I love how Fantine is introduced the way that Valjean is introduced— as an “Everyman,” as an anonymous stranger who accepts whatever name is given to them.
She bore on her brow the sign of the anonymous and the unknown. She was born at M. sur M. Of what parents? Who can say? She had never known father or mother. She was called Fantine. Why Fantine? She had never borne any other name. At the epoch of her birth the Directory still existed. She had no family name; she had no family; no baptismal name; the Church no longer existed. She bore the name which pleased the first random passer-by, who had encountered her, when a very small child, running bare-legged in the street. She received the name as she received the water from the clouds upon her brow when it rained.
Later her friend group nicknames her “the Blonde,” and she accepts that nickname the same way she accepted “Fantine.”
The fact that Fantine grew up in desperate poverty/anonymity also adds a layer of meaning to her relationship with Tholomyes. Fantine has never lived like a “lady”— she has spent her entire life fighting and working to survive. She lived as a gamin, then worked on a farm, and then worked in the city— but she’s always had to work.
So Tholomyes is just…..a mediocre rich man who’s able to take advantage of his wealth to manipulate her. He can give Fantine tiny luxuries that he can afford without a problem, or give her the opportunity to take rest and have leisure time….and these are things that, for someone like Fantine, would seem like acts of love! They would seem rare and special! But for him they mean very little and cost him very little to do. And so between them there’s just ….this massive horrible power imbalance, both financially and emotionally.