Scarlet Pimpernel [Lit.] The name assumed by the English nobleman Sir Percy Blakeney, the hero of a series of novels by Baroness Orczy, including The Scarlet Pimpernel (1905). Apparently a lazy fop, Blakeney uses ingenious disguises to outwit his opponents and rescue French aristocrats from the guillotine during the French Revolution. He reveals his true identity to no one, not even to those he rescues, but leaves the sign of a small red flower, the scarlet pimpernel, as his calling-card whenever he has effected a rescue.
The Scarlet Pimpernel's exploits inspire the famous rhyme
We seek him here, we seek him there,
Those Frenchies seek him everywhere.
Is he in heaven?—Is he in hell?
That demmed, elusive Pimpernel?
Someone who is difficult to find or catch; someone who rescues others in a clandestine way
I'm asking Wilson, but he's gone away—to Lagos for a week or two. The damned elusive Pimpernel. Just when I wanted him. Graham Greene "The Heart of the Matter" 1948
One fifteen-year-old was kept isolated for three years in her bedroom. Sometimes all they want is higher education. Legends keep them going. Like the true story of a runaway who is now a graduate and successful businesswoman. Philip Balmforth, Bradford Police's community officer, is the indefatigable local scarlet pimpernel who rescues these girls and who arranges new lives, new identities. "The Independent" 1998
How to cite this entry: "Scarlet Pimpernel" The Oxford Dictionary of Reference and Allusion. by Andrew Delahunty and Sheila Dignen. Oxford University Press Inc. The Oxford Dictionary of Reference and Allusion. Oxford University Press. 13 January 2012
