Summary

Comprachicos, a human trafficking group that kidnapped children in the 17th century and sold them as deformed monsters, and young Gwynplaine, who had a strangely torn mouth by them, are abandoned alone in a fierce snowstorm. Gwynplaine, wandering in the cold, finds a baby Dea in the arms of a frozen and dead woman and accidentally meets Ursus for help.

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Ursus usually hates humans but decides to take care of two children and sets up a wandering theater about Gwynplaine’s deformed smile and the beautiful story of blind Dea. Gwynplaine, who has already grown up, becomes the most famous clown in Europe thanks to his strange smile. Queen Anne’s half-sister, Duchess Josiana, who watched his performance, falls in love with his charm. Gwynplaine, a woman courted for the first time in her life, is shaken by her alluring temptation. Ursus and Dea feel sorry for Gwynplaine.

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Meanwhile, Gwynplaine was taken to a notorious torture center called the Castle of Tears. The unexpected birth secret was revealed, shaking the lives of the three, who managed to find peace.

Victor Hugo's 1859 "The Man Who Laughs"

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This book is what the author Victor Hugo called the masterpiece of his work and is set in England after the Puritan Revolution. The love of the bizarre-looking protagonist Gwynplaine and his sister and lover Dea contrasts with the hypocritical appearance of British aristocrats in the 18th century, showing sharp satire.

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This novel was adapted into a musical in Korea.