I could be wrong because it’s been a while since I read the brick but…..
is the bishop the only person who calls Jean Valjean by his name?
Before that he was 24601. After that, he used aliases. The only other times his birth name comes up is in court and when he tells Marius about his past—both times when he’s on trial for his past.
But the one person who called him by name was the one who saw him, loved him, and pulled him into the light.
Vicky Huge-hoe: Ah yes, I love all of my characters equally. Parisian sewers, Waterloo, Bishop Myriel, and*looks at smudged handwriting on palm* Jean? Jean.
victor hugo: yeah the enjolras and grantaire dynamic is the same as achilles and patroclus, orestes and pylades and alexander the great and hephaestion
if u want receipts i will write it out for you but honestly???? context + historical queer coding in literature + super queer historical and mythological references = a gay ass man
Victor Hugo: *Literally uses all methods used in classical literature to allude to a character being gay when talking about Enjolras*
Some people: Yes but Hugo never wrote him getting railed by a guy in the middle of the Corinth during the barricade scenes so clearly he is a heterosexual.
Okay though! This’ll just be me ranting about queer coding in general, and may turn into an essay.
First things first, and it’s not even too mythological: Enjolras being described as a ‘Savage Antinous’. Antinous was the lover of Hadrian (emperor; Antinous’ much older sugar daddy), and BELIEVE IT OR NOT super gay. Beginning in the 19th century, Antinous was used as a way of saying someone was gay without actually saying it (and when did Hugo write Les Mis? Oh dear, the 19th century!). Antinous: young, beautiful, very gay, described as a twink (literally; ‘eromenos’ was a historical way of saying pillow princess, and it’s used to describe Antinous).
Hugo? Used Antinous as a way of saying ‘yes, gay’ without actually saying it. If he had gone out and said it, he never would have been published, as simple as that. This was also the reason he described Enjolras as ‘chaste’ and ‘virginal’; being gay? Not the worst thing ever but not great. Being gay and sexually active? Absolutely not. Many authors used chaste as a way of saying ‘gay but not gay enough for you to refuse to publish my book’.
Side note: Antinous is often compared and depicted to a son of Apollo. Apollo.
Other couples they are compared to: Orestes and Pylades. Achilles and Patroclus. Nisus and Euryalus.
To unpack that:
Nisus and Euryalus – Virgil describes them as friends AND lovers, who – believe it or not! – die together. (Also Euryalus was described as ‘eromenos’ as well)
Orestes and Pylades – okay this one is! Okay kills me. Orestes and Pylades? Are a prime example of authors using coding. Their relationship has always been used as a way of describing homoeroticism without actually saying the words. Also – Orestes is a tiny bit sentenced to death. Pylades refuses to leave his side, even though he had not committed the crime.
Grantaire was described as ‘an unaccepted Pylades’ in his first introduction. He then dies next to Enjolras (after asking permission), therefore is an ‘accepted Pylades’, which just kind of hurts all over.
Believe it or not, the very queer Lord Byron used Orestes and Pylades in letters to his male lovers. Also used by him and others? Achilles and Patroclus.
Honestly, is there any reason to explain Achilles and Patroclus except to say: used by every author writing a queer character, or even writing to partners. From the aforementioned Lord Byron to Oscar Wilde and everything and everyone in between – queer coding at its most obvious and purposeful.
All dying next to/for each other. All queer. All historical uses of coding.
(Also don’t think I didn’t notice you saying @enjoloras instead of enjolras)
I’m glad you like my blog! And I’ve been learning French since I was 13, but I’m not fluent in it (yet) haha.
I can’t say that enjoltaire was real, because the only person who could really say that was Victor Hugo haha. I do ship them together but all I can tell you is which parts of Les Miserables show that there could have been something.
Actually I already talked about it a while ago in THIS ASK. But I’ll give you some more details!!!
Just, about the gay rights in the 19th century France – after 1791 gay sex was no more a capital crime in France. It still wouldn’t really let two gay men to be out and be in a relationship, but it’s important to remember that it was completely normal for two men/two women to live together, “just as friends” back then. It was normal for them to cuddle and sleep in the same bed. LGBT history is more complex than most people think it is!
But now back to Les Mis – when describing Enjolras, Hugo compares him to many maaaaany well known gay characters/people.
“He was a savage Antinous.” – Antinous was a lover of the Roman emperor Hadrian. He died when he was in his early twenties and in the 19th century he replaced Ganymede as a western gay icon. Oscar Wilde often talked about him.
“the bare throat of Evadne would have moved him no more than it would have moved Aristogeiton; he, like Harmodius, thought flowers good for nothing except to conceal the sword” – both Aristogeiton and Harmodius were lovers who killed the tyrant of Athens.
And while talking about Grantaire and Enjolras’ relationship he mentions not only gay people but gay people who were in relationships.
“They are Pollux, Patrocles, Nisus, Eudamidas, Ephestion, Pechmeja.”
Patroclus – a character from Homer’s Iliad. He was a close friend and probably a lover of Achilles.
Nisus – Nisus and Euryalus were lovers from Virgil’s Aeneid.
Ephestion, Hephaestion – was a very close friend of Alexander the Great. They both compared themselves to Achilles and Patroclus and many believe that they were lovers.
Pechmeja – Pechmeja was a writer in the 18th century. He was a friend of
Dubrueil, a doctor. When the writer got sick, his friend stayed with him until he was healthy again, but even then he didn’t move out and soon both men started living together. A few years later it was
Dubrueil
who fell sick and this time the illness was both contagious and terminal, but his friend refused to leave him alone.
Dubrueil
died in April 1785 and Pechmeja died a month later.
“In the series O and P are inseparable. You can, at will, pronounce O and P or Orestes and Pylades.” – Orestes and Pylades avenged Orestes’ father, Agamemnon after the man had been killed by his wife. Their relationship is sometimes interpreted as romantic.
I hope it helps just a bit with understanding their relationship and I totally encourage everyone to study all comparisons etc Hugo made because they are very interesting!
They both freeze, Grantaire because holy shit Enjolras has his actual head on his shoulder and Enjolras because “I fucked up I fucked up I fucked up”. And they stay like that for the rest of the movie, screaming internally for an hour and when the screen turns to black, Enjolras’s neck is all stiff
So I’ve noticed that there constantly are discourses in the fandom about whether Enjolras was gay or not. And I think that it may be a little bit confusing for those who haven’t read the book or only read some parts of it or aren’t that interested in history of Greece, Rome and France (and sewers).
That’s why I decided to make a post with all reasons why Enjolras could be a gay character! And also because I’m a nerd.
¯_( ಠ_ಠ)_/¯ 