2. Fantine’s Death
“…and I’ll see her when I wake.”
Some of you may chastise me for placing Fantine’s death ahead of “I Dreamed A Dream,” but I will tell you that her signature song made this moment all the more horrible – in the best way possible of course. Fantine had given up on life and the only thing left for her was death. However, when Jean Valjean appeared and offered her and her daughter a better life, the dream she dreamed was not killed after all. She was given a second chance and the idealization of her character was realized even more.
She was saved from the lowest point of sex and was allowed to be the virtuous mother she – and the audience – yearned for her to be. And yet, she died only wanting to see Cosette one last time. Of course I knew she would die, but just like that she fulfilled everything she set out to do. I felt like I was watching a Disney movie, complete with the death of the mother, but this time, I actually cried.
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