The Bad Beginning Summary

The Bad Beginning opens with a warning from the narrator, Lemony Snicket, that the story does not have a happy ending—readers should put the book down if they want one.

The story begins with the three Baudelaire children playing on the beach. Violet, a 14-year-old girl and the eldest Baudelaire sibling is skipping rocks and thinking about what invention she will make next. Klaus, Violet’s twelve-year old brother who loves to read, is studying creatures in tidepools. Sunny, the youngest, loves to bite things, and she is making unintelligible sounds such as “gack.” Soon, Mr. Poe, the family banker, arrives and informs the children that their parents died in a tragic fire. Mr. Poe takes the children to stay with him temporarily.

The children share a room with Mr. Poe’s mean sons, Edgar and Albert, and are forced to endure Mrs. Poe’s bad cooking. Still, the Baudelaires are hesitant to leave when Mr. Poe announces he is taking them to live with a distance relative of theirs, Count Olaf. He explains that Count Olaf will be their guardian until Violet comes of age, at which point she will inherit their parents’ enormous fortune. When they arrive on Count Olaf’s Street, the children meet Justice Strauss, Count Olaf’s neighbor who the children mistake as Count Olaf’s wife. Given her kindness, they are disappointed to find out she is just a neighbor. The children notice that her house is much nicer than Count Olaf’s.

Count Olaf meets Mr. Poe and the children at his door, which has an eye painted on it. He is tall, thin, and dirty, and his eyes look shiny, which makes him seem both hungry and angry. Mr. Poe comments on the dirtiness of the house, and Count Olaf suggests that the Baudelaire fortune be used to fix it up. Mr. Poe sternly explains that the children’s fortune will not be used until Violet comes of age, and then he leaves. The children notice that there are eyes painted all over the house, and there’s even an eye tattooed on Count Olaf’s ankle. They feel like Count Olaf is always watching them.

The Baudelaire children’s bad first impression of Count Olaf is correct. Not only is he unkind, impatient, and demanding, but he makes the children share one small, dirty bedroom and bed, and he gives them difficult chores. One day, he tells the children to make a dinner for his theatre troupe. Having never cooked before, they visit Justice Strauss for help and are pleased to discover her enormous private library. She helps them select a recipe and shop for ingredients. They cook the dinner, but when Count Olaf arrives, he is mad that they did not make roast beef. In his anger, he torments Sunny and strikes Klaus across the face. The children are outraged, but they serve dinner. A troupe member tells them that Count Olaf is after their family fortune, and the children go to bed crying.

Violet, Klaus and Sunny go to visit Mr. Poe to complain about Count Olaf. Mr. Poe does not take them seriously, however, telling them that, as legal guardian, Count Olaf is free to raise them how he sees fit. The children leave discouraged, but they feel better after visiting Justice Strauss’ library. The next morning, Count Olaf makes breakfast for the children, but he then confronts them about their visit to Mr. Poe. He feigns regret that they feel mistreated and to make up for it, he offers to let them star in his upcoming play, The Marvelous Marriage. He explains that Sunny and Klaus will be background actors, while Violet will be the bride of Count Olaf’s character. Justice Strauss will play the character officiating the marriage. Violet resists, but Count Olaf forces her to agree. The children are suspicious of his intentions and visit Justice Strauss’ library to study inheritance law.

The children find the law books on inheritance law boring, but Count Olaf’s looming threat motivates them to keep reading. They fail to discover anything important, however, and one of Count Olaf’s troupe members comes to Justice Strauss’ house to return them home. He threatens Klaus, telling him that Count Olaf will kill them once he has stolen their fortune. Klaus sneaks a book into his shirt before leaving.

After reading all night, Klaus discovers Count Olaf’s plot and confronts him the next morning. Klaus reveals that Count Olaf is planning to marry Violet for real during the wedding, thus giving him access to their family fortune, and he threatens to expose Count Olaf. Count Olaf is a step ahead, however: he kidnapped Sunny to use as leverage. He reveals that Sunny is hanging from his tower in a birdcage and promises to harm her if Klaus and Violet try to stop the wedding. The children agree not to expose his plan.

Violet builds a grappling hook to save Sunny. With it, she climbs the tower, but she finds one of Count Olaf’s henchmen, the hook-handed-man, waiting for her. The man reports her to Count Olaf, and Klaus is brought up the tower and locked away with Violet and Sunny until the wedding. The children try to hatch a plan but come up with nothing. On their way to the play, Violet looks at her right hand and seems to have an idea.

Violet and Klaus wait backstage as the play begins. Eventually, they are put into their costumes and run into Justice Strauss in the changing room. They try to convince her to change her lines––thereby nullifying the marriage––but Justice Strauss does not want to disappoint Count Olaf. The children also try to get help from Mr. Poe when he arrives backstage, but Count Olaf interrupts them, holding the walkie talkie that he uses to communicate with Sunny’s handler. They say nothing.

The wedding scene begins, and Count Olaf and Violet take center stage. Justice Strauss reads her lines from the legal book, asking Count Olaf and Violet if they will take each other as husband and wife. Both say, “I do,” and Violet signs the legal document with her left hand. Count Olaf reveals his plot to the audience, explaining that he is now in control of the Baudelaire fortune. Mr. Poe is outraged and contests the claim, but Justice Strauss begrudgingly admits the marriage is legal. Violet, however, reveals that she signed the document with her non-dominant hand, and Justice Strauss determines the marriage is nullified. Count Olaf is furious, but the hook-handed man has already brought Sunny to the stage, removing Olaf’s leverage.

Mr. Poe arrests Count Olaf for endangering a child, and everyone celebrates. Justice Strauss offers to become the children’s new guardian, which they gladly accept. One of Count Olaf’s men shuts off the theatre lights, however, and Count Olaf escapes. As he does, he whispers to Violet that he will steal the Baudelaires’ fortune and kill all of them. Violet turns the lights back on, and Mr. Poe tells the children they cannot live with Justice Strauss because she is not a relative. The children are upset, but they accept this explanation and leave with Mr. Poe. As they drive away from Justice Strauss, the children feel like they’re headed in the wrong direction.