| TV anime | ||
|---|---|---|
| Director | Hiroaki Sakurai | |
| Studio | Nippon Animation | |
| Network |  BS Fuji, Animax | |
| ||
| Original run | 7 January 2007 – December 2007 | |
| Episodes | 52 | |
| Anime and Manga Portal | ||
CHARACTERS
Main
As a child, Cosette is abused and beaten by the Thénardiers and forced into child labor for their inn. She is also treated unkindly by their pampered daughters Éponine and Azelma. She is described as "thin and pale," has chilblains on her hands, bruised and reddened skin, and wears rags for clothing. The author also states that "fear was spread all over her."
While under the care of Jean Valjean, Cosette’s appearance completely transforms as she grows older. She becomes very beautiful, well-attired and educated.
She later falls in love with Marius Pontmercy.
Early Life
Euphrasie, nicknamed Cosette by her mother, is the illegitimate daughter of Fantine and Felix Tholomyès. After Tholomyès abandons Fantine, she leaves Cosette with the Thénardiers at their inn in Montfermeil, paying them to care for her child while she goes to work in the city of Montreuil-sur-Mer. Unbeknownst to Fantine, the Thénardiers abuse and mistreat Cosette, forcing her to do chores around the inn. The Thénardiers' daughters Éponine and Azelma tease and mistreat Cosette as well.
While Fantine is in hospital, Jean Valjean, the mayor of Montreuil-sur-Mer, vows to retrieve Cosette for her. However, Fantine dies before Cosette can be brought to her, but Valjean becomes determined to look after her. When he arrives in Montfermeil on Christmas Eve, he finds Cosette fetching a pail of water for the Thénardiers. He accompanies her back to the inn. He watches the Thénardiers’ appalling treatment of her. He also sees how Éponine and Azelma are unkind to her when they go to their mother and point to Cosette playing with their doll. After seeing this, Valjean leaves the inn and returns a moment later with an expensive new doll, which he offers to Cosette. At first Cosette is unsure if the doll really is for her and is reluctant to take it, but then joyfully accepts it. This leaves Mme. Thénardier to become furious at Valjean, while Éponine and Azelma become jealous.
The next morning on Christmas Day, Valjean pays all of Fantine's debts to the Thénardiers and leaves with Cosette. M. Thénardier later regrets not having demanded more money, but finds himself unable to swindle any more out of Valjean.
Valjean takes Cosette directly to Paris. They lodge at Gorbeau House, and Valjean begins giving her a basic education. When Inspector Javert discovers Valjean's whereabouts, Valjean takes Cosette and is forced to flee. After climbing over a wall, they soon find themselves in the Petit-Picpus convent. The gardener, Fauchelevent, was once rescued by Valjean in Montreuil-sur-Mer, and is eager to help him. Valjean poses as Fauchelevent's brother, assuming that name for Cosette and himself, and the two live peacefully in the convent for many years. Valjean works with Fauchelevent while Cosette is educated. As Cosette grows up, she appears to have no recollection of her childhood before arriving at the convent.
In a later chapter, Cosette does eventually have a recollection of her childhood. Cosette remembers praying for the mother she never knew, the Thénardiers as two ugly creatures, and fetching the water for the Thénardiers somewhere "very far from Paris." In the same chapter, she asks Valjean about her mother, but he does not answer her question. When Cosette has a dream about her mother as an angel, she remarks that her mother must have been a saint before. Valjean answers this by simply stating, "through martyrdom."
Relationship with Marius Pontmercy
Cosette’s adult life centres on a young man by the name of Marius Pontmercy. Their first meeting is in the Luxembourg Gardens where both are unaware of each other until their eyes meet. Both Marius and Cosette fall in love with each other at that moment and begin to constantly think of each other. When Valjean takes notice of Marius’ affections, he sees Marius as a coward for not confronting Valjean and seeking approval to court his "daughter." He also fears losing Cosette, (who has become the source of his happiness), to Marius. After Marius discovers their address, Valjean then takes Cosette away from the Luxembourg Gardens and moves to another house.
Marius spots Cosette again during her and Valjean’s charitable visit to the Thénardiers at Gorbeau House, whom he lives next door to. He asks Éponine to find her address for him, which she reluctantly accepts. After six weeks, Éponine takes Marius to Cosette’s new address in order to see Marius happy. Marius idly watches Cosette before approaching her for a few nights. When Cosette and Marius finally meet again in the garden, both of them confess that they love each other, share their first kiss together and introduce themselves. They continue to meet each other from that point on. On one night, while Éponine prevents M. Thénardier, Patron-Minette and Brujon from robbing Valjean and Cosette’s house, Cosette informs Marius that she and Valjean will be departing for England soon. This news devastates them both, because it will mean the end of their relationship.
The next day, Éponine (now dressed as a boy) finds Valjean in an embankment in the Champ de Mars and anonymously throws him a note, which tells him to “move.” Valjean then informs Cosette they will move to their other house and will be in England in a week. Cosette quickly writes a letter to Marius with this information. She catches sight of Éponine through the gate and asks the "workman" to deliver the letter to Marius. Éponine accepts the letter, but does not deliver it.
The next night, Marius is led to the barricades by Éponine, in hope that they will die together. After being fatally shot, Éponine reveals this to Marius and gives him Cosette’s letter before she dies. Marius writes a farewell letter to Cosette, which is delivered to Valjean by Gavroche. Valjean reads Marius’ farewell letter and decides to follow Marius to the barricades. After the battle is over, he takes Marius' unconscious body through the sewers. After a confrontation with Javert, Valjean finally manages to get Marius through the sewers alive. He returns Marius to his beloved Cosette, and she watches over him until he recovers from his injuries.
The Wedding and Afterwards
In February, Marius and Cosette get married. The next morning, Valjean tells Marius of his criminal history. This leads Marius to believe Valjean is dangerous, and asks him to leave him and Cosette. Valjean wishes not to be permanently separated from Cosette, so Marius grants him to visit every evening. When finding out through M. Thénardier that Valjean had saved him, Marius and Cosette go to Valjean, now on his deathbed. Valjean then shares the last minutes of his life with Marius and Cosette, while Cosette learns from Valjean about her past and her mother Fantine.
Marius PontmercyMarius and his Father
We first meet Marius in book three of Les Misérables, where he lives with his rich grandfather, Monsieur Gillenormand. Early on, he does not very much like his father, Colonel Georges Pontmercy, because his grandfather had instilled dislike of his father in Marius all of his life. Shortly after Marius turns eighteen, Gillenormand tells him to visit his dying father. Unfortunately, Marius is too late to see his father, as he had died moments before Marius arrived. Marius discovers a note written by his father to him instructing him to help ThénardierBattle of Waterloo. While visiting church, Mabeuf (the church warden) tells Marius that his father has been coming to mass every two or three months just to watch his son. Marius develops an idol-worship of his father and Napoleon Bonaparte. After an argument between him and M. Gillenormand, Marius moves out, refusing help from his family. in any way possible, the innkeeper having saved his father’s life at
The reason why M. Gillenormand dislikes Marius’ father is that Marius’ father was an anonymous colonel in Napoleon’s army, and then lived in poverty, although Napoleon had made him a baron, and Monsieur Gillenormand is a well-off bourgeois, admitted in noble circles although not a noble himself, and a supporter of Louis Philippe. This is an image of the French restoration, and just as Victor Hugo did, Marius first follows his casual royalist convictions before finally coming to worship the ideas of the French Revolution and Bonapartism.
The Friends of the ABC
Marius meets Courfeyrac, a fellow student. Courfeyrac introduces him to a society called the Friends of the ABC, a political society believing heavily in social change. After an argument with the group's leader Enjolras, an anti-Bonapartist republican, Marius leaves the group.
Valjean and Cosette
Marius descends further into poverty. Marius sees Cosette and Jean Valjean one day in the Luxembourg Gardens. He falls in love with Cosette and returns to the garden every day just to look at her. He thinks he has picked up Cosette's hankerchief, and treasures it. When Cosette sees him kissing it from their bench in the park, she gives him a puzzled expression. It had the initials "U.F." inscribed on it, causing Marius to think of her as "Ursula." However, the Handkerchief was actually Jean Valjean's.
He follows Valjean and Cosette home and asks the doorman about Cosette. However, a week later, Marius learns that the two have moved away and their visits to the gardens have stopped.
Éponine
Having not seen Cosette for months, Marius is tormented over trying to locate her. On one early February day, he is passed by two ragged and barefooted young girls (Éponine and Azelma) running away from the police. He discovers an envelope dropped by the girls and takes it back to his apartment. He examines the four letters and realizes that even though each letter is from four different people, the handwriting and the stationery are the same.
The next day, Marius is visited by Éponine at his apartment to beg for money, and gives him a letter. As he reads the letter, he discovers the handwriting and paper is also identical as the four letters he read the previous night. Éponine then tries to impress Marius by proving she is literate by reading aloud from one of his books and writing "The cognes (police) are here" on a sheet of paper. She then tells Marius that he is handsome, and also mentions that she has noticed him a number of times before. Changing the subject, Marius hands her back the packet of letters, and she happily takes them. She then reveals to Marius about her current life, her thought about drowning herself the previous winter and having hallucinations. Feeling sympathy toward her, he gives her his last five francs. She takes the money and thanks him in the argot slang.
The Attack at Gorbeau House
After Éponine exits Marius' apartment, he takes interest in her family, the Jondrettes (who are also his neighbors). Peering through a crack in the wall, Marius sees Valjean and Cosette discussing with Jondrette about a donation towards him. After Valjean and Cosette leave, Marius tries to follow them but is unable to pay for a cab (he had given Éponine his last five francs). He sullenly returns to his room, only for Éponine to stop him at his door. Noticing his petulant mood, she asks him if she can assist him in any way. Marius then asks her to find Valjean and Cosette's address. Realizing that Marius has an interest in Cosette, Éponine reluctantly agrees to find it. After she leaves, Marius overhears Jondrette talking about killing Valjean. Distressed, Marius visits Javert, who gives him two pistols and instructs him to fire them when the robbery reaches its peak.
When Valjean returns to Jondrette’s house, Jondrette and Patron-Minette attack and bind him. Jondrette reveals that his name is Thénardier, a fact that shocks Marius. He does not want Valjean to die, but does not want to betray the man that "saved" his father at Waterloo. He also knows that the Gorbeau tenement where he lives is practically soundproof and that Javert would never hear him firing the pistols. Marius throws the slip of paper Éponine had wrote on earlier through a crack in the wall. Thénardier reads the note and recognizes Éponine’s handwriting immediately. The Thénardiers and Patron-Minette try to escape when Javert intervenes and arrests them all (except Valjean who escapes through a window). Marius then moves out of the Gorbeau tenement due to the violence he witnessed and so that he cannot testify against Thénardier.
Marius and Cosette
After her release from prison, Éponine finds Marius in a park called "The Field of the Lark." She tells him she found Cosette's address and leads him to the house. After spying on Cosette for a few days, the two finally meet. They profess their feelings for each other, share their first kiss and learn each others' names. Their love blossoms for about six weeks, but Valjean shatters that bliss when he announces that he and Cosette will leave for England in a week. Marius goes to Gillenormand to try to reconcile and to get permission to marry Cosette. However, after Gillenormand suggests that Marius make Cosette his mistress, Marius storms out of the house, insulted. Marius returns to Cosette’s house, but finds the house no longer occupied. Advised by a voice (Éponine), he goes to the barricades the Friends of the ABC set up, now wanting to die.
The Barricades
Marius drives away troops by threatening to blow up the barricade. A young boy, who is Éponine in disguise, saves Marius’ life by placing her hand and body in front of the musket of a soldier who was about to shoot him. As she lies dying, she confesses to Marius that it was she who told him to go to the barricades, and hands him a letter from Cosette. She asks Marius to kiss her on the forehead after she dies. He fulfills his promise and then promptly reads the letter. The letter reveals Cosette’s whereabouts. Marius writes her one back, saying that he will die on the barricades. He gives it to Gavroche to deliver to Cosette.
The Wedding and Afterwards
As the barricade falls, Marius has multiple head wounds and is shot in the collarbone. He faints, but Valjean saves him. Valjean descends into the sewers, carrying Marius. Thénardier holds the key to let Valjean out of the sewer. Demanding money, he gives Valjean the key but rips off a piece of Marius’s jacket. Valjean takes Marius to Gillenormand’s house. After six months of raging fever, Marius regains consciousness. Gillenormand gives Marius permission to marry Cosette and the two men reconcile. The wedding day is a happy one.
After the wedding, Valjean visits Marius and tells him his past. Shocked, Marius and Valjean agree that it would be best if Valjean never sees Cosette again. Valjean wishes not to be permanently separated from Cosette, so Marius grants him to visit every evening. Marius starts to think of Valjean as a criminal. Marius slowly pushes Valjean out of Cosette’s life. A few weeks later, a disguised Thénardier visits Marius attempting to blackmail Valjean. Marius sees through the disguise and asks what Thénardier wants. Thénardier tries to convince Marius that Valjean killed a man, showing Marius a piece of his coat as proof. Pulling out his bloodied coat, Marius throws a bag of money at Thénardier and orders him to leave France and travel to America. Realizing that Valjean saved him at the barricades, Marius and Cosette visit him. The three make their peace as Valjean dies.
No comments:
Post a Comment