Gavroche

Gavroche is also a French beer, produced by Brasserie de Saint-Sylvestre.

Gavroche is a fictional character from the novel Les Misérables by Victor Hugo.

Illustration of Gavroche by Émile Bayard (1837-1891)

Novel

Plot

Gavroche is the eldest son of M. and Mme Thénardier. He has two sisters, Éponine and Azelma, and two unnamed younger brothers. He is also technically unnamed; the reader is told he chooses the name for himself, but is not provided with his real name. Mme Thénardier only loves her daughters, and M. Thénardier shows no affection for any of his children. Gavroche is told by his parents to live in the street, because he would have a better life there.

The Thénardiers sell (or rent) their two youngest sons to a woman named Magnon. Due to a freak accident, the two boys are separated from Magnon without identification, and run into Gavroche. They do not recognize each other, but Gavroche invites them to live with him. They reside in the hollow cavity of a giant elephant statue, conceived by Napoleon as a fountain, but abandoned unfinished. This was no imaginary construction; located at the Place de la Bastille, it had been designed by Jean-Antoine Alavoine.

During the student uprising of June 5-6, 1832, Gavroche joins the revolutionaries at the barricade. Partially in order to protect him from injury, Marius hands him a letter to deliver to Cosette. After delivering it to Cosette's guardian Jean Valjean, who promises he will hand it to Cosette, Gavroche returns to the barricade.

After an exchange of gunfire with the National Guards, Gavroche overhears Enjolras remark that they are running out of cartridges. He decides he can help. He goes through an opening in the barricade and collects the cartridges from the dead bodies of the National Guard. In the process of collecting the cartridges and singing a song, he is shot and killed.

Argot

Argot is the slang used by thieves, criminals, and others who live in the streets. Victor Hugo was one of the first to note the slang and write it down. The character of Gavroche is used to introduce the concept of argot to the reader. The word "argot" has actually come to be the current French and Spanish term for "slang".

Musical

Differences in the musical

There are a few notable plot differences in the Cameron Mackintosh stage musical.

• The playbill for the musical indicates that Gavroche's parents are the Thénardiers, but this is not indicated in the context of the musical itself.
• Gavroche's two younger brothers and his sister Azelma are cut completely.
• Marius instead gives the letter to Gavroche's sister, Éponine, to deliver, which results in her death.
• The musical changes the song that Gavroche sings at the barricade. (The version on the French concept album, however, is the same as in the book.)

Songs

Gavroche sings in the following songs in the musical:

• Look Down
• Stars (at the end of the song)
• The ABC Café / Red and Black
• One Day More
• Little People
• The Second Attack (Death of Gavroche)
• Finale/Do You Hear The People Sing? (Reprise)

Actors

Onstage

Notable actors who have played Gavroche onstage:

• Ian Tucker, Original London Cast
• Braden Danner, Original Broadway Cast
• RD Robb (understudy), Original Broadway Cast

• Rider Strong, San Francisco 1988
• J. D. Daniels, Broadway
• Chris Fountain
• Illya Woloshyn, Toronto 1988
• Sam Riegel, New York
• Brian D'Addario, Broadway
• Adam Searles, (10th Anniversary Concert) 1995
• Nick Jonas (of the Jonas Brothers), Broadway 2003
• Brandon O'Rourke, Philadelphia 2008
• Austyn Myers, (From the movie "Meet Dave") Broadway 2006

• Jordi Parry and AJ Breivik, Signature Theatre, Virginia, 2008-9

Screen Adaptations

Notable actors who have played Gavroche on film:

• Charles Badiole, 1925 Adaptation
• Émile Genevois, 1934 Adaptation
• Bobby Hyatt, 1952 Adaptation
• Jimmy Urbain, 1958 Adaptation
• Gilles Maidon, 1972 Adaptation
• Emmanuel Curtil, 1982 Adaptation
• Adam Searles, 1995 TV Concert
• Shane Hervey, 1998 Adaptation
• Jérôme Hardelay, 2000 Adaptation

Cultural References

• In French, the word "Gavroche" has come to mean "street urchin" and "mischievous child."
• There is a homeless organization in Varna, Bulgaria named the Gavroche Association.
• There are several restaurants across the world which use the name, including one in London run by the Roux brothers, Michel and Albert, which was the first in Britain to be awarded three Michelin stars.
• There is a French-language magazine about Thailand named Gavroche.
• While it predates the novel by three decades, the boy brandishing the pistols in Eugène Delacroix's Liberty Leading the People is often associated with Gavroche. Gavroche fires a pistol in the novel; it is possible that Hugo meant to allude to the painting.
• Bulgarian poet Hristo Smirnenski has a poem called The Brothers of Gavroche.
• A famous Polish punk/ska group Alians named one of its albums 'Gavroche'.
• Nobby Nobbs takes the place of Gavroche in Terry Pratchett's Discworld novel Night Watch, which is loosely based on Les Misérables.

Sources

• Les Misérables, Victor Hugo. (Marius, Book I; Saint Denis, Book VI; Jean Valjean, Book I)