Katerina+Mathes

= = =** ﻿ The Scarlet Pimpernel**=

Classes of France
There were three classes of France. The First Estate, the Second Estate, and the Third Estate. The First Estate consisted of the clergy, and owned 10% of the land. The Second Estate, or the aristocratic people and the people who fought. They owned 25% of the land. There were about 400,000 people who consisted of this group, and they were lightly taxed, or not taxed at all. The Third Estate consisted of the commoners and the peasents. They took the bulk of the taxes and they greatly despised the nobles. []

The Guillotine
The guillotine is a beheading decive for aristocratic crimanals. The French named the guillotine after Doctor Guillotin. The extra "e" at the end was added by an anonymous English poet, because it was easier to rhythm with. Doctor Guillotin together with German engineer Tobias Schmidt, built the example for an ideal guillotine machine. Schmidt suggested using a diagonal blade instead of a round one. Improvements were added by Leon Berger. He added a spring system and a lock/blocking system to release the blade. During the French Revolution, thousands of people were guillontined publicly. []

The French Revolution
The French Revolution began in 1789 and ended in 1799. Louis XVI was the first king that came into power during the begining of the revolution. He was a weak ruler and his wife loved spending money. Even thought there was a scarcety of food, they would still eat immense amounts. They both put the country in debt, and both of them were executed. The Third Estate (common people) were tiered of not getting any respect and not being able to eat much while others feasted away, so they began violent revolts against the aristocrats. After Louis XVI's execution, Robespierre came into power. He killed thousands of men by the guillotine. There weren'y fair trials, so anyone that was suspected was killed. He was overthrown a year later, and the New Constitution, with much newer ideas that gave people rights. The revolution was over and the new modern France was inspired by the American Revolution. []

France's Geography
Two thirds of France's geography is mountians. The rest is rolling hills or flat plains, which is found in the north and west. The climate in most of France is extremely hot or extremely cold, but good, moderate climate is near the coast. []

Fashion of England
English fashion, unsurprisingly, was greatly influenced by France, though there are certain differences on the English and French fashion styles. English clothes tended to be more casual, luxurious, and elegant. Men wore knee-length trouser like garments, waistcoats and frock coats, linen shirts, buckled shoes, and three cornered hats were popular. Woman wore stays (bodices with strips of whalebone), hooped petticoats under their dresses. Women liked big skirts and frills. Both men and women enjoyed wearing wigs. [] []

Fashion of France
Before the French Revolution, fashion was more subtle, but after the Revolution ideas of freedom and self expression were much more common, so people expressed their moods in their clothing. France became the center of fashion. Clothes became more loose instead of tight and uncomfortable. Men adopted the short jacket suit, instead of the long tailed ones. Women started showing off there curves instead of wearing tight clothes to hide them. Women's hair was more natural, worn in curls. Men wore hair natural also, without powder, and the wig was phased out. []

The Scarlet Pimpernel
The Scarllet Pimpernel started out as a play before it was published. It is Baroness Orczy's most famous book. A Scarlet Pimpernel is a flower, and in the book the Scarlet Pimpernel is a man, Sir Percy, who saves people from dieing by the guilllotine. He sends a letter to the aristocrats with the scarlet pimpernel flower stamped on it to let the people know that they are to be saved next and the letter tells the people what to do in order to be saved.

Baroness Orczy
Orczy was born on September 23, 1865, in Tarna-Örs, Hungary. She moved to London with her family at age 15, and that is when she learned how to speak English. While studying at the Heatherby School of Art, Orczy met Montague MacLean Barstow, a young illustrator. They fell in love and got married in 1894. Together they had one son. She died in London, on November 12, 1947. []