Les Mis is rly gay ya'll

 A semi-professional critical look into the writings of Victor Hugo I had to do for a class forever ago, knock urself out (2016)

[secretmellowblog]

@pilferingapples suggested making a musical adaptation of Les Mis where Enjolras and Fantine are played by the same actor, because Symbolism….since both Fantine and Enjolras young righteously angry twenty-somethings who fight for a better future and have Symbolically Important blond hair,,,, and anyway that idea lives rent-free in my head

[trust-gavroche]

What a great Gavroche!!!

[perplexingly]

rememeber when my entire art blog centered around Enjolras/Grantaire

[kathryntaylorrose]

New Video!

Les Misérables Highlights at Dallas Theater Center

[queerjolras]

Sex Work & Fantine as a Symbol for Women’s Oppression by Megan Kearns

(full article here)

[queerjolras]

something i really love about les mis is that there isn’t really a defined villain. like yeah there are shitty people and they do shitty things but really characters like Thenardier are born out of circumstance rather than evil u know? like the only real evil in the book comes from classism, sexism, inequality, the failing prison system, and the need to survive living in poverty in 19th century France. and characters like Javert are complex and layered and shouldnt be labeled as villains because their actions are not done out of corruptness or hatred but out of elements like misunderstanding and the inescapability from their abusive upbringings. The whole point is that people can change and that people are not defined by their past or their background or family. 

except for Tholomyès like seriously fuck that guy

[queerjolras]

Do you permit it? - Enjolras and Grantaire’s Intense and Imbalanced Relationship

Grantaire and Enjolras share an interesting and complex relationship throughout the later parts of the book, Les Miserables by Victor Hugo. In both the musical and the book their connection is visible and can be seen as noticeably queer.  

(Ramin Kamiloo as Enjolras and Hadley Frasier as Grantaire in the 25th Anniversary Concert) 

Grantaire is written as Enjolras’ opposite and the aspects of their personalities that clash are some of what makes their relationship so interesting. Enjolras is terrifyingly ravishing where Grantaire is “frightfully ugly,” Grantaire has many talents and hobbies where Enjolras is singularly driven for the republic, and where Enjolras has naive hope Grantaire has cynical doubt. Grantaire “lives in irony,” his own name being literally a pun, which highly contrasts Enjolras’ constant serious tone. I love the line,

“A phenomenon often seen. A skeptic adhering to a believer; that is as simple as the law of the complementary colors. What we lack attracts us. Nobody loves the light like the blind man…The toad is always looking up at the sky; why? To see the bird fly.” (Hugo, Part 4, Chapter 1)

There is also the difference in their written sexualities that makes their characters so dynamic. Enjolras is vehemently against any relationship with a woman but Grantaire is written as “looking tenderly and fixedly upon every woman.” So, using this framework, Grantaire could pretty easily be read as bisexual or pansexual. However, of the two characters, it seems Grantaire is the one with open romantic feelings towards a man, meaning Enjolras. And ok wow are those feelings written pretty clearly.

“Still, this skeptic had a fanaticism. This fanaticism was neither an idea, nor a dogma, nor an art, nor a science; it was a man: Enjolras. Grantaire admired, loved and venerated Enjolras.”  (Hugo, Part 4, Chapter 1)

And that’s just the beginning. Most of Grantaire’s scenes are written with the context of being around Enjolras or doing something for Enjolras. The worship of Enjolras by Grantaire is in no way what a healthy queer relationship looks like but the sheer intensity of feelings is definitely a quintessential romantic storyline.  But Grantaire isn’t written to be a healthy partner for Enjolras, he’s written as his historical counterpart, as his unyielding support. He is referenced as being like Pollux, Patroclus, Nisus, Eudamidas, Hephaestion, Pechmeja, and Pylades. These are famous corresponding men to beautiful and powerful heros and Grantaire is just playing the part. In his description Grantaire is written as “taking great care as not to believe in anything” and this line is great because it once again shows the active differences between Enjolras and Grantaire but then later on when Grantaire is offering to be of help to the cause this scene plays out, which I think it brilliant,

“Is it possible that you can be good for anything?” “Yes, I have a vague ambition for it, “ said Grantaire. “You don’t believe in anything.” “I believe in you.” (Hugo, Part 4, Chapter 6)

One of my favorite things about both the book and the musical is the parallel and repurposing of certain lines. So shit like this gets me heated for real. Grantaire wants so desperately not to believe in anything, to maintain his demeanor of being uncaring and cynical, aloof and unbelieving. So for him to so openly state his believe in Enjolras has such a deep meaning.

Now Grantaire’s feelings are not openly returned by Enjolras within the text, except for perhaps the most dramatic and bloodiest point in the second act of the play. In Part 5, Chapter 23, aptly named Orestes Fasting and Pylades Drunk, The rebellion is coming to a gory close. Every one of the young members of the revolution has been killed and Enjolras has been cornered by the National Guard in the back of the Café where the students met and discussed their visions of the future. He knows this is going to be his demise. Grantaire, awakening from a drunken stupor, calls out that he is one of the rebels, something he tried to distance himself from previously. Grantaire is also aware that this is the end of Enjolras and of the rebellion so he opts to die by his side, asking for Enjolras’ permission first.

“He repeated: ‘Vive le Republique!’ crossed the room with a firm step, and took his place before the muskets beside Enjolrs. ‘Two at one shot, said he. And turning towards Enjolras gently, he said to him: ‘Do you permit it?’ Enjolras grasped his hand with a smile. This smile was finished when the report was heard. Enjolras, pierced by eight bullets, remained backed against the wall as is they had nailed him there. Only he bowed his head. Grantaire, stricken down, fell at his feet.” (Hugo, Part 5, Chapter 23)

The imagery of how their bodies remain after being shot is a powerful summary of their relationship. Enjolras’ body is left still standing while Grantaire is at his feet. It is tragic, as most queer stories end, and ends only with the intimacy of holding hands but they die together, smiling. And if that’s not the most Victor Hugo thing I’ve ever heard idk what is.

(Aaron Tveit as Enjolras and George Blagden as Grantaire in the 2012 film) 

There is so much to explore between these two characters because so much of their relationship is written in between the lines, implied by using strong, memorable phrases and fatal gestures.

[queerjolras]

Very Pretty and Very Queer- Antinous, Enjolras, and reading historical subtext

Victor Hugo, although constantly pulling references out of nowhere, rarely makes an allusion to something without having implicit intentions behind it. His constant comparison of Enjolras to famous Greek and Roman pretty boys and his relationship with Grantaire to legendary male relationships can be taken as a veiled but intentional way to write him as queer. 

In the context of Enjolras as an educated character living during the 1830s in Paris it can be assumed that he was aware of Antinous as a historical figure and would most likely be at least somewhat influenced by Greco-Roman ethos. Today we have the full context of the development of Antinous’s cultural influence as well as knowing what happens next for France historically after the June Rebellion, as did Hugo when he wrote Les Miserables in 1862. It is a whole new level of foreshadowing when you read the brick knowing what happens to Antinous and how he is more beloved and worshiped after his tragic death. 

 The parallels of Antinous and Enjolras are striking when we look at how they were both viewed and remembered by others. Enjolras wanted nothing more than to rally the people for change, to have his movement be loved and listened to by the public and to be immortalized in this veneration. And this kind of worship is exactly what befell Antinous, inspiring a city and later a cult and religion that can still be found today. Both die tragic and young with their male counterparts at their side, inspiring many postmortem.

Because of the obviously intended parallels between Enjolras and Antinous it seems safe to say that there are more similarities that are a little more implied. In the Wilbour translation Enjolras is written as being not interested in women at all, which contrasts the amount of Amis who are constantly talking about women and how to acquire their attention (Joly, Legle, Grantaire, Marius, etc.)

“His twenty-two years of age appeared seventeen; he was serious, he did not seem to know that there was on the earth a being called woman.” (Hugo, Part 4, Chapter 1)

This could be taken a number of different ways but overall each interpretation places Enjolras under some part of the queer umbrella. His disinterest in women is further described as, 

“Had any grisette…seeing this college boy’s face, this form of a page, those long fair lashes, those blue eyes, that hair flying in the wind, those rosy cheeks, those pure lips, those exquisite teeth, felt a desire to taste all this dawn, and tried her beauty upon Enjolras, a surprising and terrible look would have suddenly shown her the great gulf…” (Hugo, Part 4, Chapter 1)

Woooooh boy! Okay so not only is he not interested in women he is also, as if not already otherwise stated before in grave detail, VERY PRETTY.  Antinous was also known for his severe beauty and as Caroline Vout writes in Power and Imperialism in Imperial Rome, “his adoption as a gay icon.” So the similarity between the two can also be found in that they were both, at least assumed on Enjolras’ side, very pretty and very gay. And these connections are all being made without even touching on the subject of Antinous’ relationship with Hadrian and Enjolras’ relationship with Grantaire! The intensity his disinterest in women is written could also be read as his dedication to the revolution (and only the revolution) and could very well be understood as Enjolras being asexual or aromantic. 

It is pretty easy to read Enjolras as queer even without looking into his written and performed relationships with others. Whether Enjolras be seen as gay or asexual or just simply a powerful force representing the people of the revolution*, many of his identities are queer.

So I guess what im really saying is that having the background info on Antinous, as well as other literary and historical characters Enjolras (and Grantaire) are compared to, gives queer readers some hard facts to work with when understanding subtext. Even when reading the brick without that knowledge you can still pretty easily find queer themes throughout it. So it’s like “you think this is gay now? Check this shit out!”

*I’m also addressing that Enjolras is described as being rich in the book even though he is leading a revolution for workers and the people. He is hardly marginalized the way queer activists are today but I feel that comparison can still be made.