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    Essay On Les Miserables

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    Almira Desiani
    This document analyzes how the characters and narrative of the film Les Miserables fit with Vladimir Propp's theories of narrative and character types from his works The Seven Spheres of Action and Narrative Element. It finds that the main characters generally fit Propp's character archetypes and that the plot follows Propp's proposed sequencing of narrative beats. However, it also notes some deviations, such as the secondary hero Marius experiencing his own character arc. Overall, the document concludes that Propp's theories provide a suitable framework for analyzing the classic and linear narrative structure of Les Miserables.

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    Essay On Les Miserables

    Uploaded by

    Almira Desiani
    290 views5 pages
    This document analyzes how the characters and narrative of the film Les Miserables fit with Vladimir Propp's theories of narrative and character types from his works The Seven Spheres of Action and Narrative Element. It finds that the main characters generally fit Propp's character archetypes and that the plot follows Propp's proposed sequencing of narrative beats. However, it also notes some deviations, such as the secondary hero Marius experiencing his own character arc. Overall, the document concludes that Propp's theories provide a suitable framework for analyzing the classic and linear narrative structure of Les Miserables.

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    regarding narrative and Propp's Seven Spheres of Action.

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    Essay on Les Miserables

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    This document analyzes how the characters and narrative of the film Les Miserables fit with Vladimir Propp's theories of narrative and character types from his works The Seven Spheres of Action and Narrative Element. It finds that the main characters generally fit Propp's character archetypes and that the plot follows Propp's proposed sequencing of narrative beats. However, it also notes some deviations, such as the secondary hero Marius experiencing his own character arc. Overall, the document concludes that Propp's theories provide a suitable framework for analyzing the classic and linear narrative structure of Les Miserables.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as DOC, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as doc, pdf, or txt
    290 views5 pages

    Essay On Les Miserables

    Uploaded by

    Almira Desiani
    This document analyzes how the characters and narrative of the film Les Miserables fit with Vladimir Propp's theories of narrative and character types from his works The Seven Spheres of Action and Narrative Element. It finds that the main characters generally fit Propp's character archetypes and that the plot follows Propp's proposed sequencing of narrative beats. However, it also notes some deviations, such as the secondary hero Marius experiencing his own character arc. Overall, the document concludes that Propp's theories provide a suitable framework for analyzing the classic and linear narrative structure of Les Miserables.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as DOC, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as doc, pdf, or txt
    of 5

    Almira Desiani Khanna ( 14757 )

    BA Animation Level 2 2D
    Assignment 1 Semester 1, Contextual Studies
    Lasalle College of the Arts, Faculty of Media Arts

    Narrative in Les Misrables


    This essay will use Les Misrables (2012) by Tom Hopper as its film source and pit it
    against Propp's The Seven Spheres of Action and Narrative Element in order to see how their theory
    of narrative and character types affect the writer as a viewer to read the film. Les Misrables itself is
    based on a musical with the same name by Alan Boulbil and Claude-Michel Schonberg, which is
    also based on the 1862 french novel by Victor Hugo.

    Propp's The Seven Spheres of Action


    Les Misrables characters are often accurately fitting into Propp's The Seven Spheres of
    Action. Being an epic romantic film, Les Misrables is expected to provide characters that are
    simple enough for a wide audience to understand and relate to within 2 hours time limit. Because of
    that, named side characters who mostly play the role of the helpers become very one-dimensional,
    whose only shown motivation is to support the hero or to fight for a cause that the hero is also
    fighting for. Examples to this are Gavroche and Fauchelevent.
    Jean Valjean, the main character, fits the Hero traits perfectly. He might has been a thief and
    lives in hiding all his life, but he is not ill-willed. The role of both the Dispatcher and the Donor are
    given to the bishop who frees Valjean under the belief that Valjean can change himself and follow
    the path of the right. Valjean believes in the priest, and continues his life as Monsieur Le Maire. As
    Le Maire, He is shown to help those in need, including Fantine. One thing to note that unlike heroes
    in folk tales, most of Valjean's actions are self-motivated in the sense that he is not pushed around
    by the dispatcher or people around him. An example to this are when he decides to see whether

    Marius is worthy of his daugther or not by going to the rebels' barricade.


    Valjean's life as Le Maire is gone after he confesses that he is Jean Valjean, the criminal that
    Inspector Javert has been looking for. Javert plays the role of the villain, being obsessed in
    capturing Valjean whose crime is only stealing bread and completely believes that a criminal cannot
    change or redeem himself. He also represents the french government, which is shown to be cruel
    and does not take care of the people. The Female in Distress role is given to both Fantine and
    Cosette. Fantine's on-screen struggles, her downfall to prostitution, and Cosette's curiousity on
    Valjean's actual identity support the character type while also making them look human rather than
    an object to be protected.
    Later, Marius is introduced together with the Friends of the ABC. He also fits the Hero
    character type despite being introduced later, sporting a lot of classical traits such as being naive
    and heroic. Meanwhile other characters in the same group such as Gavroche, Enjolras, and Eponine
    play the role of helpers. Eponine in particular also sacrifices herself in order to protect the man she
    loves, Marius.
    Some of the characters roles are not fully black and white, such as the thief couple. Despite
    being a sneaky and cheap pair of villain in the start of the movie, the couple also accidentally helps
    Marius in finding Jean. There is also Eponine, although mainly becomes a loyal helper to Marius,
    holds back a message from Cossette to Marius out of jealousy for a while.

    Propp's Sequencing List


    Les Misrables also generally follow Propp's sequencing list. The movie starts with the first
    action in the list, hero is introduced, by showing Valjean's last struggles as a convict as he is
    released on a parole. This scene also reflects to the second action in the list, an interdiction is
    addressed to the hero. After that, Valjean gets into trouble again and is freed by a bishop, which
    reflects to the second and stronger version of an interdiction is addressed to the hero. Valjean
    follows the bishop's wishes, becomes a honest man called Monsieur Le Maire and helps a lot of

    people in need until he meets Javert again. Unable to lie from Javert's suspicions, Le Maire
    confesses that he is actually Jean Valjean, much to Javert's anger. Javert then confronts Valjean,
    which ends up in a swordfight that becomes the first hero and villain in direct combat story beat.
    On his way of hiding, Valjean and his new adoptive daugther Cosette is found by Fauchelevent, a
    man he has helped during his years as Le Maire. Fauchelevent offers a shelter and protection, and
    Valjean is saved from Javert.
    Nine years later, Marius is introduced as a member of the rebel students and immediately
    falls in love with Cosette. At the same time, Javert finds Valjean again, resulting in Valjean's attempt
    to escape from the city. Marius sends Cosette one last letter before she departs, which causes
    Valjean to go to the rebels' barricade to see if Marius is a man fitting for his daughter. This scene
    reflects to hero leaves home story beat for Valjean and hero is tested or interrogated story beat for
    Marius as the secondary hero. A battle between the rebels and the government army breaks out, and
    Marius is wounded. Valjean then immediately carries Marius to a nearby doctor, but is confronted
    by Javert. This leads to the final Hero versus Villain story beat. Valjean ignores Javert's threat to
    him in order to bring Marius to a doctor. While remembering how Valjean mercifully set the
    captured Javert free from the hands of the rebels, Javert starts to doubt himself and his duties. He
    then proceeds to commit suicide, which follows the villain is defeated beat, although the act is done
    not by the hero but by the villain himself.
    The next morning, Marius wakes up on a hospital bed. Things has returned to normal, with
    Cosette and Valjean waiting for Marius. This reflects to hero returns story beat. Valjean then leaves
    the place, claiming that a criminal like him should go into hiding, which translates to a self-made
    hero unrecognized story beat. The final beat, hero marries and ascends the throne, happens when
    Marius marries Cosette. He finds out where Valjean is hiding through the thief couple, and goes to
    Valjean together with Cosette. There, Valjean dies in peace and joins the spirits of Fantine, the
    bishop, and other rebels, meaning that he is forgiven and free.

    Summary
    Overall, Propp's The Seven Spheres of Action and Sequencing List fit with Les Misrables'
    narrative and characters. It is mostly because Les Misrables is an epic romantic musical film,
    which aims for a wide audience and has a limited amount of time to tell its story together with the
    musical scores. The film explores the main characters' motivations and doubts, but not so for the
    side characters whose only role is to support the main characters.
    There are also few differences in this film that deviates from Propp's theories. Marius which
    is introduced later in the film, also becomes a true hero instead of a false hero from the theory Propp
    proposed. Not only that, Marius as the secondary hero also goes through his own version of
    sequencing list, though often happens hand in hand with Valjean's sequences.
    In conclusion, Propp's theories are suitable for the writer to read Les Misrables, as it has a
    classic and mostly linear narrative and characters.

    Bibliography
    Edgar-Hunt, R., Marland, J. and Rawle, S. (2010). The language of film. 1st ed. Lausanne: AVA
    Academia.
    Les Misrables. (2012). [DVD] Tom Hopper.

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