Caroline+Durland

__The Scarlet Pimpernel__
==
 * //The Scarlet Pimpernel// is s story written by Baroness Orczy.
 * The story takes place in 1792. A significant event that happend during this time was the French Revolution.
 * More information for this novel: __http://www.gradesaver.com/the-scarlet-pimpernel/study-guide/short-summary/__

==

__List of the Main Characters__
Percy Blakeney appears to us first as the maligned husband of Lady Blakeney -- one of the richest, most fashionable men in England, but also a reputed dunce. He is built like a truck, apparently, with big shoulders and muscles, but this only adds to his reputation as a stupid stooge. But Percy is of course secretly the Scarlet Pimpernel who raids the barricades of France to save condemned French aristocrats from the guillotine. Lady Blakeney, while living in France as an actress, was famous for her beauty, but even more for her charisma, wit, and intelligence. When she marries Percy Blakeney, no one's quite sure what she's thinking. Since he's considered a dull turkey and she a renowned socialite, the consensus is that she's married down. But she discovers her husband's secret identity and we see her husband's heroism through her eyes. Chauvelin, the novel's chief villain, is a French agent who has English diplomacy rights. He is in England looking for the Pimpernel and anyone else who is attempting to rescue French aristocrats. His 'hard-hearted, vengeful' nature contrasts with the dashing Pimpernel. Armand St. Just, Marguerite St. Just's brother, is in cahoots with the Pimpernel. Chauvelin uses Armand to blackmail Marguerite in an attempt to get to the Pimpernel. __http://www.gradesaver.com/the-scarlet-pimpernel/study-guide/character-list/__
 * **Percy Blakeney (a.k.a the Scarlet Pimpernel)**
 * **Marguerite St. Just / Lady Blakeney**
 * **Chauvelin**
 * **Armand St. Just**

**__The French Revolution- 1789-1799__**

The Causes >
 * A cause for the French Revolution was financial problems. The wars of Louis XIV caused debts which grew when wars were fought in the 18th century. This bankrupcty happened because of the laid tax system.
 * Another cause for the French Revolution was food scarcity. Different crop failures in the 1780s caused these shortages, which of course led to high prices for bread. The peasants were double stricken by the economical and agricultural problems. __http://www.funfront.net/hist/f3/fr_revo_causes.htm__

__Guillotine__

 * A guillotine is a device used for carrying out executions by decapitation. It consists of a tall upright frame from which a blade is suspended. This blade is raised with a rope and then allowed to drop, severing the head from the body. The device is noted for long being the main method of execution in France and, more particularly, for its use during the French Revolution, when it "became a part of popular culture, celebrated as the people's avenger by supporters of the Revolution and vilified as the pre-eminent symbol of the Reign of Terror by opponents." Nevertheless, the guillotine continued to be used long after the French Revolution in several countries, including France, where it was the sole method of execution until the abolition of capital punishment in 1981 __http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guillotine__



__Geography__

 * France is the largest West European nation.
 * **Location:** Western Europe, bordering the Bay of Biscay and English Channel, between Belgium and Spain, southeast of the UK; bordering the Mediterranean Sea, between Italy and Spain.
 * **Area:** total: 547,030 sq km
 * **Land:** 545,630 sq km
 * **Water:** 1,400 sq km
 * It is slightly less than twice the size of Colorado
 * More information: __http://geography.about.com/library/cia/blcfrance.htm__

__Fashion for Men__
__http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1750–1795_in_fashion#Men.27s_fashion__
 * **Coats:** The skirts of the coat narrowed from the gored styles of the previous period, and toward the 1780s began to be cutaway in a curve from the front waist. Waistcoats extended to mid-thigh to the 1770s, and gradually shortened until they were waist-length and cut straight across. Waistcoats could be made with or without sleeves. As in the previous period, a loose, T-shaped silk, cotton or linen gown called a banyan was worn at home as a sort of dressing gown over the shirt, waistcoat, and breeches. Men of an intellectual or philosophical bent were painted wearing banyans, with their own hair or a soft cap rather than a wig. A coat with a wide collar called a frock, derived from a traditional working-class coat, was worn for hunting and other country pursuits in both Britain and America.
 * **Shirt and Stock:** Shirt sleeves were full, gathered at the wrist and dropped shoulder. Full-dress shirts had ruffles of fine fabric or lace, while undress shirts ended in plain wrist bands. A small turnover collar returned to fashion, worn with the stock. The cravat reappeared at the end of the period.
 * **Breeches, Shoes, and Stockings:** As coats became cutaway, more attention was paid to the cut and fit of the brits. Breeches fitted snugly and had a fall-front opening. Low-heeled leather shoes fastened with buckles were worn with silk or woolen stockings. Boots were worn for riding. The buckles were either polished metal, usually in silver (sometimes with the metal cut into false stones in the Paris style), or with paste stones, although there were other types. These buckles were often quite large and one of the world's largest collections can be seen at Kenwood House.
 * **Hairstyles and Headgear:** Wigs were worn for formal occasions, or the hair was worn long and powdered, brushed back from the forehead and //clubbed// (tied back at the nape of the neck) with a black ribbon. Wide-brimmed hats turned up on three sides called tricornes were worn in mid-century. Later, these hats were turned up front and back or on the sides to form bicornes. Toward the end of the period a tall,slightly conical hat with a narrower brim became fashionable (this would evolve into the top hat in the next period).



__Fashion for Women__
__http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1750–1795_in_fashion#Women.27s_fashion__
 * **Gowns:** The usual fashion of the years 1750–1780 was a low-necked gown (usually called in French a //robe//), worn over a petticoat. Most gowns had skirts that opened in front to show the petticoat worn beneath. If the bodice of the frock was open in front, the opening was filled in with a decorative stomacher, pinned to the frock over the laces or to the corset beneath. Tight elbow-length sleeves were trimmed with frills or ruffles, and separate under-ruffles called engage antes of lace or fine linen were racked to the smock or chemise sleeves. The neckline was trimmed with a fabric or lace ruffle, or a neckerchief called a //fichu// could be tucked into the low neckline. The //robe à la française// or sack-back gown featured back pleats hanging loosely from the neckline. A fitted bodice held the front of the gown closely to the figure. The //robe à l'anglaise// or close-bodied gown featured back pleats sewn in place to fit closely to the body, and then released into the skirt which would be draped in various ways. Elaborate draping "a la polonaise" became fashionable by the mid 1770s, featuring backs of the gowns' skirts rucked up either through loops or through the pocket slits of the gown. Front-wrapping thigh-length //shortgowns// or bedgowns of lightweight printed cotton fabric were fashionable at-home morning wear, worn with petticoats. Over time, bedgowns became the staple upper garment of British and American female working-class street wear.
 * **Jackets and Redingotes:** Toward the 1770s, an informal alternative to the dress was a costume of a jacket and petticoat, based on working class fashion but executed in finer fabrics with a tighter fit.The //Brunswick// dress was two-piece costume of German origin consisting of a hip-length jacket with "split sleeves" (flounced elbow-length sleeves and long, tight lower sleeves) and a hood, worn with a matching petticoat. It was popular for traveling. The //caraco// was a jacket-like bodice worn with a petticoat, with elbow-length sleeves. By the 1790s, caracos had full-length, tight sleeves. As in previous periods, the traditional riding habit consisted of a tailored jacket like a man's coat, worn with a high-necked shirt, a waistcoat, a petticoat, and a hat. Alternatively, the jacket and a false waistcoat-front might be a made as a single garment, and later in the period a simpler riding jacket and petticoat (without waiscoat) could be worn.Another alternative to the traditional habit was a coat-dress called a //joseph// or //riding coat// (borrowed in French as redingote), usually of unadorned or simply trimmed woolen fabric, with full-length, tight sleeves and a broad collar with lapels or revers. The redingote was later worn as an overcoat with the light-weight chemise dress.
 * **Underwear:** The shift, chemise (in France), or smock, had a low neckline and elbow-length sleeves which were full early in the period and became increasingly narrow as the century progressed. Drawers were not worn in this period.The long-waisted, heavily boned //stays// of the early 1740s with their narrow back, wide front, and shoulder straps gave way by the 1760s to strapless stays which still were cut high at the armpit, to encourage a woman to stand with her shoulders slightly back, a fashionable posture. The fashionable shape was a rather conical torso, with large hips. The waist was not particularly small. Stays were usually laced snugly, but comfortably; only those interested in extreme fashions laced tightly. They offered back support for heavy lifting, and poor and middle class women were able to work comfortably in them. As the relaxed, country fashion took hold in France, stays were sometimes replaced by a lightly boned garment called "un corset," though this style did not achieve popularity in England, where stays remained standard through the end of the period. Panniers or side-hoops remained an essential of court fashion but disappeared everywhere else in favor of a few petticoats. Free-hanging pockets were tied around the waist and were accessed through //pocket slits// in the side-seams of the gown or petticoat. Woolen or quilted waistcoats were worn over the stays or corset and under the gown for warmth, as were petticoats quilted with wool batting, especially in the cold climates of Northern Europe and America.
 * **Shoes:** Shoes had high, curved heels (the origin of modern "louis heels") and were made of fabric or leather. It was particularly common for shoe buckles to be worn as an "ornament" to the foot in high society, principally at grand parties, and made an important feature of the "dandy" image. These were either polished metal, usually in silver (sometimes with the metal cut into false stones in the Paris style), or with paste stones, although there were other type. These buckles were often quite large and one of the worlds largest collections can be seen at Kenwood House
 * **Hairstyles and Headgear:** The 1770s in fashion were notable for extreme hairstyles and wigs which were built up very high, and often incorporated decorative objects (sometimes symbolic, as in the case of the famous engraving depicting a lady wearing a large ship in her hair with masts and sails—called the "Coiffure à l'Indépendance ou le Triomphe de la liberté"—to celebrate naval victory in the American War of Independence). These coiffures were parodied in several famous satirical caricatures of the period. By the 1780s, elaborate hats replaced the former elaborate hairstyles. Mob caps and other "country" styles were worn indoors. Flat, broad-brimmed and low-crowned straw "shepherdess" hats tied on with ribbons were worn with the new rustic styles. Hair was powdered into the early 1780s, but the new country fashion required natural colored hair, often dressed simply in a mass of curls.



__The Bastille__
> Initial work began in 1357, although the main body of construction occurred from 1370 onwards, creating a strong fortress with eight towers that protected the strategic gateway of the PorteSaint-Antonie on the eastern edge of Paris. The innovative design proved influential in both France and England and was widely copied. In its lifetime, the Bastille played an important role in the internal conflicts of France, including the fighting between the rival factions of the Burgundians and the Armagnacs in the 15th century, and the Wars of Religion in the 16th. The fortress was declared a state prison in 1417, and this role was expanded, first under the English occupiers of the 1420s and 1430s, and then under Louis XI in the 1460s. The defences of the Bastille were strengthened in response to the English and Imperial threat during the 1550s, with a bastion being constructed to the east of the fortress. In the 17th century the fortress played an important role in the rebellion of the Fronde and the battle of the faubourg Saint-Antoine was fought beneath its walls in 1652. Louis XIV used the Bastille primarily as a prison for upper-class members of French society who had opposed or angered him, including, after the revocation of the E dict of Nantes, French Protestants. From 1659 onwards, the Bastille's primary role was as a state prison and by 1789 a total of 5,279 prisoners had come through the fortress. Under Louis XV and XVI the Bastille's focus shifted and it was used to detain prisoners from an increasingly wide range of backgrounds, and to support the operations of the Parisian police, especially in enforcing government censorship of the printed media. Although prisoners were kept in relatively good conditions, criticism of the Bastille grew during the 18th century, fuelled by autobiographies written by former prisoners. Reform of the prison began and prisoner numbers reduced considerably. In 1789 political tensions rose in France and on 14 July the Bastille was successfully stormed by a Revolutionary crowd, primarily residents of the faubourg Saint-Antoine who were attempting to commandeer the valuable gunpowder being held within the fortress. Seven remaining prisoners were released and the Bastille's governor, Bernard-Rene`de Launay, was killed by the crowd. In the aftermath the Bastille was adopted by the Revolution as a symbol of despotism - the storming of the fortress became an equally powerful symbol of the Revolution. The Bastille was demolished by order of the Committee of the Hotel de Ville and the remains of the fortress were turned into Revolutionary relics, transported around France to reinforce the message of the Revolution. > In the 19th century the site and historical legacy of the Bastille featured prominently in French revolutions, political protests and popular friction and remained an important symbol for the French Republican Movement. Today almost nothing is left of the Bastille except for remains of its stone foundation relocated on the side of the Boulevard Henri IV. Historians, initially deeply critical of the Bastille in the early 19th century, now believe the fortress to have been a relatively well-administered institution, albeit heavily implicated in the system of French policing and political control during the 18th century. > __http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bastille__ >
 * The **Bastille** was a fortress in Paris, known formally as the **Bastille Saint-Antoine**; it played an important role in the internal conflicts of France and for most of its history was used as a state prison by the kings of France. The Bastille was built in response to the English threat to the city of Paris during the Hundred Years War. It was stormed on 14 July 1789 during the French Revolution, becoming an important symbol for the French Republican movement, and was later completely demolished, and built over by the Place de laBastille with only a few relics remaining which were placed on the nearby Boulevard Henri IV.

__The Declaration of Rights of Woman__
__http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Declaration_of_the_Rights_of_Woman_and_the_Female_Citizen__
 * Written in 1791 by French activist and playwright Olympe de Gorges. The //Declaration// is ironic and based on the //Declaration of the Rights of Man and of theCitizen//, seeking to expose the failure of the French Revolution which had been devoted to gender equality.
 * The //Declaration of the Rights of Woman and the Female Citizen// was published in 1791 and is modelled on the //Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen// of 1789 Olympe de Gorges dedicated the text to Marie Antoinette.
 * It states that: “This revolution will only take effect when all women become fully aware of their deplorable condition, and of the rights they have lost in society”.
 * The //Declaration of the Rights of Woman and the Female Citizen// follows the seventeen articles of the //Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen// point for point.The first article of the //Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen// proclaims that: “Men are born and remain free and equal in rights. Social distinctions may be based only on common utility.” The first article of //Declaration of the Rights of Woman and the Female Citizen// replied: “Woman is born free and remains equal to man in rights. Social distinctions may only be based on common utility”. De Gouges expands the sixth article of the //Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen//, which declared the rights of citizens to take part in the formation of law, to: “All citizens including women are equally admissible to all public dignities, offices and employments, according to their capacity, and with no other distinction than that of their virtues and talents”. De Gouges draws attention to the fact that under French law women were fully punishable, yet denied equal rights, declaring “Women have the right to mount the scaffold, they must also have the right to mount the speaker’s rostrum”.[[image:http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/34/DDFC.jpg height="292" align="right"]]

==

__The End of the Revolution__ ==
 * The French Revolution started in 1789, but nobody knows when it ended. Historians can not agree on this.
 * There are a lot of dates that people believe it ended on. To look at them go to: __http://europeanhistory.about.com/od/thefrenchrevolution/a/When-Did-The-French-Revolution-End.htm__