Theatricality, Devils, and Cuckolds

In honor of Guy Fawkes Day (November 5), I wanted to share a symbolism paper I wrote for my Literary History class, in which I used Alan Moore's "V for Vendetta" as the basis.

Theatricality, Devils, and Cuckolds

            If anything is certain of V, the titular character of Alan Moore’s acclaimed work, V for Vendetta, it is that the anarchist has a strong sense of theatricality. Throughout the story, V is sometimes speaking quotes from a work of literature or placing his targets in a scenario which he created. Whenever he does though, it is always done with some meaning or to prove a point to someone in regards to the situation at hand. In some instances, V’s allusions show quite a bit of his thought process and how he views himself. For example, V is wearing horns when he encounters Bishop Lilliman in the middle of Book One. Horns can be a symbol of both a devil and a cuckold. In a strange way, these are both ways V feels about himself and what motivates him towards his goals.

            From one standpoint, V wearing the horns is used for a religious theme to his murder of Lilliman (Moore 54). Since Lilliman is a Bishop and viewed as a representative of God, it makes sense for V as the opposition to play a devil. The religious aspect would later lead to V killing Lilliman by feeding him a communion wafer laced with cyanide (Moore 62). This method of murder probably adds more to the non-traditional depictions presented in the scene. Bishop Lilliman is a pedophile and also attempts to rape Evey (Moore 47, 53-54). Lilliman’s actions show that the man is obviously not an all-around good person for the position he holds. Communion is viewed as a way of allowing Christ into one’s body (Brom). V takes the twists even further by making this holy sacrament into something poisonous and forcing death onto Lilliman. The whole scenario also persuades the reader’s point of view, as they are more likely to be cheering on the murderous devil in V rather than the supposed man of God in Lilliman at this point.

            While the horns are one of the physical components of V’s task at hand, what he says also fits into the situation. When V first appears to Lilliman, he states “Please allow me to introduce myself, I’m a man of wealth and taste” (Moore 54). V is directly quoting the opening line of “Sympathy for the Devil”, a 1968 song by the Rolling Stones. The general interpretation is that song is from the point of view of the Devil, also known as Satan, Lucifer, or Beelzebub, with the idea that he is not all that bad a guy (Bowie). Since V could be called a devil and has the support of the reader despite the awful things he does, the song’s meaning could connect to many ideas in the book. Perhaps it is the song’s chorus that relates to V the most:

                                    Please to meet you
                                    Hope you guess my name
                                    But what’s puzzling you
                                    Is the nature of my game (Rolling Stones)

The idea of “guess[ing] [his] name” is a mystery concerning V. His usual self-introduction is “I don’t have a name. You can call me ‘V.’” (Moore 26). Not much is given about V’s history other than being a prisoner at Larkhill and he has killed anyone that could identify exactly who he was. As for the “nature of [V’s] game”, there has been a debate among readers about whether or not he really has a stable mindset. According to Alan Moore, that was the idea:

So I made it very, very morally ambiguous. And the central question is, is this guy right? Or is he mad? What do you, the reader, think about this? Which struck me as a properly anarchist solution. I didn't want to tell people what to think, I just wanted to tell people to think, and consider some of these admittedly extreme little elements, which nevertheless do recur fairly regularly throughout human history. (Beat)

It is needless to say that V’s methods are questionable. A good example of this “right or mad” debate is when he tricked Evey into believing she was in prison, torturing her, and delivering Valeries’s letters to her, just as he was at Larkhill to help “free her” and complete her transformation, so to speak (Moore 167-172). His intentions were well, but he put someone he supposedly cared about through hell just to prove a point. Whether or not that was the wrong way to go about enlightening Evey, the charade still shows both the complexity and theatricality of V’s character.

            Wearing horns when he killed Lilliman may not be the only instance of V calling himself a devil. Sometime before that scene, Evey wanted to make a deal with V to help him in return for saving her from Fingermen in their first meeting (Moore 43). In addition, Evey also questioned a quote she saw in the Shadow Gallery, “Vi Veri Veniversum Vivus Vici”, which V translates to “By the power of truth, I, while living, have conquered the universe” (Moore 43). V attributes the quote to Dr. John Faust, who V says also made a deal (Moore 44). The story of Faust involves making a deal with the devil, and while the tale has been reinterpreted by different writers over many centuries, that plot point always remains the same (“Faust”). V could be saying Evey herself is making a figurative “deal with the devil” by wanting to cooperate with him. Looking at the heinous acts committed by V along with the innocence of Evey at that point, her willingness to work with such a manipulative man shows the difference in their personalities and just how Faustian their relationship is.

            Horns are not just in relation to the devil, but to a cuckold as well. A cuckold is man whose wife is being unfaithful to him, and just as a horned animal cannot see its own horns, so too is a cuckold oblivious to the adultery happening behind his back (Williams). V was already being theatrical with Lilliman’s death, as he had Evey play a prostitute to lure the Bishop where V would encounter him. If Evey could be viewed as V’s “woman”, then she was committing adultery with Lilliman in her performance, and V supposedly wearing the horns of a cuckold added more to the “scene.”

            V may already consider himself to be a cuckold before this however, as it is displayed in an earlier scene of him having a faux conversation with the Old Bailey monument, which he refers to as “Madam Justice” (Moore 39). V tells Justice that he was in love with her, but her infidelity has driven him into the arms of his new love, Anarchy (Moore 40-41). V describes Justice’s “fling” as a “man in uniform” (Moore 40). What V could be referring to here is how the ideas of justice had been changed in England once Norsefire came into power. To V, she was “no longer [his] justice” but now “[Norsefire’s] justice” (Moore 41). Before destroying the monument, V’s last words to her were that she was “no longer the woman [he] once loved” (Moore 41). Norsefire’s perversion of Justice had left V feeling betrayed, but he had since found more happiness with Anarchy. One could say the cuckold V wants to show just how badly Justice has treated not just him, but the whole population of England, and that Anarchy should be more appreciated by the masses instead.

            While V can be condemned for his actions as a devil, there is no reason to not feel sympathy for him as a kind of cuckold. It is not his fault he was driven to the terrorism he commits; his trust was broken and he was made a fool of. This betrayal by an idea he held dearly left him not just mentally but physically harmed due to the horrors he was put through at Larkhill. V knows what he is, and the theatricality he takes in his actions conveys a deeper look into his self, and he is not afraid to show it to those involved.

Works Cited

Beat. "MILE HIGH COMICS presents THE BEAT at COMICON.com: A FOR ALAN, Pt. 1: The Alan Moore interview." COMICON.com. 15 Mar 2006. Web. 11 Feb 2013.

Bowie, Herb. "Sympathy For The Devil | Reason to Rock." Reason to Rock.Web. 11 Feb 2013.

Brom, Robert. "Who Can Receive Communion? | Catholic Answers." Catholic Answers. 10 Aug 2004. Web. 9 Feb 2013.

Faust. Web. 21 Feb 2013.

Moore, Alan. V for Vendetta. New York: DC Comics, 2005. Print.

Rolling Stones.“Sympathy for the Devil.”Beggars Banquet.Decca Records, 1968.LP.

Williams, Janet. "BBC News - Cuckolds, horns and other explanations." BBC.4 Jul 2009. Web. 11 Feb 2013.