Scarlet

Scarlet is a work of English folklore by A.C. Gaughen. Updating the classic story of Robin Hood with a romantic twist, it follows one of the moral thief’s protégés, Scarlet, who poses as a man in order to join the band of Robin of Locksley after the vigilante blackmails her to join him. With “Rob,” she wanders Sherwood Forest outside Nottinghamshire, concealing that she is gradually becoming more interested in Rob himself than his moral mission. Together, they face off against the antagonist Gisbourne, a thief consumed by greed, while dancing between a succession of revelations about each of the characters’ pasts.

The novel begins by introducing the primary tension between Rob and Scarlet. A number of years ago, Scarlet, then an amateur thief, had fumbled an attempt to steal from Rob. After catching her, he delivered an ultimatum: either she admit her crime and go straight to jail, or redeem herself by joining his clan. Bitterly, she becomes an outlaw, passing as male to avoid legal incrimination. Rob is of high political standing, technically, the Earl Huntingdon of Nottinghamshire, though he was forced out by a political strike in which Prince John accused Rob’s father of betraying the kingdom. Now running Nottinghamshire, Prince John has hiked taxes solely to enrich himself. Finding no political recourse to dethrone John, Rob has resorted to the life of a vigilante, stealing from John’s rich allies to recover the wealth of the poor. In the background, he eagerly awaits the return of his father, King Richard, from a battle in Jerusalem, and a return to politics as normal.

After joining the band, Scarlet tells Rob about a secret passage into the prison of Nottingham Castle, where a wrongfully arrested boy has been imprisoned. They enter town, learning that Gisbourne, a thief from London, has been sighted nearby. While in disguise, she hears the news that Nottingham’s sheriff has enlisted Gisbourne to track down Rob and his crew. She follows a series of clues to Gisbourne’s carriage, and steals all of his personal possessions. Doing further research on Gisbourne, they learn that he once was extremely controlling of a woman he was engaged to. Apparently out of desperation, the woman committed suicide. When they find out that Gisbourne has a stash of gunpowder, they infer he intends to commit a mass murder to draw Rob and his clan to a centralized place. They intercept this plot, creating a diversion that helps a group of poachers, Gisbourne’s targets, get away before the explosion.



Robin and Scarlet return to the forest and find Gisbourne waiting to ambush them. They escape unscathed but lose the gold they stole from his carriage. They discover that Godfrey Mason, Rob’s friend, had told Gisbourne the location of their secret hideout to avoid a prison sentence and secure a political position in Nottingham that would give him the authority to stop his sister, Revenna, from marrying a Frenchman she dislikes. For these reasons, Rob forgives him, just before Godfrey and Revenna are whisked off by the sheriff.

Rob and Scarlet hatch a plot to get Godfrey and Revenna out of Nottingham Prison. They stage a fake break-in and hide two guard costumes in the prison walls, planning for Ravenna and Godfrey to escape dressed as guards. When they come back to complete the plan, they learn that Gisbourne, infatuated with Ravenna, has taken her to the castle. Scarlett rushes to the castle to save her, discovering that Ravenna has decided to marry the sheriff out of desperation. Scarlet, escapes the castle, pursued by Gisbourne.

During a theft several days later, Scarlet is recaptured by Gisbourne. Rob learns that Scarlet used to be engaged to Gisbourne, but escaped and made a living from theft. Rob saves her, but soon learns from a double agent that Gisbourne has made a traitor out of one of his men. Enraged, Gisbourne kills the double agent, revealing via a message on the corpse that Scarlet’s real name is Lady Marian. Scarlet explains herself: she had been engaged to Gisbourne who caused her to fear for her life. She escaped with her sister. Rob confesses his love for her.



The team executes another plan to free the wrongfully imprisoned from Nottingham prison by posing as religious evangelicals. Recognizing Scarlet, Gisbourne tries to murder her, but Robin prevents him and is abducted instead. Scarlet runs back into the prison, and hearing him being tortured, assuming the worst. The following day is Ravenna’s wedding to the sheriff. Instead of marrying her, he kills her, sending a message to Rob that he will get revenge for their crimes. They bring out Rob and stage an execution, but Scarlet offers to be killed in his place. Gisbourne agrees, allowing Rob to leave, but Rob pledges to save her. Gisbourne and Scarlet complete their marriage vows but she immediately runs off. She finds Robin and they detonate Gisbourne’s gunpowder together, demolishing the prison. Though Gisbourne escapes, Rob and his thieves return to their forest unscathed. Rob makes a final vow to free the oppressed people of Nottinghamshire.

With an update of Robin Hood that is full of twists and turns, Gaughen suspends the truth about Scarlet’s many characters, bringing its classic plot into a more romantic and modern context.