Cosette and the Thernadiers

As I did previously with Fantine, I have had a look at the way these characters are portrayed on the stage and in films. This time I have also watched the first part of the 25^th Anniversary production, so there will probably be references to that in here as well, and the character portrayal within the book. 

It seems that the Thernadiers are generally treated as comic characters on the stage, often complete with rotten teeth and pantomime make-up, and in the case of the Anniversary production, played by a famous comedian. The song ‘Master of the House’ is a jolly upbeat number about stiffing unsuspecting guests which contrasts with Cosette’s song. This kind of moment within the musical makes it highly entertaining and accessible to children.

Within the book, however, the characters are more sinister.  It is noticable that there is a sense of some of the characters almost being ‘spied on’; sometimes this is obvious, as in the case of Thernadier and friend spying on the mysterious figure burying something in the wood, or the woman going to see Cosette to ‘reassure’ people that Fantine is an unwed mother, sometimes it is more anonymous, as when somebody apparently witnesses Valjean hesitating before going to book a carriage for the journey to Champmathieau’s trial. It is clear from the beginning of the story that the Thernadiers are out for what they can get; Thernadier is a prime example of the kind of man who would try to observe somebody doing something wrong in order to gain from it in some way. Perhaps this is an element of the society that Hugo is trying to portray after the first part of the revolution – people are still suspicious of one another, the poor are treated abominably and unless the characters are as saintly as the Bishop, they can be as greedy or self-serving as the Thernadiers.

In some way the Thernadiers try to appear better than they really are. Madame Thernadier takes the example of trashy romantic novels to behave in a fawning way to her husband who has literary pretentions and talks of the materialist philosophy and of philosophers he probably knows little about (probably indicating that he is an atheist). Madame Thernadier dresses Cosette in rags, but ensures that her two daughters are well-dressed with plenty of toys and have money in their clogs at Christmas. Although they are in debt, their standard of living is related to their status as business owners who have profited from Waterloo.

Madame Thernadier is described as somewhat grotesque; enormous, almost like a circus performer with a beard, only one tooth and an enormous appetite for drink, swearing and violence.  Thernadier himself is small, skinny and weasely in his attitude to his guests.  ‘...He was thoroughly crooked, a sanctimonious knave.’ (Penguin 1976, translated by Denny. P341). He has no nationality, seems to change his political views and pretends to be a war hero and a man of learning. Yet he is ‘terrible’ (p343) when he becomes angry, and there is a sense that he is not a man to be laughed at or crossed if one can help it. He has complete control over the business and his family.

At this time working children were all too common, so nobody in the inn seems to be that bothered about Cosette working as the Thernadier’s servant, indeed, the couple talk about her as if they did Fantine a great favour taking Cosette in when it is obvious that they have had a great deal of work out of her. 

This was also the period when attitudes about the importance of universal education and about the nature of childhood itself were changing, so it will be interesting to see if any of this will be reflected in the novel. The portrayal of children within novels of the period reflects this in that 19^th century novels feature more children and there are more books written specifically for children. In the United Kingdom and France concepts of cruelty to children did not really exist until the 1880s.

Many children in 19^th Century novels seem to fall into three categories, either the saintly sentimentalised good children like Dickens’s Florence Dombey or Helen Burns in Jane Eyre or the wild, bad children such as Heathcliffe and Cathy or the spoilt children such as Mary Lennox in a Secret Garden.  Cosette herself appears sentimentalised, resembling Oliver Twist (published 1839, Les Mis was published in 1862 but this part is set around 15 years before OT)  in that despite her mistreatment, she is basically a good child who tells lies to escape punishment from the monstrous Madame Thernadier (Thernadier himself doesn’t seem to have that much to do with her until he sees an opportunity to make some money from her) and who has never been taught to pray (p357), or even entered a church (p360). 

 

Hugo emphasises her tininess, her terror and her misery with the incident where she goes out on Christmas Eve to get water. She is plain because she is miserable and behaves as if she is constantly afraid. Hugo contrasts her and her treatment with the Thernadier’s daughters who are pretty, well-dressed spoilt little madams who are fondly indulged by their mother and for whom Cosette knits stockings, also their sleeping arrangements of Cosette sleeping in a junk room, on a straw mattress, fully dressed with the little girls in twin beds with white covers. 

Hugo uses them as ‘an embodiment of society – envy on one side, indifference on the other.’ (362). Both Cosette and Fantine act as emotive figures in the novel in that they have they little control over their own fates. Yet she is also shown to be brave in that she doesn’t cry until Madame Thernadier flies into a monstrous rage after she’s caught playing with a doll (which is apparently an essential human right for girls according to Hugo), in the same way that Fantine attempts to defend herself when she is accused of assaulting a man. Valjean is different in that he seems to always be able to prevent himself from being completely powerless, usually through an act of fate or goodness (such as saving a man which then prevents people from checking his papers to discover that he is a convict).

In this case Valjean draws attention to himself by buying the doll for Cosette and causes the Thernadiers to begin to feel venom and hatred towards him. Thernadier is suspicious enough to stay up most of the night observing him and although Madame Thernadier is anxious to be rid of her, he gets Valjean to pay for her and tries to pursue them to get even more money. Valjean is making enemies as he goes, he has already made an enemy of Javert and here he has made enemies of the Thernadier family. There is also the rental agent of the house he and Cosette is staying at spying on him and suspicious of the money that he has hidden in his coat. It is clear that the pair of them are unlikely to remain safe in their assumed identities.