Who Are The Thenardiers?

Before I can tell you who they are, I have to tell you who Fantine is. Fantine was once a very beautiful young lady with a bright future ahead of her. That is, until she met Tholomyes. He was the type to get what he wanted from beautiful young women like Fantine, and leave as soon as things got difficult. As you may already have predicted, Fantine and Tholomyes became socially as well as romantically involved. Fantine wasn't purely interested- she had her sights on other men. But she decided to sleep with him to up her social status. To make a long story short, Fantine ended up pregnant...and Tholomyes was never seen again.

Fantine struggled to make ends meet. Having no luck finding a job in the city, due to the baby constantly on her hip, Fantine had become desperate. One day, while taking her daughter, Cosette, to the park, she came upon a couple and their children. The female of these two strangers immediately started complimenting Fantine and Cosette on their lustrious beauty. It didn't take long for Fantine to explain her desperate situation, and upon finding out this couple owned an inn, she was quick to ask if they could take care of her daughter. Just until she could find a job that is.

So the deal was done. The Thenardiers would look after Cosette for a standard monthly fee, and Fantine would flee the town to find a job,and return when she had enough money to support her child. Fantine couldn't believe the kindness of strangers. Little did she knows the Thenardiers were the farthest thing from kind.

Thenardier, being just over fifty, was a small, skinny,sallow- faced man. He was bony, puny and had the sharp stare of a weasel despite the fact that he was always smiling. He liked to make Cosette eat under the table with the animals, and have her fetch water in the dead of night and winter from a well fifteen miuntes out of town. He basically got all his pleasure at the extent of her pain. Mme Thenardier was nearly forty, but appeared the same age as her husband. She was said to be tall, fair - haired, red faced, fleshy, broad shouldered, huge and active. She did all the work of the house, and loved to treat Cosette with sharp blows to the head. Madame Thenardier made it very clear to the young child that she was not like the others...for she never had a mother.

Cosette grew up not knowing how to play, to laugh, to smile. She grew to eight without knowing what love was, or even remembering her mother. I wish I could tell you that this is where it gets happy. That this is where Fantine accepts the money offered to her by Jean Valjean, who was mayor at the time and ran back to save Cosette. But none of this happened. Instead of raising enough money to see her daughter, Fantine had trouble keeping up with the constantly rising cost for living set by the Thenardiers for Cosette. After selling her hair, her teeth, and her body, Fantine died in waiting of her daughter.

Cosette is now eight and remains a servant in the Thenardier Inn.