answersLogoWhite

0


Best Answer

PROLOGUE: 1815, DIGNE

Jean Valjean, released on parole after 19 years on the chain gang, finds that the yellow ticket-of-leave he must, by law, display condemns him to be an outcast. Only the saintly Bishop of Digne treats him kindly and Valjean, embittered by years of hardship, repays him by stealing some silver. Valjean is caught and brought back by police, and is astonished when the Bishop lies to the police to save him, also giving him two precious candlesticks. Valjean decides to start his life anew.

1823, MONTREUIL-SUR-MER

Eight years have passed and Valjean, having broken his parole an changed his name to Monsieur Madeleine, has risen to become both a factory owner and Mayor. One of his workers, Fantine, has a secret illegitimate child. When the other women discover this, they demand her dismissal. The foreman, whose advances she has rejected, throws her out.

Desperate for money to pay for medicines for her daughter, Fantine sells her locket, her hair, and then joins the whores in selling herself. Utterly degraded by her new trade she gets into a fight with a prospective customer and is about to be take to prison by Javert when "The Mayor" arrives and demands she be taken to a hospital instead.

The Mayor then rescues a man pinned down by a runaway cart. Javert is reminded of the abnormal strength of convict 24601 Jean Valjean, a parole-breaker whom he has been tracking for years, but who, he says has just been recaptured. Valjean, unable to see an innocent man go to prison in his place, confesses to the court that he is prisoner 24601.

At the hospital Valjean promises the dying Fantine to find and look after her daughter Cosette. Javert arrives to arrest him, but Valjean escapes.

1823, MONTFERMEIL

Cosette has been lodged for five years with the Thenardiers who run an inn, horribly abusing the little girl whom they use as a skivvy while indulging their own daughter, Eponine. Valjean finds Cosette fetching water in the dark. He pays the Thenardiers to let him take Cosette away and takes her to Paris. But Javert is till on his tail...

1832, PARIS

Nine years later there is a great unrest in the city because of the likely demise of the popular leader General Lamarque, the only man left in the Government who shows any feeling for the poor. The urchin Gavroche is in his element mixing with the whores and the beggars of the capital. Among the street-gangs is one led by Thenardier and his wife, which sets upon Jean Valjean and Cosette. They are rescued by Javert, who does not recognize Valjean until after he has made good his escape. The Thenardiers' daughter Eponine, who is secretly in love with the student Marius, reluctantly agrees to help him find Cosette, with whom he has fallen in love.

At a political meeting in a small cafe, a group of idealistic students prepare for the revolution they are sure will erupt on the death of General Lamarque. When Gavroche brings the news of the General's death, the students, led by Enjolras, stream out into the streets to whip up popular support. Only Marius is distracted by the thoughts of the mysterious Cosette.

Cosette is consumed by the thoughts of Marius, with whom she has fallen in love. Valjean realizes that his 'daughter" is changing very quickly but refuses to tell her anything of her past. In spite of her own feelings for Marius, Eponine sadly brings him to Cosette and then prevents an attempt by her father's gang to rob Valjean's house. Valjean, convinced it was Javert who was lurking outside his house, tells Cosette they must prepare to flee the country. On the eve of the revolution the students and Javert see the situation from their different viewpoints; Cosette and Marius part in despair of ever meeting again; Eponine mourns the loss of Marius; and Valjean looks forward to the security of exile. The Thenardiers, meanwhile, dream of rich pickings underground from the chaos to come.

The students prepare to build the barricade. Marius, noticing that Eponine has joined the insurrection, sends her with a letter to Cosette, which is intercepted at the Rue Plumet by Valjean. Eponine decides, despite what he has said to here, to rejoin Marius at the barricade.

The barricade is built and the revolutionaries defy an army warning that they must give up or die. Gavroche exposes Javert as a policy spy. In trying to return to the barricade Eponine is shot and killed. Valjean arrives at the barricades in search of Marius. He is given the chance to kill Javert, but instead lets him go.

The students settle down for a night on the barricade and, in the quiet of the night, Valjean prays to God to save Marius from the onslaught which is to come. The next day, with ammunition running low, Gavroche runs out to collect more and is shot. The rebels are all killed, including their leader, Enjolras.

Valjean escapes into the sewers with the unconscious Marius. After meeting Thenardier, who is rubbing the corpses of the rebels, he emerges into the light only to meet Javert once more. he pleads for time to deliver the young man to a hospital. Javert decides to let him go and, his unbending principles of justice having been shattered by Valjean's own mercy, he kill himself by throwing himself into the swollen River Seine. A number of Parisian women come to terms with the failed insurrection and its victims. unaware of the identity of his rescuer, Marius recovers in Cosette's care. Valjean confesses the truth of his past to Marius and insists that after the young couple are married, he must go away rather than taint the sanctity and safety of their union. At Marius and Cosette's wedding the Thenardiers try to black mail Marius. Thenardier says Cosette's "father" is a murderer and, as proof, produces a ring which he stole from the corpse in the sewers the night the barricades fell. It is Marius' own ring., and he realizes it was Valjean who rescued him that night. He and Cosette go to Valjean, where Cosette learns for the first time of her own history before the old man dies, joining the spirits of Fantine, Eponine, and all those who died on the barricades.

User Avatar

Wiki User

14y ago
This answer is:
User Avatar
More answers
User Avatar

Wiki User

14y ago

PROLOGUE: 1815, DIGNE

Jean Valjean, released on parole after 19 years on the chain gang, finds that the yellow ticket-of-leave he must, by law, display condemns him to be an outcast. Only the saintly Bishop of Digne treats him kindly and Valjean, embittered by years of hardship, repays him by stealing some silver. Valjean is caught and brought back by police, and is astonished when the Bishop lies to the police to save him, also giving him two precious candlesticks. Valjean decides to start his life anew.

1823, MONTREUIL-SUR-MER

Eight years have passed and Valjean, having broken his parole an changed his name to Monsieur Madeleine, has risen to become both a factory owner and Mayor. One of his workers, Fantine, has a secret illegitimate child. When the other women discover this, they demand her dismissal. The foreman, whose advances she has rejected, throws her out.

Desperate for money to pay for medicines for her daughter, Fantine sells her locket, her hair, and then joins the whores in selling herself. Utterly degraded by her new trade she gets into a fight with a prospective customer and is about to be take to prison by Javert when "The Mayor" arrives and demands she be taken to a hospital instead.

The Mayor then rescues a man pinned down by a runaway cart. Javert is reminded of the abnormal strength of convict 24601 Jean Valjean, a parole-breaker whom he has been tracking for years, but who, he says has just been recaptured. Valjean, unable to see an innocent man go to prison in his place, confesses to the court that he is prisoner 24601.

At the hospital Valjean promises the dying Fantine to find and look after her daughter Cosette. Javert arrives to arrest him, but Valjean escapes.

1823, MONTFERMEIL

Cosette has been lodged for five years with the Thenardiers who run an inn, horribly abusing the little girl whom they use as a skivvy while indulging their own daughter, Eponine. Valjean finds Cosette fetching water in the dark. He pays the Thenardiers to let him take Cosette away and takes her to Paris. But Javert is till on his tail...

1832, PARIS

Nine years later there is a great unrest in the city because of the likely demise of the popular leader General Lamarque, the only man left in the Government who shows any feeling for the poor. The urchin Gavroche is in his element mixing with the whores and the beggars of the capital. Among the street-gangs is one led by Thenardier and his wife, which sets upon Jean Valjean and Cosette. They are rescued by Javert, who does not recognize Valjean until after he has made good his escape. The Thenardiers' daughter Eponine, who is secretly in love with the student Marius, reluctantly agrees to help him find Cosette, with whom he has fallen in love.

At a political meeting in a small cafe, a group of idealistic students prepare for the revolution they are sure will erupt on the death of General Lamarque. When Gavroche brings the news of the General's death, the students, led by Enjolras, stream out into the streets to whip up popular support. Only Marius is distracted by the thoughts of the mysterious Cosette.

Cosette is consumed by the thoughts of Marius, with whom she has fallen in love. Valjean realizes that his 'daughter" is changing very quickly but refuses to tell her anything of her past. In spite of her own feelings for Marius, Eponine sadly brings him to Cosette and then prevents an attempt by her father's gang to rob Valjean's house. Valjean, convinced it was Javert who was lurking outside his house, tells Cosette they must prepare to flee the country. On the eve of the revolution the students and Javert see the situation from their different viewpoints; Cosette and Marius part in despair of ever meeting again; Eponine mourns the loss of Marius; and Valjean looks forward to the security of exile. The Thenardiers, meanwhile, dream of rich pickings underground from the chaos to come.

The students prepare to build the barricade. Marius, noticing that Eponine has joined the insurrection, sends her with a letter to Cosette, which is intercepted at the Rue Plumet by Valjean. Eponine decides, despite what he has said to here, to rejoin Marius at the barricade.

The barricade is built and the revolutionaries defy an army warning that they must give up or die. Gavroche exposes Javert as a policy spy. In trying to return to the barricade Eponine is shot and killed. Valjean arrives at the barricades in search of Marius. He is given the chance to kill Javert, but instead lets him go.

The students settle down for a night on the barricade and, in the quiet of the night, Valjean prays to God to save Marius from the onslaught which is to come. The next day, with ammunition running low, Gavroche runs out to collect more and is shot. The rebels are all killed, including their leader, Enjolras.

Valjean escapes into the sewers with the unconscious Marius. After meeting Thenardier, who is rubbing the corpses of the rebels, he emerges into the light only to meet Javert once more. he pleads for time to deliver the young man to a hospital. Javert decides to let him go and, his unbending principles of justice having been shattered by Valjean's own mercy, he kill himself by throwing himself into the swollen River Seine. A number of Parisian women come to terms with the failed insurrection and its victims. unaware of the identity of his rescuer, Marius recovers in Cosette's care. Valjean confesses the truth of his past to Marius and insists that after the young couple are married, he must go away rather than taint the sanctity and safety of their union. At Marius and Cosette's wedding the Thenardiers try to black mail Marius. Thenardier says Cosette's "father" is a murderer and, as proof, produces a ring which he stole from the corpse in the sewers the night the barricades fell. It is Marius' own ring., and he realizes it was Valjean who rescued him that night. He and Cosette go to Valjean, where Cosette learns for the first time of her own history before the old man dies, joining the spirits of Fantine, Eponine, and all those who died on the barricades.

This answer is:
User Avatar

User Avatar

AnswerBot

6d ago

"Les Misérables" follows the story of Jean Valjean, an ex-convict who seeks redemption while being pursued by Inspector Javert. The musical explores themes of justice, love, sacrifice, and the struggle for social change in 19th-century France. It also delves into the lives of various characters, including the tragic Fantine, the idealistic Marius, and the courageous Eponine.

This answer is:
User Avatar

User Avatar

Wiki User

10y ago

A man named Jean Valjean steals a loaf of bread to save his sister's dying son. Once caught, he is sentenced to 5 years in prison, where he tries to run away. Because of this, he has to be there for 19 total years. Once free, he is on parole for life. He then runs into a kind bishop, who welcomes him into his home. Valjean tries to steal his silver, but is caught by the police. The bishop tells them that he has given the silver to Jean Valjean, and he also hands over the most valuable, two silver candlesticks. Valjean is able to make a new life for himself and becomes the mayor of a town, where he then encounters a dying prostitute (Fantine) who has a young daughter (Cosette) in the hands of an innkeeper (Thenardier and Mme. Thenardier). After Fantine dies, he seeks out to find young Cosette, with Javert hot on his trail. Once he has rescued Cosette and lost Javert, they live a life apart. 9 years later, Cosette catches the eye of Marius Pontmercy, and she falls for him as well. After the start of the second French Revolution, Cosette and Marius get married, but find Valjean in the convent, in his dying hours. He dies on Marius and Cosette's wedding day, and they start their life together.

This answer is:
User Avatar

User Avatar

Wiki User

12y ago

Jean Valjean, a convict (all he did was steal a loaf of bread) just released from 19 years as a galley slave, is helped and inspired by a bishop. He creates a new life for himself and becomes a Mayor. He meets Fantine, a poor sick woman who has been separated from her daughter Cosette. After Fantine's death Valjean fosters Cosette. She grows up and falls in love with the baron Marius. Eponine, who Cosette grew up with, also falls in love with Marius. When Cosette's origional foster father (Eponine's father) tries to rob Valjean's house while Marius is inside, Eponine screams to warn him. Valjean interprets this event as that the police have caught up with him, and decides to move away with Cosette. Marius meanwhile is part of a protest movement, and has to decide whether to stay and fight with his movement or follow Cosette. Valjean comes to help defend the barricade with the protest movement on the night of a police attack on the barricade. Javert the policeman is caught trying to spy, and Valjean asks to execute Javert himself. But instead of killing Javert Valjean sets him free. This confuses Javert's sense of justice and he commits suicide. During the attack on the barricade, all Marius' friends are shot and killed, including Eponine. Marius is wounded but Valjean carries him back to Cosette. Later when Marius is healed, Marius and Cosette are married and Valjean dies of old age.

This answer is:
User Avatar

User Avatar

Wiki User

12y ago

It's about a man Jean Valjean who gets locked up for stealing a loaf of bread. He goes through life and meets a woman Fantine who has a little girl who is dying. He takes custody of her daughter Cosette. It is all based on the french revolution. I would read the book and then go see the musical. Both amazing!

Hope this could help!

Matty

This answer is:
User Avatar

User Avatar

Wiki User

13y ago

A man, Jean Valjean, is convicted of stealing a loaf of bread. The play opens as he is leaving jail, under the watch of Javert, a police officer. He goes off of his parole and goes to live a church, where he robs a priest. The priest, being a holy man, gives him money to start a new life. The play jumps forward some years so that he is a bit older, and a prominent factory owner, as well as a mayor of a small town. Javert comes in to work for him, and does not recognize him. He tells Valjean that they've caught a man who is supposedly Valjean. He is distracted, and absentmindedly fires an employee, Fantine. He then runs into her while she is prostituting, and saves her. She has consumption, but before she dies they fall in love. She has a child, Cosette, so he goes and adopts her, after clearing the name of the other man. The play jumps forward again to 10 years later, when Cosette is in her late teens and Valjean is old. It is the time of the July Revolution, led by a man called Marius. He sees Cosette and asks his friend Eponine to find her. She does, even though she is in love with Marius, and Marius and Cosette meet and fall in love. Then the July Revolution happens, and Eponine dies to be with Marius while he is fighting. Marius is injured and Valjean saves him. He brings him back to Cosette, and they are married. Javert is putting down the Revolution when he is caught by the revolutionaries. Valjean takes him to supposedly kill, then spares him. Javert feels so bad that he kills himself. Valjean then goes off, to not disgrace Cosette, and dies, to go be in heaven with Fantine.

This answer is:
User Avatar

User Avatar

Wiki User

12y ago

A young man (Jon Valjean) has been charged for stealing a loaf of bread for his sisters child. The story begins 19 years later where Jean Valjean is about to leave on parole. However he is relieved to be free but can not find work due to his parole ticket. Soon he steals from a priest who earlier showed him kindness. However the priest gives Valjean a second chance, by giving him a silver candle stick to help turn his life around. Valjean is thankful yet guilt ridden by this. He vows to leave the life of Jean Valjean behind and break his parole to go on the run.

We skip a few years where Valjean is the Mayor of a town. A Group of jealous factory workers discover that one of their colleagues, the virtuous Fantine has been sending money to her daughter who lives with thenardier's. A common bar keeper and his wife. The rest of the factory workers are annoyed that Fantine can afford to do this and make up the story that she's been 'sleeping around' to make enough money, which eventually gets her fired. In desperation she is forced to sell her hair, necklace and become a prostitute. However she gets attacked and later arrested for refusing to be bought by a man whom she finds to be repulsive.

Valjean then comes to her rescue and insists she be taken to a hospital. As she is taken, Javert - (The prison guard who was in charge of Valjean whilst he was in prison) Do not forget Valjean is on the run - Recognises Valjean and chases him to the hospital just as Fantine dies, making her last plea that Vlajean care for her daughter. Valjean and Javert fight, and Valjean takes Cosette (Fantine's daughter) and raises her as his own.

Years later Cosette meets a young student (Marius) and they both fall in love. Yet Eponine (The thenardier's daughter) is also madly in love with Marius and is devistated that he only has eyes for Cosette (Whome she was a child with). Whilst falling madly in love, Marius is part of the French Uprising against poverty. The students build a baricade to fight the battle and Valjean (knowing of Cosette and Marius' love) decided to join them and try to protect Marius, knowing that he (himself) is getting old, and Cosette shall need someone to care for her when he is gone. (Bring his home (8) ) Javert is still searching for Valjean...

Eponine appears at the Barricade to proclaim her love for Marius just as she dies from a fatal bullet wound. Javert appears at the baricade posing as a spy. But he is revealed by a young street boy. Valjean is placed in charge of Javert, and decides to free him and saves his life.

As Marius is injured, Valjean saves him by dragging him though the sewers.

We then skip to Javert who is so guilty about Valjean saving his life, that he feels his life no longer has meaning (His life is to Hunt Valjean) he jumps off a bridge and commits suicide...

As Marius recovers, he sinks in to depression about being the only person to have survived the barricade. He later Marries Cosette and discovers the truth about Jean Valjean.

As the play draws to a close, Valjean writes his last confession on a piece of paper for Cosette (It tells the story of his life as Valjean and how he broke his parole) Cosette arrives just in time to say her farewells and we see Fantine and Eponine arrive to lead Valjean to 'salvation' and he passes away.

Sorry it's so long :L it's a long play :) but well worth seeing! Ive seen it twice and would love to appear in a production! This is just the basic plot (believe it or not) it goes a lot deeper. Hope it helped :) x

This answer is:
User Avatar

Add your answer:

Earn +20 pts
Q: What is the storyline to Les Miserables?
Write your answer...
Submit
Still have questions?
magnify glass
imp
Related questions

How many songs are in Les Miserables?

there are 40 songs in Les Miserables.


What was the Production Budget for Les Miserables?

The Production Budget for Les Miserables was $65,000,000.


When was Les Miserables the novel published?

Les Miserables by Victor Hugo was published in 1862.


What west-end musical is based on a book by Victor Hugo?

Les Misirables


How many zip coeds are used in Les Miserables?

Zip coeds are not used in Les Miserables.


Policeman in musical play Les Miserables?

The policeman in the musical "Les Miserables" is named Javert.


What was the director intention or purpose in Les Miserables?

The director's intention in Les Miserables was to bring Victor Hugo's classic novel to life on screen while capturing the emotional depth and themes of redemption, sacrifice, and social injustice. The director aimed to create a visually stunning and emotionally resonant film that would resonate with audiences and stay true to the spirit of the original story.


Who is thurman of Les Miserables?

In "Les Misérables," Javert is an inspector who pursues Jean Valjean relentlessly due to his unyielding commitment to upholding the law. He represents the rigid nature of law and order, while Valjean symbolizes compassion and the potential for redemption. Their dynamic serves as a significant theme in the novel, highlighting the tension between justice and mercy.


Who was the policeman who pursued Jean Valjean in Les Miserables?

Javert, was the policeman who kept pursuing Valjean in Les Miserables.


How long is the movie les miserables?

The 2012 film Les Miserables is 2 hours and 38 minutes long.


What is the lexile of the book Les Miserables?

The Lexile measure for "Les Misérables" by Victor Hugo varies based on the edition and the specific text being assessed. On average, it falls in the range of 1000 to 1300, which corresponds to around a high school reading level.


How many Tony Awards did Les Miserables win?

Les Miserables won 8 Tony Awards.