The importance of Grantaire’s ugliness
Thought I would share a little theory of mine with you guys.
As we all know, Victor Hugo is merciless in many things. Including the description of Grantaire, stating that he is “particularly ugly”, but also that this doesn’t affect his self-esteem. But I feel that Grantaire being ugly is actually a very clever metaphor.
So we have Enjolras – the believer, the idealist, someone who truly believes that he can make the world a better place. Radiant and passionate about the cause. But also, as we all know damn well, he is beautiful. He is compared to Apollo, the god of sun, with his gorgeous blue eyes and blonde curls, just glowing with all the beauty he posseses.
On the other hand, Grantaire is a skeptic – someone who doesn’t believe that the world can ever change, he doesn’t believe that the Revolution is going to have any impact on the world and mostly, he just doesn’t care about anything. Apart from Enjolras.
The Brick tells us that Grantaire was drawn to Enjolras because of his strong, glowing personality.
“A skeptic adhering to a believer is as simple as the law of complementary colors. What we lack attracts us.
/…/ Grantaire, crawling with doubt, loved to see faith soaring in Enjolras. /…/
He was the reverse of Enjolras.”
The way I see it, the reason behind Grantaire being so particularly ugly is because Enjolras is so very beautiful. Enjolras is beautiful because he believes in something with all his heart, and that’s what adds beauty to his character. Grantaire is ugly because he doesn’t believe – he doubts and there is nothing he is really passionate about. He is not a dreamer like Enjolras is, which makes him dull and ugly. Victor Hugo intended them to be the complete opposites. Enjolras – beauty and ideals, and Grantaire – disfigurement and doubt. Grantaire is a realist, standing firm on the ground, while Enjolras, the dreamer, rises towards the sky and that gives him the look and glow of an angel (or a god of sun for that matter).
So really, to truly represent Hugo’s work, Grantaire should be an unattractive character, drawn to the light of Enjolras’s idealism.
((Also George Blagden is gorgeous and perfect as Grantaire and I love him))
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