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See Beatrice (disambiguation) for other uses.
The curtain falls just as the knot unties, the silence broken by the one who dies.
 
— Beatrice Baudelaire, My Silence Knot

Beatrice Baudelaire was the mother of the Baudelaire children, Violet, Klaus, and Sunny Baudelaire. She was married to Bertrand Baudelaire and was notably the ex-fiancée of Lemony Snicket.

Every book in A Series of Unfortunate Events has a dedication to her at the beginning, and there are frequent referrals to her as Snicket's beloved, specifically in The Beatrice Letters and in the Netflix series.

Biography[]

Early Life[]

No matter where we are--far away in the mountains or downstairs in the cafeteria, swimming in the ocean or hiding in an automobile--I enjoy being with you, and I miss you when we are not. I miss you. See you in a few hours.
 
Lemony Snicket, The Beatrice Letters, Letter LS to BB #2
Youngbeatrice rphoto

Beatrice childhood photo.

While growing up and training with VFD, Beatrice is noted as having participated specifically in theatre classes and classes that enabled her to become a baticeer (someone who trains bats, although this is also an anagram of her name); she caught her first bat on a VFD field trip with the other apprentices, when Lemony Snicket was eight.[5] She was gifted with the rare talent of being able to whistle with crackers in her mouth; she could perform Mozart's Fourteenth Symphony.[6] She was also talented at lion taming, and is known to have trained one of the Volunteer Feline Detectives for V.F.D.

During her school years she was close to R (also known as the Duchess of Winnipeg) who was also a friend of Lemony.[1] She met Bertrand in a candlelit restaurant.[2] Beatrice was childhood friends with Jerome Squalor.[7]

Lemony Snicket spent a lot of time impressed by her, and after she gave an oral report on the history of the sonnet, he attempted to talk to her, only to accidentally embarrass her in front of her friends, including R and B; he informed her, upon her early arrival to class, that showing up early was a sign of a noble person, which upset her. To make up for it, he asked her to sneak out during afternoon recess and meet him for a root beer float.

They later became very close friends, and he invited her to go exploring caves with him, as his sister, Kit, informed him that there were bats inside that she might be interested in, though she was to be partnered with R.[1] It is possible that this was the mountain-climbing excursion in which Jerome Squalor was present, and Beatrice was attacked by eagles from the Firestarters,[7] where she was carried away into its nest.[6] Sometime after this incident, she broke off her friendship with Jerome, telling him he wasn't brave enough.[7]

At some point in her youth, she was on a soccer team.[1] In the V.F.D. Headquarters in the Mortmain Mountains, she and Lemony would cook together, as she would mix up a spicy peanut sauce to go with his chopped broccoli.[8]

While Beatrice does not appear in the series All the Wrong Questions, during its events she accompanied Count Olaf to the edge of a strange forest.[9]

Unknown Points in Time[]

People love to talk about themselves, Mr. Snicket. if you find yourself wondering what to say to any of the guests, ask them which secret code they prefer, or find out whom they've been spying on lately.
 
— Beatrice Baudelaire, The End

Beatrice and Bertrand received a box of poison darts from Kit at the snack bar of an opera performance of La Forza del Destino; though it is never outright said, it is heavily implied that they used the darts to kill Count Olaf's parents, leaving him an orphan. Beatrice also purchased a poster of the opera during intermission so as not to forget the night; Kit remembers her wearing a red shawl, with long feathers around the edges.[10] It is possible that she witnessed the death of

Fig3 lockofhair

Fig. 3: The Lock of Hair.

Lemony remembered the two of them hanging out in her bedroom before a party, and her sitting on a small couch in the corner, adjusting the straps on her sandals while eating an apple and telling him not to worry about talking to the guests, and telling him that if he doesn't know what to say, to ask them about themselves- namely, what secret codes they prefer and who they'd been spying on lately.[2]

At some point, Beatrice joined an acting troupe, where she worked as a spy, collecting information and conveying coded messages to Lemony, a dramatic critic for the Daily Punctilio, by dropping her hatpins to signal when they could meet for midnight root-beer floats. On a Thursday, Beatrice met Esmé Squalor, and Lemony Snicket say that he wishes he could go back in time. She performed in a play entitled My Silence Knot as a baticeer, opposite her co-star who played a Brae-man, whom Lemony was suspicious of, and who Beatrice found to be in solitude. Around this time, Lemony proposed to her, and she initially accepted.[1] They arranged for their wedding to take place at the Vineyard of Fragrant Grapes.

Beatrice performed in a VFD play The World Is Quiet Here, as the lead actress. After only three performances, Olaf took over the play, ousting Beatrice and replacing her with Esme, as well as rewriting the show. Lemony wrote a scathing review of the new play, along the way revealing that he and Beatrice were engaged.

My silence knot

My Silence Knot

After this, Olaf framed Lemony for several crimes, notably arson, and he had to go on the run.[11] Beatrice broke off their engagement, sending him a two-hundred page breakup letter, as delivered by carrier pigeons, as well as the ring he'd used to propose to her. In her letter, she asked him thirteen questions. She also asked if he received her poem- My Silence Knot- implying that she hid a message for him inside.[1] Lemony later claimed that she couldn't marry him due to something she read in The Daily Punctilio.[12]

Pre-A Series of Unfortunate Events []

I am heartbroken, but I have been heartbroken before, and this might be the best for which I can hope. We cannot truly shelter our children, here or anywhere else, and so it might be best for us and for the baby to immerse ourselves in the world.
 
— Beatrice Baudelaire, The End

About 14-15 years before the series, Beatrice lived on The Island with Bertrand while she was pregnant with Violet. They turned the island into a wonderful place where the castaways could still further their study of the world, and to act as a place of recuperation for volunteers deeply affected by the schism. The Baudelaire parents also created a hybrid between the large apple tree and horseradishes to protect them from the threat of the Medusoid Mycelium. Beatrice had a shipwrecked plumber devise a water filtration system so the colony could have fresh water right from the kitchen sink. Eventually, an older man named Ishmael began criticizing the various decisions of the Baudelaire parents, such as their construction project, a tunnel between the island and Anwhistle Aquatics. The Baudelaire parents were banished and sent away on a boat that Bertrand named after her. They left a commonplace book of the island's history on the island, although Ishmael kept it hidden away from the others in the arboretum.[2]

After returning to the city, Beatrice and Bertrand moved into a mansion, where they raised their children- Violet, Klaus, and Sunny. They appear to not have had much contact with VFD after Klaus was born, as Violet only has the barest memories of VFD-related phrases, and Klaus has none at all;[8] however, Beatrice still seems to have remained employed as an actress.[13]

She would read a very long book to her children every summer, joking that it was the only exercise she wanted to get during the hot months. When Klaus was very young, she read him Anna Karenina, helping him with the big words and stopping on occasion to explain what was happening.[8] Beatrice also taught Violet how to apply makeup to look like scars, when she appeared in a play about a murderer.[13]

The Baudelaire parents hid several books that they wanted to keep secret from their children on the top shelves of the library. When they found out that Klaus used a stepladder to take an atlas, which he and Violet ruined by leaving the window open on a rainy night, they yelled at their children, and then hid their books elsewhere.[14]

At some point, Beatrice and Bertrand took their children to a vineyard for the weekend. While transferring trains in order to reach it, however, the parents were separated from Violet and Klaus by a bustling crowd. They found them soon enough, as the children went to the shops outside the station to ask the storekeepers for help. While relieved, Beatrice and Bertrand told their children that if they ever got lost again, to stay put and wait for their parents to find them.[13]

Beatrice transparent

When she was pregnant with Sunny, Violet and Klaus remember her eating pumpernickel toast and lemonade, and occasionally their father would play her favorite music on the phonograph, and she would stand up and dance awkwardly while making funny faces at her older children.[10] After Klaus and Sunny were born, Beatrice and Bertrand made Violet promise to always look out for her younger siblings.[15]

She once prepared a meal while Sunny dropped forks on the ground, and she explained to Sunny that while the dinner didn't take her very long, if she made it look fancy, people would think she'd spent all day on it.[8] She and Bertrand also made a habit of attending orchestra performances together.[16]

On her birthday, she slept in early, and awoke to her family laughing and applauding. She came downstairs to find that they had been trying to make a cake for her, and when the electric can opener broke, Sunny opened a can of condensed milk with her teeth.[3]

The family went picnicking at Rutabaga River, but as Bertrand forgot to pack silverware, they had to eat sweet-and-sour shrimp with their hands and wash up in the stream. Beatrice and Klaus then went to pick blackberries.[16] At some point, her and Bertrand attended the Sixteenth Annual Run-A-Thon.[7]

Bertrand and Beatrice once took their children to Hotel Preludio for the weekend, where they had carrots for breakfast, and Sunny first learned to blow bubbles in the pool. Beatrice objected to Bertrand teaching the children an elevator prank, but he reminded her that she'd done magic tricks with dinner rolls that very morning.[10]

She and her husband perished in a fire at their mansion, on Friday 13th December. However, there is a notable theory that Beatrice survived this and that she ultimately ended up dying in a fire at the Duchess of Winnipeg's castle.

A Series of Unfortunate Events[]

For Beatrice-
My love for you shall live forever. You, however, did not.
 

After Beatrice and Bertrand's supposed deaths, the Baudelaires are sent to live in various places, often discovering various information about their parents.

After seeing page thirteen of the Snicket File the Baudelaire children thought she or Bertrand may still be alive, but later changed this opinion when they decided that the "survivor of the fire" was Quigley Quagmire.

One subtlety that the reader may not pick up on is how Violet, Klaus, and Sunny handle their parents' death, as they go through a somewhat warped and unusual view of the "five stages of grief" (denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance). The Baudelaires are sent from location to location and become so busy in a series of unfortunate events that they do not properly process their parents' deaths until The End when they finally complete their emotional catharsis:

"They cried for the world, and most of all, of course, the Baudelaire orphans cried for their parents, who they knew, finally, they would never see again. Even though Kit Snicket had not brought news of their parents, her story of the Great Unknown made them see at last that the people who had written all those chapters in A Series of Unfortunate Events were gone forever into the great unknown and that Violet, Klaus, and Sunny would be orphans forever, too."

The Baudelaires later named Kit Snicket's daughter after her.[2]

Survival Theory[]

Attention! Hidden in the snowman is a survivor of the fire. Meet us in the town where this film takes place. Bring the three children. Your new assistant is not one of us. Beware!
 
Gustav Sebald's message hidden in Zombies in the Snow[11]

A major theory is that Beatrice miraculously survived the fire, but died later in a fire at the masked ball held by the Duchess of Winnipeg.

In the rare edition of The Bad Beginning, Lemony Snicket writes "They passed the Fickle Fountain… Please see my note to page 62." On page 62, he writes, "Readers of Book the Seventh will remember that fountains are like top hats in that they provide hollow spaces in which things can be hidden (please see my note to page 6), and I imagine the damp surroundings of a fountain’s innards would be comforting if the person hiding inside had recently survived a fire."[15] This hints that Beatrice might have been hiding in the Fickle Fountain, however the reasons were unknown. Beatrice, as a Volunteer, could have easily escaped through the passageway between her home and 667 Dark Avenue. The phrase of the fountain's innards being "comforting" (i.e because they're wet and damp) could imply she was too badly burned to be able to climb up, hence why she was in the fountain; to soothe her injuries.

It is known that Gustav Sebald hid a certain survivor of a fire in the snowman in Zombies in the Snow, and sent a message to Monty warning him that Stephano was an impostor and to bring the Baudelaire children to the set. But, since neither Uncle Monty nor the Baudelaires knew Sebald Code, they never got the message. As a result, the snowman was left standing for several days until it was realized that the message was never received. It is unknown what happened to the survivor after the message was not received.[11]

In The Austere Academy, Lemony Snicket tried to contact Beatrice and deliver a message about Olaf at a masked ball, and he says he had been attempting to deliver said message for fifteen years.[16] If Lemony and Beatrice split up very soon before she arrived on The Island with Bertrand and found herself pregnant with Violet, that would leave about fifteen years in between the breakup and the occurrences that took place in A Series of Unfortunate Events.

The Duchess says that following her masked ball, in which Lemony was captured, her house was burnt down; she also mentions Beatrice had some belongings in the mansion. In the same letter, she attaches a picture of a young child (implied to Beatrice), and remarks that she is "flammable."[11]

This theory would mean that Beatrice escaped the fire, attempted to reunite with her children, but perished in the Duchess's burning house before making her survival known. It also raises some questions as to why Beatrice would even be attending a party instead of looking for her children.

There is a sub-theory that she also escaped that fire and ended up at Heimlich Hospital, as Carrie E. Abelabudite, a name on the patient list that Klaus and Sunny were examining to find their abducted sister, is an anagram of her true identity.[3] This could also imply she perished in the Heimlich Hospital Fire.

This theory, though popular, has never been confirmed. It is non-canon in the TV Series, as in that timeline, the masked ball occurred before the birth of the Baudelaire children.[17]

2004 Film Divergent Canon[]

Sunnybite2004

Beatrice appears for a mere two seconds in the film.

In the film, the Baudelaire parents were still active members of VFD, and described by Josephine as the leaders of the organization. They went to Europe once, presumably on a mission, and upon realizing that they would be returning late, they sent a letter to their children, as well as a VFD spyglass.

The Baudelaire children receive the letter late, after their parents perish in a fire:

Dearest children;
Since we have been abroad we have missed you all so much. Certain events have compelled us to extend our travels. One day, when you're older, you will learn all about the people we've befriended and the dangers we have faced. At times the world can seem an unfriendly and sinister place, but believe us when we say there is much more good in it than bad. All you have to do is look hard enough. And what might seem to be a series of unfortunate events, maybe the first steps of a journey. We hope to have you back in our arms soon, darlings; but in case this letter arrives before our return, know that we love you. It fills us with pride to know that, no matter what happens in this life, you three will take care of each other with kindness, and bravery and selflessness as you always have. And remember one thing my darlings and never forget it: that no matter where we are, know that as long as you have each other, you have your family and you are home.
Your loving parents

Helena Bonham Carter is credited as Beatrice Baudelaire, while Amy Brenneman served as her portrait model.

Netflix Series Divergent Canon[]

Today the seawall will flood, and we've reached our decision. We will leave the island in a boat Bertrand has built and named after me, to rejoin the world... in time for our first child to be born. We came here to raise children someplace safe, but we now realize we cannot shelter them forever. If it is a girl, we will name her Violet. And if it is a boy...
 
— Beatrice Baudelaire, "The End"
Bb

Beatrice with her V.F.D. friends at the Opera.

In the TV series, Beatrice presumably attended Prufrock Prep with the other volunteers when she was young.

It is shown that Beatrice accidentally killed Olaf's father with a poison dart when she and Lemony tried to leave while stealing Esmé Squalor's sugar bowl. Lemony took the blame for it. Later on, he met Beatrice on a street, telling her he would always love her even if he wouldn't see her again. The two shared a departing kiss.

Later on, Beatrice went to a party at the V.F.D. Headquarters. A message was given to Lemony saying "Olaf knows", meaning Olaf somehow discovered Beatrice was the one who threw the dart. Olaf attempted to murder her by shoving her off a cliff, but he didn't know the wings of her dragonfly costume actually worked. It is unknown if Beatrice and Lemony saw each other after that.

In The Miserable Mill: Part One, Sir claims she and Bertrand, her husband, had burned down Paltryville. However, it is later revealed at the end that they put out the fire and helped the survivors.

In The End, instead of being banished from the Island like she and Bertrand were in the books, the couple decided to leave on their own accord, in order to face the world.

She is speculated to be the mysterious young woman humming a serenading tune during the Beatrice Dedications at the beginning of each episode:

She is portrayed by Morena Baccarin.

Etymology[]

The name "Beatrice" could be a reference to Dante's Divine Comedy, as each book begins with an inscription dedicated to the deceased Beatrice Baudelaire much like Dante frequently refers to his own deceased "Beatrice" throughout the Divine Comedy.

The name Beatrice could also be a reference to the poem La Béatrice, written by Charles Baudelaire. The first eight lines of the poem appear in the Author's Notes of The Bad Beginning: Rare Edition, for a line from p.162 that reads, "...just because you don't understand it doesn't mean it isn't so." The original poem, in French, with an English translation is as follows:

LA BÉATRICE
Dans des terrains cendreux, calcinés, sans verdure,
Comme je me plaignais un jour à la nature,
Et que de ma pensée, en vaguant au hasard,
J'aiguisais lentement sur mon coeur le poignard,
Je vis en plein midi descendre sur ma tête
Un nuage funèbre et gros d'une tempête,
Qui portait un troupeau de démons vicieux,
Semblables à des nains cruels et curieux.
BEATRICE
One day as I was making complaint to nature
a burnt, ash-gray land without vegetation,
And as I wandered, slowly whetting
Upon my heart the dagger of my thought,
I saw in broad daylight descending on my head
A leaden cloud, pregnant with a tempest,
That carried a herd of vicious demons who
resembled curious, cruel dwarfs.

Trivia[]

Beatrice Baudelaire

Beatrice's silhouette on the cover of The Beatrice Letters.

  • Beatrice's silhouette appears on the cover of The Beatrice Letters.
  • She once kept marmosets and tree frogs.[1]
  • Beatrice could play the theremin.[1]
  • Beatrice's children inherited her allergy to peppermints as well as her "pleasant facial features."[1]
  • Beatrice disliked fishing, saying it is one of the most boring activities in the world.[18]
  • Beatrice had a secret pocket in her coat where she often kept a small pocket dictionary, which she would take out whenever she encountered a word she did not know. Since Klaus was so interested in reading, she had promised that someday she would give the pocket dictionary to him.[3]
  • She gave Klaus a book as a gift entitled What Happens to Wet Metal, which helps him during the events of The Hostile Hospital.[3]
  • "Beatrice Baudelaire" is an anagram of "Carrie E. Abelabudite". In The Hostile Hospital, there is a patient with that name, making readers wonder if she survived the Baudelaire fire or if this is simply a red herring.
  • It is quite probable that she did not change her surname when she married Bertrand, and he took her surname instead, as stated in The Wide Window, her peppermint allergy is described as infamous for the Baudelaire family (and considering she is the one with the allergy and not Bertrand, this would make her a part of the Baudelaire family), and all of Lemony's letters to her in The Beatrice Letters, including the letters before she married Bertrand, are addressed to "BB."
  • Beatrice Baudelaire II is named after Beatrice.
  • Similar to her husband, Bertrand, and Quigley Quagmire, Beatrice also has alliteration in her name.

Family[]

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Unknown
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Unknown
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Unknown if adoptive or biological
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Unnamed Mother
 
 
Unknown
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Parents
 
Unnamed Guardians
 
 
Biological Parents
 
 
Unknown
 
 
 
 
Unknown
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Gregor Anwhistle
 
Ike Anwhistle
 
 
Josephine Anwhistle
 
 
 
Beatrice Baudelaire
 
 
 
Bertrand Baudelaire
 
 
 
 
Bertrand's Cousin
 
Monty Montgomery's sister
 
 
 
 
Monty Montgomery
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Violet Baudelaire
 
Klaus Baudelaire
 
Sunny Baudelaire
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Beatrice Baudelaire II
 
 
 


Appearances[]



Gallery[]

Books[]

Film[]

Netflix Series[]

Sources[]

  1. 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 1.11 PROSE: The Beatrice Letters
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 PROSE: The End
  3. 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 PROSE: The Hostile Hospital
  4. Whistling with crackers is stated to be a family trait, meaning that both Beatrice and Ike are related in some biological way. Mr Poe says that Josephine is the Baudelaires' second cousin's sister-in-law. However, she cannot be related to them through Ike as she would be the wife of a second cousin of the Baudelaides and not a sister-in-law. Her sibling has to be married to a second cousin of the Baudelaires, while her husband is related in some other way.
  5. PROSE: When Did You See Her Last?
  6. 6.0 6.1 PROSE: The Wide Window
  7. 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 PROSE: The Ersatz Elevator
  8. 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 PROSE: The Slippery Slope
  9. PROSE: Why Is This Night Different from All Other Nights?
  10. 10.0 10.1 10.2 PROSE: The Penultimate Peril
  11. 11.0 11.1 11.2 11.3 PROSE: Lemony Snicket: The Unauthorized Autobiography
  12. PROSE: The Vile Village
  13. 13.0 13.1 13.2 PROSE: The Carnivorous Carnival
  14. PROSE: The Grim Grotto
  15. 15.0 15.1 PROSE: The Bad Beginning
  16. 16.0 16.1 16.2 PROSE: The Austere Academy
  17. TV: The Carnivorous Carnival: Part One
  18. PROSE: The Miserable Mill
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