The Megamusical

F. Les Mis

369 Appendix F: Les Misérables Plot Summary and List of Numbers 1. “Prologue”: It is 1815, in Digne. The lights come up on a prison chain gang, sweating in the sun and bemoaning their fate as they break invisible rocks with invisible tools. Inspector Javert arrives and paroles prisoner number 24601, Jean Valjean, who has served five years for stealing a loaf of bread to feed his starving family, and another fourteen for an attempted escape. Javert warns Valjean not to forget him. Valjean rejoins the world, but finds that his parole papers prevent him from earning a decent living or receiving fair treatment. Valjean moves through a series of encounters. He is shortchanged for his work by a farmer and rejected by an innkeeper, and grows increasingly bitter. A kindly bishop offers him food and shelter, and an incredulous Valjean repays this kindness by stealing the man’s silver and fleeing into the night. The police catch him and return him to the bishop who, to Valjean’s amazement, declares that he had given the poor man the silver and offers more. The bishop explains to Valjean that he must use the silver to become an honest man, that his soul is now God’s. Valjean, ashamed of his actions and amazed by the bishop’s kindness and his own dawning sense of spirituality, declares his old life over and, shredding his parole papers in his final illegal act, begins a new life. 2. “At the End of the Day”: Eight years later, in Montreuil-sur-Mer, a group of poor factory workers express hopelessness and bitterness. Fantine, one of the workers, is teased by the other women for having an illegitimate daughter, who now lives with an innkeeper to whom Fantine sends her meager wages. A tussle breaks out; the owner of the factory, who is also the mayor of the town, arrives. It is Jean Valjean, living an upstanding life under another name. 3. “I Dreamed a Dream”: The stage clears and Fantine, having been fired by the factory foreman for her supposed troublemaking, recalls her sweet affair with her daughter’s father and gives in to hopelessness. 4. “Lovely Ladies”: The scene shifts to the docks, where whores and sailors bawdily interact. Fantine sells first her necklace, then her hair, and eventually her body to pay for her daughter, Cosette. The whores welcome a weary Fantine into their ranks. She resists an abusive customer, drawing the attention of the local police inspector, who happens to be Javert (a subsection sometimes referred to as “Fantine’s Arrest”). Valjean, known to Javert only as the respectable mayor, intercedes on Fantine’s behalf and sends her to the hospital. 5. “The Runaway Cart”: Suddenly, an out-of-control cart laden with goods rolls by, pinning a man beneath it. When onlookers fear to get near, Valjean lifts it off the grateful man. Javert, amazed by Valjean’s show of strength, is reminded of prisoner 24601 from years ago—but this cannot be him, for the man has been recaptured and comes to trial today. 6. “Who Am I?”: Alone on a bare stage, Valjean reflects on this development. Can he 370 Appendix F allow another man to go to jail for him? If he admits who he is, how will he care for Fantine and the people in his town? Valjean concludes that, since his soul belongs to God now, he can face the truth. He reveals to Javert and the startled crowd that he is prisoner 24601. He then informs Javert he will be at the hospital, and flees. 7. “Fantine’s Death/The Confrontation”: Fantine, dying, rests in a hospital bed, speaking to an absent Cosette. Valjean arrives and pledges that he will raise Cosette as his own, and Fantine dies at peace. When Javert catches up to Valjean, the two men argue heatedly. Valjean begs for three days to settle Cosette’s affairs, but when Javert refuses to budge, Valjean knocks him over and flees. 8. “Castle on a Cloud”: Young Cosette, a frail, dirty, adorable little girl, sweeps up the closed inn in Montfermeil where she lives with Thénardier, Mme. Thénardier, and their spoiled little daughter Eponine. Alone at first, Cosette imagines a happy world of children, peace, and a mother figure. Mme. Thénardier, big, brash, and obnoxious, yells at Cosette and sends her out into the woods to fetch water. 9. “Master of the House”: The inn opens for business...