Gwynplaine’s Fall and Restoration

The Man Who Laughs

This thread follows Gwynplaine from engineered dispossession through sudden inheritance and the collapse of his new identity.

increasing

Bearing strength in each event

decreasing

A Child Sold A Child Sold from "The Man Who Laughs". A Child Sold The hidden crime King James II orders the child sold after his father’s death. The inheritance makes Gwynplaine dangerous to the Crown.

A Child Sold from "The Man Who Laughs". A Child Sold The hidden crime King James II orders the child sold after his father’s death. The inheritance makes Gwynplaine dangerous to the Crown.

A Child Sold The hidden crime King James II orders the child sold after his father’s death. The inheritance makes Gwynplaine dangerous to the Crown. His sale turns political fear into a child’s ruin. A face remade Hardquanonne mutilates him for a life as a spectacle. The work leaves his body fit for display, not recognition. Gwynplaine grows up unable to know his own history.

The Portland Abandonment The Portland Abandonment from "The Man Who Laughs". The Portland Abandonment Escape without the child The Comprachicos flee England under pressure from the new law.

The Portland Abandonment from "The Man Who Laughs". The Portland Abandonment Escape without the child The Comprachicos flee England under pressure from the new law.

The Portland Abandonment Escape without the child The Comprachicos flee England under pressure from the new law. At Portland, their party boards the Matutina and leaves Gwynplaine behind. Their hurried abandonment repeats the original crime against him. A child alone Gwynplaine climbs the cliff and walks into the storm. He has neither shelter nor any idea where he is. The heir’s life begins as an unprotected struggle for survival.

A Name Restored A Name Restored from "The Man Who Laughs". A Name Restored Recognition under torture A recovered flask brings the old confession before the authorities.

A Name Restored from "The Man Who Laughs". A Name Restored Recognition under torture A recovered flask brings the old confession before the authorities.

A Name Restored Recognition under torture A recovered flask brings the old confession before the authorities. Hardquanonne recognizes Gwynplaine and admits the king’s role. The child’s secret becomes a public legal claim. The heir declared The sheriff names Gwynplaine Lord Fermain Clancharlie. Barkilphedro explains the inheritance and royal arrangements. Restoration brings rank, but immediately separates Gwynplaine from his chosen life.

The Peer in the House The Peer in the House from "The Man Who Laughs". The Peer in the House A new social height Gwynplaine is formally introduced and takes his seat among the peers.

The Peer in the House from "The Man Who Laughs". The Peer in the House A new social height Gwynplaine is formally introduced and takes his seat among the peers.

The Peer in the House A new social height Gwynplaine is formally introduced and takes his seat among the peers. Ceremony turns the former mountebank into a legislator. The honour is real, but his belonging remains uncertain. A mission imagined He sees the title as a means to speak for the poor. His new authority seems to promise public service. The House soon answers his hope with laughter.

The Heir in Ruins The Heir in Ruins from "The Man Who Laughs". The Heir in Ruins Return to absence Gwynplaine reaches the Tadcaster Inn and finds the troupe gone.

The Heir in Ruins from "The Man Who Laughs". The Heir in Ruins Return to absence Gwynplaine reaches the Tadcaster Inn and finds the troupe gone.

The Heir in Ruins Return to absence Gwynplaine reaches the Tadcaster Inn and finds the troupe gone. The authorities have cleared Tarrinzeau Field and scattered his former home. His new identity has cost him the people who made it livable. A final choice At the Thames, he leaves his clothes and title behind. Homo interrupts his attempt to die and leads him to the Vograat. The restoration of rank ends in grief, not reconciliation with society.

Around 1682, when Gwynplaine is two

January 29, 1690, at dusk

In the Southwark torture chamber, in 1705

The evening sitting of the House of Lords, 1705

After the Lords adjourn, late at night in 1705