The Many Deaths of "Les Miserables" Quiz

Answer:

- Fantine is a single (having been jilted by her lover) young working class mother who is driven into extreme poverty trying to pay for her daughter Cosette's care. Destitute and desperate, she sells her hair, her teeth, and eventually her body (as a prostitute) to survive. In the musical, her life ends in a bleak hospital ward, where she suffers from a severe illness. As she grows increasingly delusional and weak, she at first thinks Cosette is safe (and even imagines she hears her) until she realizes it is a lie. Jean Valjean is at her bedside when she falls back onto her bed, broken hearted and now dead.

- Eponine is a fiercely loyal street thief who grows up in a life of crime under her cruel parents, the Thenardiers. Despite her harsh upbringing, she possesses a deeply selfless heart and falls hopelessly in love with Marius, who only views her as a friend. In the musical, her story ends tragically at the revolutionary barricades. She is fatally shot after returning there to be near Marius, and she dies in his arms while singing their iconic duet "A Little Fall of Rain". As that rain begins to fall, she dies in his arms, comforted by the fact that he is holding her and that she will finally feel no more pain.

- Gavroche is a brave and fiercely independent street urchin who lives by his wits in the slums of Paris. Despite his young age and harsh life, he has a big heart, looking out for other street kids and eagerly joining the student revolution at the barricades. In the musical, his life ends during a lull in the fighting when the rebels run dangerously low on ammunition. Gavroche courageously crosses over the barricade into the open street to gather bullets from the bodies of fallen soldiers. As he mockingly sings a defiant song at the army, he is targeted and shot multiple times, dying heroically on the battlefield.

- Jean Prouvaire (aka Jehan) is a gentle, romantic, and deeply sensitive student revolutionary. He is a poet at heart who loves flowers, history, and classical literature, bringing an idealistic spirit to their cause. In the musical, his death happens during the first night at the barricades. While checking the perimeter or standing guard in the darkness, he is captured by the army. The students hear a sudden volley of gunfire echo from behind the enemy lines, signaling his execution. Also in the show, his phantom spirit later appears amongst the others during "Empty Chairs at Empty Tables".

- Feuilly is a self-taught fan maker and the only true working class laborer among the core student revolutionaries. He is deeply generous and holds a massive, idealistic love for humanity, obsessing over foreign liberty movements, especially the liberation of Poland. In the musical, Feuilly dies (as many others do) during the final, brutal assault on the barricades. He is shown fighting alongside his friends until the very end when he is gunned down on the battlefield during the chaotic firefight.

- Grantaire is a cynical, skeptical student who doesn't actually believe in the revolution or the political cause; instead, his ultimate loyalty is to Enjolras, the group's charismatic leader whom he deeply admires. Usually drunk and making pessimistic jokes, he stays around simply out of love for his friends. In the musical, his death comes (no surprise) during that final breach of the barricade. After spending much of the battle passed out or drinking, he faces his final moments with sudden, sober courage. He chooses to stand proudly at the barricade right alongside Enjolras, facing the firing squad together and dying in the same volley of gunfire as his leader.

- Lesgles is the cheerful, easygoing, and unlucky student revolutionary. He is famously plagued by constant bad luck, but he faces all of his misfortunes with a warm sense of humor and a positive attitude. In the musical, his death occurs (you guessed it) during the final assault on the barricades. As the French army breaches the fortifications, Lesgles fights bravely alongside his fellow students. He is gunned down in the chaotic, close quarters firefight on the battlefield.

- Enjolras is the charismatic and fiercely passionate leader of the student revolution. He is a pure idealist who is completely devoted to the cause of liberty and equality, famously declaring that the revolution is his only true love and mistress. In the musical, his death occurs in a dramatic moment of the final battle. As the army overwhelms the barricades, Enjolras makes a defiant last stand at the very top of the structure, holding the red revolutionary flag high. He is targeted by the army's firing squad and shot multiple times alongside his loyal friend Grantaire.

- Inspector Javert is a rigid, unwavering police inspector who views the world in strict black and white. Raised in a prison, he believes that the law is absolute, that a criminal can never truly reform, and that his duty is to hunt down Jean Valjean. In the musical, his world view shatters after Valjean unexpectedly saves his life at the barricades. Unable to comprehend a criminal showing this kind of mercy, and unable to cope with the fact that he then let Valjean escape out of a newfound sense of debt, Javert suffers a massive psychological breakdown. Realizing his life's philosophy is broken, he sings a final song before committing suicide by throwing himself off a bridge into the Seine River.

- Jean Valjean is the crux of the play. He is an escaped convict who transforms his life after a bishop shows him unexpected mercy. He spends decades living under a false identity, dedicating his life to helping others, raising the orphaned Cosette, and constantly running from Inspector Javert. In the musical, his death is a deeply moving moment at the very end of the show. Old, weak, and isolated after ensuring Cosette is safely married to Marius, he prepres to die. Cosette and Marius rush to his side just in time to say goodbye. As he passes away, the spirits of Fantine and Eponine appear to guide him to heaven, while the song (fittingly named) "Valjean's Death" plays.

- Marius marries Cosette and lives on to carry the memory of his fallen comrades.
- Cosette does not die in the musical. Instead, she survives the revolution, marries Marius, and is at Valjean's bedside to give him a loving, tearful farewell in his final moments.
- Monsieur and Madame Thenardier are the ultimate survivors. They manage to escape punishment and outlive the revolution.
- Montparnasse does not die in the musical. He participates in the gang's various criminal schemes and simply melts back into the Paris underworld after the revolution.