In his article Clowns on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown Andrew Stott argues that it is clear that the clowns physical and moral deterioration stands as a more general emblem for the twilight of a once-popular form now peopled by decadent performers and reliant on outdated modes (15). Use at least two examples including one we have studied to examine the extent to which anachronism or the weight of the past inhere in villain figures.