Éponine
Eponine is a character from the novel Les Misérables, by Victor Hugo. The novel is set in 19th century France.
Novel
Eponine's role in the novel centers around Cosette. As a child, she is spoiled, while Cosette is treated miserably. As a young adult, she brings Marius and Cosette together. She becomes obsessed with Marius.
Early life
Eponine is introduced as the elder daughter of M. and Mme Thenardier, who run an inn in the town of Montfermeil. A woman named Fantine who has an illegitimate daughter, Cosette, arrives and upon seeing Eponine and her younger sister Azelma, asks the Thenardiers if Cosette can live with them while she goes to look for work. The Thenardiers agree on the condition that Fantine sends them money to pay for the child. However, the Thenardiers abuse Cosette and use her as forced labor while spoiling Eponine and Azelma. Jean Valjean eventually arrives and whisks Cosette away.
Life in Paris
Eponine is not seen again for nine years, when she is introduced as Eponine Jondrette. She and her family have lost their inn and now live under the name “Jondrette” in an apartment next to that of Marius Pontmercy. They live in utter squalor, a fact Marius observes through a crack in the wall. When Eponine comes over to Marius' and begs him for money, she tries to impress him, and to prove she is literate she writes “the police are here” (or, "Watch out, the Bogies are around!" in some translations) on a piece of paper. Not realizing that Eponine has fallen in love with him, and pitying her, Marius gives her five francs.
Eponine leaves and some time later Marius observes her in her apartment claiming that she has gotten a philanthropist from the local church to come to their home and give them money to help pay the rent. In an effort to make his family look poorer, M. Jondrette orders Azelma to punch out the window, which she does, cutting her hand open. It turns out that the “philanthropist” is in reality Jean Valjean, and Cosette is with him, whom Marius has fallen in love with. He promises to return later with money for them, but as soon as he leaves, Jondrette and his wife begin to plot to rob and murder Valjean. They recognize him from when he took Cosette away, and want their revenge. To help in this they enlist the aid of the Patron-Minette street gang.
Determined to prevent this crime against his beloved and her father, Marius informs Javert of the planned crime, and Javert gives him two pistols with the order to fire one when the crime is going to happen. Marius returns to his house and waits. Eponine is sent outside the building to watch for the police, but they sneak in the back door and prepare to spring their trap once Marius fires his pistol. Valjean enters the Jondrettes' home, they capture him and reveal that they are the Thenardiers. Marius, recognizing the name as that of the man who saved his father at Waterloo, is torn. He does not want to let Valjean die, but he does not want to betray his father’s savior. Seeing the scrap of paper Eponine left behind, he tosses it frantically into the room via the crack in the wall. Thenardier reads the note “the police are here” and thinks that Eponine threw it inside. They try to escape, but nonetheless Javert enters and arrests Thenardier and his gang.
Marius, Cosette, and Eponine
While in jail, Thenardier tells Eponine to find out where Jean Valjean lives, and she does so. Eponine, knowing that Marius is trying to find “that girl” (Cosette), tells Marius that she knows where Cosette lives, hoping to impress him and make him happy. When she reminds him that he promised to give her something in return for finding Cosette, he offers her his last five franc coin. Eponine sadly lets the coin fall to the ground, saying she does not want his money; Marius is so obsessed with Cosette that he does not realize Eponine is in love with him. Marius visits Cosette several times, and each time Eponine goes with him and waits outside the garden.
On one occasion, after Thenardier and his gang are out of jail, they plan to break into Jean Valjean’s house. However, Eponine, out of love for Marius, threatens to scream and alert the police if they try to carry out their plans. They retire, and Eponine has saved both the house from being robbed and Marius and Cosette from being discovered. Nonetheless, Valjean has seen Thenardier and, thinking it was Javert and the police, decides to leave with Cosette for England very soon. One night, the night of the insurrection in Paris, Marius discovers that Cosette is no longer at her house. However, Eponine, disguised as a boy, yells to Marius that the insurrection is starting and that his friends are waiting for him at the barricade at the Rue de la Chanvrerie.
Death
Marius goes to the barricade armed with the two pistols Javert gave him months ago, and uses them both during the fighting. While he is unarmed and searching for a weapon, a French soldier makes it inside the barricade and aims at Marius. Eponine puts her hand, and her body, in front of the musket, and the musket ball enters her, saving Marius’ life. Marius does not think much of it, and it is not until later that he recognizes her, when she is laying at his feet. He cradles her and she begs him to comfort her. She reveals that Gavroche is her brother, and also says that she cannot lie to him, and gives him a letter that Cosette gave to her a day earlier for Marius. Her original intention was to have them both die at the barricade together, since she was in love with him, but when she saw the musket pointed at him, her love for him was so great that she sacrificed herself for him. She asks that he kiss her on the forehead when she dies, and then with her dying breath, Eponine confesses her love for him, saying, “And then, do you know, Monsieur Marius, I believe I was a little in love with you.” Eponine dies, and Marius kisses her on the forehead as he had promised but then drops her to the ground and walks off to read the letter from Cosette.
Selfish or selfless?
After Eponine takes the bullet for Marius, she reveals that it was she who led him to the barricades. As she is dying, she states that she had hoped that the two of them would die at the barricade and be united in heaven together. Yet when a musket is aimed at Marius, Eponine still blocks the bullet despite her hopes. She, herself, states that she doesn’t understand her actions, “And still when I saw him aiming at you, I put up my hand upon the muzzle of the musket. How droll it is!” Eponine attempts to explain her actions by stating that she wished to die first, but does not provide an explanation to this afterwards. Before she expires, Eponine gives Marius Cosette’s letter in hopes that he won’t be angry with her in the afterlife.
A common debate among readers is Eponine’s motive for saving Marius’ life. Some readers state that though Eponine wished for Marius’ death, she still took the bullet for him selflessly. To further prove this, readers bring up Cosette’s letter that she gave to Marius despite her feelings for him. Others interpret Eponine’s action as an act of selfishness. Some readers believe that Eponine only took the bullet because she wanted to die first. These same readers go on to say that she only gave Marius the letter so she would be forgiven, not out of her own selflessness.
References
- "Story Web." 26 March 2005 Les Miserables.
- (23 January 2006). "Les Miserables."