Eponine

Significance of the character

John Andrew Frey identified Éponine as a parallel figure to Fantine: "Eponine is symbolic of redeemed types found in Hugo's work—the Mary Magdalene fallen woman redeemed by a deep, albeit romantic and impossible love." He sees her death as typically operatic, a drawn-out farewell scene with an aria-like speech exploring all her feelings. As in Romantic opera: "The dying Eponine recounts her long-held feeling of love for Marius, feelings she interprets as both moral and physical defects making her unworthy." He compares her to the character of La Maheude in Émile Zola's novel Germinal, who also contemplates an alternative life, and "hypothetically thinks about the possibility that they could have been lovers". Kathryn M. Grossman also identifies the redemptive aspect of the character and the parallel with Fantine: "In a much different way [from Fantine], Eponine's devotion to Marius saves her from reiterating the sins of her parents. Her love redeems her, as Valjean and Fantine are redeemed by their love for Cosette."