Images for Fantine's Arrest

Looking for images of Fantine's arrest for the last blog post, but after having a little look I've decided I'd rather not. I have been wary of using images because of where they come from (even though I'm scrupulous about crediting people, I feel a bit funny about posting personal photographs or art so I tend to steer clear of personal sites), but I was rather bemused with most of the theatrical photos of Les Mis. What the hell?! 

• Apparently, the usual practise is to hire someone older to play Fantine. 
• The majority of pictures seem to fall into two categories.
• Ruthie Henshall (or another actress) in a high-necked dress and an over-elaborate blond ringlet-ed  hairstyle looking as if she'd scream if a man winked at her.
• Some heaving-chested dollymop* in a mob cap either kneeling (which can look quite sexual) or in the grip of a man. 

Having never seen it on the stage or even finished the book, I am probably not qualified to comment, but I did have certain ideas about it when I was reading the scene, and none of this entered my head. Have Fantine dressed up like a prude in the first scene, but at least show in some way that her situation has changed in the arrest, and not necessarily by giving her a heaving exposed bosom. I think I thought of her as wearing a white dress and a big hat when we first see her, as Hugo describes, then when she is arrested she is wearing a plain dress and looking a bit dirty. Since she sold her teeth she doesn't really care about her appearance. 

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 Anne Hathaway looks great in her dirty dress, short hair and gloves. Yes, the dress is low, but she's not got a corset on or make-up or a stupid cap like she's a prostitute in Carry on Don't Lose Your Head. She really looks like what she's supposed to be, a woman who has hit rock bottom. The heaving bosom sexualises the arrest which risks reducing the power of her begging Javert for mercy. I think having her like this makes it somehow worse that he's judged her for being a prostitute, because here she just looks pathetic and desperate and tragic, it makes Javert look like even more of a hard-hearted monster than if she was dressed like a big ol' slut. I can also see how the way it's acted would greatly affect the whole scene, the worse thing would be over-acting and making it too melodramatic. A hard role to play, I think.

Okay, so this is from Carry on Dick, but it illustrates my point. Fantine and Javert!

*Dollymop - Victorian slang for a prostitute. In another book that I'm currently reading, but I think it sums it up nicely.