Every day she smiles and act like there is nothing wrong with her. She puts everything behind so she can take care of the one thing in this world that is worth living for. Fantine is a strong woman in a world full of hatred. In the book “Les Miserables” by Victor Hugo, even though Fantine leaves Cosette with the retched Thenardiers, she is an extremely sacrificial mother who cares deeply about her daughter. Fantine went to the city alone, she sold her hair, teeth, and body, and she couldn’t keep her mind off of Cosette. She fell in love with the wrong man, and was abandoned to the plight of being a single mother in an age when it was almost an intolerable scandal. (." Les Miserables Fantine and Cosette: Book Discussion) Going to the city was …show more content…
Fantine sold all of her hair for nothing but a few franks. She was desperate, she needed the money so Cosette could live an “okay”. Rich folks back then bought teeth for dentures. They were very popular. After she sold her teeth and hair Fantine felt hideous. “Fantine could not endure this hideous face, she felt as if she were dying, she hid her face with both hands, and shrieked in anguish.” (Hugo 97) Most of us take pride in our hair and teeth. Losing both would put a dent on how you feel about yourself. Society would look at Fantine and call her ugly without knowing what she went through to get this far. She didn’t care about her beauty like most do, Fantine just wanted a normal care free life for her daughter. Yet, she needed more money after she sold everything she owed except one thing left, her virtue. She became a prostitute to put food on her daughters table and anything else Cosette needed. Fantine did not sell herself for the money like most prostitutes do. She did not care about herself anymore. Fantine had nothing left, but her daughter and she really doesn’t have her daughter. “When she reaches rock bottom as a prostitute, she wonders why her costumers don’t realize they’re making love to someone who is already dead. Like Val Jean her one mistake puts her beyond the forgiveness of others, and she pays the price until she literally has nothing.” (Homiliesandstraythoughts.
Colette began to get worried about the murders, so she decided to do some searching about her family’s past in Paris. She discovered that her family was part of an order that protected the queen. In the end though, the order had ended up betraying the queen. This betrayal caused the queen to be found and then beheaded. One of the queen’s best friends, named Véronique, was even one of the people to betray her.
A Tale of Two Cities, by Charles Dickens, narrates the frustrations of the common people toward Foulon, a French magistrate. The people rejoice when Foulon is imprisoned since he treated them awfully. The nature of the French Revolution is the common people’s elation at the downfall of the aristocracy. Dickens utilizes personification, motif, and symbolism to describe the relationship between the common people and Foulon.
The novel The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini introduces multiple cases in which society defines people as well as the novel Les Miserables by Victor Hugo. In Les Miserables, Cosette is introduced as the daughter of Fantine. She was given to the Thenardiers, a family who owned an Inn and treated her like a slave. Since a young age she was made to take the role of a grown women. She was saved by Jean ValJean, a formal criminal who changed his life.
Poverty pushes Fantine to make sacrifices throughout the book. She is forced to sacrifice raising her child, Cosette, and leaving her to strangers, because poverty has left her no means to take care of
forced to flee Paris with her father to her uncle’s house in Saint Malo. The book is narrated in a
Because it is discovered that she has an illegitimate child, she is fired so she does not influence the young girls she works with. The woman in charge of the factory quickly judge Fantine for making one mistake and label her a prostitute. Once her story gets out in the small town, she is unable to get a real job. Needing money to support herself and Cosette, she resorts to prostitution. When attacked, Javert arrests her and tells Valjean and Fantine that she is in the wrong. Javert believes that Fantine is always going to be a prostitute and should be put in prison.
First of all, Cimorene is justified in ignoring expected social norms of the day. For example, “All in all, Linderwall was a very prosperous and pleasant place. Cimorene hated it…….. Cimorene found it very dull, but she pressed her lips together and learned it anyway.” (Wrede 1 and 2.) This shows that Cimorene is being forced into something that she does not like, in which she instead finds very uninteresting. This is important because Cimorene’s parents force her into taking certain lessons that she hates, which is not right. In addition she is forced to marry someone she hates,” ‘But I don’t want to marry Prince
“I've got to follow my own plan. Stay here. Get my own thing going.” Vianne was always on the move, creating chocolate and happiness. To continue pursuing her passion of creating chocolate and following the practices of her mother’s people, she had to move from location to location – calling neither home. “Mother and daughter were fated to wander from village to village, dispensing ancient cacao remedies, travelling with the wind.” With every shift in location, she had to leave behind the life she had built there, beginning with abandonment of her father who one morning, “awoke to discover that Chitza and the little girl Vianne had gone away.” At a young age, Mia chose to move to Los Angeles in hopes to fulfil her dreams of becoming a successful actress. However, it was later evident that the project she became successful in required her to go to Paris. Whether it be love, home or family, the authors show the different sacrifices that need to be made in order to fulfil a dream.
Everyone needs someone to love and care for as well as someone who can return that love and care. When Cosette comes into Valjean’s life, it makes him feel something he didn’t feel in a long time, “When he saw Cosette, when he had taken her, carried her away, and rescued her, he felt his heart move” (123). At this point, she becomes more than just a girl but another symbol in Valjean’s
Madame Pernelle knows her station in life as set forth by society. The reader can assume that she is an older lady and has been brought up in social circles. Despite being a widow, she does not seem to possess great independence. Her harsh words to her family members preach traditional values, such as leaving business matters and advice to the men, but merely uttering those words in mixed company she pushes against the societal walls. She may not have a great sense of independence, but she does express her opinion, and even argues with men, namely Cleante and Orgon.
Cosette is deprived of the love that she desires and deserves. She longs for love and instead receives the opposite. The Thenardiers do not care for Cosette and do not view her as their child, to them she is a servant girl. When Jean Valjean offers to take Cosette away from the Thenardiers, they reply, “Ah monsieur! My good monsieur! Take her, keep her, take her away, carry her off, sugar her, stuff her, drink her, eat her, and be blessed by the holy Virgin and all the saints in paradise!” (154). The Thenardiers want Cosette out of their house, and no longer want the responsibility of taking care of the “imbecile child” (147). It is a blessing to them that this traveler has come to take Cosette away forever. Because of Jean Valjean's good deed, Cosette's life can improve and she can finally experience the emotion of love she longs for. Although Jean Valjean offers Cosette all the love he is capable of giving, it is not enough to satisfy Cosette. She craves for a different, romantic love after she is introduced to Marius. Hugo,
The French Revolution mainly took place in the city of Paris during the late 1700’s. The Revolution did not only affect the people of France, but also the citizens of England as well. The French Revolution is known as one of the most brutal and inhumane periods of history. If one studied the beliefs and views of the people involved at the time, one would see a reoccurring theme of “ being recalled to life”. Born from the world of literature, Charles Dickens’ novel, A Tale of Two Cities takes a deeper look at the culture of the late 1700’s, in both England and France. Dickens uses the character of Lucie Manette to further examine one of the major themes presented in the novel, consisting of the belief of one being
Throughout the course of the novel A Tale of Two Cities, numerous comparisons and contractions can be made between the main characters. The showcased women, Lucie Manette and Therese Defarge, differ exceedingly for their response to opposition but relate strongly for their definitive influence on others. Compassionate, humble, and raised as an orphan, Lucie Manette is depicted as a strong young woman who became a savior to her. Madame Defarge distinctly contradicts Lucie’s state of mind for she feeds off of revenge. The author, Charles Dickens, presents them in part to reflect the prevalent theme of resurrection, characterizing them through actions, attitudes, desires, and values. Breaking down their characteristics and relation to the
In the early 19th century, most women were subject to gender discrimination and viewed as weaker components in France. One of the first characters attacked by such injustice is the former factory worker and prostitute, Fantine. Having been discovered as a mother of an illegitimate child, Fantine is thrown out of the work place and turns towards prostitution instead. Deprived of hope and redemption, Fantine endures through much suffering and harassment from her male superiors in order to provide for her child. While walking down the street one evening, Fantine passes by a man, who, “taking advantage of the moment when she turns... seizes a handful of snow from the sidewalk, and throws it hastily down her back between her naked shoulders” (69). Enraged, Fantine lashes out at the man, only to be blamed later on for attacking
The first conflict between the two cities occurs during Dr. Manette’s imprisonment. Lucie’s secret escape to London by Mr. Lorry and Charles Darnay’s parallel refusal to accept his inheritance in France represent the victory of London’s individualist society over the unjust, feudalistic society of Paris.