"'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.
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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Thanks for reading,
Nick
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Thanks for reading,
Nick
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