Goodbye, my sweet, it's good to know that you loved me a little ...

leslie howard and merle oberon in the scarlet pimpernel (1934) dir. harold young.

20 notes and I'll make a Percy x Marguerite edit

“But tell me,” she added merrily, “what in the world, or whom in the world, are you doing here in England?”

Marguerite to Chauvelin - chapter VIII - The Scarlet Pimpernel

... DID SHE JUST ASK HIM IF HE'S GETTING LAID?

The thing that I really appreciate about the og Scarlet Pimpernel book (and boy is there a lot ot NOT appreciate in that book) is that the main villain Chauvlin is not a foil to Percy/The Pimpernel, but to Marguerite.

Like, they're both tiny French republicans obsessed with finding the Scarlet Pimpernel. It's not really carried over into many adaptations bc they focus so heavily on Percy, but its a great little aspect of the dynamics of the first book.

I’m not saying that everyone in the excited for the Barbie movie crowd would enjoy The Scarlet Pimpernel -  but there probably are quite a few people in the excited for the Barbie movie crowd who would enjoy The Scarlet Pimpernel.

Marguerite Blakeney (Merle Oberon) Portrait dress.. The Scarlet Pimpernel (1934).. Costume by Oliver Messel.

reading up on The Scarlet Pimpernel and finding out various adaptations often have Citizen Chauvelin as the ex-lover or suitor of Marguerite (who is being blackmailed by him to save her brother's life). only to also find out the brother and Chauvelin have the same first name, and YET no adaptation has ever.... no....i shan't say it here...

Marguerite: the brightest star

Another Scarlet Pimpernel poll, because I'm nothing if not consistent.

*Bolts Awake* You're So Vain as a Marguerite St Just x Percy Blakeney animatic

when adaptations stop watering marguerite down and actually let her decisions have the same impact and emotional weight as percy’s is the day i will know peace.

there were no scarlet pimpernel Percy x Marguerite edits so I have made one myself. sadly... i don't know of anyone else who will appreciate it. sending this edit out into the void in hopes of finding fellow shippers...

you can also watch it on youtube

I am absolutely obsessed with the conversation between Marguerite and Chauvelin in Chapter VIII.

Just ... Just ...

Her delight in seeing him Though it is as much because of the past he represents as for himself, they are still friends! Friends! They have a past together, he was in her social circle, which means he was part of the intellectual and artistic set of Paris, and he "knew Armand well"! What the hell? Where does this connection between them disappear to? Why isn't it used more?

His anger towards her While she is delighted, he is sarcastic with her from the first, and I think it's because he is feeling personally betrayed. She was once part of the republican cause, but "betrayed" it by marrying into the aristocracy that Chauvelin hates. This seems to be their first meeting since her marriage, and he is so smug that it's gone poorly for her. He, so intensely devoted to the cause, probably would take it personally that she, Paris' brilliant leading lady, chose to betray her principles, but of course, she was always a moderate: pro-equality but not anti-aristocracy, and so she does not see herself as a traitor and doesn't realise what his moodiness means.

The way she teases him! Asking what "or whom" he's doing in England?? Calling him "my little Chauvelin"? Saying she's gotta be pretty miserable or she wouldn't be so happy to see him? She's so confident and even condescending! Their power dynamic starts out entirely in her favour and is reversed over the course of the book, and that's so interesting, I wanted a more deliberate exploration of that!

Chauvelin being kinda noble actually? The fact that when he entreats her to aid France, his expression is described as one of "singular earnestness". No sarcasm, no hate, just devotion. He even becomes "impressive and full of dignity" as he describes his mission in England.

“For the sake of France, citoyenne!” reiterated Chauvelin, earnestly.

He doesn't come to her intending to blackmail her, he doesn't come up with that until he finds out her brother is in league with the Scarlet Pimpernel, which he would also probably take quite personally, because he, again, "knew Armand well".

I wanted more of this!

They seek him here, they seek him there!

If you'd like your own watercolors, details are over here!

This is a bit niche, but I was idly thinking about it, so:

The Scarlet Pimpernel will never not be hilarious because Percy is extremely scared his wife will betray him to Chauvelin and Marguerite is extremely scared her husband is gay