Critical Analysis Essay of Les Miserables
The Life of Fantine in Les Miserables
In Les Miserables, Victor Hugo brings us back to the 19thcentury France, when poor women suffered in the hands of a cruel society. Aside from being a romantic novel, Les Miserables is also a history book in itself. It shows the overall state and transformation of the French society. Hugo used the power of fiction to represent the reality that is condemnable. He also used fiction as a weapon against the emperor who encourages the unjust practices of the society. Just when the bourgeois were very happy of the prosperity that they have and used their power to step down on the poor, Victor Hugo wrote about Fantine.
The injustices of the French society in the 19th century is best illustrated in the story of Fantine. Her misfortunes are caused by the rich members of the society, but they still hold her responsible for her own actions. Fantine is a poor working class girl. She is orphan and unable to avail education, so she cannot read and write. Poverty and lack of education make Fantine very vulnerable. She is betrayed by the people she trusts. One of these is Tholomyes, an aristocratic student who impregnated and abandoned her. Being pregnant without a husband makes things even worse for Fantine. She had to give her daughter to an innkeeper and his wife to cover the illegitimacy of her daughter. However, the innkeeper wants more and more money. When the whole town learns about her illegitimate child, she is fired from the factory where she works. Desperate and without other option, Fantine resorts to prostitution.
In the life of Fantine, Victor Hugo pointed out various issues that he wished to address in the 19th century France. He wanted to criticize the unjust structure of the society wherein the good and innocent people are pushed to the edge and are forced to become beggars and criminals. There is also lack of education to these people because education was then considered as a privilege only for the rich and members of higher social class. Victor Hugo blamed this as one of the injustices in the society during that time (Grossman, 41).
More importantly, the unfair treatment of women is also shown in the life of Fantine. She falls in love with Tholomyes who swayed her to give herself to him. She trusts him, but she was betrayed and abandoned (Kin and Marsland, 21). This also illustrates the hypocrisy of the society as they scrutinize Fantine for immorality; yet, it encourages the unjust behavior of Tholomyes. Thus, Hugo pointed out that the patriarchal society transforms men into unjust individuals who deceive the weak just to get what they want. They are given the license to destroy poor women’s lives for their own benefit.
The portrayal of Fantine in the book captures the entire essence of Hugo’s literary and historical purpose (Vanderwolk, 152). The readers can easily identify the 19th century France in the setting of Les Miserables. To create a clearer picture of the injustices during that time, Hugo focuses the lens of his story to Fantine. Now that the perspective is more focused, the injustices could be observed with strong human emotion. There is the lady who had to suffer all the way from being betrayed, losing her child, and being forced to become prostitute. Fantine becomes the face of suffering despite being good—a straightforward flaw in the society of France during that time. Through the fictional life of Fantine, Victor Hugo uncovered the bitter truth behind the seemingly prosperous French society during the 19th century.
Works Cited:
Grossman, Kathryn. Figuring Transcendence in Les Miserables. New York, NY: 1993.
Klin, George and Marsland, Louise. Cliffnotes on Hugo’s Les Miserables. Lincoln, Nebraska: Cliff Notes, Inc.
Vanderwolk, William. Victor Hugo in Exile: From Historical Representation to Utopian Vistas. Cranbury, New Jersey: Rosemont Publishing and Printing Corp.