Early in the novel, the reader becomes aware through clues and foreshadowing, that Count Olaf has plans to take the Baudelaire fortune and will stop at nothing to get it. He becomes increasingly more violent, and his chore demands increase. Things come to a head at a dinner party where the children meet the unsavory characters that make up Count Olaf's acting troupe.
Count Olaf develops a plan to steal the Baudelaires' fortune, and he begins to implement it immediately. He has decided to put on a play called The Marvelous Marriage, in which he will play the bridegroom and Violet Baudelaire will play the bride. However, the marriage is to be legal, so that Count Olaf can control the children's money. When the orphans discover Count Olaf's true motives, they refuse to take part in the production. Count Olaf strikes back by taking Sunny prisoner and tying her up in a birdcage in his tower. Violet and Klaus have no choice but to go along with his plan. The children find out that Justice Strauss will also be performing in the play and attempt to enlist her help. Unfortunately, she is too star-struck at the prospect of performing on the stage to be of any assistance.
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