“Just pretending he’s by my side. There’s been no one like him anywhere. When I get lost, I close my eyes and he has found me.” Les Miserables is one of the longest plays and musical novels where the revolution and some reflections on the nature of mercy and justice that people want to get. This novel shows the history of France and the culture of it. In France, the city of love now, all the women are prostitutes and will do anything for money. This review will focus on a girl who is willing to be better for the boy she loves. Are you willing to be redeemed so that they will accept and love you as you are?
Thénardier’s daughter, Eponine, who is 16 years old but has the rough, sickly voice of an old woman. Since she was a child, her parents pampered her a lot because her parents are very blind with money. Her mother works as a prostitute in order to earn money. As she grew older, she became impoverished because Valjean adopted Cosette in exchange for money. They spent all the money and ran out of money, so they needed to move to a small apartment. She met Marius, a law student who lives next to them and who left her rich father. When she meets Marius for the first time, she bursts right into her room and asks for money. They become close and Eponine falls in love with Marius, her Prince Charming. She is willing to be nice so that he notices her, but her prince saw Cosette and asked if he knew where he was. Although he is very painful for her, she is willing to help him. She takes Marius to Valjean’s house where Cosette lives. She waited for the other said that she would witness how Marius and Cosette tell their feelings for each other. She saw that her father and her thugs wanted to rob Valjean’s house, but she screamed for someone to hear her. She shows bravery when her father threatens her. She saw the letter that Cosette left for Marius, she takes it to give it to him. She is willing to save Cosette even though she has a good reason to hate her rival, but she is willing to save her because it would make Marius happy. She walks, then the rain falls as if the sky knows what she feels, then she sings her feelings. Martyr? Maybe. Before she can deliver the letter to him, she took a bullet for him. She uses her last breath and her last words to tell him how she always felt about him saying, “You know, Monsieur Marius, I think she had a bit of a crush on you.” What’s different about Eponine that makes her retain any kindness, when her parents are literally the scum of the earth?
Eponine symbolizes redemption, great patriotism and rain. She changed from her because she is willing to be better for Marius to notice her. She will give everything for her loved ones even if she does not receive anything in return. She is like the rain, even the sky falls and she can feel hopeless and sad, there is always a rainbow after the storm, there is another day and another hope. She is one of the most tragic and heroic figures in the novel.
The movie Les Miserables deserves a round of applause. It’s very inspiring, but some parts are tragic. It also shows many traits that people can mirror. He conveys the message that anyone can change for the better as long as he is willing and love overcomes all. The novel brought to Broadway is indeed a good choice. It would go on to win multiple awards because the artist justified the characters. Spanning decades when Jean Valjean breaks parole, he takes a young woman named Cosette under his wing and remains on the run all the while from Javert; everything as the French revolution will happen. The production, designs, costumes, and the movie itself are all handled brilliantly. The audience felt like they traveled back to France, but still feel like they’re watching a musical on stage. Actors own their scenes like when Eponine sang “On my own.” Overall the movie is an outstanding movie and they got the message across to the audience. We all feel the emotions of the movie and every scene is worth watching. However, they should give Eponine a little more scene because her story is super youth, appearances and marriage. They also include symbolism such as the yellow ticket when Valjean is finally released from jail, he was given a yellow ticket which is a ticket to freedom but is more like a ticket to a life of misery because the ticket symbolizes social rejection. The silver candlesticks symbolize Bishop Myriel’s kindness and willingness to help the poor. Cosette’s doll symbolizes a transformation or a change that is about to occur in her life, when Valjean visited her for the first time he gave her an expensive doll. It was a great movie and a novel, congratulations to the artist, the writer, the director and all the people who made Los Mirables.