Guy Fawkes
Guy Fawkes was an English conspirator in the Gunpowder Plot of 1605, a failed attempt to blow up Parliament and King James I.
He was caught guarding explosives beneath the House of Lords on November 5th, now commemorated as Guy Fawkes Night with bonfires and fireworks.
His stylized face—the Guy Fawkes mask—became a symbol of protest and anarchism, popularized by the graphic novel *V for Vendetta* and adopted by the hacktivist group Anonymous.
Explosive light displays
- effigySculpted human representation
- NovemberEleventh month
- bonfiresLarge outdoor festive flames
- sparklersHandheld burning wands
toffee apples · bonfire · flames · torchlight · celebration · tradition · England · autumn
National legislative assembly
- cellarUnderground storage room
- barrelsCylindrical storage vessels
- gunpowderCombustible propellant mixture
- 1605A specific year
James I · conspirators · Percy · Westminster · arrest · lantern · torture · treason
One who betrays allegiance
- seditionInciting revolt against government
- betrayalBreaking of trust
- treacheryDeliberate violation of trust
- high treasonBetrayal of one's nation
execution · conspiracy · disloyalty · religious extremism · subversion · martyr · villain · anti-hero
Masked anarchist versus fascism
- hacktivismPolitical protest via intrusion
- protestPublic expression of disapproval
- anonymityUnknown identity state
- dissentDisagreement with authority
cyberactivism · activists · collective · privacy · whistleblower · Alan Moore · internet freedom · symbol
fireworks
Explosive light displays
sparklers · toffee apples · bonfire · flames · torchlight · celebration · tradition · England · autumn · nightfall
parliament
National legislative assembly
- cellarUnderground storage room
- barrelsCylindrical storage vessels
- gunpowderCombustible propellant mixture
1605 · James I · conspirators · Percy · Westminster · arrest · lantern · torture · treason · Catholic
traitor
One who betrays allegiance
- seditionInciting revolt against government
- betrayalBreaking of trust
- treacheryDeliberate violation of trust
high treason · execution · conspiracy · disloyalty · religious extremism · subversion · martyr · villain · anti-hero
V for Vendetta
Masked anarchist versus fascism
- hacktivismPolitical protest via intrusion
- protestPublic expression of disapproval
- anonymityUnknown identity state
dissent · cyberactivism · activists · collective · privacy · whistleblower · Alan Moore · internet freedom · symbol · resistance
- British CrimeJack the Ripper, Scotland Yard, Old Bailey, Met Police, Burke and Hare
- British Folklorefairy, fairies, pixie, pixies, brownie
- Gunpowder PlotBates
- Jacobean EraPrince Charles, Francis Bacon, John Donne, Inigo Jones, Walter Raleigh
- celebrationsgraduation, festival, party, wedding, fireworks
- British historyWilliam the Conqueror, Victorian era, Elizabethan era, English Civil War, Tudor era
Guy Fawkesloyalist
Faithful supporter of authority
Oliver Cromwell · James I · monarchist · royalist · king's man
Guy FawkesThomas Cranmer
Puritan · Church of England · Elizabeth I · Henry VIII · Oliver Cromwell
Guy FawkesBig Ben
London's celebrated tower clock
Houses of Parliament · state authority · Winston Churchill · Queen Elizabeth II · conformist