Writings
Welcome to my collection of analyses on books and things I enjoy. I may add some on things I do not enjoy but I'm still pondering on that. I like interpreting things as gay and trans even if they are extremely old works of fiction which were definitely not thought like that, but do not conform to the modern interpretations of gender and sexuality and therefore, gayfiying the text.
Les Miserables: Enjolras and Grantaire
Table of Contents:
Intro:Les Miserables is a book written by Victor Hugo published in 1862, it’s the story about Jean Valjean, and uses his life as an example to demonstrate how the system is built to fail those who are unfortunate, the poor people of france. It explains France’s history at every turn, using the architecture, people, and cities to explain in detail everything that connects to a small simple point in the story; which is why it is a comically huge book.
Many characters’ lives are intertwined with Jean Valjean, but it is he and Cosette and Marius who are the main characters. While following Marius’ life we meet a group of young revolutionaries who are idealists, who want to try and change the government into something that serves the people rather than keep them under its boot. They are organizing a rebellion, the june rebellion which happened between the 5 and six of june 1832, a small attempt to induce change and reverse the establishment of the monarchy in 1830 under Louis Philippe I. This is where Enjorlars and Grantaire are featured.
The June Rebellion serves as the novel’s climax, where many events converge and many main events take place, the rebels, that is to say, Les Amis de l’ABC. When they are introduced; a huge description of each important member is given, Enjolras and Grantaire are presented as opposites, and a certain tension between them can be seen both in the text and subtext. Enjolras is the leader and Grantaire is just there because he wishes to see him, because he enjoys the company of Les Amis de l'ABC, and in the only two moments they have an interaction, an intense spark can be felt in the way the speak to one another.
Romantic Foils
They are described as complete opposites, a trope often used for lovers in fiction, and they get compared to greek myths, which is also very gay.
Enjolras is a hot blooded believer in peace and yet calm leader,described as incredibly handsome and angelic of a mind for no other thing than France itself irrevocably and indefinitely occupied with thoughts of liberation and freedom for the future republic of France, he inspires everyone and organizes everyone, gives speeches with intense love and passion for their cause and discusses philosophy and political ideals with his friends. He is born in privilege and yet not blind to the struggles of the people. The fact that he is an angel of divine beauty is remarked upon constantly.
Grantaire is a man of the arts, loves Paris and knows the best place for everything in the city, practices boxing as well as dancing and indulges in alcohol intensely. He is a pessimist and does not believe in hope for the world. He declares disdain and regret and stays drunk to cope with the pain of his soul and the pain for the world. He claims to not have faith in anything, and to not have any values or goals, and doesn’t concern himself with the revolutionaries and their beliefs.
Except for Enjolras. He reveres, admires and loves Enjolras. He is described to feel nothing for anything else, passionate love and adoration for Enjolras is the entire reason he frequents Les Amis de l’ABC, the pure desire to see him, hear him, and be in his presence. He can never bring himself to have so much hope for the world but his love for him is so vast that he will spend entire days at the coffee shop where they have their meetings and discussions. But Enjolras dislikes him, and does not believe in him.
Because of this, many pieces of media portray this relationship to be one-sided, or sometimes it is not portrayed at all. Although he is said to hate Grantaire, to me, the hatred that he displays does not seem to be against his person, Enjolras is a highly idealistic fighter whobelieves in the liberation and does not truly despise any human to their core, throughout the story. I read his hatred as stemming from his incapability to understand Grantaire’s plight, and why he is so pessimistic and lacks faith and beliefs. For him it is impossible to understand how one couldn’t believe in the freedom of the peoples of the world, and for Grantaire it is almost impossible to understand how one could have such grand love and cemented belief for it. But his love for Enjolras brings him to even offer himself as a helper of Les Amis d’lABC when they lack enough people to organize for the barricade despite his philosophy of not believing in anything. Enjolras does not believe him capable as he has only expressed incredulity; nevertheless grants him permission to try, and not only that he even follows Grantaire to behold his attempts on swaying others into joining the cause.
On the day of the June Rebellion, Enjolras spends the entire day and night fighting and defending, and Grantaire drinks himself to sleep, desperate and miserable. But upon waking up, he sees everything that they have lost, and sees Enjolras about to be executed. This is when the famous scene happens, he declares himself a revolutionary and asks for Enjolras' hand. They die together at the same time, him at his feet and enjolras standing.
Parallels
A few parallels are made between Marius and Cosette with Enjolras and Grantaire. The day in which Cosette and Marius get engaged, Marius vows to never let go of Cosette's hands; hand holding is in general a motif of intense love throughout the book. And as mentioned before, E and R get directly compared to Aristogeiton and Harmodius, and indirectly compared to Iccarus and The Sun, for Enjolras is nicknamed "Sun" and "Apollo" as well as described as bright and alluring; while Grantaire is shown to be so obsessed with Enjolras to the point of doing anything for him, even dying.
"This was well. This made him think of Grantaire. "Hold," said he to himself, "the Barriere du Maine will not take me far out of my way. What if I were to go on as far as Richefeu's? Let us have a look at what Grantaire is about, and see how he is getting on."
Conclusion
It is strange to me that their love is assumed to be strictly platonic or one-sided, never mentioned or discussed anywhere in academia, despite it definitely being in the text itself and capable of being interpreted as romantic. To my knowledge there has not been an adaptation which delves into the subject, and after an extensive research it appears pretty clear that in literature classes it is usually glossed over. I do not claim to know for sure what Victor Hugo intended, as one can never do with works of art; but it is open to interpretation, and very easily read as Romantic than platonic, so I find it quite disappointing that not a single adaptation has had the creativity to flesh it out and give them more time and scenes together before their downfall. Aren't there so many songs and works of art about lovers being eternally together, even on the other side?
If you read this entire thing, I am extremely impressed. Thank you so much!
Pride & Prejudice
Coming soon
