Fantine
Fantine is a character from Victor Hugo's novel *Les Misérables* (1862), a young mother who descends into poverty and prostitution to support her illegitimate daughter Cosette.
Her name has become shorthand for tragic maternal sacrifice or the plight of women destroyed by social indifference: She worked three jobs to feed her kids—a real Fantine story.
- Victor HugoFrench nineteenth-century novelist
- French literatureWritten works from France
- 19th century novelLong fiction from the 1800s
- ParisFrance's chief city
Jean Valjean · factory worker · fallen woman · prostitution · tragic heroine · social injustice · historical fiction · literary classic
Extreme poverty, lacking necessities
- unemploymentBeing without paid work
- prostitutionCommercial sexual services
- desperationUtter loss of hope
- starvationExtreme nutritional deprivation
illness · squalor · exploitation · survival · debts · pawnshop · cold · tuberculosis
- maternal loveA mother's deep bond
- separationState of being apart
- sacrificeGiving up something precious
- protectionGuarding against harm
abandoned child · longing · devotion · desperation · letters · dying wish · childbirth · illegitimate
Commercial sexual services
- bodyPhysical structure, living thing
- dignityInnate personal worth
- healthCondition of body, mind
- beautyAesthetic excellence
survival · Cosette · maternal devotion · selflessness · desperation · degradation · suffering · love
Sudden loss of power
- despairTotal absence of hope
- deathCessation of life
- tuberculosisMycobacterial lung disease
- exploitationSelfish use of others
abandonment · betrayal · lost innocence · injustice · grief · separation · Cosette · dying wish
Cosette
- Victor HugoFrench nineteenth-century novelist
- French literatureWritten works from France
- 19th century novelLong fiction from the 1800s
Jean Valjean · Paris · factory worker · fallen woman · prostitution · tragic heroine · social injustice · historical fiction · literary classic · Javert
destitution
Extreme poverty, lacking necessities
- unemploymentBeing without paid work
- prostitutionCommercial sexual services
- desperationUtter loss of hope
starvation · illness · squalor · exploitation · survival · debts · pawnshop · cold · tuberculosis · decline
Cosette
- maternal loveA mother's deep bond
- separationState of being apart
- sacrificeGiving up something precious
abandoned child · protection · longing · devotion · desperation · letters · dying wish · childbirth · illegitimate · unwed mother
prostitution
Commercial sexual services
beauty · survival · Cosette · maternal devotion · selflessness · desperation · degradation · suffering · love · protection
downfall
Sudden loss of power
- despairTotal absence of hope
- deathCessation of life
- tuberculosisMycobacterial lung disease
exploitation · abandonment · betrayal · lost innocence · injustice · grief · separation · Cosette · dying wish · deathbed
Fantineexploiter
One who uses unfairly
Lady Macbeth · oppressor · predator · villain · victimizer
Fantinearistocrat
Person of noble birth
bourgeoise · noblewoman · Anna Karenina · Scarlett O'Hara · heiress