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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.{{r|Why Is This Night Different from All Other Nights?}} 
 
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.{{r|Why Is This Night Different from All Other Nights?}} 
   
===Unknown Points in Time===
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===Unknown Points in Time ===
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[[File:Young_beatrice.jpeg|thumb|left|Beatrice with the dart]]
   
 
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.{{r|The Penultimate Peril}}  
 
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.{{r|The Penultimate Peril}}  

Revision as of 02:48, 13 September 2019

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 orphans. Her children are Violet, Klaus, and Sunny Baudelaire. She was married to Bertrand Baudelaire

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

Biography

Early Life 

Duchessr photos

Beatrice Childhood Photo (top right)

While growing up and training with V.F.D., 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.[3] She was gifted with the rare talent of being able to whistle with crackers in her mouth; she could perform Mozart's Fourteenth Symphony.[4] 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.[5] She met Bertrand in a candlelit restaurant.[6] Beatrice was childhood friends with Jerome Squalor, who she went mountain climbing with once. She told him that he wasn't brave enough.[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.

At some point in her youth, she was on a soccer team.[5]

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.[8] 

Unknown Points in Time 

Young beatrice

Beatrice with the dart

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.[9]  

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 ssmall couch in the corner, adjusting the straps on her sandles 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.[6] 

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 rootbeer floats. 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.[5] They arranged for their wedding to take place at the Vineyard of Fragrant Grapes.

Beatrice performeMy Silence Knotd in a VFD play The World Is Quiet Here, as the lead actress. Olaf later took over the play, ousting Beatrice and replacing her with Esme, as well as rewriting the play. 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.[10] 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.[5]

Pre-A Series of Unfortunate Events 

Bertrand island

Beatrice and Bertrand on the Island.

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.[6] 

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[11]; however, Beatrice still seems to have remained employed as an actress.[12]

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.[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 and she would stand up and dance awkwardly while making funny faces at her older children.[9] After Klaus and Sunny were born, Beatrice and Bertrand made Violet promise to always look out for her younger siblings.[14] 

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.[11] Beatrice also taught Violet how to apply makeup to look like scars.[12] 

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.[9]

She and her husband perished in a fire at their mansion. 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

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.[6]

2004 Film Divergent Canon

Tumblr mnynmbG1Qd1r15yv8o3 500

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

Television Series Divergent Canon

Bb

Beatrice 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, Lemony met Beatrice on a street, telling her he would always love her if he didn't see her again.

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 worked. It is unknown if Beatrice and Lemony saw each other after that.

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

In The Endinstead of being banished from the Island, her and Bertrand decided to leave on their own, in order to face the world. 

Behind the scenes

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.
  • Beatrice's children inherited her allergy to peppermints.
  • 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. Because Klaus was so interested in reading, she had promised that someday she would give the pocket dictionary to him.[1]
  • She gave Klaus a book as a gift entitled What Happens to Wet Metal, which helps him in The Hostile Hospital.[1]
  • "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 very probable that she did not change her surname when she married Bertrand, and he took her surname instead, as 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."

Appearances

Sources

Gallery

Books

Movie

TV series