The overwhelming feeling I have for the Baudelaire Orphans is concern. In fact, so concerned was I for their safety that when the Netflix show came out, I couldn’t watch the final episode of A Series of Unfortunate Events for months. Because what if? Snicket had been promising emotional devastation since the first page, the first line of narration. And here I was at the end. But – what if?!
Then, when I read Hannah’s delightful post about the legality of the wedding in the film version of A Series of Unfortunate Events, I was struck by her observation that ‘ask for help’ is the first piece of advice given to young people facing their own unfortunate events. And yet every attempt the orphans make to communicate their situation to their surrounding adults is thwarted, ignored, or missed.
No wonder I couldn’t finish the show when it first came out.
So in the style if not the spirit of Snicket, who dolefully warns his readers of impending doom, let me assure you, my own dear readers: the forced marriage of Violet Baudelaire to the nefarious Count Olaf does not take place. She and her siblings thwart him, soundly, on that occasion. For those of you who are unfamiliar, the plot of the books is this: three young siblings are orphaned in a mysterious fire. As a result, they become the wards of their nearest relative (geographically speaking, not genetically), who turns out to be Count Olaf. He is a mysterious and diabolical actor, determined to get his hands on the Baudelaire fortune. One of his ploys involves marrying Violet so that he can take control of the children’s inheritance; he will then kill Violet’s siblings, Klaus and Sunny, while keeping Violet as his wife.
Snicket doesn’t mess about. The events are incredibly unfortunate.
Olaf’s scheme to marry Violet is bizarre, but cunning: he will stage a play, in which there will be a marriage between his character and Violet’s. The role of the judge is to be played by a real (unsuspecting) judge, the marriage document will be a real document, and if Violet or Klaus tries to stop the wedding from taking place, then their infant sister, Sunny, will be killed. During the entirety of the play, Sunny is suspended within a birdcage from the window of a high tower. Violet has to say yes, has to go through with the not-so-sham wedding, or her baby sister will die.
So first things first: this is not true consent. This is coercion. In ordinary circumstances, this would not be even remotely legal. But what about the rest?
Violet is an inventor, Klaus is a reader, and Sunny likes to bite. In an attempt to save his sister, Klaus does what he does best: he goes to a library, and reads. I approve. In a book entitled Nuptial Law, Klaus discovers that
‘The laws of marriage in this community are very simple…The requirements are as follows: the presence of a judge, a statement of “I do” by both the bride and the groom, and the signing of an explanatory document in the bride’s own hand…You’re not going to marry Violet figuratively – you’re going to marry her literally!’
(A Bad Beginning, pp. 96-97).
Snicket does something very clever with that phrase: ‘in this community’. Where the orphans actually are is never defined (what city? Country? Continent??), which means that, in reading this series of children’s books, we have to take Nuptial Law’s word for it. Klaus and Violet are part of their community, as we are part of our own countries. They are subjects to their community’s laws, and so by the rules of the fictional world in which the books are set, this is indeed all that would be necessary for the marriage to be legal.
“But Violet is only a child!” I hear you cry from the audience. “She’s not old enough to marry.”
Olaf has it covered, I’m afraid, and in a particularly grotesque and circuitous way: ‘“She is if her legal guardian agrees,” Count Olaf said, ‘and in addition to being her husband, I am her legal guardian.”’ (Bad, p.146).
I’ll invite Hannah to chime in here, and let us know if it would be even remotely legal for the guardian of a child to exert this sort of control over their ward. Hannah?
“A very good point, Alex. The Marriage Act 1949 tells us who can(not) marry because they are closely related by blood or marriage. Legal guardians are not mentioned there. So, if we just leave aside the fact that Violet is below the UK’s minimum age of marriage and coerced into the union, technically, unless Count Olaf and Violet are closely related by blood or marriage, their marriage would be valid.” – Hannah.
Oh no! When the sham marriage is exposed, and the other characters in the book oppose what has happened on stage, Justice Strauss (the duped judge) must concede that ‘I’m afraid this dreadful nonsense is the law.’ (Bad, p.147) Happily, Violet was clever: she signed the document with her left hand, which, Strauss is relieved to conclude, means the marriage does not count, because Violet is actually right handed. Snicket manages to avert scepticism of this loophole with the wry phrase: ‘The law is an odd thing’ (Bad, p.152).
The final takeaway of the failed Marvellous Marriage is disconcerting. Olaf demands that the orphans be left with him: ‘“The orphans are mine,” Count Olaf insisted, “and with me they shall stay. There is nothing illegal about trying to marry someone.”’ (Bad, p.154). And the other characters agree, and in such a way that reveals that Count Olaf isn’t technically wrong, in this community: ‘“But there is something illegal about dangling an infant out of a tower window,” Justice Straus said indignantly.’ (Bad, p.154). The judge, the personification of the law in this narrative, said ‘but’. Forcing Violet into marriage? Legal. But child endangerment? Illegal.
I beg to differ. About the forced marriage part, anyway.
In our own world, that dreadful nonsense is not the law. It is illegal to coerce another person into getting married against their will: “I do” under duress is just “I do not” hiding under a wedding veil. It is illegal to marry anyone under the age of 18 (in the UK). This is a child marriage, and it is a crime. And I wish forced marriage was an event limited to the fictional community of Lemony Snicket’s world, but it isn’t. It occurs in every country, every culture, and to a diverse range of people. And if there’s one thing I’ve learned from the sad life of the Baudelaire Orphans, it’s concern, and a desire to listen to children when they speak up about their own unfortunate events. We’re the grown-ups. It’s up to us to hear and to help.
Written by Alex Carabine
Drawing on Forced Marriage 
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