“...and what I am is a man in a mask.”
Why it's great
After all the wordplay, he lands on the plainest possible self-description.
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literary
Use it yourself
What I am is a person who keeps his promises.
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V Introduces Himself to Evey, Explained
V for Vendetta · 2006
Chapter 2 of 25 · 4'40"
V isn't just showing off his vocabulary. "I'm merely remarking upon the paradox of asking a masked man who he is" is his answer to Evey's simple question of who he is — and a warning that his identity is doing the talking. The alliteration and the fireworks are theater: he wants an audience.
Key moments
Start here, then watch the full scene- 0:33–1:58
❝ Monologue · 13 lines You May Call Me V
86s - 3:10–4:39
V Blows Up Parliament to the 1812 Overture
89s
V Introduces Himself to Evey, explained
What happens
After breaking up an assault in a London street, V leads Evey to a rooftop to watch the Houses of Parliament explode on Guy Fawkes Night. There he introduces himself in a torrent of alliteration — "you may call me V" — dedicating the fireworks to a justice that has gone missing, and invites her to stay and see it.
What's really going on
Evey asks the obvious question — who are you? — and V answers with a riddle: identity is performance. "I'm merely remarking upon the paradox of asking a masked man who he is." He isn't dodging; he's telling her that the mask is the point. The mask hides a man and carries an idea, and an idea, unlike a face, can't be arrested. Notice how carefully he stages everything: a rooftop, an orchestra, an audience of one. When he jokes that his speech is a "vichyssoise of verbiage," he's inviting her into the performance rather than lecturing her. By the end she stops being a bystander and says "I can hear it" — the fireworks are already working on her. He offers safety and spectacle, but what he's really recruiting is a witness.
Key lines & what they mean
- “...and what I am is a man in a mask.”
- He answers 'who are you?' by saying his identity is simply the mask: what he does matters more than who he was.
- “I'm merely remarking upon the paradox of asking a masked man who he is.”
- Asking a masked man his name is self-contradictory; the mask exists precisely to make that question unanswerable.
- “Verily, this vichyssoise of verbiage veers most verbose.”
- A joke at his own expense: this soup of words is far too wordy. He admits the speech is deliberately over the top.
- “I promise you, it'll be like nothing you've ever seen.”
- His pitch to Evey: come along and you will witness something no one has ever witnessed before.
- “I know of no reason Why the gunpowder treason Should ever be forgot”
- Lines from the Guy Fawkes rhyme, quoted as Parliament explodes: the 1605 plot against the king should never be forgotten.
Theme
- Identity — V refuses to give a name: a mask is not a disguise but a form that follows a function, and it makes him impossible to pin down.
- Justice — He dedicates the explosion to 'Madame Justice,' who has gone on holiday, and to the imposter standing in her place.
What this chapter teaches
Teaching points
Review right after watchingMy level2/7
A1–C2 is the CEFR scale. Cards above the level you pick fade, and playback will not auto-pause on them.
Language points
Click a card to jump to its moment in the videoGolden lines
A great line in its own right — why and how to use it“I'm merely remarking upon the paradox of asking a masked man who he is.”
Why it's great
Polite phrasing makes the other man's question look absurd without a hint of anger.
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Formal
Use it yourself
I am merely remarking upon the paradox of needing a password you lost.
“Verily, this vichyssoise of verbiage veers most verbose.”
Why it's great
He admits he is rambling, and the alliteration makes the confession funny.
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literary
Use it yourself
Verily, this is a vichyssoise of verbiage for a one-line memo.
“I promise you, it'll be like nothing you've ever seen.”
Why it's great
It sells the unknown rather than the thing itself, which is exactly what hooks her.
Register
Neutral
Use it yourself
Trust me, it'll be like nothing you've ever seen.
“I know of no reason Why the gunpowder treason Should ever be forgot”
Why it's great
A rhyme older than the plot itself, it turns a historical grudge into ritual.
Register
literary
Use it yourself
I know of no reason why that promise should ever be forgot.
Monologue
One character carrying the scene — shadow the whole passage❝ V's alliterative introduction
In view, a humble vaudevillian veteran... ...cast vicariously as both victim and villain by the vicissitudes of fate. This visage, no mere veneer of vanity... ...is a vestige of the vox populi, now vacant, vanished. However, this valorous visitation of a bygone vexation stands vivified... ...and has vowed to vanquish these venal and virulent vermin vanguarding vice... ...and vouchsafing the violently vicious and voracious violation of volition. The only verdict is vengeance, a vendetta... ...held as a votive not in vain, for the value and veracity of such... ...shall one day vindicate the vigilant and the virtuous. Verily, this vichyssoise of verbiage veers most verbose. So let me simply add that it's my very good honor to meet you... ...and you may call me V.
A long cascade of V-words that is at once solemn and absurd, and impossible to forget.
Up next · 03spinThe scene: Sutler's Cabinet Spins the ExplosionTakeaways
What you walk away with- Identity can be a performance, not a fact.
- He answers a question by dismantling it.
- The alliteration is a joke about his own wordiness.
- An invitation works best when it promises the unknown.
People also search
Questions, then the linesWho is V, and why won't he give his real name?
He insists the mask is his identity, not a disguise: 'what I am is a man in a mask.' A name would make him a person the regime could hunt; the idea behind the mask cannot be arrested.
Why does V blow up the Houses of Parliament?
He times it to Guy Fawkes Night, when the 1605 gunpowder plot failed. This time it succeeds — his punishment for a government he calls venal, and a spectacle for a city that has forgotten how to feel.
Why does Evey agree to stay and watch?
She has nowhere safer to go, and he promises she will be unharmed and see something she has never seen. Curiosity, and his strange charm, win her over.
Does V really mean Evey no harm?
In this scene, yes: he keeps his word and she returns home safely. But he is already using her as the witness to his first act, which quietly complicates that promise.
What does "vichyssoise of verbiage" mean?
It's French for a cold potato-and-leek soup; here it's a self-mocking joke that his speech is a 'soup of words,' absurdly wordy. V is laughing at his own alliteration.