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As I believe I mentioned in the voting thread, I didn’t bother to read the book, having seen several film versions. So this was a first read—though I was familiar with the basic plot.
Anyhow, I loved it despite the number of assumptions one must make. After all, a super hero is supposed to have a secret identity. 😉 And the convention is that it is supposed to work reasonably well however unlikely it may seem. Consider the very improbable use of disguise in Shakespeare’s comedies. The audience is simply expected to assume they work. In fact, the secret identity of the Scarlet Pimpernel is far more effective than the latter and has the additional advantage of tying into the romantic subplot.
I found that Marguerite was a particularly interesting heroine. She certainly seemed rather ambiguous at her first appearance —particularly when she met the Comtesse. The blackmailing effort of Chauvelin forces her into a further highly questionable position. The conflicting feelings she has about her marriage add additional tension to her decisions. I think she is certainly an effective and credible witness to events and while I agree that she plays a subsidiary part in the action, her presence adds a great deal of excitement to the story.
In the end that blazing plot of The Scarlet Pimpernel sweeps the reader along and I found it quite irresistible.
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