A Series Of Unfortunate Events: 10 Things You Need To Know About Violet

Violet Baudelaire is one of the main characters of the young-adult fantasy books, A Series of Unfortunate Events. She is the eldest of the Baudelaire children who lost her parents on a tragic fire in their house. Violet, along with her brother Klaus and toddler sister Sunny, are labelled as orphans, being under the severe guardianship of their closest relatives.

She unwittingly becomes the target of Count Olaf, who seeks to obtain the Baudelaire fortune by either marrying or killing her. Thus, Violet has a lot of baggage in her hands as she goes through an unfortunate journey to redemption, as seen not only through the original book series but also the movie and television adaptations.

10 She Is The Heir to the Baudelaire Fortune

As the eldest of Baudelaire children, Violet is the right-hand inheritor of her family’s fortune at the time of her parents’ demise. But she will receive it on the consensual age of 18 years, as stated by Mr. Poe. The actual value of the Baudelaire fortune is never stated, but it definitely seems to be quite vast.

Realizing the less-than-five years gap till Violet’s 18^th birthday (and also finding loopholes) on the Baudelaire’s will, Count Olaf persuades Violet to do a stage play and tricks Justice Strauss into marrying them both to rightfully claim the Baudelaire’s fortune.

9 She Is Generally Unfeminine

Violet does not adhere to strictly feminine ways. She is not skilled in cooking, but she knows how to create a Molotov cocktail. Violet also has a skill in lock-picking, a thing that Mr. Poe chastises her for doing. She does not like dolls, instead turning to Klaus’ toy train for her engineering interests.

While she is unfeminine in behavior and interests, Violet often wears pink outfits and is sweetly courteous to several people she encounters. Klaus even comments on and commends her congeniality and politeness.

8 She Committed Many Crimes

Living in a world where vile adults who see them as spoiled children and bad influences, Violet and her siblings are forced to break several rules to secure their inheritance and find a place they can call home. But in the process, they are labeled as criminals, particularly for the framed murder of Jacques Snicket.

For Violet’s list of crimes, she stole a sailboat, hitchhiked without permission, intruded confidential medical records, committed arson in a carnival, committed arson in a hotel, and more. Some of those crimes weren’t entirely her fault or intention, but she hasn’t been completely innocent in many of them, either.

7 She Is Out-Of-Touch With Modern Information

A Series of Unfortunate Events is set on a bygone era where technology is gradually progressing. But for the Baudelaires, their educational sphere is limited to the informative books that are provided to them, or the sea of books that Justice Strauss showed to them.

Violet is awkward in socializing, clueless on showing empathy, and unfamiliar with modern slang. Not helping is that this behavior falls back to her younger brother and baby sister. Despite that, Violet is willing to learn more about the world and the people around her.

6 She Is Defiant Of Adult Authority

With many apprehensive, childish adults around her, Violet learns to be defiant of them to defend herself and her siblings. Sometimes, this leads to her standing on her morals; but other times, this leads to her defying them, which she acknowledges. No wonder Count Olaf sees her as a threat.

Violet best exemplified this by forcing her guardians to take their guardianship seriously. In the process, their guardian, Aunt Josephine, was able to stand her ground from Captain Sham, and Jerome Squalor poured out his grievances to Esme (though failingly).

5 Her Values Are Constantly Challenged

Because of the adults pinning misfortunes onto her, Violet sometimes questions her own values. Prior to her parents’ mishap, they intuitively taught the Baudelaire children the right values and encouraged Violet’s fondness for inventions. But having to jump from one guardian to another, the Baudelaires’ values are constantly challenged, not cultivated.

Some guardians bear a moral compass, and others do not. Thus, Violet grows more outspoken and skeptical, leading to an argument with Klaus whether to dispose Count Olaf or not, an action that is just as despicable as many of Count Olaf’s.

4 She Possesses Most Of Her Mother’s Qualities

Beatrice Baudelaire is the mother to Violet, Klaus, and Sunny Baudelaire. Frequently, she was addressed by Lemony Snicket in his internal monologues and in-depth investigation about the Baudelaire children. From his findings, he claims that Violet looks exactly like her mother. But their similarities don’t end at the physical.

Though her love for inventing was from her father, Violet has gained her mother’s ingenuity in inventions. Beatrice also possesses a skill in makeup, essential for disguises. She loves going to picnics and reading books, bonding activities for the Baudelaires.

3 She Is A Clever Inventor

Speaking of inventions, inventing is the core personality of Violet. Her inventions are mostly made up of furnished parts or makeshift materials. On every phase of living with a guardian, she would devise a helpful contraption that would either assist their said guardian or outwit Count Olaf and his cronies.

Her inventions are mostly used as a rope, whether it is a grappling hook to raise her up Count Olaf’s tower or an efficient rope to have her descend an elevator shaft. That is just a sixteenth of her cleverness.

2 She Has A Practice of Tying Her Hair

Before Violet gets to inventing, she has the habitual practice of tying her hair with a tucked ribbon and thinking on the spot of the quickest contraption she can craft. Her haired tied up allows her to fully concentrate without having to mind her hair that covers her eyes.

Even when the Baudelaires need an immediate plan, Violet has to tie her hair. While this may seemed to be a noticeable quirk, it does “tie” to her personality of being tight-gripped as she grows as a responsible young woman.

1 She Is Responsible For Her Siblings

With her parents presumably gone, Violet was left with no choice but to protect her siblings at all cost. At times, she succeeded on this role. But on several occasions, she was reckless in her duty. Case in point: she took Klaus and Sunny with her on an unsafe boat.

But by most accounts, she bears the burdens of their mishaps like any responsible elderly sibling. Just as what her parents told her when Klaus was born, Violet kept that promise, and always reminded herself of that promise as love for her brother and sister.

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