Give me teen Cosette being so shy she perpetually hides her face in a scarf and nervously plays with her hair whenever she can’t do so, never looking directly someone in the eyes to avoid seeing mockery in them
Give me teen Cosette who can only find flaws in her appearance – she’s too skinny, too pale, with too many dark circles under her eye, the brace doesn’t suit her- no matter what her totally enamoured and loving papa says
Give me teen Cosette not having many friends because of this but still being polite and kind and generous with everyone
Give me growing up Cosette who start getting tired of this and sick of being afraid of being herself and showing herself for what she is and what she looks like
Cosette who starts watching make up tutorials on youtube and becomes very good at make up herself (”No papa, my smile isn’t the only make up I need”)
Cosette who’s still unsure of herself but fake it till you make it, am I right?
Give me Cosette who after some time finally gathers the strength to show up at those “les amis de l’abc” meetings she always heard of and never had the courage to attend
Cosette who introduce herself with such conviction (daring anyone in the small crowd of strangers not to take her seriously) and yet grace that someone shouts “wow Enjolras why didn’t you tell us you had a twin”
Enjolras being dubious about her at first but immediately regretting it the moment he hears her talking about equality and feminism and glass ceiling (“I’M SO SORRY THAT’S SO HYPOCRITICAL OF ME DOUBTING SOMEONE FOR BEING GOOD-LOOKING”)
Cosette that gradually grows to be so comfortable around these kind and totally crazy people that she even manages to show herself without make up (and is still obviously gorgeous ) (her papa cries a little when he sees her go out like that so confidently but shh don’t tell that to anyone)
Give me growingly-confident Cosette gradually revealing her sunny and kind but also mischievous personality to her friends
Give me Cosette who doesn’t take anyone shit anymore and doesn’t allow anyone to walk over her or her friends
#bless valjean’s attitude in this scene/song #i really love the face he makes in the second gif #like “sacrifice my ass” #“you seriously think im gonna put up with your emotional bullshit????” #“after i literally saw cosette dragging a heavy ass bucket in the middle of the fucking night????” #“wearing rags?????” #“and don’t you dare i don’t know what you have been doing with my money and fantine’s money, you greedy shits” #but since he doesn’t like confrontations #valjean’s like #“alright take my money for your sAcRiFiCe, my dear fellows :):):)” #bc valjean is a kind old fellow #and he doesn’t want to scare cosette #jesus christ you can sense him ready to hit the thenardiers with the receipts #i just rlly love his whole attitude during the bargain #so fucking sassy in a passive aggressive way i s2g #bless you valjean #pls be my dad #ok but i will not stop talking abt this ever #bc jEAN VALJEAN STRAIGHT UP MURDERED THE THENARDIERS WITHOUT THEM KNOWING IT JFC #HE JUST PUT UP WITH JAVERT’S BULLSHIT ABT THE LAW AND HIS PAST THAT HE NEVER ASKED ABOUT #HE LITERALLY “DROWNED” HIMSELF TO GET TO COSETTE #YOU THINK HE’S PUTTING UP WITH YOUR BULLSHIT???? #HA BITCH U THOUGHT
Why is Cosette the face of the musical, rather than Jean Valjean?
Reasonable question! The musical, even more than the book, is very About Jean Valjean, his journey and his plotline. But the musical isn’t JUST about Valjean; it’s also about Fantine, about Marius, about an uprising, about the Thenardier Family, and so on.
And Cosette is the thread that ties it all together.
Without Cosette, the story (of the musical) is :
Valjean redeems himself through his behavior at M-sur-M and (possibly!) his act of sacrifice at the Champmathieu trial.
Fantine stays in Paris; Valjean never meets her.
Javert either never tells Valjean about Champmathieu (because he’s not pressing suspicions due to Fantine’s arrest), and Valjean stays as mayor, end of story, Javert either goes on with his life in the service of the now-exonerated (in his mind) Mayor Madeleine,
OR: Valjean goes to jail (and stays there, without duty to Cosette driving him to find another way) and Javert goes on his way with the satisfaction of a job rightly done. Neither of them ever has to confront the choices and character growth that come their way in the existing story.
Marius never even considers not being part of the barricade fight; and he dies with everyone else there. *Including* Eponine and Gavroche, who are there for their own reasons.
And all of these are complete stories! Every one of these characters serves as the hub of an entire plot, with other characters affected by them and their choices!
But the only reason they’re part of the SAME story is because of Cosette. Because of Cosette, Fantine goes to Valjean’s factory. Because of Cosette, Valjean finds a way to keep moving ahead after the trial, and eventually goes to Paris. Javert’s suicide, Marius’ survival at the barricade–they happen because Valjean loves Cosette enough to be there (and because Marius loved Cosette enough to consider NOT being there, and send Eponine off with a note–and in the world of the musical, this may be why Eponine’s at the barricade too, but that’s a consideration for another time.)
Valjean’s line– “It’s the story of those who always loved you”– could stand for the whole musical. I’ve seen that post saying Marius is only there because Valjean loves Cosette, but really you can track that back–VALJEAN only connects with any of these people because Fantine loved Cosette. It’s the story of people who love Cosette, and how that transforms them and the people they meet.
No, none of this is intentional on Cosette’s part, but hey, that’s part of the point of this story– no one knows what they’re doing, no one’s got a Master Plan, everyone’s just moving forward the best they know how. What brings people together, through all the confusion, across classes and war and all kinds of social prejudice, is love, and that’s what Cosette does, and what she represents.
And that’s why Cosette is the face of the musical.
¯_( ಠ_ಠ)_/¯ 