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 Emile 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, 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."
George Saintsbury argued that Éponine is the most interesting character in the novel, but that Hugo, like Marius, did not take enough notice of her:
The gamin Gavroche puts in a strong plea for mercy, and his sister Eponine, if Hugo had chosen to take more trouble with her, might have been a great, and is actually the most interesting, character. But Cosette--the cosseted Cosette--Hugo did not know our word or he would have seen the danger--is merely a pretty and rather selfish little doll, and her precious lover Marius is almost ineffable.
Recent writers have noted that what has been called the "potential criminal heroine, the androgynous, desiring Éponine" is more appealing to modern audiences than the more conventionally genteel and feminine Cosette. Referring to fans of the musical, Theresa Malcolm notes that "one quickly realizes that a large majority of these fans are teenage girls who passionately identify with Eponine, the poor street girl whose love for Marius truly is dangerous....She is the most poignant, complex character the book or the musical has to offer."
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