Critical Review, Les Miserable

A detailed Summary of Critical Review, Les Miserable

Les Miserables is an epic musical saga of Jean Valjean and his long journey to salvation. He is released on parole after 19 years on the chain gang, for stealing a loaf of bread. Valjean, unknowingly bargains for his soul with a saintly bishop and spends the rest of his life trying to do good in order to repay him. The Inspector, Javert, continues to relentlessly pursue Valjean even though he is trying to start anew. He has become the mayor of Montreuil and the manager of a factory. Meanwhile, one of his workers, Fantine, is the mother of an illegitimate daughter, Cosette. Cosette is living with the Thenardiers, an innkeeper, his wife, and their own daughter, Eponine. Fantine is fired from the factory after word of her daughter gets out and a series of other incidents. She becomes a prostitute and asks Valjean, while on her deathbed, to care for Cosette. Valjean adopts Cosette and they move to Paris where Cosette meets and falls in love with Marius, a student, with whom Eponine is also in love. The students barricade the streets of Paris and the rebellion begins. As the insurrection continues, Javert has been captured in the students' camp as a spy, Eponine is killed, and Valjean h

as joined the students and drags an injured Marius into the sewers to save him. The students desire to kill Javert, but Valjean prevents this from happening. Javert, beside himself for being saved by the man of whom he was in pursuit, kills himself by throwing himself into the Seine River. Years later, on his deathbed, Valjean confesses to Marius that he saved him. Now, having paid for his sins, he can die peacefully. Marius and Cosette eventually marry and Valjean dies. Upon his death, the ghosts of Eponine, Fantine, and others who have died before him, meet. Leaving us on an optimistic note, the belief that good, will always prevail: "Even the darkest night will end/And the sun will rise."

The scenic effects did not have to be glitzy and over-the-top in order to appeal to the audience. One will immediately fall into the atmosphere of the play because the characters are instantly accessible and the sets are just right; they create an environment without overwhelming you. There are times when you feel you are in the thick of the battle, or you truly sense the tension between Javert and Valjean as they fervently argue their points of view. There were times when I heard audience members gasp in surprise, and weep bitterly as they watched someone die. I've never been in a play where people were this emotionally involved, but it makes an excellent argument for the real experience that is 'attending the theater'. I'm not a career stagehand or anything; I hardly even attend very many plays. Even so, I could immediately appreciate the way this play was presented. It is one thing to have chunks of the set that break apart and reform themselves into entirely different settings: that's pretty common, although it is above average here. A better example, in the opening of the play, the main character goes through a series of interactions in different settings. In order to accomplish this without making everyone wait for the actors and props to be placed, the stage has an enormous section of the floor that rotates. You can't see it spin (at least not from where I was sitting), but the character will start walking, and the movement of the stage keeps him in place as he walks. Meanwhile the crew is in the back loading the next encounter onto the wheel and stripping the last one off. By the time the sta

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Approximate Word count = 1571
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: Arts