter.

Related Characters: Marguerite St. Just / Lady Blakeney, Armand St. Just, Sir Andrew Ffoulkes, The Marquis de St. Cyr, Lord Anthony Dewhurst, The Comtesse de Tournay, Suzanne de Tournay
Page Number: 38-9
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 8 Quotes

She hated the Marquis. Years ago, Armand, her dear brother, had loved Angele de St. Cyr, but St. Just was a plebeian, and the Marquis full of the pride and arrogant prejudices of his caste. One day Armand, the respectful, timid lover, ventured on sending a small poem—enthusiastic, ardent, passionate —to the idol of his dreams. The next night he was waylaid just outside Paris by the valets of the Marquis de St. Cyr, and ignominiously thrashed—thrashed like a dog within an inch of his life—because he had dared to raise his eyes to the daughter of the aristocrat. The incident was one which, in those days, some two years before the great Revolution, was of almost daily occurrence in France; incidents of that type, in fact, led to the bloody reprisals, which a few years later sent most of those haughty heads to the guillotine.

Related Characters: Marguerite St. Just / Lady Blakeney, Armand St. Just, The Marquis de St. Cyr
Related Symbols: The Guillotine
Related Literary Devices:
Page Number: 60
Explanation and Analysis:

She had but little real sympathy with those haughty French aristocrats, insolent in their pride of caste, of whom the Comtesse de Tournay de Basserive was so typical an example; but, republican and liberal-minded though she was from principle, she hated and loathed the methods which the young Republic had chosen for establishing itself. She had not been in Paris for some months; the horrors and bloodshed of the Reign of Terror, culminating in the September massacres, had only come across the Channel to her as a faint echo. Robespierre, Danton, Marat, she had not known in their new guise of bloody justiciaries, merciless wielders of the guillotine. Her very soul recoiled in horror from these excesses, to which she feared her brother Armand—moderate republican as he was—might become one day the holocaust.

Related Characters: The Scarlet Pimpernel / Sir Percy Blakeney, Bart. / The Hag / The Jew, Marguerite St. Just / Lady Blakeney, Chauvelin, Armand St. Just, The Comtesse de Tournay
Related Symbols: The Guillotine
Page Number: 67-8
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 16 Quotes

"Listen to the tale, Sir Percy,” she said, and her voice now was low, sweet, infinitely tender. "Armand was all in all to me! We had no parents, and brought one another up. He was my little father, and I, his tiny mother; we loved one another so. Then one day—do you mind me, Sir Percy? The Marquis de St. Cyr had my brother Armand thrashed— thrashed by his lacqueys—that brother whom I loved better than all the world! And his offence? That he, a plebeian, had dared to love the daughter of the aristocrat; for that he was waylaid and thrashed ... thrashed like a dog within an inch of his life! Oh, how I suffered! His humiliation had eaten into my very soul! When the opportunity occurred, and I was able to take my revenge, I took it. But I only thought to bring that proud marquis to trouble and humiliation. He plotted with Austria against his own country. Chance gave me knowledge of this; I spoke of it, but I did not know—how could I guess?—they trapped and duped me. When I realised what I had done, it was too late.”

Related Characters: Marguerite St. Just / Lady Blakeney (speaker), The Scarlet Pimpernel / Sir Percy Blakeney, Bart. / The Hag / The Jew, Armand St. Just, The Marquis de St. Cyr
Page Number: 135
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 17 Quotes

She felt no longer anxious about Armand. The man who had just ridden away, bent on helping her brother, inspired her with complete confidence in his strength and in his power. She marveled at herself for having ever looked upon him as an inane fool; of course, that was a mask worn to hide the bitter wound she had dealt to his faith and to his love. His passion would have overmastered him, and he would not let her see how much he still cared and how deeply he suffered.

Related Characters: The Scarlet Pimpernel / Sir Percy Blakeney, Bart. / The Hag / The Jew, Marguerite St. Just / Lady Blakeney, Armand St. Just
Page Number: 147
Explanation and Analysis:
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Armand St. Just Quotes in The Scarlet Pimpernel

The The Scarlet Pimpernel quotes below are all either spoken by Armand St. Just or refer to Armand St. Just. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Social Class and the French Revolution Theme Icon
).
Chapter 5 Quotes

She went up effusively to them both, with not a single touch of embarrassment in her manner or in her smile. Lord Tony and Sir Andrew watched the little scene with eager apprehension. English though they were, they had often been in France, and had mixed sufficiently with the French to realise the unbending hauteur, the bitter hatred with which the old noblesse of France viewed all those who had helped to contribute to their downfall. Armand St. Just, the brother of beautiful Lady Blakeney—though known to hold moderate and conciliatory views—was an ardent republican; his feud with the ancient family of St. Cyr—the rights and wrongs of which no outsider ever knew—had culminated in the downfall, the almost total extinction, of the latter.

Related Characters: Marguerite St. Just / Lady Blakeney, Armand St. Just, Sir Andrew Ffoulkes, The Marquis de St. Cyr, Lord Anthony Dewhurst, The Comtesse de Tournay, Suzanne de Tournay
Page Number: 38-9
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 8 Quotes

She hated the Marquis. Years ago, Armand, her dear brother, had loved Angele de St. Cyr, but St. Just was a plebeian, and the Marquis full of the pride and arrogant prejudices of his caste. One day Armand, the respectful, timid lover, ventured on sending a small poem—enthusiastic, ardent, passionate —to the idol of his dreams. The next night he was waylaid just outside Paris by the valets of the Marquis de St. Cyr, and ignominiously thrashed—thrashed like a dog within an inch of his life—because he had dared to raise his eyes to the daughter of the aristocrat. The incident was one which, in those days, some two years before the great Revolution, was of almost daily occurrence in France; incidents of that type, in fact, led to the bloody reprisals, which a few years later sent most of those haughty heads to the guillotine.

Related Characters: Marguerite St. Just / Lady Blakeney, Armand St. Just, The Marquis de St. Cyr
Related Symbols: The Guillotine
Related Literary Devices:
Page Number: 60
Explanation and Analysis:

She had but little real sympathy with those haughty French aristocrats, insolent in their pride of caste, of whom the Comtesse de Tournay de Basserive was so typical an example; but, republican and liberal-minded though she was from principle, she hated and loathed the methods which the young Republic had chosen for establishing itself. She had not been in Paris for some months; the horrors and bloodshed of the Reign of Terror, culminating in the September massacres, had only come across the Channel to her as a faint echo. Robespierre, Danton, Marat, she had not known in their new guise of bloody justiciaries, merciless wielders of the guillotine. Her very soul recoiled in horror from these excesses, to which she feared her brother Armand—moderate republican as he was—might become one day the holocaust.

Related Characters: The Scarlet Pimpernel / Sir Percy Blakeney, Bart. / The Hag / The Jew, Marguerite St. Just / Lady Blakeney, Chauvelin, Armand St. Just, The Comtesse de Tournay
Related Symbols: The Guillotine
Page Number: 67-8
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 16 Quotes

"Listen to the tale, Sir Percy,” she said, and her voice now was low, sweet, infinitely tender. "Armand was all in all to me! We had no parents, and brought one another up. He was my little father, and I, his tiny mother; we loved one another so. Then one day—do you mind me, Sir Percy? The Marquis de St. Cyr had my brother Armand thrashed— thrashed by his lacqueys—that brother whom I loved better than all the world! And his offence? That he, a plebeian, had dared to love the daughter of the aristocrat; for that he was waylaid and thrashed ... thrashed like a dog within an inch of his life! Oh, how I suffered! His humiliation had eaten into my very soul! When the opportunity occurred, and I was able to take my revenge, I took it. But I only thought to bring that proud marquis to trouble and humiliation. He plotted with Austria against his own country. Chance gave me knowledge of this; I spoke of it, but I did not know—how could I guess?—they trapped and duped me. When I realised what I had done, it was too late.”

Related Characters: Marguerite St. Just / Lady Blakeney (speaker), The Scarlet Pimpernel / Sir Percy Blakeney, Bart. / The Hag / The Jew, Armand St. Just, The Marquis de St. Cyr
Page Number: 135
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 17 Quotes

She felt no longer anxious about Armand. The man who had just ridden away, bent on helping her brother, inspired her with complete confidence in his strength and in his power. She marveled at herself for having ever looked upon him as an inane fool; of course, that was a mask worn to hide the bitter wound she had dealt to his faith and to his love. His passion would have overmastered him, and he would not let her see how much he still cared and how deeply he suffered.

Related Characters: The Scarlet Pimpernel / Sir Percy Blakeney, Bart. / The Hag / The Jew, Marguerite St. Just / Lady Blakeney, Armand St. Just
Page Number: 147
Explanation and Analysis: