Because of one person, Fantine lost the world. We first see her as a beautiful and naïve grisette, romantically attached to Felix Tholomyes. Her three friends are attached to Tholomyes’s friends, and they are delighted together, always going for picnics, to gardens, sightseeing, and having fun. Fantine has no worries, and is very carefree. However, when he leaves her, she is devastated. She leaves Cosette with the Thénardiers, and goes to work. When Fantine is fired because of her child, she first thinks of how Cosette will be cold, and if she will be sick. This is especially touching, considering her circumstances. She then sacrifices everything she has. Her beauty, youth, her body. She sold her cascading golden hair, pearly white teeth, and became a prostitute. She is at the bottom of a dark pit, looking longingly at the light. When Javert tries to arrest her, she doesn’t think of herself. She thinks of Cosette. This echoes to when Valjean accidentally climbs into a jail while trying to escape through the sewers. She worries about Cosette’s living conditions. When she is hospitalized, her every worry is when Cosette will come, if she is well. She dies waiting for her.
