| Beatrice Baudelaire | |
|---|---|
| A Series of Unfortunate Events character | |
| First appearance | The Bad Beginning |
| Occupation | V.F.D. member |
| Family | (See Baudelaire family) |
Beatrice Baudelaire is a fictional character in the novel series A Series of Unfortunate Events by Lemony Snicket. She is the mother of Violet, Klaus, and Sunny Baudelaire, the wife of Bertrand Baudelaire, the unrequited romance of Lemony Snicket, and a member of V.F.D.
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Lemony Snicket was in love with Beatrice and they were engaged, but she canceled the marriage and married Bertrand instead. Various hints are dispensed throughout the series as to why she called off the marriage. According to Lemony Snicket: The Unauthorized Autobiography, Lemony Snicket is mistakenly reported by The Daily Punctilio as dead. This is possible, as suggested in The Grim Grotto, where Lemony makes reference to Captain Widdershins convincing Beatrice that a certain story in a newspaper was true, which could be the report of his death. The other evidence for her belief was that she had planned to name Violet 'Lemony' had she been a boy, in accordance with the family custom of naming a child after a friend who had died. We can assume that Beatrice at one time believed that Snicket was dead. When Lemony was revealed to be alive, she had already married Bertrand and she could not marry him. However, in The Beatrice Letters the reader is told that Beatrice returned Lemony's engagement ring and sent him a 200-page book explaining why the two could not wed, something she could not have done had she believed Snicket to be dead; although this may have been after he was revealed to be alive. This may contradict Ishmael's statement from The End that the ring was given to Beatrice then back to Lemony to Kit to Bertrand then back to Beatrice. Also, the newspaper article mentions Lemony's work as the biographer of the Baudelaires, so this particular article could not have been published until after Beatrice's death, so this puts a damper on the idea that she read that particular article. She could, of course, have believed a completely different article about him (perhaps one accusing him of crimes he did not commit -- Snicket makes frequent references to such articles and false information), sent him the book and the letter, then later when she had married Bertrand, discovered the truth and also believed him (for a time at least) to be dead for some reason -- though again, it could not be the obituary that appears in the Daily Punctilio that convinces her of this as that must appear after her death. In The End, when Kit Snicket nears death, she informs the Baudelaire children that "their families have always been close, even if they had to stay apart from one another".
The Beatrice Letters reveal that Beatrice and Lemony first met when they were still schoolchildren and Beatrice was friends and classmates with the R, the Duchess of Winnipeg.
In The Beatrice Letters, which was published before The End, it is revealed that Beatrice's full name is Beatrice Baudelaire, making her a relative of the Baudelaire orphans. It later becomes clear that this Beatrice is the Baudelaire orphans' mother, and that there is another Beatrice Baudelaire, Kit Snicket's child, who is born in The End and raised by the orphans. The Beatrice Letters reveals that both Beatrices are baticeers (a person who trains bats). Baticeer is an anagram for Beatrice, of which such anagrams are used frequently in A Series of Unfortunate Events.
Even prior to the release of the thirteenth book, there was speculation that Beatrice was the Baudelaires' mother, based on the fact that a list of anagrams in The Hostile Hospital includes "Carrie E. Abelabudite" an anagram for Beatrice Baudelaire. However, the same list includes "Ned H. Rirger" an anagram for Red Herring (a similar passage, juxtaposing evidence that Beatrice is Mrs. Baudelaire and the "Red Herring" anagram appears in The Unauthorized Autobiography. However, the red herring may also be the name "Monty Kensicle', yet another anagram for Lemony Snicket). The Baudelaires have heard her name mentioned twice by Esmé Squalor, but they have not had opportunity to discuss it, so it was unknown if the name meant anything to them.
Snicket mentions Beatrice's death in the dedication of each book.
Beatrice, the Baudelaire orphans' mother, may have stolen Esmé Squalor's sugar bowl, which is an important artifact in the series. In The Ersatz Elevator, Esmé declares to the Baudelaires that she wanted to "steal from [them] the way Beatrice stole from me." In The Penultimate Peril, Esmé exclaims "Beatrice stole it [the sugar bowl] from me!" However, in The Hostile Hospital, Lemony Snicket states that he helped Beatrice steal the sugar bowl and that he feels guilty about it. The Beatrice Letters seems to suggest that Beatrice and Lemony attended a tea party held by Esme and, for reasons unknown, one of them stole Esme's sugar bowl, setting off the schism.
Beatrice "Bice" Portinari was Dante's inspiration and "true" love, whom he met when he was 9 and she was 8. However, she married another man and died three years later. This is probably the basis for the elder Beatrice Baudelaire (whom Snicket met when he was 11 and she was 10; he fell in love with her, but she married another man (Bertrand Baudelaire) and eventually died.
Charles Baudelaire, from which the protagonists' surnames are derived, wrote a poem called "La Beatrice."[1]
These dedications are made to the first Beatrice Baudelaire (the mother of the Baudelaire orphans) by Lemony Snicket in each book in A Series of Unfortunate Events.
| Book | Quotation |
|---|---|
| The Bad Beginning | To Beatrice -
darling, dearest, dead. |
| The Reptile Room | For Beatrice -
My love for you shall live forever. You, however, did not. |
| The Wide Window | For Beatrice –
I would much prefer it if you were alive and well. |
| The Miserable Mill | To Beatrice –
My love flew like a butterfly Until death swooped down like a bat As the poet Emma Montana McElroy said: "That's the end of that." |
| The Austere Academy | For Beatrice –
You will always be in my heart, In my mind, And in your grave. |
| The Ersatz Elevator | For Beatrice –
When we met my life began, Soon afterward, yours ended. |
| The Vile Village | For Beatrice –
When we were together I felt breathless. Now you are. |
| The Hostile Hospital | For Beatrice –
Summer without you is as cold as winter. Winter without you is even colder. |
| The Carnivorous Carnival | For Beatrice –
Our love broke my heart, and stopped yours. |
| The Slippery Slope | For Beatrice –
When we first met, you were pretty, and I was lonely. Now I am pretty lonely. |
| The Grim Grotto | For Beatrice –
Dead women tell no tales. Sad men write them down. |
| The Penultimate Peril | For Beatrice -
No one could extinguish my love, or your house. |
| The End | For Beatrice -
I cherished, you perished. The world's been nightmarished |
| Chapter Fourteen | For Beatrice -
We are like boats passing in the night - particularly you. |
| The Beatrice Letters | To Beatrice,
and From Her |
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