When History Meets Literature

When the curriculums of different subjects overlap, classes come alive.  In 6th Grade this happens regularly; but, one of my favorite moments is when our study of the Enlightenment and the French Revolution meets the imagination of Baroness Orczy in The Scarlet Pimpernel. 

In history, our students unpack the ideas of thinkers like Descartes, Rousseau, Locke, and Hobbes.  They consider their views of man and society.  And, they begin to form their opinions about government itself.  These are weighty topics; and, in 6th Grade, students’ understanding is admittedly seminal.  Nonetheless, the students are eager to converse about these matters and wrestle with the questions that follow. 

The students are able to see how the philosophies of the Enlightenment thinkers influence the people of Paris.  They are captivated by the story of a crumbling monarchy and a rising republic.   

Yet, as excited as students are by the stories of Louis XIV, XV, and XVI, their excitement changes exponentially when the stories of real men are combined with the heroism of the fictional Scarlet Pimpernel.   

Baroness Orczy’s The Scarlet Pimpernel is vivid in its description of the streets of Paris during the French Revolution.  Her characters give voice to the revolutionaries, bourgeoisie, and aristocracy–so much so that the students can sympathize with the Comtesse’s disdain for Marguerite, pity Marguerite’s naivete, and recoil at the blood lust of Chauvelin.  Baroness Orczy’s language is rich and complex; but, the students’ study of history allows them to recognize her allusions and visualize her narrative. 

In return, the narrative of The Scarlet Pimpernel impresses itself on the memories of the students and strengthens their understanding of the horror of the French Revolution.  Both literature and history are bolstered by the students’ knowledge of the other, and I’m always grateful for moments like these in our curriculum.