Who are "The Man with a Beard but No Hair" and "The Woman with Hair but No Beard?"
We first meet these two interesting folks on pg 122 of TSS, when Snicket starts talking about an Aura of Menace. Snicket is afraid of them. He won't even mention their names, which is irritating to us, but maybe we can figure out who they are anyway?
The woman has a deep voice, the man has a hoarse voice, and they each know Olaf, and Olaf apparently, knows them. They aren't very nice people, because they burnt down the VFD HQ in the Valley of Four Drafts. They knew the Baudelaire parents, and are members of VFD. They had the complete and total Snicket File, minus page thirteen, and they gave it to Olaf. In the last chapter, they have whistles that they use to command the Mortmain Eagles, and they have whips.
None of this helps us though, since we don't know anyone with these characteristics.
One answer that occured to me is that the two strangers are Mr Poe (Arthur) and Eleanora Poe. The only reasoning I have for this is from the three forms of disguise, all of which could be implemented here:
1.The Bauds have seen Mr and Mrs Poe, and know what they look like, and FURTHERMORE...
2. Snicket has mentioned them before, but is afraid to mention the names of TMWABBNH, and TWWHBNB.
My reply to that is this:
1. The Bauds have NOT seen Eleanora Poe. Mr Poe's wife is named POLLY, not Eleanora. Eleanora, as seen in LSUA is Mr Poe's Sister. Second to this point, is that Olaf is obviously afraid of these people. It would seem they are higher in rank then Olaf, and perhaps his supervisors. To that end, it makes sense that they would be better at the disguise deal then Olaf, or perhaps have access to better disguises. Besides, having those fireproof suits on would cover up a lot of their body, and distort the rest of it.
2. Snicket is afraid to mention the names of the MWABBNH, and the WWHBNB, and it's true that he's talked about Mr Poe, however, two points need to be brought into consideration. The first is that Snicket has never mentioned Eleanora, and the second is that he has never mentioned Mr Poe by his first name. All through the series, he is only referred to as "Mr Poe." His first name is never mentioned, to the best of my knowledge, and that fits in with the argument.
One other possibility is that these two newcomers could very possibly be Olaf's older siblings. We know that VFD takes children, and quite frequently, those children have two siblings (Bauds, Quags, Snickets), so why not Olaf? It would make sense for them to give him the Snicket File if they were related to him.
Funny enough, Olaf's siblings have not as yet been mentioned, and Arthur and Eleanora's sibling (if they have one, and that's a point that's up for debate) has not been mentioned either. The possibility does exist that they could be one and the same.
The woman has a deep voice, the man has a hoarse voice, and they each know Olaf, and Olaf apparently, knows them. They aren't very nice people, because they burnt down the VFD HQ in the Valley of Four Drafts. They knew the Baudelaire parents, and are members of VFD. They had the complete and total Snicket File, minus page thirteen, and they gave it to Olaf. In the last chapter, they have whistles that they use to command the Mortmain Eagles, and they have whips.
None of this helps us though, since we don't know anyone with these characteristics.
One answer that occured to me is that the two strangers are Mr Poe (Arthur) and Eleanora Poe. The only reasoning I have for this is from the three forms of disguise, all of which could be implemented here:
- Veiled Facial Disguises:
If it is Arthur and Eleanora, then growing a beard and shaving off his hair would complete this requirement, and since the Bauds, and us as well, don't know what Eleanora looks like, she might not have to do that. - Various Finery Disguises
The Fireproof suits would certainly take care of that aspect. The suits would hide what they look like in body, and the pads on the shoulders (for the eagles) would disguise their true sizes. - Voice Fakery Disguises:
this could also be true if the hoarse voice and the low voice are both fake. Snicket makes a point of telling us almost everytime they speak that there is a hoarse voice and a low voice, so it's very possible a fake thing.
Also, if Mr Poe IS the man with a beard but no hair, his cough could be a voice fakery disguise, as well.
1.The Bauds have seen Mr and Mrs Poe, and know what they look like, and FURTHERMORE...
2. Snicket has mentioned them before, but is afraid to mention the names of TMWABBNH, and TWWHBNB.
My reply to that is this:
1. The Bauds have NOT seen Eleanora Poe. Mr Poe's wife is named POLLY, not Eleanora. Eleanora, as seen in LSUA is Mr Poe's Sister. Second to this point, is that Olaf is obviously afraid of these people. It would seem they are higher in rank then Olaf, and perhaps his supervisors. To that end, it makes sense that they would be better at the disguise deal then Olaf, or perhaps have access to better disguises. Besides, having those fireproof suits on would cover up a lot of their body, and distort the rest of it.
2. Snicket is afraid to mention the names of the MWABBNH, and the WWHBNB, and it's true that he's talked about Mr Poe, however, two points need to be brought into consideration. The first is that Snicket has never mentioned Eleanora, and the second is that he has never mentioned Mr Poe by his first name. All through the series, he is only referred to as "Mr Poe." His first name is never mentioned, to the best of my knowledge, and that fits in with the argument.
One other possibility is that these two newcomers could very possibly be Olaf's older siblings. We know that VFD takes children, and quite frequently, those children have two siblings (Bauds, Quags, Snickets), so why not Olaf? It would make sense for them to give him the Snicket File if they were related to him.
Funny enough, Olaf's siblings have not as yet been mentioned, and Arthur and Eleanora's sibling (if they have one, and that's a point that's up for debate) has not been mentioned either. The possibility does exist that they could be one and the same.