Man who Laughs

"London, 1705. As a surrogate family of strolling players enact their nightly performance of 'Chaos vanquished', a message in a bottle, washed up after years at sea, threatens to bring chaos once again to each of their lives.To the ageing quack in chargeof the troupe; to its blind and beautiful leading lady; and to Gwynplaines, the virtuous young actor whose inner nobility is masked by the mutilated face by which a grotesque, perverse, and corrupt society defines him: "The man who laughs"."--Cover.
Victor Hugo's scathing indictment of the injustice and inequality within Britain's political system tells a story of Gwynplaine, the two-year-old heir to a rebel lord, who is abducted, then abandoned. Years later he is re-introduced to the aristocratic life, and resolves to become the voice of the voiceless, whether he is heard or not.
The Man Who Laughs (first published in 1869) is Victor Hugo’s scathing indictment of the injustice and inequality within Britain’s political system. It is the story of Gwynplaine, the two-year-old heir to a rebel lord, who is abducted upon the orders of a vindictive monarch, and whose face is mutilated into a permanent grisly grin, then abandoned. After years of living in poverty, Gwynplaine is reintroduced to the aristocratic life and resolves to become the voice of the voiceless—whether he is heard or not. Author David Hine and artist Mark Stafford introduce Hugo’s classic to a new generation of fans in this graphic-novel adaptation of abduction, mutilation, loss, and prejudice.