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Motifs
Definition of Personification
Personification is a type of figurative language in which non-human things are described as having human attributes, as in the sentence, "The rain poured down on the wedding guests, indifferent... read full definition
Personification is a type of figurative language in which non-human things are described as having human attributes, as in the sentence, "The rain poured down... read full definition
Personification is a type of figurative language in which non-human things are described as having human attributes, as in the... read full definition
Chapter 1: Paris: September, 1792
Explanation and Analysis—Madame Guillotine:
During the French Revolution’s Reign of Terror, thousands of French aristocrats were executed via the guillotine, a ghastly instrument designed for the purpose of efficient beheadings. Chapter 1 of The Scarlet Pimpernel opens with a throng of French peasants gathering around the guillotine to witness the daily executions, and the narrator personifies the guillotine itself:
During the greater part of the day the guillotine had been kept busy at its ghastly work: all that France had boasted of in the past centuries, of ancient names, and blue blood, had paid toll to her desire for liberty and for fraternity.
In this passage, the guillotine is personified as a busy laborer whose gruesome daily work involves the systematic killing of aristocrats. The use of the pronoun “she” is ambiguous—it could refer to either the guillotine or the nation of France. As a result, the two are symbolically associated with one another. And while nations are often personified as women and referred to using feminine pronouns in order to denote them as worthy of respect and protection, Orczy uses this device to achieve the opposite effect. In The Scarlet Pimpernel, both the guillotine and the nation it symbolizes are personified as sensual but cruel and bloodthirsty women.
In Chapter 1, the guillotine is specifically personified as “Madame Guillotine”— a sensual woman with a deadly “embrace”:
[A] summary trial would await her the next day and after that, the fond embrace of Madame la Guillotine.
This personification continues later in the same chapter, when The Scarlet Pimpernel—in disguise as an old woman—refers to the executioner as “Madame Guillotine’s lover.” The word “lover,” as opposed to the word “husband,” carries connotations of deviant sexuality. In Chapter 12, Orczy uses the word “lurid” to describe the guillotine. The word literally means “vivid,” a reference to the bright red blood staining the blade of the machine, but it too carries connotations of illicit sexual behavior. With these instances of personification, Orczy contrasts what she views as French immorality with the purity and sanctity of English marriage.
In Chapter 7, Marguerite personifies France as a cruel mother:
She tried to pierce the distance far away, beyond which lay the shores of France: that relentless and stern France which was exacting her pound of flesh, the blood-tax from the noblest of her sons.
In this passage, Orczy inverts the traditional notion of the “motherland.” France, instead of being portrayed as a loving mother, is “relentless and stern,” and her sons are depicted as victims rather than patriotic defenders.
Through her use of personification, Orczy elevates the guillotine from the status of a passive object to that of an active, almost human subject. Her victims, meanwhile, are often dehumanized and reduced to “prey” or “food.”
Related Themes:
Chapter 7: The Secret Orchard
Explanation and Analysis—Madame Guillotine:
During the French Revolution’s Reign of Terror, thousands of French aristocrats were executed via the guillotine, a ghastly instrument designed for the purpose of efficient beheadings. Chapter 1 of The Scarlet Pimpernel opens with a throng of French peasants gathering around the guillotine to witness the daily executions, and the narrator personifies the guillotine itself:
During the greater part of the day the guillotine had been kept busy at its ghastly work: all that France had boasted of in the past centuries, of ancient names, and blue blood, had paid toll to her desire for liberty and for fraternity.
In this passage, the guillotine is personified as a busy laborer whose gruesome daily work involves the systematic killing of aristocrats. The use of the pronoun “she” is ambiguous—it could refer to either the guillotine or the nation of France. As a result, the two are symbolically associated with one another. And while nations are often personified as women and referred to using feminine pronouns in order to denote them as worthy of respect and protection, Orczy uses this device to achieve the opposite effect. In The Scarlet Pimpernel, both the guillotine and the nation it symbolizes are personified as sensual but cruel and bloodthirsty women.
In Chapter 1, the guillotine is specifically personified as “Madame Guillotine”— a sensual woman with a deadly “embrace”:
[A] summary trial would await her the next day and after that, the fond embrace of Madame la Guillotine.
This personification continues later in the same chapter, when The Scarlet Pimpernel—in disguise as an old woman—refers to the executioner as “Madame Guillotine’s lover.” The word “lover,” as opposed to the word “husband,” carries connotations of deviant sexuality. In Chapter 12, Orczy uses the word “lurid” to describe the guillotine. The word literally means “vivid,” a reference to the bright red blood staining the blade of the machine, but it too carries connotations of illicit sexual behavior. With these instances of personification, Orczy contrasts what she views as French immorality with the purity and sanctity of English marriage.
In Chapter 7, Marguerite personifies France as a cruel mother:
She tried to pierce the distance far away, beyond which lay the shores of France: that relentless and stern France which was exacting her pound of flesh, the blood-tax from the noblest of her sons.
In this passage, Orczy inverts the traditional notion of the “motherland.” France, instead of being portrayed as a loving mother, is “relentless and stern,” and her sons are depicted as victims rather than patriotic defenders.
Through her use of personification, Orczy elevates the guillotine from the status of a passive object to that of an active, almost human subject. Her victims, meanwhile, are often dehumanized and reduced to “prey” or “food.”
Related Themes:
Chapter 12: The Scrap of Paper
Explanation and Analysis—Madame Guillotine:
During the French Revolution’s Reign of Terror, thousands of French aristocrats were executed via the guillotine, a ghastly instrument designed for the purpose of efficient beheadings. Chapter 1 of The Scarlet Pimpernel opens with a throng of French peasants gathering around the guillotine to witness the daily executions, and the narrator personifies the guillotine itself:
During the greater part of the day the guillotine had been kept busy at its ghastly work: all that France had boasted of in the past centuries, of ancient names, and blue blood, had paid toll to her desire for liberty and for fraternity.
In this passage, the guillotine is personified as a busy laborer whose gruesome daily work involves the systematic killing of aristocrats. The use of the pronoun “she” is ambiguous—it could refer to either the guillotine or the nation of France. As a result, the two are symbolically associated with one another. And while nations are often personified as women and referred to using feminine pronouns in order to denote them as worthy of respect and protection, Orczy uses this device to achieve the opposite effect. In The Scarlet Pimpernel, both the guillotine and the nation it symbolizes are personified as sensual but cruel and bloodthirsty women.
In Chapter 1, the guillotine is specifically personified as “Madame Guillotine”— a sensual woman with a deadly “embrace”:
[A] summary trial would await her the next day and after that, the fond embrace of Madame la Guillotine.
This personification continues later in the same chapter, when The Scarlet Pimpernel—in disguise as an old woman—refers to the executioner as “Madame Guillotine’s lover.” The word “lover,” as opposed to the word “husband,” carries connotations of deviant sexuality. In Chapter 12, Orczy uses the word “lurid” to describe the guillotine. The word literally means “vivid,” a reference to the bright red blood staining the blade of the machine, but it too carries connotations of illicit sexual behavior. With these instances of personification, Orczy contrasts what she views as French immorality with the purity and sanctity of English marriage.
In Chapter 7, Marguerite personifies France as a cruel mother:
She tried to pierce the distance far away, beyond which lay the shores of France: that relentless and stern France which was exacting her pound of flesh, the blood-tax from the noblest of her sons.
In this passage, Orczy inverts the traditional notion of the “motherland.” France, instead of being portrayed as a loving mother, is “relentless and stern,” and her sons are depicted as victims rather than patriotic defenders.
Through her use of personification, Orczy elevates the guillotine from the status of a passive object to that of an active, almost human subject. Her victims, meanwhile, are often dehumanized and reduced to “prey” or “food.”
Related Themes:
Chapter 14: One O’clock Precisely!
Explanation and Analysis—Fate:
At several points throughout The Scarlet Pimpernel, Orczy personifies the concept of fate. In part, this personification is an allusion to the Fates in Greek mythology—a trio of female deities responsible for mortal destiny. But Orczy also uses the motif of personified fate to advance her argument about the superiority of the English aristocracy.
In Chapter 14, Marguerite personifies fate in an attempt to justify her decision to help Chauvelin in his attempts to capture the Scarlet Pimpernel:
Fate had decided, had made her speak, had made her do a vile, abominable thing, for the sake of the brother she loved.
By blaming "Fate" for her actions, Marguerite refuses to acknowledge her own agency in the situation. She is responsible for the choice to help Chauvelin, just as she was responsible for her actions back home in France, which led to the execution of the Marquis de St. Cyr and his family. But by placing the blame on Fate, an all-powerful mythical entity, Marguerite can avoid the guilt she feels.
In Chapter 30, after Marguerite finally takes full responsibility for her actions and seeks to atone for them, Orczy implies that Fate has actually been on the side of the Scarlet Pimpernel all along:
It really seemed as if some potent Fate watched over that daring Scarlet Pimpernel, and his astute enemy almost felt a superstitious shudder pass through him, as he looked round at the towering cliffs, and the loneliness of this outlying coast.
In this passage, Chauvelin almost feels "a superstitious shudder" at the realization that the Scarlet Pimpernel has slipped through his fingers once again. The Scarlet Pimpernel's luck, to Chauvelin, appears almost supernatural.
In Chapter 31, after Sir Percy and Marguerite have successfully escaped Chauvelin, Sir Percy also expresses his opinion that Fate is on his side:
"I thought that Fate and I were going to work together after all."
By having the forces of fate align to aid Sir Percy, Orczy implies that his mission, as well as the superiority of the English aristocracy, is somehow divinely sanctioned.
Related Themes:
Chapter 16: Richmond
Explanation and Analysis—Pride and Beauty:
In Chapter 16 of The Scarlet Pimpernel, Orczy uses metaphor and personification to dramatize the marital conflict between Marguerite and Sir Percy. After arriving at their estate in Richmond, the couple argues, and Orczy frames the argument as a conflict between Sir Percy's extreme pride and Marguerite's extreme beauty:
His pride and her beauty had been in direct conflict, and his pride had remained the conqueror.
The metaphorical battle between the personified forces of beauty and pride represents the larger conflict between the values of the French Republic and those of the English aristocracy. Marguerite's beauty represents what Orczy views as the inherent shallowness of the French, which leads Chauvelin and his men to be constantly duped by the Scarlet Pimpernel. Percy's pride, meanwhile, represents what Orczy believes to be the English aristocracy's strong commitment to duty, which inspires him to perform acts of heroism.
In this scene, Percy's pride remains "the conqueror," foreshadowing how traditional English morals emerge victorious at the end of the novel, with Marguerite fully rejecting her French Republican sensibilities. With her use of personification and metaphor, Orczy elevates the private marital conflict in Marguerite and Sir Percy's to the level of international and even universal importance.
Related Themes:
Chapter 30: The Schooner
Explanation and Analysis—Fate:
At several points throughout The Scarlet Pimpernel, Orczy personifies the concept of fate. In part, this personification is an allusion to the Fates in Greek mythology—a trio of female deities responsible for mortal destiny. But Orczy also uses the motif of personified fate to advance her argument about the superiority of the English aristocracy.
In Chapter 14, Marguerite personifies fate in an attempt to justify her decision to help Chauvelin in his attempts to capture the Scarlet Pimpernel:
Fate had decided, had made her speak, had made her do a vile, abominable thing, for the sake of the brother she loved.
By blaming "Fate" for her actions, Marguerite refuses to acknowledge her own agency in the situation. She is responsible for the choice to help Chauvelin, just as she was responsible for her actions back home in France, which led to the execution of the Marquis de St. Cyr and his family. But by placing the blame on Fate, an all-powerful mythical entity, Marguerite can avoid the guilt she feels.
In Chapter 30, after Marguerite finally takes full responsibility for her actions and seeks to atone for them, Orczy implies that Fate has actually been on the side of the Scarlet Pimpernel all along:
It really seemed as if some potent Fate watched over that daring Scarlet Pimpernel, and his astute enemy almost felt a superstitious shudder pass through him, as he looked round at the towering cliffs, and the loneliness of this outlying coast.
In this passage, Chauvelin almost feels "a superstitious shudder" at the realization that the Scarlet Pimpernel has slipped through his fingers once again. The Scarlet Pimpernel's luck, to Chauvelin, appears almost supernatural.
In Chapter 31, after Sir Percy and Marguerite have successfully escaped Chauvelin, Sir Percy also expresses his opinion that Fate is on his side:
"I thought that Fate and I were going to work together after all."
By having the forces of fate align to aid Sir Percy, Orczy implies that his mission, as well as the superiority of the English aristocracy, is somehow divinely sanctioned.
Related Themes:
Chapter 31: The Escape
Explanation and Analysis—Fate:
At several points throughout The Scarlet Pimpernel, Orczy personifies the concept of fate. In part, this personification is an allusion to the Fates in Greek mythology—a trio of female deities responsible for mortal destiny. But Orczy also uses the motif of personified fate to advance her argument about the superiority of the English aristocracy.
In Chapter 14, Marguerite personifies fate in an attempt to justify her decision to help Chauvelin in his attempts to capture the Scarlet Pimpernel:
Fate had decided, had made her speak, had made her do a vile, abominable thing, for the sake of the brother she loved.
By blaming "Fate" for her actions, Marguerite refuses to acknowledge her own agency in the situation. She is responsible for the choice to help Chauvelin, just as she was responsible for her actions back home in France, which led to the execution of the Marquis de St. Cyr and his family. But by placing the blame on Fate, an all-powerful mythical entity, Marguerite can avoid the guilt she feels.
In Chapter 30, after Marguerite finally takes full responsibility for her actions and seeks to atone for them, Orczy implies that Fate has actually been on the side of the Scarlet Pimpernel all along:
It really seemed as if some potent Fate watched over that daring Scarlet Pimpernel, and his astute enemy almost felt a superstitious shudder pass through him, as he looked round at the towering cliffs, and the loneliness of this outlying coast.
In this passage, Chauvelin almost feels "a superstitious shudder" at the realization that the Scarlet Pimpernel has slipped through his fingers once again. The Scarlet Pimpernel's luck, to Chauvelin, appears almost supernatural.
In Chapter 31, after Sir Percy and Marguerite have successfully escaped Chauvelin, Sir Percy also expresses his opinion that Fate is on his side:
"I thought that Fate and I were going to work together after all."
By having the forces of fate align to aid Sir Percy, Orczy implies that his mission, as well as the superiority of the English aristocracy, is somehow divinely sanctioned.
Related Themes:
