Show Synopsis:
Jean Valjean tries to make amends for his past criminal actions by taking in Cosette, the daughter of a dead prostitute and running a small French town as its mayor. He has to flee with Cosette when the policeman Javert begins pursuing him, pulling her away from her love Marius, who is involved in an upcoming student rebellion against the government for the good of the poor. Javert disguises himself to join the revolutionaries, as does Éponine, who is in love with Marius. The rebels begin to die in battle, and Valjean saves Javert, which causes Javert to question his rights and wrongs. Javert commits suicide, Marius mourns the death of many of his friends, and Valjean has to run away, so he gives Marius his blessing to marry Cosette. Cosette and Marius find Valjean before he dies in a convent and he gives Cosette his written final confession so that she can learn about her mother and Valjean's life.
Character:
Eponine, a ragged French teenager wise beyond her years; hopelessly in love with Marius and wants to impress him.
Song Context:
Eponine has just delivered a love letter from Marius to Cosette, and she wanders the streets of Paris by herself and pretends that Marius is with her. She resolves to stand by him at the barricade.
Fun Facts:
1. One of the longest running musicals of all time, Les Miserables is originaly based on Victor Hugo's novel of the same name.
2. The character of Eponine in the novel differs from the character in the musical by a few points. In the novel, Marius meets Eponine after falling in love with Cosette, Eponine drinks a lot, and Gavroche is her brother.
3. Samantha Barks played the character of Eponine on the West End before playing the role in the 2012 film adaptation, and said in an interview with CBS Television that what she loved was "that she's this strong, confident, brave girl in one aspect, but in another, she's this delicate heart who falls in love but is full of self-loathing and can barely muster up a smile. That was so much fun to play around with."
"And now I'm all alone again nowhere to turn, no one to go to
Without a home without a friend without a face to say hello to
And now the night is near,
Now I can make believe he's here.
Sometimes I walk alone at night
When everybody else is sleeping.
I think of him and then I'm happy
With the company I'm keeping.
The city goes to bed
And I can live inside my head.
On my own,
Pretending he's beside me.
All alone,
I walk with him till morning.
Without him,
I feel his arms around me
And when I lose my way I close my eyes
And he has found me.
In the rain the pavement shines like silver,
All the lights are misty in the river.
In the darkness, the trees are full of starlight
And all I see is him and me forever and forever.
And I know it's only in my mind,
That I'm talking to myself and not to him
And although I know that he is blind
Still I say there's a way for us.
I love him
But when the night is over,
He is gone.
The river's just a river.
Without him,
The world around me changes,
The trees are bare and everywhere
The streets are full of strangers.
I love him,
But every day I'm learning.
All my life,
I've only been pretending.
Without me,
His world would go on turning,
A world that's full of happiness
That I have never known.
I love him,
I love him,
I love him,
But only on my own."