Vanessa20
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"Your mother gave her life for you..."I was just listening to the new Dutch CD last night, and when Valjean sang "Jouw moeder stierf voor jou," I started wondering. Why does he say that Fantine gave her life for Cosette (or, in the case of the Dutch lyrics, that she died for her)? For all that she did for Cosette, she didn't die for her, she died of illness.
If she died of an STD she contracted as a prostitute, the line would make sense, but in the Brick she dies of consumption, and that's how most musical Fantines play it. And if Valjean means that her miserable living conditions lead to her decline, I still don't quite see that as being "for Cosette." She wasn't rich to begin with, TB was technically incurable at the time, and even if she hadn't had Cosette and hadn't been fired she would have probably still died young, if not quite as young.
And the fact that in the Brick she dies of horror when she learns that the man she though would help Cosette is a convict doesn't count. That doesn't happen in the musical.
Is it just another flaw in the libretto? What do you think?
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Yakko
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What is the brick anyway?
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teapot
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Regardless of Fantine's cause of death, her end was hastened by the lack of food, and the care she could not afford because what little she made went for Cosette's board. Rather than abandon Cosette to charity or ignore Cosette and find a comfortable "position" for herself alone, Fantine chose to work herself to collapse, just to make sure she could afford to send money for Cosette's care. Thus, she gave her life for Cosette. And as I understand it, the Brick is merely a nickname for the novel because of it's size.
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Vanessa20
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| teapot wrote: | | And as I understand it, the Brick is merely a nickname for the novel because of it's size. |
That's right.
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music is my life!!!
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she gave everything she earned to Cosette (well, to the Then's but they abused this and spent this on Eponine), and didn't have enough to support herself, so she died of some disease of the period, which was probably due to malnutrietion, lack of sleep and other things 
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lesmisloony
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She was already weak and she breastfed Cosette on top of everything else.
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mastachen
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| lesmisloony wrote: | | She was already weak and she breastfed Cosette on top of everything else. |
She had to... she couldn't trust the milk powder from China.
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curlyhairedsoprano91
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| mastachen wrote: | | lesmisloony wrote: | | She was already weak and she breastfed Cosette on top of everything else. |
She had to... she couldn't trust the milk powder from China. |
LOL. 
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music is my life!!!
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| curlyhairedsoprano91 wrote: | | mastachen wrote: | | lesmisloony wrote: | | She was already weak and she breastfed Cosette on top of everything else. |
She had to... she couldn't trust the milk powder from China. |
LOL. |
ditto, but this bit of the show always makes me tear up.... i don't know how i'm gonna make it thru the show without sobbing at the end next year (my mate always is practically bawling by the curtain call of the last night!!!)
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Fantine
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| teapot wrote: | | Regardless of Fantine's cause of death, her end was hastened by the lack of food, and the care she could not afford because what little she made went for Cosette's board. Rather than abandon Cosette to charity or ignore Cosette and find a comfortable "position" for herself alone, Fantine chose to work herself to collapse, just to make sure she could afford to send money for Cosette's care. Thus, she gave her life for Cosette. And as I understand it, the Brick is merely a nickname for the novel because of it's size. |
This is what I was going to say.
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Quique
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She gave her dignity, her body, and then....her life for Cosette. How anyone could think otherwise is beyond me.
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Vanessa20
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| Quique wrote: | | She gave her dignity, her body, and then....her life for Cosette. How anyone could think otherwise is beyond me. |
That's how my dad put it too. I just wanted to hear everyone's opinions here. I always have so many questions running through my head about "Les Mis," and about every other fictional work I like. I love to analyze.
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Quique
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No, problem. And sorry if I came off aggressive. Didn't mean to.
We love questions. Other people may have the same questions, so it's nice to ask no matter how silly it may seem. 
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Vanessa20
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| Quique wrote: | | No, problem. And sorry if I came off aggressive. Didn't mean to. |
It's okay. You didn't come off too aggressive.
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Freya
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| Quique wrote: | | She gave her dignity, her body, and then....her life for Cosette. How anyone could think otherwise is beyond me. |
Totally. The point is Cosette is her child and she did everything she could for Cosette, ultimately leading to her death.
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