Gorgeous George is a
character in a novel called
Wise Children by
Angela Carter. He is
symbolic of many things, but I interpreted him as the
British Empire.
We first encounter him when our
narrator is 13 and in
Brighton. She sneaks into the
theater at the end of the
pier and watches a show by Gorgeous George. This would have been in the
interwar years and George's comedy reflects this. He makes
lewd and
bawdy jokes, whilst gesturing with a golf club to add to the effect.
The finale to his act involves him singing a song and stripping off his clothes to reveal a full body
tattoo of
the world. All of the British Empire of the time is shaded in
Pink, and Britain her self in under his small
thong.
Pink was the colour used to represent the Empire on
maps of the time.
We only encounter him again, twice in the rest of the novel. He plays Bottom in a film adaptation of A Midsummer Night's Dream. Appropriate some would say. This is the post war years and he is desperate for a job. He would have taken anything and he only got this job because someone owed him a favor. During the time that the narrator has not seen him, he has become somewhat of a wreck. (Much like the British Empire of the time).
Finally, many years later, when the narrator is 75 years old, they see Gorgeous George on the pavement as a tramp. Highly symbolic and good effort on behalf of Ms Carter I would say.