Les Miserables: An Analysis of Six Crucial Songs in the Musical
This is a song in Act I sung by the entire company of singers, all of whom are in the persona of factory workers. This early song sets the scene of the misery and poverty of the majority of the French populace. It helps explain why revolution occurs later on in the piece: "it's a struggle, it's a war," say the actors of their daily existence. "What it is to be living!" However, unlike the triumphant company songs that follow later, the bitter workers are merely resigned to their lot, without much hope of changing their circumstances. At the end of the piece, the audience is introduced to Fantine, and learns that she has a child. The occasional cruelty of the embittered poor is highlighted as the other workers taunt her and accuse her of immorality. When she fights with another woman, trying to conceal a letter that reveals her secret, she is fired.Song Two: "I Dreamed a Dream" (Fantine) This Act I aria teaches the audience of the significance Fantine's sacrifice for her daughter Cosette. The audience learns that Fantine, when she was younger and more foolish, was taken advantage of by a man. But "he was gone when autumn came," and she gave birth to a child out of wedlock. However, the audience also learns that Fantine re
"On My Own" (Eponine) Eponine is one of the most poignant figures of "Les Miserables. " The hope to live a better life that will give rise to revolution is embodied in the character of Fantine and the themes of her song, as Fantine still dreams on, even though her life circumstances are currently full of misery, and will eventually, by the end of Act I drive her to a life of prostitution and eventually death. Javert is not an aristocrat, benefiting from the system, but he supports the oppressive system the student revolutionaries oppose because he believes it is necessary, and because an orderly world is a better and ultimately fairer world. Valjean clearly has regrets about the way that his life has transpired: "He's like the son I might have known, had God granted me a son," he says. Song Three: Master of the House (Thernardiers)"Comforter, philosopher, and life long. "Bring Him Home" (Valjean) In this song, Jean Valjean prays by the half-alive body of Marius to God, to "bring him [Marius] home," to bring the "boy" home to health and happiness, so that Valjean's adopted daughter Cosette can marry and live a happy life. " so goes Madame Thernardier's description of her husband. The Thernardiers provide a welcome note of comic relief from the tragedies of the play, especially as so much of Act I up until this point has been riddled with imprisonment, poverty, desperation, and death. Song Four: "Stars" (Javert) In this Act I song, the audience gains an important bit of insight into the psychology of Inspector Javert. Over the course of the song, the audience learns that Jean Valjean is weary from a lifetime of running from the police. Now, in Act II, as an adolescent, her character and essential goodness in contrast to her parents shines through. The Thernardiers are people who struggle to survive with immorality, thievery, and cruelty, rather than with kindness like most of the desperate peasants, and seem to do better thwarting rather than obeying the law. There is a suggestion he wishes to be brought home from the suffering and the agony he has endured, now that he is an old man.
Common topics in this essay:
,
Fantine Act,
Valjean Javert,
Madame Thernardier's,
Marius God,
Jean Valjean,
Act II,
Les Miserables,
Valjean Eponine's,
Inspector Javert,
jean valjean,
song audience,
audience learns,
poor highlighted,
learns fantine,
daughter cosette,
les miserables,
audience learns fantine,
|
Acceptance Essays
