Les Misérables: Lovely Ladies

"What is this history of Fantine? It is society purchasing a slave."

Summary

    Fantine had been dismissed as winter took its cold, iron grip on the world. She kept to herself, and wandered about the town without hope. She did not have enough money for nearly anything: she could not afford proper clothing for winter; she could not afford her debts for her furniture; and most importantly, she could not afford the dues for Cosette which the Thénardiers had recently increased. Desperate, Fantine goes to a barber; her beaming golden locks fell to her knees, and she sells every golden hair for a sum of ten francs. With the barber money she buys a petticoat for Cosette, like the Thénardiers claimed to need. However they had no need of the worthless cloth, for they wanted the money; they gave the coat to Éponine.

    The Thénardiers wrote again, still asking for more, this time begging Fantine to send money for medicine, claiming that poor Cosette had been stricken with military fever. After learning the possibility of death from the fever, Fantine makes no hesitation in reporting to the dentist she saw earlier that day. She returns home with fourty francs for the Thénardiers and a hole where her two front teeth once were. Fantine's only friend, Marguerite, despairs at the sight of poor Fantine, who she found sitting in the dark claiming to be content because Cosette will live another day.
    Fantine sold back her furniture. She sold everything until she had nothing but a blanket for a bed and her meager shanty. The Thénardiers continued to ask for more, but Fantine has no more to give. Fantine despairs, for she cannot sustain the only light in her terrible life. Marguerite, loyal as ever, takes the poor woman and has her sell the one thing she has left: her body. From here on, she belonged to everyone, for everyone knew of her abysmal circumstance, and everyone took advantage of it. She was an object to play with, to tease, to mock, to bully. She was a sex doll for the lustful, prey for the envious, and a spit-bowl for the proud. Fantine was no more; she was but an empty shell, pouring what little soul she has left into feeding Cosette. But in vain.

Analysis

    The brain has a tendency to organize everything it encounters, which often leads to organizing things in a hierarchy, whether it be that of a food chain in any given environment, what possessions we deem important enough to save in a fire, or, in this case, who to respect in society. The social hierarchy of Absolutist France, like most of Europe at the time, centered around the wealthy and centrifuged out anything that did not have the money to hang on. And those who did kicked and mocked those on the outside because it makes them happy; if there is someone below one's self, that means that one is above someone, that one is better and more superior to someone else. By placing one's self in the social hierarchy, it is easiest to compare one's self to those below one than to depress one's self with the unreachable glamour of the higher-ups. Therefore, those like Fantine are easily tossed farther down the ladder by being shoved down by those who have the strength, wealth, or ambition to do so.

    Although pounded into the bottom of society, Fantine manages to remain content, for she is living vicariously through her daughter. She believes so strongly that her love for her child is what's keeping them both alive that she strives to keep going. Fantine's hope in a hopeless place is a combination of the human instinct of self-preservation and, more importantly, the motherly instinct to protect her children. Fantine gives all she has to keeping herself afloat to keep her daughter alive, and in making such a character Hugo created the "mother" archetype.

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Les Misérables: I Dreamed a Dream

"'Long live Tholomyès!' exclaimed Dahlia and Zéphine. And they burst out laughing. Fantine laughed with the rest. An hour later, when she had returned to her room, she wept. It was her first love affair...she had given herself to Tholomyès as to a husband, and the poor girl had a child."

Summary

    In the year 1817, the streets of Paris rung with the bells of prosperity and complexity; the vivacity and wealth of the city extended to, but was not limited to, four student boys, and their lovers: Dahlia and Listolier, Fameuil and Zéphine, Favourite and Blachevelle, and finally, Tholomyès and Fantine. The boys were comrades, and by social conventions, the four girls were friends, at best. The two quartets frolicked and connived together. Tholomyès led them in all they did, since he was the most clever and possessed the most initiative, and they all followed him faithfully and blindly, Fantine especially. 

    Fantine came from M. sur M, but no one knew how she had come to be. Her parents seemed to have never existed, as she raised and herself, and at fifteen she left M. sur M. for Paris, and it was there that she met her companions, of which she did not belong. While the rest were creatures of education and debauchery [one could liken them to modern university students without the university], Fantine was a basic woman of basic interests, who, although she had nothing in common with the rest of the group, followed them on their escapades just to be with Tholomyès.
    Tholomyès and they other boys came up with a plan to "surprise" their lovers, and waited a year to follow through with it. One day the eight young adults were dining at a restaurant, and Tholomyès was giving another lengthy philosophical speech, when a cart crashed and killed the horse carrying it. Tholomyès gives a short psalm, and Fantine is overcome with grief; and the girls tease her for it. Favourite, frustrated beyond belief by a year of constant waiting for the "surprise," demands it from Tholomyès. Finally, he agrees that the time has come. The boys exit the restaurant with a kiss on their lovers' brows, and tell them to wait.
    Some time passes. The girls watch carts go by the restaurant windows as they wait; one of the carts stop for a moment before continuing, which surprises Fantine. She thought the diligence never stopped; the girls tease her for this too. After an entire hour passes, their waiter brings them a letter from the boys, saying they told him to wait an hour before giving it to them. The letter, signed by all four of them but clearly written by Tholomyès explains that the boys' parents have demanded they return to Toulouse to make a living out of themselves, and that by the time they read the letter they are all long gone. Favourite, Dahlia, and Zéphine laugh it off, calling it a petty farce, and rejoicing in the name of Tholomyès. Fantine laments in despair, for she has been left to raise her child on her own.
    Desperate, Fantine resorts to returning to her hometown, M. sur M., to find work. However, she can't find work with a child out of wedlock in her arms, so she must have her dear Cosette live with someone else.  She stops in Montfermeil, and finds a woman named Madame Thénardier playing with two little girls. The Thénardiers charge an initial fee of fifty-seven francs and a monthly payment of seven francs to look after Cosette, and Fantine agrees. She spends the night there, pays the deposit, and then goes to M. sur M. to find work.

Analysis

    Fantine led an extraordinary and miraculous life in her early years, and her determination and will managed to get herself into luxury; however her luxury was short-lived, for she traded her strong will for comradery and a false love, and lost her dignity as a result.. Although her ambitions were admirable, she was caught off-guard by a sudden love for Felix Tholomyès. Her naivety became one with her, and she lost herself in the escapades of the double quartet. And even after her short period of blinding love, her naivety continued to follow her. In Montfermeil, her desperation blinded her from ensuring her daughter's safety; Fantine did not know of the Thénardiers' reputation as rats, and she didn't bother to inquire either. Her naivety, though, arose from abnegation: in Paris, she fell in love, and let her instinct and worries fall to side so she could follow Tholomyès and make him happy through her; in Montfermeil, she hastily gave Cosette away to the Thénardiers so that she could find a job to feed her daughter. Although society seemed to take advantage of Fantine's innocence, she persisted forward to sustain herself and Cosette, making her character an archetype of motherly abnegation.

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Les Misérables: At the End of the Day

"Overcome with shame, even more than with dispair, she quitted the shop, and returned to her room. So her fault was known to everyone. She no longer felt strong enough to say a word."

Summary

    Fantine was from a small town called Montreuil sur Mer (shortened as M. sur M.), its primary industry making English jet and German black glass trinkets. In 1815, three years before the return of Fantine, a moderately aged man arrived into the town, and had the idea of  "...substituting...gum-lac for resin, and, for bracelets in particular, slides of sheet-iron simply laid together, for slides of soldered sheet iron." This innovation made the process exponentially more efficient and cost-effective, and created a miniature industrial revolution for the town. This man, named Father at first, and later Monsieur Madeleine, transformed the town from a bleak gray speck of dirt on the map to one of the most admired arrondisements in France. The town wanted to thank Father Madeleine for his kindness to everyone and his contribution to the town, but refused any promotions until they were forced on him; it was not long before he became the mayor of the town.
    Fantine returns to M. sur M. in 1818, looking for work to feed her daughter, Cosette, who is with two inkeepers known as the Thénardiers in Montfermeil. Monsieur Madeleine maintained a policy of hiring anyone who had a good soul, so it was easy for Fantine to find a job there. However, her co-workers (who were all female) caught her writing letters to someone. And since humans are gluttonous in their curiosity, the women set forth all efforts to find out what was going on with the woman with beautiful golden locks. One woman found out she was sending money elsewhere to support a child born out of wedlock. Another woman managed a quick glance to the addressee of one of her letters: Monsieur, Monsieur Thénardier, inn-keeper at Montfermeil. The woman at the head of the operation judged every soul at the factory, and was named Madame Victurnien. She spent thirty-five francs to go to Montfermeil, and she returned saying, "I have seen the child." All this gossip and self-serving investigation took the span of one year.
     In this year, Fantine had lost herself in joy: she forgot about the vanities, and reveled in the fact that she was able to live an ample life and pay for her sweet Cosette at the same time. She even paid for furniture through credit, and was happy that she was going to pay of all the debts she had accrued: she was paying for rent, the furniture, and although the Thénardiers had upped the monthly stipend from six to fifteen francs that month, she managed to pay that too, and all was well. One morning at the factory, the superintendent handed her fifty francs, told her she was no longer employed there, and, in the mayors name, told her to leave.

Analysis

    Many in today's society remember the Industrial Revolution for its negative impact on the environment, but one must not forget the affect that it had on society. It created a hostile dog-eat-dog mindset that weaved out any possible weak link; and before labor laws came into effect, the unforgiving nature of unrestrained capitalism defined the workings of society.  Although one had the capacity to excel to great heights, such as Monsieur Madeleine, one could very rarely achieve success through any amount of hard work in the early decades of the Industrial Revolution (see: The Jungle by Upton Sinclair), often because of extraneous reasons; such is the despair of poor Fantine.
    Fantine worked as well and as hard as any woman worked at the factory in M. sur M, and worked for the same reason as many: to feed and clothe her family. However, her family lacked a husband yet had a child, making it an abomination, according to the overwhelmingly patriarchal and misogynistic society at the time. In addition, the curiosity of her co-workers drove them to further and further extremes to find the truth; but why? Victor Hugo underlines the gluttony of curiosity, saying that it is one of man's greatest vices. However the curiosity of the women at the factory did not appear from nowhere; indeed, it arose from their jealousy of Fantine, from mankind's inherent habit to find flaws in others. Fantine had hair that seemed to be woven from gold, and teeth that were carved from pearls; it was no wonder that the women, especially haggard old Madame Victurnien, sought to undermine her. In order to feel better about their own misfortunes and insecurities, the women used the power gained from their vapid curiosity to be rid of beautiful Fantine.

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The Tempest: Act V/Epilogue

"Now I want/ Spirits to enforce, art to enchant,/ And my ending is despair,/ Unless I be relieved by prayer,/ Which pierces so that it assaults/ Mercy itself and frees all faults."

Summary

  Scene i

    Prospero enters, stroking his chin as he contemplates the final pieces of his scheme. He calls forth Ariel, and asks him where Alonso and his entourage are. Ariel relays to Prospero that they are exactly where he wants them to be, but in a state of misery, especially Gonzalo, who has tears running down his beard. Since Ariel, a spirit, feels sorry for them, Prospero can all but imagine the pity he will feel for them all. Prospero draws a circle on the ground to ensnare the group, and reflects his actions. He is quite the magician, and has done so many things over the years. An enormous wave of guilt overcomes him, and he swears that after this next spell, he will bury his staff and burn his magical tomes.

    Alonso, Gonzalo, Sebastian, Antonio, Adrian, and Francisco enter the scene frantically, led by Ariel, and all but the latter are trapped and frozen in the circle. Prospero looks upon their dread-filled faces, and addresses them individually even though they cannot hear him. He looks at Gonzalo, and thanks him for his sympathy and kindness; he turned to Alonso, who helped usurp him from his dukedom, and forgives him; he gives a quick glance to Sebastian and he chastises him for being a fool, but he forgives him as well; he then walks to his dear brother, who not only betrayed him and stole his dukedom, but he also conspired to kill the king with Sebastian. Difficult as it was, Prospero forgave him also.
    Ariel dons Prospero with the clothes from his dukedom so that they will recognize him. After Prospero tells Ariel to fetch the Shipmaster and the Boatswain, the King and his entourage awake. Upon seeing Prospero, Alonso doubts whether or not he is even real, since all that has conspired on the island has made him suspicious of all. Gonzalo, on the other hand, instantly knows that Prospero is real, and they embrace each other. Prospero then turns to Antonio and Sebastian, and tells them that they are in his debt; he knows of their intended treachery, and demands Antonio for his dukedom back in return for his silence about his sins. However, Prospero directly forgives Antonio for all that he's done.
    Alonso mourns the loss of his son to Prospero, who tells the king to have patience, as that has helped him through his loss. Prospero then explains that because of the tempest, he has lost his dear daughter. Prospero brings Alonso to his cabin, and reveals that Miranda and Ferdinand, who are playing a game of chess, are alive and in love. Ferdinand sees his father, who he thought had died in the storm, and collapses onto the ground out of joy. Everyone rejoices in the beauty of the couple, and Gonzalo reflects how everyone has found happiness on this little island.
    The Boatswain and the Shipmaster arrive, and proclaim that their ship  is perfectly functional, but can't explain why. Prospero quickly changes the subject, and says that there are still yet people missing. At this moment Caliban, Stephano, and Trinculo enter the scene. Caliban rejoices in seeing Prospero alive and well, but the rest are confused as to what is going on: the higher-ups are disgusted at Caliban's experience, and they tell Trinculo and Stephano tell them to abandon Caliban.
    Prospero leads everyone into his cabin to tell them his tale. He also tells Ariel that after he gives everyone good passage back to Naples, he his free.
    In the epilogue, Prospero addresses the audience directly. He says that he is going to give up his magic, and live a life of peace. He begs for forgiveness from the audience, and prays that life will serve him kindly.

Analysis

     The Tempest is a play of ambition and, more importantly, its consequences. Prospero has made an enormous transformation over the course of the play: at the beginning, he was a vengeful wizard bent on furthering his own goals. Thankfully, his innocent daughter and her love with Ferdinand influenced him into forgiving all who have wronged him. Similarly, Alonso was also overcome with guilt, and repents for his sins. Antonio came to have an enormous amount of power because of his actions, and, at first, reigned and lived without consequence. His ambition accompanied him to the island, and almost tricked Sebastian into killing his brother, King Alonso. However, Shakespeare uses Antonio to illustrate that if one does not give up one's ambitions willingly, it will be taken away.
    Furthermore, Prospero can be likened to the Providence that he so endeared, especially when one compares The Tempest to the flood story from the book of Genesis: He is wrathful and destructive in the beginning, but then at the end is more forgiving and more loving than before. Prospero's parallel to God explains his omniscience and his unpredictability; and, if one stretches the God metaphor, one can view Ferdinand as man. Prospero commands Ferdinand to move a ridiculous amount of logs, the only purpose being to win his favor and Miranda's hand in marriage. Much like Ferdinand, mankind must, in Christianity, live a life free of sin and full of repentence; if one accomplishes this task, they gain access to eternal bliss and paradise.

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The Tempest: Act IV

"Bear with my weakness. MyAold brain is troubled./ Be not disturbed with my infirmity./ If you be pleased, retire into my cell/ And there repose. a turn or two I'll walk/ To still my beating mind."

Summary

  Scene i

    The scene opens with Prospero apologizing to Ferdinand for treating him poorly. Prospero then releases Ferdinand from his servitude, and lets him marry Miranda. However he warns Ferdinand that if he engages in any sexual activity, he will ensure that he will suffer pain beyond pain. Ferdinand and Miranda move aside, and Prospero calls Ariel to report what he's done. Ariel tells him that he's led Stephano, Trinculo, and Caliban through thorns and marsh. Satisfied, Prospero sends Ariel away. 
    Prospero goes up to Ferdinand and Miranda, and commences the wedding ceremony, warning them not to interrupt. The rainbow goddess, Iris, descends from the sky. She proclaims that the harvest goddess must provide a plentiful bounty to the newlyweds. As Juno, the queen of the gods slowly descends from the heavens, Ceres expresses how she is concerned that Venus, the goddess of love, and her son Cupid might be accompanying Juno. Iris consoles her, saying that although Cupid wanted to manipulate Miranda and Ferdinand into breaking their vestal* vows, their ploy failed, so the two lovers are safe. Juno [finally] arrives, and she and Ceres start singing blessings to Miranda and Ferdinand. Ferdinand fantasizes about living on the island forever, but Prospero reveals that the three goddesses are but spirits he summoned to serve his whim. As they spoke, Juno and Ceres sent Iris to summon nymphs and fieldworkers to join in celebrating the union of the two lovers.
    Suddenly, Prospero remembers Caliban's intense desire to murder him. Startled, he sends all the spirits he summoned away. Ferdinand and Miranda notice his distress, but Prospero goes to the newlywed couple and  tries to calm them down. He convinces them to leave, and the second they're gone Prospero calls Ariel to do his bidding. He tells him to turn invisible, and distract the three with fancy clothes.
    Trinculo, Stephano, and Caliban arrive covered in mud, and the former two are distracted by the clothes while Caliban becomes infuriated at them for getting distracted from their goal of killing Prospero. While Trinculo and Stephano tell Caliban to calm down, Prospero, Ariel, and hunter and hunting dog spirits appear from the bush, and chase the three away. Prospero curses them to torture as they run, and promises Ariel that he will free him shortly.

Analysis

    During the ceremony, Ceres and Iris discuss of Cupid and Mars, who wish to prevent the marriage by tricking Miranda and Ferdinand into having sexual relations before the marriage. However Shakespeare used this quick allusion to the Roman gods to foreshadow how Stephano's, Trinculo's, and Caliban's plan to take Miranda and spoil the marriage. Furthermore, Shakespeare uses the reference to the goddess Ceres to illustrate the amicability what is to come: all will be peaceful, and all will be bountiful. 

    Also, Stephano and friends have come to represent the outcasts of society. They are constantly disillusioned by something, and are easily manipulated by some sort of higher caste. From the very beginning of the play, they give their best efforts towards a goal, yet because of bickering inside the group or manipulation from outside, they remain at the bottom, hoping for metaphorical scraps.

*Vestal refers to the Vestal Virgins of ancient Rome, who took a vow of chastity to maintain their devotion to studying the goddess of the hearth, Vesta.

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The Tempest: Act III

Summary 

  Scene i 

    Prospero has commanded Ferdinand to move an innumerable amount of logs for who knows why. However he moves each log with a spring in his step, for he knows that his lover Miranda is out there, waiting for him. Suddenly Miranda bursts onto the scene, and Ferdinand's soul is filled with glee upon seeing her. They exchange words of love, and promises that they shall never ever be apart ever again; they swear that they shall be married. Prospero is looking on from a distance, and sees his daughter betrothal. He cannot be more elated, for not only is his dearest daughter happy, but he will also be able to exact revenge on those who wronged him.

  Scene ii

    The relationship between Trinculo, Stephano, and Caliban begins to strain. As Caliban explains what the island is like and who is on it, Trinculo doubts him. Ariel enters, and as Caliban tells how poorly Prospero treated him, Ariel imitates Trinculo's voice and calls him a liar. Caliban and Stephano are quick to attack Trinculo, telling him to keep a good tongue in his mouth. Trinculo, confused, doesn't know what they're talking about and claims he did not speak. Ariel does this twice more, and the final time Stephano loses it and beats Trinculo. After everyone's anger is appeased, Caliban reveals that there is a beautiful fair maiden on the island, and suggests that Stephano should kill Prospero and take Miranda as his wife. Ariel, still invisible, overhears their plan, and leads the three astray with his music.

  Scene iii

    King Alonso and his party have been searching for Ferdinand for a long time, and everyone has grown weary for walking for so long. Ariel, still invisible, summons several apparitions that bring forth a banquet for the party to dine on. Gonzalo is skeptical of the feast, and he advises everyone to stay away. However Alonso is not suspicious at all, and invites his brother and his fair duke (Sebastian and Antonio) to feast with him. As the three approach the table, Ariel appears as a harpy, and calls the three men traitorous sinners for usurping Prospero's dukedom. Alonso is overcome with guilt, and thinks that his son drowned because of his political actions back in Italy. The royal party follows Alonso away from the scene, who fled in fear and distress.

Analysis

    Act III contrasts with Act II in that Act II has a theme of betraying others whereas Act III has a theme of acting loyal to one's own self. However the consequences of self-loyalty depend on the actions taken. Alonso, for example, almost had his son killed by a storm because of his actions against Prospero. On the other hand, loyalty to one's self can also be rewarding: although Ferdinand has been condemned to slavery, he is enslaved to his love Miranda, the two of which being completely enamored with each other.
    Another thing to notice is the increasing importance of Ariel, Prospero's spirit. In the beginning of the play Ariel expressed that he hated serving Prospero, however he is showing a confusing level of enthusiasm in his actions; perhaps Ariel is attempting to secretly undermine Prospero's efforts in an attempt to further his own ambitions. If so, a theme of ambition can easily be seen.
    Ambition is what drove all these men to this island in one way or another, and now they must all face the consequences, whatever they may be.

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Les Misérables: Valjean's Soliloquy

"Did a voice whisper in his ear that he had just passed the solemn hour of his destiny; that there no longer remained a middle course for him; that if he were not henceforth the best of men, he would be 

the worst."

Summary

    Jean Valjean wanders down a road; it's insignificant which one, he just wanted to go anywhere besides D------. While walking down a country road, Jean Valjean hears someone coming up from behind him. He dodges into a push, and sees the thing behind him is a little boy who's flipping his coin; probably his only coin. The boy, who is known as Little Gervais, drops the coin, and it rolls to Jean Valjean, who quickly puts his foot on it so Little Gervais can't take it back. The boy demands that Jean Valjean five it back, but he plays dumb and pretends he does not have the coin. Confused and upset, Little Gervais runs away crying. Jean Valjean gets up, and stares down at the coin he just stole. Suddenly he realizes that he just stole a boy's only means of wealth and ruined the boy's life. Overcome with guilt and shame, he cries out for the boy and runs after where he might have gone. He shouts and shouts and runs and runs, and he asks everyone he comes across if they've seen a little boy named Little Gervais. Jean Valjean accepts that he will never find the poor boy, and breaks down; his entire world crashes down around him. The man cries for the first time in nineteen years.
    Jean Valjean was last seen praying in front of the Bishop's house in the middle of the night.

Analysis

    The destruction of Jean Valjean's soul was brought about by self-hatred; by doing that which made him hate the world, his soul split into two: he must either be as good as a saint, or as evil as the society that he had grown to hate. But with every hateful thought comes an equivalently strong pang of guilt. An entire lifetime of psychological development flashes before his eyes: he sees a resentful yet sacrificing man become a man full of hate and sin; he no longer knows who this man is. Who is he? What does he want? Does he still want to hate the world? If so, what are the consequences? He'll continue to be a man of evil and the dangerous man that society has labelled him to be; but he can't do that without humoring the society he hates with the fury of a thousand blazing suns.
    There is no middle ground available for Jean Valjean because if he tried to take a twilight path, he would be walking a nearly invisible tightrope that hung above the abyss of evil. So, to prevent himself from fulfilling the expectations of the society who hated him, he chose the higher ground; and he had no choice. Jean Valjean re-identifies himself as a man of light, a man of pure good based off the light that blinded him just hours ago. The Jean Valjean of darkness is dead now; the Jean Valjean of light has been born and shall exist forevermore in the memories and stories of those he affected.

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