The Authorities and the Wanderers

The Man Who Laughs

A series of laws and local powers turn itinerant life into suspicion, revealing the distance between legal order and human safety.

increasing

Bearing strength in each event

decreasing

A Trade That Can Be Used A Trade That Can Be Used from "The Man Who Laughs". A Trade That Can Be Used Toleration for convenience The Comprachicos serve royal and court interests despite public horror.

A Trade That Can Be Used from "The Man Who Laughs". A Trade That Can Be Used Toleration for convenience The Comprachicos serve royal and court interests despite public horror.

A Trade That Can Be Used Toleration for convenience The Comprachicos serve royal and court interests despite public horror. Their usefulness protects them from consistent prosecution. The law’s treatment of them follows political need. A child in the machinery Gwynplaine’s sale demonstrates the human cost of that arrangement. Royal power and criminal trade cooperate in secret. The child has no protection from the authorities meant to govern him.

A New Campaign A New Campaign from "The Man Who Laughs". A New Campaign The network pursued William III’s government moves against the Comprachicos. The decree threatens branding, confiscation, and imprisonment.

A New Campaign from "The Man Who Laughs". A New Campaign The network pursued William III’s government moves against the Comprachicos. The decree threatens branding, confiscation, and imprisonment.

A New Campaign The network pursued William III’s government moves against the Comprachicos. The decree threatens branding, confiscation, and imprisonment. A previously useful trade becomes a target of state enforcement. Fear spreads wider Poor wanderers fear being mistaken for child buyers. Some abandon children rather than risk arrest. Legal repression expands suffering beyond the intended criminals.

The Circus Complaints The Circus Complaints from "The Man Who Laughs". The Circus Complaints Local interests align Rival performers lose audiences to Gwynplaine. Religious leaders resent the crowd’s attraction to the show.

The Circus Complaints from "The Man Who Laughs". The Circus Complaints Local interests align Rival performers lose audiences to Gwynplaine. Religious leaders resent the crowd’s attraction to the show.

The Circus Complaints Local interests align Rival performers lose audiences to Gwynplaine. Religious leaders resent the crowd’s attraction to the show. Different groups turn their complaints toward official action. Law finds a pretext Homo’s outlaw status offers a concrete case against the troupe. The authorities need not address the rivals’ true motives. A marginal family becomes vulnerable under overlapping rules.

Arrest Without Notice Arrest Without Notice from "The Man Who Laughs". Arrest Without Notice Command replaces explanation The wapentake touches Gwynplaine with the iron weapon.

Arrest Without Notice from "The Man Who Laughs". Arrest Without Notice Command replaces explanation The wapentake touches Gwynplaine with the iron weapon.

Arrest Without Notice Command replaces explanation The wapentake touches Gwynplaine with the iron weapon. The legal order requires obedience without immediate information. The silent arrest isolates the target from his companions. The household intimidated Ursus follows at a distance, fearing both for Gwynplaine and himself. Dea is kept unaware to protect her from shock. Law functions as intimidation before guilt has been established.

Collective Expulsion Collective Expulsion from "The Man Who Laughs". Collective Expulsion The wolf becomes a charge The justice orders Ursus and Homo to leave England. The order threatens Homo with death if he remains.

Collective Expulsion from "The Man Who Laughs". Collective Expulsion The wolf becomes a charge The justice orders Ursus and Homo to leave England. The order threatens Homo with death if he remains.

Collective Expulsion The wolf becomes a charge The justice orders Ursus and Homo to leave England. The order threatens Homo with death if he remains. A harmless companion is made the instrument of wider suppression. The community destroyed The Green Box, horses, and performers must be sold or dispersed. The innkeeper is arrested and the inn closed as an example. Public order is enforced by destroying a vulnerable community.

During the Stuart period in the seventeenth century

After the accession of William III in 1688

During the Green Box’s early London success

At breakfast on the day Gwynplaine is taken

The morning after Ursus believes Gwynplaine has died