Themes And Motifs

Favourability of the Rich Over the Poor
In the musical it is clearly shown that the poor are looked down upon and that the rich are respected. This theme makes sense in the time period of 1800's France, as only the rich were remembered. During the musical, filth was used to represent poor areas, they were constantly dark and dirty. Meanwhile the rich places were show as clean and luxurious, and although this is expected, there are far less areas that are nicely kept because there is many more of the poor. Poor people in the musical were also used by the rich in order to get richer. Although the Thenardiers are not extremely rich early on in the musical, they have more money than most common folk, and not only take and steal from those who have less money than them but also use those in bad situations, like Fantine. And as my final point to this argument I would like to bring up that before he died, the poor only had the one representative, when that man died they rose the barricades so that their rights weren't taken from them, and even when they died it seemed the soldiers didn't put any value in their lives.

Breaking the Rules in Order to Succeed

In Les Miserables people are constantly breaking the rules and law in order to find success in their lives, making this a strong motif. The first instance of this is when Jean ValJean creates a new identity and becomes Mayor in a town, he broke his parole and made a new identity and instead of struggling through life he comes of a higher class. Javert although being a police officer, also breaks the law in order to find ValJean with Fantine. He goes against his policing duty and goes on a manhunt for ValJean and fight him before he leaves, getting so much closer to catching him. A very disgusting case of this success is with the Thenardiers. They stole from the poor and used others in order to gain money and power, and did succeed. Another case, that although failed did succeed in one way. When the barricade was built and war was started the people demanded to get their rights back and keep them. Although most included in the war were killed, a point was heard by those higher up that the people didn't want their rights taken, as shown by the people who had to clean up the bodies.

Scenes Dear To Me

The scenes in this musical that stood out to me were the beginning where Jean ValJean leaves the church noticing the wrong he has done to the bishop, when ValJean promises to find Cosette to Fantine. The scene with the Thenardier's song, where they steal from everyone who enters their building, and the scene where Valjean fights with Javert to get Marius to a doctor. The reason that ValJean realizing his wrongdoings stands out to me is because its the moment he realizes that he isn't going anywhere and that he needs to do something to better himself, its a moment of self reflection and improvement. When he promises to find Cosette for Fantine its a scene where he starts to help not only himself but others. The reason that the Thenardier's shenanigans stand out to me is that it shows the bad in the world, the kind of people who use others for whatever they please. The reason that Javert letting Jean ValJean take Marius to a doctor stands out to me is because before he lets him go Valjean doesn't give up and still stands his ground to Javert. These scenes all stand out to me because they all build upon what the musical meant to me, standing up to find a better path for others and yourself.

The Lesson Of Les Miserables

This musical showed me the importance of fighting through the struggles in the life, no matter how hard, and to help others through theirs. The musical center's around Jean ValJean, a former slave for a petty crime he committed to save his family. After his 19 year sentence and he is freed, he is still cheated by all except for a bishop. Thanks to the bishop he finds hope and decides to rebuild his life and is determined to find a better one for himself. But he not only wishes to give himself a better road to walk on, but also wishes to help others find theirs, which I find very admirable. Fantine was the first one to show him that he should help others.After she was fired and forced to prostitution to help keep Cossette alive, which by the way is another example of perserverance through a struggle, he takes her and finds her a doctor. When she dies he promises to find Cosette and give her the life she deserves and has taken away. He also helps Javert, the man who has chased him and tried to kill him and helped Marius not only live, but live with his love, among others, as much as he could. This musical has shown me the importance of finding happiness and helping others find that path too.