The Musical: "Les Miserables"

Paper Summary:

This paper explains that, in Act I of the musical "Les Miserables", the entire company, who represent factory workers, sings "At the End of the Day", which sets the scene of the misery and poverty of the majority of the French populace and helps explain why the revolution will occur later in the musical. The author points out that the song "Master of the House", sung by the Thernardiers, provides a welcome note of comic relief from the tragedies of the play. The paper relates that, in "Bring Him Home", Jean Valjean prays by the half-alive body of Marius for 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.

Table of Contents:
"At the End of the Day" (Community)
"I Dreamed a Dream" (Fantine)
"Master of the House" (Thernardiers)
"Stars" (Javert)
"On My Own" (Eponine)
"Bring Him Home" (Valjean)

From the Paper:

"In this Act I song, ["Stars" ]the audience gains an important bit of insight into the psychology of Inspector Javert. Without this song, the audience might see Javert only as a cruel and relentless persecutor of Jean Valjean. However, Javert explains that he thrives upon the idea of order in the cosmos, like the stars "filling the darkness." Javert clearly sees the misery of the world around him, but rather than revolution, he hopes that a law and order society will bring about a better world. Javert is not an aristocrat, benefiting from the system, ..."

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