Character Relationship Map: The Cure

Characters

• The Inebriate (played by Charlie Chaplin) — protagonist

  The Inebriate is the film's central drunkard, who arrives at a hydropathic hotel carrying a suitcase full of alcohol while supposedly trying to dry out. His liquor contaminates the spa water and cause...

• The Girl (played by Edna Purviance) — protagonist

  The Girl is a beautiful young woman whom The Inebriate meets at the spa. She encourages him to stop drinking and becomes emotionally connected with him. After he gets drunk from the contaminated healt...

• The Man with the Gout (played by Eric Campbell) — supporting

  The Man with the Gout is a large spa guest with a bandaged foot who suffers from gout. The Inebriate traps his foot in a revolving door, and the man later tries to have him expelled from the hotel. Th...

• Masseur (played by Henry Bergman) — supporting

  The Masseur is connected to the sanitarium's Turkish-massage treatment. The Inebriate is taken for a massage after trouble with the large gout sufferer and is unhappy with the rough bath-house treatme...

• Sanitarium Attendant (played by Albert Austin) — supporting
• Head of Sanitarium (played by Frank J. Coleman) — minor

  The Head of Sanitarium is the hotel authority who learns that employees are becoming drunk from The Inebriate's liquor. He orders the alcohol to be thrown away, but the disposal instead sends bottles...

• Nurse (played by Leota Bryan) — minor
• Patient (played by William Gillespie) — minor

Canonical Relationships

Family, romantic, and professional connections based on plot evidence.

• The Man with the Gout → Masseur (Professional Patient) — The gouty man receives treatment from the masseur
• The Inebriate → Head of Sanitarium (Professional Authority Figure) — The sanitarium director oversees the drunk man's treatment
• The Inebriate → The Girl (Romantic Love Interest) — The drunk man develops feelings for the girl

Story Dynamics

Alliances, conflicts, and narrative interactions that evolve throughout the story.

• The Inebriate → Patient (Social Companion) — Fellow patient in the sanitarium
• The Inebriate → Nurse (Alliance Helper) — The nurse assists the drunk man
• The Inebriate → Sanitarium Attendant (Alliance Helper) — One attendant helps the drunk man
• The Inebriate → Masseur (Conflict Antagonist) — The masseur mistreats the drunk man
• The Inebriate → The Man with the Gout (Conflict Rival) — Compete for the girl's attention

Story Analysis

At a spa meant to promote sobriety, hidden liquor triggers comic disorder, strains a new connection, and culminates in an accidental return to the contaminated well.

Plot Progression

1. A Troubled Spa Arrival — A drunkard arrives at the hydropathic hotel carrying alcohol and becomes entangled with a guest suffering from gout. He meets The Girl, who encourages him to stop drinking.
2. Liquor in the Waters — The hotel owner discovers that employees are drinking the drunkard's liquor and orders it thrown away. The bottles land in the spa's health waters, contaminating them.
3. The Spa's Drunken Disorder — The contaminated water sends spa guests into a dancing stupor, and the drunkard drinks from it himself. His resulting drunkenness offends The Girl, who leaves angrily.
4. A Collision and Its Aftermath — The unsteady drunkard collides with the gout sufferer, knocking him from his wheelchair and into the alcoholic well. The following morning, the spa's inhabitants face hangovers while the drunkard is s...
5. Forgiveness and Final Mishap — The sober drunkard finds The Girl, who forgives him after realizing what happened. As they walk together, he accidentally steps into the liquor-laden well.