Writing a comparative essay on ATO2C and LM (sacrifice and redemption) and I've just spent the last three hours trying to compare Charles to Marius. In the end, I had to delete the whole paragraph because I just couldn't find a way to make Marius' sacrifice for the sake of the rebellion noble. Typing this now, I realise that I have a stronger chance of creating a link regarding his sacrifice of wealth rather than his sacrifice for the sake of the revolutionaries, but the point still stands. It's not like he's doing it to redeem anything, which defeats the whole purpose of the essay.
I had initially planned on making this point because I figured I could be a little cheeky and twist the narrative a bit in Marius' favour (as they do in the musical)- as Marius KIND OF gives his family values up and fights for the rebellion, and I could KIND OF make a link, but at the end of the day, try as I might to make the association, Marius was completely willing to make up with his monarchist grandfather as soon as he blessed him and Cosette. The dude only actually helped at the barricades because his girlfriend was moving away, and he had very little interest in actually surviving. Talk about noble.
To be fair, this now creates an interesting topic for me to discuss once I finish my coursework- because Marius really isn't as selfless as he is portrayed to be in the musical, similar to Eponine- the tragic heroine of the story. Yes, his reasons often are respectable. He acted quite a bit out of love for Cosette and his father. That being said, his actions still create a sort of "morally gray" characteristic about him, and that is hardly addressed at all in the musical. I'm not saying it needed to be addressed, but the musical therefore makes certain characters a lot more likeable than they actually are, and in turn makes other characters a lot LESS likeable, because there just isn't enough time to explore them.
Back to my point. I'm just going to compare Darnay to Valjean and go on my merry way. Just wanted to come on here with an incomprehensible rant.
>
TLDR; Marius isn't really that respectable. I shouldn't have tried to fit him into my essay.
