The London Stage produced many pantomimes with the topic of Guy Fawkes and or the Gunpowder Plot.
These Pantomime dramas are preserved via images used by tabletop or toy theater manufacturers. In these images we
can see how the received view of Fawkes changed over time. These images show Guy slumping a bit. Mayhew complained that the Guy was no longer lifelike but flailed around. Presumably London Guys were more realistic earlier in the century than they were at mid century. This change of appearance is viewed by Mayhew more as poor workmanship than as important symbolically.I would tend to dispute Apgar's claim that the slumping guy holds the symbolic meaning of the degradation of the villain. These figures are from the Pantomime Harlequin Guy Fawkes. One interesting effect of the images produced by the Pantomime dramas is that they conveyed images of the Harlequin Fawkes to children . This effect would equip Fawkes who was earlier dressed darkly, with streamers, colored paper and ribbons. Note that there is no trace of the traditional mask design.
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