Victor Hugo. The man who laughs (№ 457577)

Gwynplaine knew that those in power were standing over him, the rich, the noble, the minions of fate, and he felt how they unconsciously trampled on him; and below he could make out the pale faces of the dispossessed. He saw himself and Deya, his tiny and at the same time boundless happiness, between these two worlds; above was the world of the free and idle, merry and dancing, carelessly trampling others underfoot; below is the world of those who are trampled upon. At the base of the brilliance is darkness - a sad fact that testifies to a deep social malaise.