#javert-eponine parallels

[secretmellowblog]

Feeling normal about Javert and Eponine today

[pallases]

idk what to do here folks im out of colors

[alicedrawslesmis]

I know I just said I didn't want to just be complaining about everything so I'll try to word this in a more constructive way asdfghjkl

It's hard to be an Eponine fan in a world where the musical -and On My Own specifically- is sooooo mainstream. Because imo as much as On My Own itself is kind of a half-decent, if simplified, encapsulation of Eponine's struggle with her love for Marius if you analise the lyrics in isolation, the musical as a whole, her role in the narrative as the unrequited love diva (I'm also simplifying here. I don't think this is super fair to the anglo musical, but compared to the book there's no question of how they reworked her into a glamorous 80s diva contralto because musical theatre has usually very strict gender roles), did her so dirty. So dirty. And imo often her character is reduced to her pining in fandom as a result. And I don't like that, personally.

I love that girl so much. I love that she is just young enough to still be a child but adult enough to be aware of her social role. She has one foot in the gamin life and one foot in the adult world. I love the tragedy that is the fact that she likes the beauty and pomp of high society girls and wish she could have silk shoes but knowing she can't.

And also being super resigned to her class despite it, she doesn't believe she ever will have any of that. She resents that too, somewhat. The tragedy of her knowing that she couldn't be with Marius because of his social class and her accepting that (angrily? sadly?). I love her self-banishment as his guard dog because of this. I love her drunk sailor voice. I love how manipulative she is and that she isn't Marius's friend at all. He's just her one neighbor who wasn't a total asshole one time. He was, later. But not at first. And she can't be in his head and know he thinks she's kinda despicable because crime because Marius is a judgemental little shithead.

And Eponine isn't an idealist, she's resigned to her position. I understand why she gets paired with grantaire in fics but her canon narrative parallel is Javert, they both believe they are excluded from society from their outcast position and so become the watchdogs for it. Eponine a kind of guardian (in her own words a devil, not an angel) and Javert the same. That's why he's the one person who sees her in the barricade, he's the same as her. Marius saw her but that's only cause he had a use for her in that moment, as soon as she didn't he forgot all about it.

I think also Gavroche, with his ability to be kind of a figure above the narrative, with his gamin skills of being almost omnipresent is something Eponine used to have, but with her age she's starting to lose that. She's starting to grown old enough that she's required to be IN the world and not supercede it. Gavroche is also almost there, if he had been allowed to grow up he would've lost that ability too. They both inhabit this sort of magical surreal world superimposed on our own.

A lot of Les Mis and Notre Dame de Paris can be kinda described as magical realism, I would go so far as calling them urban fantasy. And characters like Babet, Thenardier sometimes, Gavroche, Eponine (and Javert sometimes as well) are inhabiting this magically charged layer. This reality that's imposed Over the real world.

Talking about that One Series Of Wizard Books is a bit passé rn so uh. Doctor Who. Particularly the initial New Who seasons before they got that huge budget. That's a good parallel to what I'm getting at. The real world is still the same but there are certain characters that inhabit this mystical overlayer and are able to transverse from one to the other (Javert can't really because he is stuck forever outside and the second he understands that you CAN'T be an unbiased outsider who only enforces the norm without participating he freaks out and literally dies about it). Eponine is right in the eye of the storm tho. She manipulates reality to get her way, to die with Marius, because that's as close as she can get to being with him. And she manipulates reality to protect him too. Contradictions be damned. She has many contradictory feelings that make her complex and cool and an awesome character whom I love and wish would stop being reduced to the glamurous mysical theatre role with a single black stain on her face and a beautiful actor and a big unrequited love song about a random boy (whose personality was also changed for the musical and I argue is probably the character that was most fucked up by it in the public perception because he's such an weird little self-insert of an even weirder guy. But I get it, the musical is long enough as it is).

Anyway, I wish eponine could be more of a mongrel, a little gremlin. A little rat child that's just beginning to grow into an adult and is self aware of her role in the narrative society. She's a teenage girl which already sucks to go through when you're not constantly starving and cold and being forced by your father to work and do con jobs. Marius is the object she attaches herself to, but it could've been literally anything. Javert did that with the social order, he protects and guards it. She just chose Some Guy instead. Which, we all have that one friend who does that too. Like girl you're too good for him. Come on let's get you sone ice cream. And clean clothes and a roof. Literally anything. Bread.

I think if Eponine had a roof over her head and like, food on the regular she would forget Marius exists. Same as Cosette if she had moved to England. Like he'd be that one intense crush they had as teenagers. Can't say the same for him tho. He would hold onto that for the rest of time.

[pilferingapples]

y’ know Victor Hugo is indeed an entire attic of problems, in terms of gender theory etc 

and yet atm I don’t see that we’re ever going to get an adaptation that has the guts to go in on the parallels between Fantine and Enjolras, or Eponine and Javert, or even to examine the way Valjean’s parenting of Cosette challenges the gendered roles assigned to parenting 

and that’s ...well it’s not great and people making adaptations should feel Not Great about it 

[granhairdo]

thinking about the parallels between eponine and javert 😭😭😭

[lifewillalwaysbe-lavieenrose]

GUYS!! I saw Les Mis! In Munich!!!

Let's recap!

The Cast:

Daniel Gutmann as Javert. He was incredible. Definitely my personal highlight. Everytime he sang his voice just ROARED. And he was menacing holy shit. Aggggggh I'm normal about him

Barbara Obermeier as Eponine. When I first heard her sing in Act 1, I knew she was gonna kill it in Act 2. And she did.

Merlin Farcel aka Enjolras. His voice was so perfect I LOVED all the high notes, BUT:

The beard. Sorry, but in my world Enjolras doesn't have a beard. Plus, it makes him look like Peter Maffay

Madame Thenardier was PERFECT (I don't remember who played her that night😭) She was so funny and the audience really loved her.

The Music:

At first, I felt a bit underwhelmed by the orchestra. To be fair, I listened to the 10th anniversary recording SO much, that I really got used to that grand orchestra sound.

There was an electric guitar and at one point an electric bass when Javert sang, which I really loved.

During Master of the House/ Beggars at the Feast you could really see the orchestra bopping their heads and having fun and that made me very happy

I really loved the brass section, they really stood out (That French Hurn during On My Own????!)

The Costumes:

I don't know why, but the Les Amis were wearing these caps all the time. I have never seen a production with them in it. Is this a historically accurate thing?? I didn't really like them, they looked very plastic/shiny and fell out of place

I cannot find a picture but in the beginning of Act 1 Valjean wore a pink vest and then a purple coat which both looked very cheap and which I both didn't like (maybe it was because of the light? The colors felt very unnatural)

Eponine's outfit. At first I thought it didn't look shabby enough. But it looks so badass I'll let it pass

Why don't you let Enjolras wear his red vest??

What is Marius wearing? Goofy boy

Big Mad Hatter vibes from Thenardier. I loved his and the Patron Minettes outifits, they looked very edgy

This is perfect. Perfect. I only wished he had undone his hair for Javert's Suicide (he did, but only for the last 10 seconds)

The Stage:

The stage had a turning middle and stairs that could be moved around, similar like in Hamilton.

They did a cool transition with young Cosette walking up the stairs and old Cosette walking down

Also, they had some cool staging with buildings moving around for Stars. But I feel like there was almost a bit too much happening in the background for this song.

I don't know why they didn't have the Barricades turn and show Enjolras hang upside down. It's such a cool/tragic moment!

During the Barricade scenes, the stage sometimes felt a bit empty. I mean, there were always like 15 people standing around. Maybe the Barricades were to small/not high enough

Empty chairs at empty tables. Where were the empty chairs and empty tables??

In Everyday/A Heart Full of Love Reprise single leaves started falling down on the stage (Like Valjean entering the Fall/Winter of his life) I loved that.

Also, the parallel of Marius learning to walk again using a cane, and Valjean loosing his ability to walk using a cane. I never noticed this before!

There are SO many cool things about the staging I could talk about here. But I want to mention some other topics as well:

The "Spirit" of the Show:

There wasn't a single French flag to be seen. Some red ones, but no French flags.

In the trailer, the director said he wanted to create a more universal setting, speaking to everyone in the audience

I think that's a great sentiment but like. Everyone has French names. There were titles above the stage telling us the year and locations (Places in France) of the events. The title of the show is French.

So I think adding the flags (aka a bit more French nationalism?) would have seemed a lot more convincing for the cause of the students and the whole spirit of the show

But maybe this also has to do with the show being in German? I don't know and I'd really like to discuss it. Maybe someone here made a similar experience seeing it in another language

And last, but MOST importantly:

What about Valvert and Enjoltaire?

In the Confrontation, Javert and Valjean got really close to each other. And I mean fighting each other and then stopping just to sing directly into each other's faces.

Instead of running infront of the court in Who Am I, Valjean just goes to Javert and rips his shirt open? Okay, go off I guess

In Drink with Me, we have a platonic forehead touch between Enjolras and Grantaire. Sadly, that's all I noticed between them 😔

Also, the fact that Grantaire is supposed to be ugly/shabby/a drinker/a sceptic got totally lost, which really takes away from his character.

Conclusion:

All the actors were good, some of them were FANTASTIC. I'd watch it again just for the guy playing Javert, if I could. God, he was SO GOOD

The music was all it should be, maybe a bit too reserved (but again, this might be because I am so used to the 10th anniversary concert)

I really loved some costumes and I also really disliked some

The staging was great, some choices confused me (flags, barricades etc.)

Would I watch it again?

Absolutely!

To be clear, some of the things here might sound more negative than I actually mean. It's just that I have watched SO many different productions online, that I fixated on all the great performances and how I think they should be done. Of course everyone has different opinions here.

Okay thanks for reading if you made it here. Have a great day!

[willowmaidsworld]

One day I'll write an essay on parallels between Jean Valjean and Javert and how Eponine is Javert's Cosette he fails to rescue (still breaks my heart)

But it is not this day!

[sparklygraves]

part 2 of watching 2012 Les Mis for the 1st time—

lol Grantaire somehow has a beer in the middle of the battle

oh hey cool Ep in drag!

Javert what are u doing?

I just keep thinking about how Eponine & Cosette knew each other as kids… I wanna know more about that! know any good fics?

like, Ponine was treated better by her parents, but maybe she had her doubts about how they treated Cosette and they became friends? & Ponine snuck C food & stuff?

Javert’s brain hurts

Drink with me!!!

aw Enj was singing along to Grantaire’s song ❤️

& the song was about friendship❤️ that is a kind of love Enj values mad deeply methinks

Valjean making a pact with God to save Marius?

aw they had a slumber party in the street ❤️

noooo Gavroche! wtfff

omg the romantic music when Grantaire came in to die by Enjolras’ side! & his almost casual way of coming in like that’s my man, like he’s stepping onto a dance floor & taking Enj’s hand

& his eyes, so bright & brave & in love!

holy dang

Javert nooo! grow & change— let doubt in. it’ll hurt, but you can do it! ahhh nooo

oh man Marius I feel ya :( 🪑

ugh wtf valjean— communicate with your daughter u dummy!!! honestly rude & disrespectful to tell Marius & not her. & ugh Marius agreeing to this. rude.

ooo I like the parallel between Valjean & Fantine— both singing about Cosette as they near the end (btw damnn Anne Hathaway was redonk good in this! I know everyone already knows this lol but wanted to send her some good vibes cuz she gets too much hate)

& oh hey! he’s hallucinating Fantine! or she’s here as an angel ghost or something!

oh good Cosette gets to say bye!

[a-la-sante-du-progres]

A list of Les Mis headcanons I have because of adaptations, without any hint in the novel as far as I remember:

-Grantaire has dark curly hair (Les Mis 2012)

-Often in my mind R has Bladgen's face, just a bit rougher. Sometimes I can picture BBC's Grantaire (who was a very good one) but only in modern AUs, strangely.

-Grantaire has green eyes (Les Mis 2012 but it's a Mandela effect, Bladgen is blue eyed), I support also brown eyed R btw

-Grantaire wears green, even if the red waistcoat always features and has a great importance in my interpretation of the character (musical)

-Courfeyrac has brown curly hair (Les Mis 2012), but I support blonde!Courfeyrac as well because of his parallel to Tholomyes in the brick. His hair has to be curly anyway.

-Enjolras wears red (musical) but I support as well Enjolras who wears green, green is complementary to Grantaire's red + once I read green was the color of French Revolution. Anyway in canon era, mod it's a waistcoat or a vest, in modern AUs it's a long red coat (projection of my own coat?) or a red leather jacket.

-Javert has blue eyes. This one may be in the brick I can't remember. Javert is linked with the color blue in general, in my mind. IDK if it's especially from the 2012 movie.

-Courfeyrac and Combeferre are super close. This looks like born from the fandom but actually the idea is from the 2012 movie I think.

-I see Marius with Redmaine's face, bless him.

-Blonde Cosette but I also hate it, Hugo avoided the dark/light color scheme for Eponine and Cosette for a reason. So lately I'm trying to picture Cosette with brown hair.

-Joly has dark hair (Les Mis 2012), it's so weird to see him blond in the Arai manga

[flo-nelja]

For shipping meme, Les Miserables?

One True Pairing Ship: Enjolras/Grantaire Canon Ship: Eponine->Marius makes me feel things “If this happens I’ll stab my eyes out with a spork” Ship: Valjean/Fantine or Valjean/Cosette (I mean, in fanfic it's alright but stop putting these in your adaptations) “I’m one sick bastard” Ship: Montparnasse/Eponine can be nice sometimes. “I dabble a little” Ship: Bahorel/Jehan “It’s like a car crash” Ship: Javert/Valjean the way I like it “Tickles my fancy but not sold just yet” Ship: Valjean/Myriel “Makes no canon sense but why the Hell not” Ship: Cosette/Eponine makes no sense, but look, the narrative parallels... “Everyone else loves it but I just don’t feel it” Ship: I love the most popular ships, but I don't feel Combeferre/Courfeyrac. “When all is said and done” Ship: Marius/Cosette is the one that gets the most development and the happy ending.

[kunosoura]

I just love how paralleled Valjean and Javert’s arcs are. Like both are extended mercy and grace by another who should resent them, but while Valjean takes them (and the silver) as an opportunity to put the pain and mistakes of his past behind him and become a compassionate, charitable man, Javert completely unvravels.

Valjean takes the silver and the Bishop’s message - he certainly has a lot to be bitter over, so here’s his chance to become the sort of person who tries to do something about the reasons why he was bitter (which he does stumble at - it’s not until he meets Fantine again and accepts responsibility for Eponine that he realizes his benevolent charity gig wasn’t enough and he had to actually connect with the people around him).

Javert, on the other hand, is undone the second he takes Valjean’s mercy. In accepting that mercy, he (by his own logic) accepted the possibility that there could be more between him and Valjean than cop and criminal; that Valjean was capable of virtue despite breaking the law. In accepting that mercy, he accepted that virtue and legality were not equivalent, that it was possible to do good even if you broke the law (and the inverse, that it’s possible to do harm enforcing it). He realizes all at once that not only has he himself broken the law, the law itself was not as virtuous and perfect as he had thought. And considering the lengths he went to to shave every bit of humanity off of himself other than his position as officer of the law, reckoning with that was impossible for him.

One of the brilliant parts of the musical is how it directs attention towards this parallel, having Javert’s soliloquy reprise Valjean’s, but with dramatically different endings. The anguish and hope of the early act one song, and the confusion and despair of the act two reprise.

[secretmellowblog]

For me the ‘canon homoerotic subtext’ between brick!Valjean and Javert is really more about the parallels between Javert and Eponine, who are explicitly set up as character foils.

Brick!Javert isn’t obsessed with Valjean like he is in adaptations. He’s not psychosexually obsessed with hunting him down; he really doesn’t seem to think of him as being any different than any other criminal—- he doesn’t think about Jean Valjean much at all until after Jean Valjean saves his life.

But after the barricades, Javert’s sudden weird desperate emotions about Jean Valjean are like a twisted mirror of his character foil Eponine’s weird desperate emotions for Marius.

Some guy takes pity on them, and extends them a bit of basic impersonal kindness— and they react by descending into this violently self-destructive suicidal admiration built on self-loathing. They’re both described as making themselves the “dogs” of Marius/Valjean, the dogs of people who barely remember they exist.

And anyway! I think there is potential to explore things there in analysis and fanfiction

[transrevolutions]

I realized something interesting today.

Almost every major character in Les Mis is an archetype, an allegory for something else.

Of course, the most obvious example of this is Javert. He ‘is’ the law, the relentless, unforgiving, unyielding law. He personifies the almost inhuman side of the law, the one which condemns people to worse fates than the crimes they committed just because a document tells them to. He is the epitome of a cop.

Then there’s Jean Valjean, who’s the archetype of lawless morality. He does his best to do what’s right, even if it means breaking the set-in-stone laws that Javert adheres his moral code to. Jean Valjean is a paragon, a man who chooses, each day since his release, to do the morally right thing, or at least he does his best to do the morally right thing.

Thenardier is the embodiment of capitalist greed and selfishness. Much the way Javert is the dark parallel to Valjean’s good side, he’s more-or-less the dark parallel to Valjean’s bad side the only-living-for-survival, criminal, bitter side. He’s a con man, a swindler, and he is abusive and dishonest- everything Valjean could be but chooses not to. He’s also very much a product of the system he attempts to manipulate.

Fantine is the victim, the mother, the naïve and innocent one, who is the one the world has done unfairly dirty. Forced to grow up too fast, abandoned by her lover, and forced to give up her own daughter to survive, Fantine is rightfully angry but also genuinely soft-hearted and kind. Then she dies early on, of course, fully cementing her as the foremost victim of the story, as well as the catalyst for the remaining segments of the book.

Cosette, however, is the example of peacetime, of hope, and of simple joy. She’s a little bit naïve as well, and although she grew up as one of the ‘miserables’, by luck and by fate she has risen above her beginnings- perhaps the opposite of Fantine in that way, who started so high and fell so low. She is everything peaceful, good, and pure in the world.

Marius is foolish youth and young love. He’s the epitome of the awkward teen (young adult? Same thing). He is confused, grew up sheltered, and lacks strong moral convictions at first due to this. Gillenormand (who isn’t important enough to get his own segment but is the representative for conservativism) is partially the cause of this. He’s also strongly emotional- he follows his heart, not his head. Which explains how immediately and obsessively he is attracted to Cosette, because Marius, like many young folks, never does things halfway.

Enjolras represents the fight, but the positive fight. He’s basically the ‘hero’ in every children’s book, with a one-track mind and a perceived duty to fulfill. He’s untouchable much in the way that Cosette almost is, because he also represents the ‘good’ in the world, but rather than the already-there good (Cosette), he embodies the fight for good, and the hard-won good. 

Grantaire is literally skeptical philosophy and nihilism condensed into a person. He’s the opposite of Enjolras in that Enjolras believes to the point of self-destruction and Grantaire disbelieves to the point of self-destruction. He’s in love with Enjolras because Enjolras completes him (and in their last scene together, Enjolras realizes somewhat that Grantaire completes him as well). He’s also a metaphor for the people of Paris, who sleep but eventually, someday, rise up. He’s not especially likeable, he’s extraordinarily irritating, but he’s there, and he’s important all the same.

Gavroche is freedom. He’s also childhood, and the two are often one and the same. He does what he wants to, has free reign of the streets, and takes absolutely zero shit from anyone (you go little dude). He’s also an example of how the good in human nature prevails even through difficult and hard times- Gavroche is that little kid in everyone who just wants to run around and be free. He’s also a little snark, even to people like cops who could hurt him for it. Life lesson- be like Gavroche.

Now there’s one exception to this unstated ‘rule’- that each major character represents a quality- is an ideal rather than simply a person. That exception is Eponine.

Which is really interesting, in a lot of ways. Eponine is hard to pin down. Eponine is somewhat morally grey- she does hide Cosette’s letter and bully her as a child- but she is also kind in her own way, and will do anything for who she cares about. She’s a little awkward- not Marius-level awkward, but insecure and unsure of herself. She’s lonely in a world of strangers, but she finds a little joy in her friendships. She’s described as ragged but beautiful, which is an interesting use of antithesis by Hugo.

Eponine is tough, hardened, and sharpened by years of abuse and life on the streets. She’s also soft-around-the-edges and has moments of genuine, almost childlike innocence, like when she’s so happy to learn how to read. Eponine’s motives are equal parts selfless and selfish, hard and soft. 

So as far as I can tell, Eponine is a paragon of humanity. She’s the humanest of humans, not an ideal nor a vice, but a complex, easily-forgotten, beautiful, ugly, beloved, unloved human. That’s what makes her so different from the others- she’s the prism amid all the colors. And then she dies too, and in time is almost forgotten, just as so many humans are. 

But she’s vital- her little actions, like finding Cosette, saving Marius’s life, stopping the robbery at Rue Plumet- had impacts. Though few of the characters recognized it, without Eponine, the story would’ve ended very, very differently.

[phoebe-delia]

What was the first musical your ever saw, and how did that shape your perception of musicals, musical theatre, and theatre as a whole?

Jet, what a lovely question. Once again, you've put a little bit of joy in my ask box, and I can't thank you enough for it.

I think the first musical I ever saw was Les Miserables; Cats was also an early one for me, but I think Les Mis came first, and I'm fairly certain I saw it on stage first. And before I go on, I feel as if I can't mention these two musicals in connection with one another without talking about Terrence Mann. He played Rum Tum Tugger and Javert in the original Broadway casts of both shows. I cannot think of an actor who has more range than him.

Also, while we're talking about Les Mis casting: a lot of people have also only seen the recent movie adaptation; if you take away nothing else from this post, let it be my strong recommendation to watch one of the professionally recorded concert versions. The 10th Anniversary ("Dream Cast: In Concert") is my personal favorite, with a perfect cast IMO, but the 25th Anniversary one is a good option, too. I have a whole entire rant about the movie adaptation that I will refrain from going on at the moment.

Now, on to actually answering the question, assuming I haven't lost my audience at this point, oops.

First, Les Mis impacted me by showing me the art of storytelling and characterization. I think it's really impacted my taste in musicals, because my favorite shows are those that take me on the best emotional journey. Great Comet, Falsettos, Chicago, and Wicked are probably my top four favorite shows of all time, and I think they each have deep storytelling elements. Every time I listen to those cast albums, I come away with something new. That's how it is with Les Mis; there's always some new little nugget to pick up on, whether in the music, the lyrics, the story, or the characters, that makes the story even more meaningful.

Second, Les Mis allowed me to see myself in some of the characters. As a young person, Gavroche spoke to me a lot, since he was unfazed by the adults who didn't take him seriously. He showed me the power that kids have, and that lesson always stuck with me.

But more than Gavroche, I started to see myself more and more in Eponine as I got older.

I remember seeing Rachel sing "On My Own" as her audition song in "Glee," and I was spellbound. That performance reintroduced me to the song and the character of Eponine at a point in my life when I was developing a crush on a boy who never liked me back. I have such a fondness for that song, and I remember what it was like to pine away for someone who would never return the same feelings. Eponine's role in the musical is relatively minor; her two biggest moments are singing about her unrequited love and then dying for Marius at the battle. But I think that's such a good representation of love. Eponine dies for Marius, who, frankly, isn't a great guy. But I don't know whether Cosette would've died for him, or if Marius would've sacrificed his life for Cosette. He might've, to be chivalrous, but maybe not entirely out of love.

Finally, Les Mis also showed me the power of nuanced characters. Javert is extremely interesting, as a character. Of course, it seems on the surface as if we're supposed to view him as villain, but when we explore his story arc a little more closely and see his motivations, it becomes a bit more muddled.

In Javert's death, we see a parallel incident to the one Valjean has at the beginning of the musical. In "Valjean Arrested/Valjean Forgiven," Valjean is caught stealing from the bishop, and rather than being punished, he is given more silver and told to use it to improve himself. During "Javert's Suicide," Javert is similarly confused by the way he was treated with mercy after he was captured by the rebels and freed because of Valjean. The music is the same in both songs,

Javert kills himself because he is unable to grapple with the way his entire worldview has just been upended. He starts to question everything he knows. He and Valjean are such interesting foils because where Valjean takes the forgiveness and opportunity to redeem himself, Javert is so deeply disturbed and troubled by it that he loses his will to go on. As Javert sings: "Is he from heaven or from hell? And does he know, that granting me my life today, this man has killed me even so?" And it's so tragic that just when he was on the verge of a moral breakthrough, he thinks he's lost purpose in life.

Anyway--this is my extremely long-winded way of saying that Les Mis gave me an appreciation for powerful characters and storytelling, and it serves as an influence for me when it comes to both my consumption/analysis of other art and creating my own writing.

Send me an ask about Harry Potter, broadway/musicals, The West Wing, and/or Taylor Swift! Or just about life in general :).

Also, I have a playlist of my 99 most listened-to songs of the year so far. Pick a number 1--99 and send me an ask and I'll write you a fic based on it!

[pilferingapples]

Almost every adaptation gets Javert’s parental issues backwards. He doesn’t hate criminals because of his parents, he hates his parents because he was taught to hate criminals. It’s implied that Javert never even knew his parents, if I remember correctly, since he was raised by the state. He doesn’t want revenge on them for not being there for him, and he certainly wouldn’t be emotionally devastated at being forced to arrest them— the Brick explicitly says the opposite. His parents mean nothing to him; they’re just another set of people he’s morally obligated to put behind bars.

Ooh let me answer in two parts!

" ...he certainly wouldn’t be emotionally devastated at being forced to arrest them— the Brick explicitly says the opposite. His parents mean nothing to him; they’re just another set of people he’s morally obligated to put behind bars"

Yep yep yep! It's one of the defining traits of his character--all criminals are just criminals, and he's made his mind up a long time ago on that. Making Javert sympathetic and respectful towards Fantine or Gavroche or any of the class of the miserables -- at least before his derailment-- is one of the most offputting things a straight adaptation can do, IMO; it's missing a major point about the character and the message of the story regarding social damnation.

That said , I do think looser adaptations have some leeway there--it's pretty clear that Javert does have some issues with his parents/childhood that he is very decidedly NOT working through, and that's fair to explore in things like Owarinaki Tabiji.

So on to the precise details of his childhood--let me acknowledge first that I am far from the fandom's best Javert History scholar and very open to being corrected on errors here, but I *think* all we really get about them or his childhood is from Vague Flashes on the Horizon, and it's this:

Javert had been born in prison, of a fortune-teller, whose husband was in the galleys. As he grew up, he thought that he was outside the pale of society, and he despaired of ever re-entering it. He observed that society unpardoningly excludes two classes of men,-- those who attack it and those who guard it; he had no choice except between these two classes; at the same time, he was conscious of an indescribable foundation of rigidity, regularity, and probity, complicated with an inexpressible hatred for the race of bohemians whence he was sprung. He entered the police; he succeeded there. At forty years of age he was an inspector. During his youth he had been employed in the convict establishments of the South.

...he was a spy as other men are priests. Woe to the man who fell into his hands! He would have arrested his own father, if the latter had escaped from the galleys, and would have denounced his mother, if she had broken her ban.

--So I think that last bit means his mother is out on parole, the way Valjean was supposed to be? It's a translation of course but I'm pretty sure that's what the ban referred to there is. So all we get is that he was born inside a jail (he was born with men like you, he is from the gutter too--) , his mother was in prison and at some point was released, and at some point in his young adulthood he joined the police and worked in the South. How long he stayed with his mother, whether he ever knew his father, and so on, is all up to interpretation.

Given his parallels with Eponine, I think it's very fair to read him as having had a rough childhood with his mother at least into the age when he'd be old enough to remember it ; but also fair to assume he was basically parentless from infancy or toddlerhood. We just don't get much info!

[meta-squash]

Brick Club 2.3.8 “Inconveniences Of Entertaining A Poor Man Who May Be Rich”

This chapter is so long. Here goes.

Is it normal for Cosette to have to knock to get into the house she lives in? Or is Hugo just using that as a vehicle to make Mme Thenardier meet Valjean first?

It’s times like this that I desperately wish I knew more about biblical stories and fables and things. This, a rich man in disguise as a poor man being treated poorly by innkeepers and taking something from them, sounds like a bible story or a similar type of fable. But the only two bible stories I know with similar themes are the nativity story and Sodom and Gomorrah and neither of those seem quite right. Still, this entire episode reads like a fable or fairytale.

We’ve already seen how Evil the Thenardiers are re: their treatment of Cosette. Now we are seeing their Evil in the form of treatment of the poor.

You know, that’s an interesting thing that I’m not going to get into in this longass chapter. Javert’s evil and Thenardier’s evil are different because I feel like Javert’s evil is a lot more muddied or obscured by morality and duty and things like that. Where are the Thenardiers are bad but the badness of their actions is much more black and white. I think it’s also because, technically, they never have social power over anyone unless they are manipulative, whereas Javert always has the social power. I’m not sure where to go with either of these ideas but I will look back on it for a shorter chapter.

Cosette is ugly because she’s sad. It’s like the exact opposite of Roald Dahl’s description of ugliness. I called it on the orphanage thing and kids looking years younger than they are; she looks 6 when she’s 8. That doesn’t seem like a huge difference when you look at it written down but the difference between the size and maturity of a 6 year old vs an 8 year old is surprising.

In the way that the description of the doll was a distant echo of young Fantine, the description of Cosette here is a faded echo of dying Fantine.

“Fear was spread all over here; she was, so to speak, covered with it; fear squeezed her elbows against her sides, drew her heels up under her skirt, made her shrink into the least possible space...” I’m sure this description comes from Hugo observing children in his lifetime, but I also wonder if any of this comes from his brother who had schizophrenia and was institutionalized?

“The expression on the face of this child of eight was habitually so sad and occasionally so tragic that it seemed, at certain moments, as if she were on the way to becoming an idiot or a demon.” What an interesting pair of choices. Fear and sadness either stun and numb you completely or they turn you aggressive and evil. Hugo said the same thing before when talking about Valjean’s prison time. Again, like I said before, Cosette here is Valjean when we first met him: exhausted, scared, sad, numb, hatefully terrified of the people around her; the difference is that she still has hope. She had that moment of hoping someone would rescue her, she had the moment of pausing and wondering what the doll’s paradise was like; when we met Valjean he was past that kind of hope.

(Funny that Mme Thenardier doesn’t suspect the trick Valjean just pulled, despite Valjean “finding” a 20 sous piece instead of 15 sous piece.)

I love the description of Eponine and Azelma because it’s so innocent. They as little human beings aren’t morally bankrupt at the level of their parents yet. They’re still pretty and glowing. Partly because they are well-cared for unlike Cosette, and partly because they are still innocent.

“Eponine and Azelma did not notice Cosette. To them she was like the dog. The three little girls did not have twenty-four years among them, and they already represented the whole of human society: on one side envy, on the other disdain.”

Ah, human microcosms. Hugo loves those. The Thenardier children and Cosette are the pared down, simplified version of society. It’s also an excellent example of how Privilege works in layers. The girls’ doll is worn and old and broken, but the fact of them having a real doll and Cosette having nothing is already a layer of privilege Someone else, another little girl with wealthy parents and a new intact doll would have privilege over the Thenardier girls. There are layers.

I really love this passage too because it shows the start of the zero-sum game between Eponine and Cosette. At no point are Eponine and Cosette able to be equals. But the important thing is that neither of them are aware of this. Later, when Cosette and Eponine encounter each other again in the Gorbeau house, Eponine doesn’t have the awareness to be angry about the reversal of their fortunes. She seems sad, mostly, a jealousy born from a feeling of worthlessness rather than feeling slighted. And Cosette doesn’t even recognize Eponine, so there’s no room at all for disdain on her part, unless she’s disdainful of Eponine et al due to their poverty, though that never seems to be the case. But Eponine cannot be happy while Cosette is and Cosette cannot be happy while Eponine is, because their goals occupy the same fulcrum (Marius) and they can’t both be on the same level at the same time.

Fanfiction has explored this a lot in modern AU but I wonder the kind of havoc that could have been wreaked had Cosette and Eponine met and become proper acquaintances. Their teenage personalities are two sides of the same coin. I’ve always been of the opinion that had they switched places as children Cosette would have ended up like Eponine and Eponine like Cosette. Because Eponine has the capacity for kindness within her, except that she doesn’t know how to use it selflessly; and Cosette has the same stubborn ruthlessness as Eponine, except that she is held back by convention and reduced to talking a lot in order to try and somehow glean information from Valjean or Marius.

“Now your work belongs to me. Play, my child.” This is the second (or third?) Myriel moment for Valjean. Cosette is a child, an innocent child, but her soul doesn’t need to be bought for god. As far as I can tell, for Hugo, children are always holy. Instead, he’s buying her work. But that makes sense. For Valjean, his soul needed to be bought for god because he had already lost it to sin and to evil and to doubt. Cosette still has hope; what she needs bought from her is suffering.

And here is where the parallel continues. Cosette up until now has been Valjean as we first met him: sullen, suffering, scared, dulled, close to becoming “an idiot or a demon” and now, like Valjean’s soul, her work has been bought so she can be free.

I think it is within the walls of the convent that their parallels will catch up to each other and they will become more equal.

I feel as though the cat in a dress vs the sword in a dress must be some sort of parallel to Eponine and Cosette’s personalities but I’m not quite sure how to pull the meaning out.

“A little girl without a doll is almost as unfortunate and just as impossible as a woman without children.” Ugh. Gross, Hugo. This whole chapter was so lovely and then this misogynist bullshit.

I can explain the “water on her brain” line! Mostly because it’s a medical condition I actually have! So, “water on the brain” is another term for hydrocephalus, which is a buildup of cerebrospinal fluid in the ventricles of the brain. It can be caused by being born prematurely (like mine was) or by infections/head trauma. Nowadays they can put a shunt in your head that pumps the fluid into the abdominal cavity (which is what I have), but obviously they didn’t have the technology back then. So what happens to the head if the fluid doesn’t drain, is the head will start to increase in size, and the fluid buildup will squish the brain against the sides of the skull, causing seizures and brain damage/intellectual disabilities and vision problems and other such things. I function perfectly fine except for mild dyscalculia and ADHD (which might have been genetic anyway) but back in the 19th century hydrocephalus probably would have resulted in either mild-to-severe disabilities or death.

Cosette doesn’t have hydrocephalus, but what she does have is severe malnutrition, which can make a person’s head look much too large for their body. So Mme Thenardier is likely using Cosette’s appearance due to neglect to fake that she has a neurological problem and explain why they have to “take care of” her.

Jesus fucking christ this next bit is so much. There’s so much going on. Mme Thenardier is talking to Valjean about Cosette’s mother, the drinkers are singing vulgar songs about the Virgin Mary and baby Jesus, and Cosette is under the table singing “My mother is dead.” to herself. Woof. It is, yet again, an instance of the memory of “Fantine” (in the symbolic, saintly form of the Virgin) being sullied both by the foul songs of the drinkers and the callous, flippant commentary of Mme Thenardier. And Cosette is there under the table, staring at the fire, suddenly playing the role of her own mother, rocking the sword-baby (herself) to try and comfort herself from the shock of this new knowledge that her mother is dead.

(Anyone else read As I Laying Dying, by the way? All I could think of when I read that line was “My mother is a fish.”)

We start to see Cosette’s bold personality come out in fits and starts. She’s brave enough to sneak out and grab the doll Eponine and Azelma have abandoned. But it’s also an example of how desperate she is for something pleasurable and good, considering she’s doing that at the risk of a beating.

For the second time, we see Cosette so absorbed in her moment of “I Want” that she doesn’t see or hear anything else. Again, this seems unusual considering her constant hypervigilance. But her success in getting the doll and her increased confidence due to Valjean’s presence probably have something to do with her lack of awareness.

Cosette is caught with the doll. Is this the parallel of Valjean being caught with Myriel’s silver? Mme Thenardier says “That beggar has dared to touch the children’s doll.” The gendarmes don’t say as much when they return Valjean to Myriel, but it’s pretty obvious they’re thinking something similar.

“We are forced to add that at that moment she stuck out her tongue.” COSETTE IS SO CUTE I LOVE HER SO MUCH SHE DESERVES THE WORLD. Also I just love the way Hugo writes children, it’s so real.

Why did Hugo choose Catherine for the name of the doll? Is it to do with St Catherine? She (the saint) became Christian at 14 and converted hundreds of people before being martyred at 18 after rebuking the Roman emperor for his cruelty and winning a debate with his best philosophers.

“This solitary man, so poorly dressed, who took five-franc pieces from his pocket so easily and lavished gigantic dolls on little brats in wooden clogs, was certainly a magnificent and formidable individual.” Valjean is now Myriel. Outsiders are fascinated by him because he dresses so shabbily and yet is so benevolent and charitable with his money. Again, the difference is that Myriel’s name is always known, and Valjean’s is never known.

I know I say this so often but the distance with which Hugo treats Valjean is absolutely fascinating to me. Valjean has this incredible power to just go inside himself and not move, but we never get that kind if internality unless it’s really really important (like with the Champmathieu affair). Otherwise, Hugo keeps a respectful distance, and even when we get Valjean’s emotions described to us, I feel like Hugo is always holding back a little, like he’s not letting himself see all the way into Valjean, or Valjean isn’t letting him in.

Valjean asks for a stable; I think this is the first time we see his whole thing about sacrifice of physical comfort. Things like this asking for the stable and sleeping in the shed behind the house at Rue Plumet and not having chairs and only eating black bread etc. This is the first example we see of him feeling unworthy of physical comforts to such a degree.

(It’s interesting to me that we don’t see this characteristic when he was mayor, or at least not to this extreme. Is it because it would be unbecoming of a mayor and therefore would blow his cover? Or did going back to prison hammer in that feeling of worthlessness and lesser-than and warp his perception of what he is compared to others?)

“What a sublime, sweet thing is hope in a child who has never known anything but its opposite!” We’ve said this already, but Cosette is full of hope and life and light and that is Important because it is exactly what Valjean did not have when he was in her position. But it means that she doesn’t have to work as hard in her ascent towards happiness and goodness.

And, lastly, I love that the placement of the gold Louis in Cosette’s shoe isn’t just a sweet Christmas gesture or a gesture towards Cosette: it’s also an echo of M Madeleine breaking into houses to place gold pieces on the table.

Wow. Long af post for a long af chapter. Congratulations if you read through all of my rambling thoughts.