This page is for tropes that have appeared in the musical Les Misérables.
For the rest:
- Sanity Slippage Song: Javert's Suicide.
- Secret Identity: Valjean as the mayor.
- Self-Made Man: Valjean as Monsieur Madeleine.
- Sell What You Love: When Fantine loses her job, the first thing she sells is a precious locket (in the movie version, it contains a lock of Cosette's hair). Her hair (and crowning glory) is next to go.
- Sexy Discretion Shot: “Lovely Ladies” usually includes a few.
- Shoo the Dog: To make sure Eponine isn't caught in the crossfire, Marius sends her on an errand to deliver a message to Cosette. He may be Oblivious to Love but doesn't want a dear friend killed because of his actions. It doesn't work.
- Shown Their Work: A lot got cut out, but especially listening to the Complete Symphonic Recording, telling details from the original text sneak in: for example, M. Thénardier making his first fortune by robbing the dead after the battle of Waterloo, the fact that Valjean's Criminal Doppelgänger is mentally disabled, etc.
- Shut Up, Hannibal!: Valjean in response to Javert before he sets him free from Les Amis. Also combines with a speech "You are wrong, and always have been wrong. I'm a man, no worse than any man. You are free, and there are no conditions, no bargains or petitions. There's nothing that I blame you for. You've done your duty, nothing more."
- Shut Up, Kirk!: "
You know nothing of Javert!" - Silver Fox: Javert is sometimes portrayed this way.
- Slave Galley: The 25th Anniversary staging has Valjean serve time in one of these, despite being a huge anachronism, although the shore prisons in 19th century France were still called “the galleys”. Other productions are usually more accurate.
- "Somewhere" Song: "Castle On A Cloud", "In My Life" and "Do You Hear The People Sing?"
- The Song Before the Storm: "One Day More"
- Song of Prayer: "Bring Him Home
", which is actually referred to in the script as "The Prayer", has Jean Valjean praying for the safety of Marius prior to the final battle at the barricade. - Sour Supporter: Grantaire. Proved right.
- Spared by the Adaptation:
- Mme. Thénardier.
- Also, the gang member Claquesous, who in the novel goes to the barricade under the name Le Cabuc, shoots a civillian and is promptly executed for it by Enjolras. In the musical he never appears again after "Attack on Rue Plumet."
- Spoiled Brat: Éponine as long as her parents can afford it, which they do by conning their customers.
- Stalker with a Crush:
- Éponine joins the fray at the barricade just so she can stay close to Marius.
- Also Marius, considering he begs Eponine to find out where Cosette lives so he can sing to her outside the gate.
- Stay with Me Until I Die: Both Fantine and Éponine.
- Stern Chase: Javert hounding Valjean for decades. (Which is really an artifact of adaptation distillation/compression; Javert is not such a monomaniac in the book.)
- Still Wearing the Old Colors: Thénardier wears a Napoleonic uniform at the start of the play as a remnant from his supposed days as a soldier.
- Sung-Through Musical
- Super-Strength: In all versions of the musical (film included) Valjean's twenty years of slavery has toughened his muscles and sinews, allowing him to perform almost superhuman feats such as singlehandedy lifting a shipmast or a fallen cart that a dozen men cannot even budge, and effortlessly carrying grown loved ones across his shoulders to safety while running at a brisk pace.
- Survivor Guilt: "Empty Chairs at Empty Tables." "Oh my friends, my friends, forgive me / That I live and you are gone..."
- Take a Third Option: Javert is stuck between arresting Valjean or letting him go in a certain climactic scene. Instead, he commits suicide.
- Take Care of the Kids: Fantine, depending on the actress, she might not be aware of her impending death — however, Valjean is, and he assures her before she dies that he will raise Cosette and take care of her.Fantine: Take my hand, the night grows ever colder; Take my child, I give her to your keeping.
- Tempting Fate: "This time there is no mistake," sings Javert proudly when boasting about how he's at last apprehended Jean Valjean — to Jean Valjean himself. Valjean himself verges into this when (in some versions) he asks Javert if he's sure that he's not Jean Valjean.
- Tenor Boy: Gavroche, who is ideally played by a prepubescent boy, definitely fits in terms of range, but lovestruck and idealistic Marius fits best for personality.
- That Man Is Dead: "Jean Valjean is nothing now!". Later he declares "I'm Jean Valjean!". The rest of the play deals with how he can reconcile who he was with who he had become.
- "They've Come So Far" Song: "Who Am I?" and "A Little Fall Of Rain"
- Third-Person Person: Javert doesn't always refer to himself in the third person, but he does do it a lot more than other characters.
- Together in Death:
- What Éponine hopes will happen to her and Marius. Sadly (for her), he survives.
- In a non-romantic version, Fantine reappears to escort Valjean to the afterlife.
- Traumatic Haircut: Fantine gets one to pay for her daughter
- Triumphant Reprise:
- "ABC Cafe" uses a triumphant version of "At The End Of The Day" in its dialogue.
- "One Day More" uses "I Dreamed A Dream" and "Who Am I?" as its primary melodies.
- "Building The Barricade" used triumphant melodies of "ABC Cafe" and "Red And Black".
- "Epilogue" is this to "Do You Hear The People Sing?".
- Turn the Other Cheek:
- Valjean, to the extreme.
- And the Bishop of Digne.
- Unholy Matrimony: The Thénardiers; they do seem to genuinely care about each other...just not their children.
- Unusual Euphemism: This gem from "Lovely Ladies" is certainly an interesting one:"Think I'll drop me anchor in that harbor over there!"
- Uptown Girl: Marius and Cosette, either way you look at it: on one hand, he appears to be a poor revolutionary falling for a rich philanthropist's daughter, but on the other hand, he's a wealthy baron's son, and she's the illegitimate daughter of a prostitute.
- Played straighter with Éponine's unrequited love for the upper-class Marius.
- Very Loosely Based on a True Story: Several parts of the story are inspired by real life events Hugo witnessed, was a part of or was told about:
- Hugo himself saved a prostitute from arrest for assault.
- So are parts of the love story between Cosette and Marius.
- The June revolts of 1832.
- Both Valjean and Javert are based on the same person: Eugene Francois Vidocq, a reformed criminal who went on to reform the French police.
- Viewers Are Geniuses: Who exactly was General Lamarque and why was he so significant? It's much better explained in the novel and some non-musical adaptations.
- Villainous Breakdown: While sung by an Anti-Villain, "Javert's Suicide" still counts.
- Villainous BSoD: "Javert's Suicide."
- Villainy-Free Villain:
- Well, ya know, Valjean did break his parole and all. And becoming a rich mayor under a false identity is grounds for a fraud investigation. And, in the book at least, the Thenardiers swear blind that Valjean kidnapped Cosette. Technically, Javert is in the right to want to rearrest him. Technically.
- And that's why Valjean doesn't kill him, because he's knows Javert is just following the law.
Valjean: There's nothing that I blame you for. You've done your duty, nothing more. - Villain Song: Thenardier's "Dog Eats Dog" definitely fits the bill. Showcasing Thenardier's true roguery and greed, it's the darkest, most sinister song in the entire show.
- "The Villain Sucks" Song: Mm. Thenardier's part on "Master of the House" show how she hates her husband.
- Welcoming Song:
- "Prologue": Establishing Series Moment
- "Lovely Ladies" and "Master of the House"
- "Look Down Reprise ": We are welcomed to the Wretched Hive known as Paris.
- Wedding/Death Juxtaposition: Cosette and Marius marry near the end of the show. When they get home they find Cosette's surrogate Valjean dying, and he is accompanied to heaven by the spirits of Cosette's mother Fantine and Marius' Hopeless Suitor Eponine. It is a Bittersweet Ending: Cosette and Marius will have a happy life together, while the deceased characters know their ideals will live to see another day.
- Well-Intentioned Extremist: Speaking of which, Javert plays this trope so well that he even has a whole sub-trope section dedicated to him.
- What Are You in For?: Doesn’t actually get asked, but Valjean does tend to answer it rather often nevertheless…
- What Happened to the Mouse?: The catalyst of the story, Valjean's nephew for whom he stole the bread, is never seen nor anything said about him after Valjean gets out of prison.
- What Is One Man's Life In Comparison?:
- Valjean brings this up when arguing with himself over revealing himself or not - all the good he's done for the town vs. life in Toulon for Champmathieu. Then he reasons that all the good he's done would mean nothing if he let Champmathieu go in his place.
- Enjolras brings this up to Marius as to why the latter should favor the revolution over pursuing love and chasing after Cosette.
Enjolras: Who cares about your lonely soul? We strive towards a larger goal, our little lives don't count at all! - What Is This Feeling?: "Valjean's Soliloquy", "In My Life" and "Javert's Suicide ".
- What the Hell, Hero?: Fantine isn't too happy when Valjean comes to her aid when she's being arrested since, as she says: 'You let your foreman send me away/Yes you were there, and turned aside...'
- What You Are in the Dark:
- Comes into play several times. First of all, Valjean chooses to out himself in "Who Am I?" when he could have passed his whole life in peaceful anonymity. Then, When Valjean is given the duty of executing Javert as a spy. He could easily kill the only man who knows him personally enough to track him down — but without even thinking about it this time, he fakes Javert's execution and lets him go free, giving him his address for good measure so the two of them can settle things later. Many of Valjean's finest moments involve this trope.
- Eponine also gets this. Marius trusts her to lead him to Cosette, the same girl that she bullied as a child. Eponine loves Marius and resents that he can't see it. She leads him honestly to Cosette's house, and then screams an alarm when her father's gang tries to rob the place. Her father kicks her out as a result, and threatens her harm if he sees her again. She also joins Marius on the barricades after delivering his letter to Cosette, despite him giving her a message to explicitly keep her out of danger.
- Wide-Eyed Idealist: Marius, Enjolras, heck all the ABCs except Grantaire, though some productions emphasise this more than others.
- With Catlike TreadValjean: "But when the house was still/I got up in the night/Took that silver/Took my FLIIIIIIGHT!
- Working on the Chain Gang: The opening song is about the torment the men face in it. Although whether there are actual chains is a matter of production. The “replica” staging (which is generally low on props) did not have any, but the 25th anniversary staging rectified that.
- Wrongly Accused: Champmathieu when mistaken for Valjean.
- Why Don't Ya Just Shoot Him?: What Javert asks after being unmasked and captured by the students on the barricade. Answer: They don’t want to waste ammunition… yet.
- Yank the Dog's Chain:
- On the verge of being thrown into prison, Fantine is rescued by Valjean, who promises to bring her daughter to her and pay off all of her debts. When we meet Fantine again, she's lying in a nice, clean, warm hospital, and there's calm music playing. It'll all work out, right? Why does the music echo the line "If there's a God above, He'd let me die instead"? Oh, no...
- Valjean believes himself safe in his new identity only for Javert to make the whole thing crumble and put Valjean in front of the terrible choice of going back to prison or let an innocent go to prison in his place.
- Some versions of the show have Gavroche climb over the barricade to collect ammo to a triumphant, fast-paced instrumental of "Do You Hear the People Sing" - until he's shot and slowly bleeds out.
- Cosette and Marius have managed to get to Valjean when he’s still alive – only for him to die ten minutes later.
- You Are Not Alone: how Eponine dies. Also the fact that Grantaire often dies alongside Enjolras - he refuses to let the man he idolizes die alone.
- You Are Number 6: Despite the fact that the book hardly mentions Valjean's prison numbers (yes, in the book, he has two), the musical is crazy about this one. Counting reveals that Javert calls Valjean more often by his number than his name. Valjean refers to himself as "24601" once, to represent him deciding to submit to authority for the sake of clearing an innocent man.Javert: Five years for what you did; the rest because you tried to run. Yes, 24601-
Valjean: My name is Jean Valjean!
Javert: And I'm Javert! Do not forget my name! Do not forget me, 24601! - You Are Worth Hell: Even if he doesn't return her feelings, Eponine considers dying with Marius better than living without him and knowing she could have done something to save himd. In some productions, she takes a bullet for him and tells him it was Worth It.
- You Shall Not Pass!: When her father attempts to rob Valjean and Cosette, some productions have Eponine guard the front door and attempt to talk down the gang. They respond by tossing her aside, so she screams in alarm instead.
