Marius Pontmercy

player.
NAME/HANDLE: Kerry
PERSONAL JOURNAL: halfbloodly
ARE YOU 16 OR OVER?: Yes
CONTACT: Plurk: halfbloodly. AIM: mysterytourist.
OTHER CHARACTERS: Scott McCall wolfteen. I have also applied for Julian Keller hellionated this round.


character.

CHARACTER NAME: Marius Pontmercy

SERIES: Les Miserables (2012) - film

The film's wiki is here. Canon background for Marius as he appears in the book is
here, with notation on the differences between his portrayal in the musical here.

Marius in the film is principally the same character as Marius in the musical. Most of the differences between his characterisation in the book and in the musical are therefore maintained in the film. However, his character in the film has been fleshed out by certain additions and alterations which are taken from the book. Marius’ specific role in the film is therefore as follows:

He is first seen along with Enjolras. The two of them are addressing a crowd of people and are stirring up unrest against the King. They both speak of social injustice, and encourage the people listening to them to revolt, saying that ‘barricades will rise’ in the near future. The implication is that Marius is as keen to incite revolution as is Enjolras. As the police approach, the crowd is forced to disband, but before he can leave, Marius’ grandfather arrives to take hold of his arm. His grandfather calls his actions a disgrace, saying that he is bringing shame on their family. Marius reacts angrily, pulling away from his grandfather and walking with the crowd while shouting ‘Vive la France!’ along with them.

He is next seen in his apartment, which is a small, bare, but not uncomfortable single room. He removes a gold ring bearing his family’s coat of arms from his finger, and puts it into his pocket. He withdraws a box containing two pistols, with which he arms himself. At the same time, Eponine appears in his doorway, telling him that she knows his grandfather is rich and that he is ‘pretending’ to be poor. He clearly recognises her and appears to be friendly with her, smiling while he tells her that he won’t take any money other than what he has earned and that he has burned his bridges with his grandfather.

As they break onto the streets, he sees a beautiful girl walking with an older man across the way. The man is Valjean, and the girl is his adopted daughter Cosette. Marius meets Cosette’s eyes and the two of them appear transfixed with each other as they walk. Valjean seems to notice Marius watching his daughter, but his attention is distracted when a group of beggars ask him for money. The beggars are the Thenardiers, Eponine’s parents, and the former innkeepers with whom Cosette had lived and been abused by as a child, and from whom Valjean had ransomed her. As Valjean and the Thenardiers recognise each other, a struggle ensues. Marius sees this, but does not understand the significance of what is happening, and throughout it tries to keep his eyes on Cosette. The struggle is broken up when Police Inspector Javert arrives on the scene. Recognising Thenardier, Javert threatens him with arrest. Valjean, recognising Javert as the man who has pursued him for years, flees the scene with Cosette in tow. While Thenardier tells Javert who Valjean really is, Marius makes his way back to Eponine’s side. Eponine is also watching after Cosette, having realised that she is the same girl who used to live in her parents inn. She realises that Cosette has grown to be beautiful and has lived a comfortable life thanks to Valjean’s affluence; meanwhile, Eponine is now dressed in rags, and is regularly drawn into her family’s petty criminal activities.

Marius asks who the girl was, and asks Eponine if she will find her for him. Eponine at first asks what he will give her to do it, but as he starts to pull coins out of his pockets, she sadly tells him that she does not want his money. Marius again asks her to help him, saying that he is ‘lost until she’s found’. Eponine calls Cosette a ‘bourgeois to a penny thing’, saying that she does not know what Marius sees in her, but reluctantly agrees to find her anyway. Marius, apparently oblivious to Eponine’s sadness at this, leaves to meet Enjolras and the other revolutionaries – a group calling themselves ‘Les Amis de l’ABC’ in the upper room of a nearby café.

While Enjolras holds a detailed and heated tactical discussion of how barricades could be erected, and how the group need some sort of signal in order to fire the people into action and revolution, Marius sits in the background saying nothing. This is at odds with his earlier appearance, where he and Enjolras had spoken together and appeared to be in agreement as to what needed to be done. Courfeyrac, another of Les Amis, notices this and asks Marius what’s wrong. Grantaire gives him wine and brings him to sit with a smaller group of them, while Marius admits how he feels about Cosette. Courfeyrac and Grantaire take this lightly, laughing at Marius and saying that they have never seen him behave like this before. Grantaire draws the room’s attention, saying that Marius is talking of love while Enjolras speaks of revolution. Enjolras is obviously irritated, and berates Marius for his lack of focus. He reminds everyone that to revolt against the King is a cause for which they might pay with their lives, and tells Marius that he is acting like a child. Marius tells them that seeing Cosette had changed him in an instant, so that ‘what was right seems wrong, and what was wrong seems right’. While they argue, the young street urchin named Gavroche appears and tells the group that General Lamarque, the public figure who had been most outspoken about the rights of the people, has died. Enjolras quickly leaps on the news, saying that this is the sign they have been waiting for and that they will use Lamarque’s funeral possession to bring about the beginning of their revolution. Just as they are talking about this, Eponine arrives to say that she has found Cosette. Enjolras and Marius look at each other, but Marius chooses to leave and follow Eponine.

She leads him to a house which is partially obscured by a garden. As Marius approaches the garden gate, Cosette walks up to it from the other side. They tell each other their names, and both admit that they had fallen in love at first sight when their eyes met earlier that day. They exchange vows, but are interrupted when Valjean calls for Cosette. She goes back inside, while Marius hides from Valjean. After Valjean has retreated, Marius finds a handkerchief that had been dropped where Cosette had been standing. He takes it with him and leaves, appearing lost in his own thoughts and forgetting that Eponine is still there. Then Thenardier, Eponine’s father, arrives at the area along with a group of friends. They intend to rob Valjean’s house, and are irritated when they find Eponine there. She tells them to leave, and lets out a scream to warn Valjean and Cosette when they refuse. This frightens Valjean into assuming that Javert has found him again, and he orders Cosette to get dressed. He will take her to another house, and the next day he will arrange for them to travel to England and leave Paris forever. Upset, Cosette writes a note to Marius and leaves it at the garden gate. Eponine, who is still in the area, finds and reads the note. She thinks about her own feelings for Marius, realising that although she loves him he is blind to it, and will not be with her. She decides not to give him Cosette’s note, telling him only that she and Valjean are no longer at their house. Then she retreats to her room, where she dresses in boy’s clothes and hides her long hair in a cap. She resolves to follow Les Amis to the barricades the next day, believing that Marius will be there too.

Meanwhile, Marius has rushed to the house where he saw Cosette, and finds it empty. Conflicted, he wonders whether he should try to follow her, or whether he should join his friends at the barricade. Eventually he decides that he cannot live without Cosette, and returns to his friends to tell them that his place is with them. The next day, he is with the revolutionaries when, led by Enjolras, they interrupt the funeral procession for General Lamarque and overtake the carriage containing his body. They wave flags, raise their weapons, and call the people to rise up. As the French soldiers present turn to face them, the revolutionaries run into the narrow streets of Paris and quickly build their barricades. Marius is at the forefront, helping to build and maintain the barricade and rallying others to help.

When a spy is needed to find out the movements of the French army, Inspector Javert - having disguised himself and joined the fighters at the barricade - volunteers his 'services' and is sent out. When he returns, he is recognised by Gavroche, a young street urchin who sides with Les Amis. Javert is imprisoned, but immediately following his capture, the army can be heard approaching the barricade. It is almost overtaken, but at the last moment Marius climbs the barricade with a barrel of gunpowder in one hand and a torch in the other. He tells the soldiers to back away, or he will blow up the barricade taking every one of them, as well as himself, with it. The soldiers at first do not believe he is so willing to die, but when they see he is serious, they call a retreat. Les Amis are disbelieving, in part frightened at what Marius has done, but also crediting him with having saved the barricade. As he climbs back to the ground, however, he sees Eponine crouched there, with her knees pulled up to her chest. She is dressed like a boy, and until this moment he had not noticed her presence, but as he bends to sit beside her he realises that she has been shot. She had put herself between Marius and one of the soldiers' guns as he climbed the barricade, saving him. At first he tries to get help for her, but she says that she cannot feel any pain, and only asks him to stay with her. He holds her while she tells him at last that she loves him, and also gives him the letter from Cosette which she had hidden from him. She leans against him and dies with a smile on her face. Marius is deeply moved by her death, which brings him to tears.

As Eponine's body is carried away, Marius reads the letter from Cosette. He then asks Gavroche to deliver a reply to her new house, which he does, saying that if it was not for Marius he would have died. Gavroche takes the letter to Valjean, who on reading it, realises that Cosette and Marius are in love but that Marius could very easily die at the barricade. He leaves and makes his way there, hoping to find Marius. Marius is present when Valjean saves Enjolras from enemy marksmen, and is shown to be paying attention when Valjean appears to kill Javert (though Valjean has secretly allowed Javert to leave). However, he has no obvious reaction to Valjean's presence, and instead seems focused on the barricade. He continues to work on shoring it up even while the others begin to settle down for the night, until Enjolras goes to him and specifically orders him to rest.

At this point, he speaks of Cosette and wonders if she will weep if he dies. It is this that tells Valjean who he is, and Valjean afterwards is seen to keep an eye on him. The next morning, Enjolras goes to find out what is happening, and reports that their barricade is the only one left and they therefore have no chance of victory. He offers everyone at the barricade the chance to leave but, prompted by Gavroche, they all decide to stay. When the army attacks again, Marius fights at close quarters, both with his shotgun and with a knife. Eventually, he is shot and falls unconscious against the barricade. While the soldiers climb into the area and begin hunting down each revolutionary, Valjean lifts Marius onto his shoulders and crawls with him into the sewers. In this way, the two of them escape from the barricades while Enjolras, Gavroche, and all of their remaining comrades, fight to the death.

Later, a confused Marius awakes in his grandfather's house, with no memory of who saved him or how he managed to survive. He is in his old childhood bedroom, with his grandfather beside him tending to him. This results in him reconciling with his grandfather, who is delighted to have him home. While still recovering from his injuries, Marius returns to the cafe where his friends had planned their failed revolution, and he grieves deeply for their loss. After this, he and Cosette are shown to be together, and they plan to remain so permanently.

Before they can marry, Valjean takes him aside and reveals his past, admitting that he had been imprisoned for 19 years for stealing a loaf of bread, and afterwards broke his parole. For this reason, Valjean says he intends to leave, so that Cosette will not be disgraced if the truth about Valjean's past is ever revealed to the world at large. Marius tries to convince him to stay, telling him that he does not know what to say to make Cosette understand. Valjean asks him not to tell her the truth, since it would break her heart, and to say only that he had gone away on urgent business. Marius agrees that for Cosette's sake, Valjean must leave, and agrees not to tell her the truth.

Marius and Cosette then marry. On the day of their wedding, Thenardier and his wife appear at his grandfather's house, disguised as members of the upper class. Marius recognises them immediately and takes hold of them, ready to throw them out, but Thenardier stops him by saying he has something to tell him about Jean Valjean. It transpires that on the night the barricades fell, Valjean had encountered Thenardier in the sewer system, while the latter was looting bodies. Valjean had been carrying what Thenardier imagined to be a corpse, and he had stolen a gold ring from the corpse's pocket. Recognising the crest on the ring as belonging to the Pontmercy family, Thenardier had brought it back, hoping to be rewarded for bringing news of the murder of one of Marius' relatives. However, Marius recognises the ring as the one he had removed from his finger after arguing with his grandfather the day before the barricades rose. He realises that Thenardier had seen Valjean carrying not a corpse, but Marius, and that Valjean had been the one to save his life on that night. Marius punches Thenardier and demands that he tell him were Valjean is; Thenardier says that he is in the convent.

Marius quickly finds Cosette and brings her to the Convent, where they arrive to find Valjean on his deathbed. He asks Valjean to forgive him, and tells Cosette that her father had saved his life by carrying him home from the barricade when he was wounded. Finally at peace, Valjean puts Marius and Cosette's hands together. It is seen that Marius is wearing his family's ring once again, further reinforcing that he has now reconciled with them and returned to his grandfather's home. Valjean gives Cosette a letter, which he says holds the account of his life, and he dies with the two young people beside him. Marius is last seen comforting Cosette beside her father's body.

CANON POINT: Shortly after Marius has visited the cafe to grieve for his lost friends, while he is still recovering from his injuries.

AGE: approx. 22

APPEARANCE:

Marius is of medium height and quite slender. He has short, light brown hair, a pale but freckled face, and green eyes. His clothes show a certain amount of shabbiness, reflecting that he has for a long time rejected his grandfather's riches and spent only what money he could earn.

PREVIOUS GAME HISTORY: Not applicable.

PERSONALITY:

Marius' personality is brought out most clearly in the songs that he sings, and it is in these that the development of his character is seen throughout the film.

When we first meet him, Marius is an extremely passionate young man. Before meeting Cosette, the whole of his passion and drive is thrown into his political beliefs, which have brought him into contact with Enjolras and the other Amis de l'ABC. He seems to care deeply about the welfare of the people around him, and desires for those of different classes to be treated with greater fairness and equality. All around him he sees poverty in Paris, people starving and going cold, and being made to serve long prison sentences for which the punishment often outweighs the crime. Much of his initial characterisation seems to be a reaction against that world. This is clearly shown by the fact that Marius himself has noble roots, and a grandfather who supports the King - the same King that Les Amis de l'ABC wish to overthrow. Marius' political beliefs help to drive a wedge between himself and his family.

"Won't take a franc that I've not earned;

All of those bridges have been burned."

When admonished by his grandfather and accused of bringing shame on his family, Marius' resolve only seems to harden. He joins with his friends in shouting for France and trying to rouse the people, and after his grandfather's complaint, appears to direct his shouting right at the old man's car. He seems to harbour a resentment for his grandfather which, despite not being explored further in the film, still implies a distance between Marius and his family. Rather than taking on any kind of familial responsibility, he seems to have taken a direct reaction against their status, fighting against the very social class that he was born into. At this point, he seems entirely focused on the state of his country and, like Enjolras, is motivated by his desire to change it for the better. It is notable that as soon as he appears distracted, Courfreyac - another member of Les Amis - quickly notices it, and points out that he seems unlike himself.

The reason for that sudden distraction, however, is the entrance of Cosette into Marius' life. She represents a watershed for him, causing him to fall in love at first sight. His friend Grantaire is quick to point out that Marius has never been distracted by a woman before, indicating that Cosette is his first such love, but her influence upon him cannot be overstated. Before seeing her, he had not been concerned with matters of the heart, and indeed is blind to the fact that Eponine - depicted in the film as one of his close friends - has romantic feelings for him. He does not notice any part of her affection, and yet laying eyes on Cosette causes him to fall instantly in love:

"In my life,

She has burst like the music of angels

The light of the sun.

And my life seems to stop

As if something is over

And something has scarcely begun."

In that instant of seeing Cosette, Marius finds that his focus shifts, and his passion is centred not on thoughts of revolution but on this woman. Politics is far from his mind, because all of a sudden he can imagine himself as more than a revolutionary fighting for change. He imagines himself as a husband, marrying Cosette, caring for her and providing for her. He starts to think about a personal future and a family that he can be invested in, rather than thinking primarily of the future of his country. It is not that his earlier beliefs have disappeared, or that they mean less to him; it is rather that he sees a different path for himself, and he cannot get the thought of Cosette or the love that she represents out of his mind. He is no longer able to give himself fully to the cause of revolution, because his heart is elsewhere.

However, when Cosette disappears, Marius reveals himself to be just as much a man of passion as ever. His reaction is to throw himself once again at the cause of revolution - this time not primarily because of his politics, but because he does not want to live without Cosette.

"I did not live until today.

How can I live when we are parted?"

As Marius considers this, he resolves to go to the barricades and fight, showing that he believes that to do so will result in his death. It is likely that he always believed that participating in the revolution would mean death, since he started to lose interest in it when he first saw Cosette and began to imagine a life with her. Where before this was a sacrifice he was willing to make for his country's sake, in the end he joins the fight because he cannot bear to live without his love.

Marius' actions put him in the role of the courtly lover, a literary trope from the Middle Ages which is centred on chivalric love between members of the noble classes. In the film, Marius acts like a typical courtly lover - declaring romantic love for Cosette that is focused on vows and chaste attraction rather than on sexual desire, and chivalrously joining the fight at the barricades because he wishes to die rather than live apart from his lady. Despite Marius' desire to separate himself from the noble classes, to use only what money he has earned, his courtly romance with Cosette is one that would always have been associated with the noble class into which he was born. Ironically, Marius is depicted as being a product of his social class even though he has tried so hard to reject it.

However, despite his willingness to die a heroic death at the barricades, Marius is the only one of the revolutionaries who does not die - due to the heroism of others. His life is saved firstly by Eponine, who directly gives her own life for his. Her death has a powerful effect on Marius, and he grieves for her. Horrified that she would die for him, he even tells her that he would like to close her wounds with words of love. Eponine recognises this for what it is - an outpouring of grief rather than a show of genuine romantic affection - and only asks him to hold her, which he does until she has died. His reaction to Eponine's death is the first hint at what the death of his friends will mean to Marius. Though he had come to the barricade with a heroic death for himself in mind, he finds the reality of its impact on the people around him to be quite different. It has a profound effect on Marius, and provokes another shift in his personality:

"Here they sang about tomorrow,

And tomorrow never came.

...

Oh my friends, my friends, don't ask me

What your sacrifice was for!"

In the cold light of day, Marius wakes from his night full of so many passions to find that life in Paris has gone on. He had been willing to die, had assumed that he would die, and awakes to the news that his friends have died, for a cause that now seems to mean nothing. The social change that Les Amis de l'ABC had hoped for had not happened; the poor were still poor, the people had not risen to join the revolution, and the King still ruled. Their attempt to change the world had resulted in nothing more than the deaths of many young men. Marius is overcome with grief, and guilt that he who had gone to the barricade with the intention of dying, is the only one to have survived. He realises that the world cannot be changed so quickly, and that the glory of martyrdom for a cause means little to a survivor who has lost so many friends. Essentially, the aftermath of these events causes Marius to grow up, and to moderate his passions. This is most clearly symbolised in his decision to reconcile with his grandfather and to marry Cosette, ending their courtly romance - since courtly love, historically, is between an unwed couple rather than husband and wife. He is no longer an idealist fighting a cause, but instead promises to be with Cosette always, thereby taking on and shouldering the responsibilities of family which he had earlier spurned.

In essence, the experiences of the film constitute a coming of age story for Marius. In the beginning he is still essentially a child, motivated by idealism, dreaming that he can right all the wrongs of the world if he only stands tall enough. While his passion gives Marius the strength he needs to pursue his goals, it is also his greatest weakness. He does not understand the real significance of death, viewing it in an essentially romantic way. Death to him means the glory of the martyr, or the grand statement of the lover who cannot be with his love. It does not become a real and tangible thing for him until he is the survivor who loses all his friends in one night. After this point, he is forced to face the reality of his world, and accept that change cannot be a sudden or immediate flash. When he realises this, Marius turns his focus inwards, to the family. He places a greater value on his relationship with his grandfather and rebuilds the bridges that had been burned. He becomes Cosette's husband and provides for her in place of Valjean, and he takes his place within society rather than reacting against it, sickened by the death that he has seen and the loss that seems to have gained so little. He is a man who is disillusioned, but who in the end finds his happiness not in the achievement of an ideal, but through loving the people closest to him. That, in itself, is one of the abiding messages of the entire film:

"To love another person

Is to see the face of God."

ABILITIES:

Marius is a normal human being with no supernatural or magical powers or abilities. He is a young intellectual, specifically a student of the law, with a keen interest in philosophy and matters associated with politics and social justice. However, he is a product of his time, and both his understanding of the legal system and his political ideals are set within the specific context of early-mid eighteenth century France. He has experience in the use of knives, firearms (particularly his small pistol shotguns), muskets and rifles, which he used while fighting upon the barricades. He was also seen to be comfortable in riding a horse.

POSSESSIONS:

+ The clothes that he's wearing, as shown here, and including a pair of black ankle boots which are not depicted.

+ A white cloth sling, which he wears around his left arm.

+ A wallet containing his papers of identity and a small amount of (now useless) French francs and sous as used in 1832.

samples.
JOURNAL ENTRY SAMPLE: An entry on Dear Mun.

THIRD-PERSON SAMPLE:

He sat in the room, his gaze fixed on the far corner. An old wooden table had been thrust there, tossed casually back into place after the furniture from the barricade had been cleared away. It had fallen on its side. Only a few days ago it had been upright, and covered with all manner of flags, pamphlets, and paper full of directions and instructions for how the revolution would proceed. Enjolras had stood there, surrounded by his fellows, talking of war and victory and equality...

Oh God. Marius closed his eyes against the memory, which served to make him see it all the more vividly in his mind. This room, this entire cafe, was full of their voices. He wished he had not come back here, and yet he could not convince his feet to leave. The memories that this room held pierced his heart like daggers, and yet he could not step away, because he ached to hear those voices once again. He ached to see his friends before him, alive, and speaking of the cause that meant so much. He ached to feel again that sense of rightness in what he was doing, that certainty in his own beliefs and actions. They were dead, every one of them, and that youthful strength of his seemed to have died along with them. He raised his hands and they were shaking. He opened his eyes to find them wet once again, and he did not know how to rid himself of that terrible grief.

It was too much. He should not have come here. There was no catharsis in it. He could not excise the pain and leave it here; this room had seen too much pain already. He made himself move, feeling his feet drag on the floor. He winced as pain lanced through his collarbone, sending ribbons of fire along his shoulder and arm. His head felt light again. He had been out too long, perhaps. This was the first day he had been able to walk so far as the cafe. He had trodden the familiar path to this place by rote, and when he saw it, his heart had all but stopped. He had imagined that coming inside would make it all feel better, that if he said goodbye to this place then he could say goodbye to his friends as well.

Life was not so simple, it seemed. As Marius was learning, life was never that simple. He kept hold of the banister as he moved downstairs, to find Cosette waiting for him. She had not come into the upper room, appearing to understand that he needed to face that particular sight alone. Still, it did him good to see her face now. She had been a constant comfort to him during these days, reminding him that although so much had been lost, she was there to help him bear the burden. He reached for her now, putting his arm around her and taking comfort in her closeness, even though the familiar smell of the cafe still made him want to weep. Could he not leave this feeling behind even now? He sought only to look forward, to move on, and yet his heart refused. Would he carry them with him always? Would he ever be able to see this place, and remember the night of the barricades, without feeling that sense of shame?

He should have died with them. He had intended to die with them, and yet he lived. More than that, he had gone home, returning to a life that to a man they would have hated. He knew that. They would have wanted him to carry on the revolution in their place, to rise up and continue fighting, but he could not do that now. Could he raise a gun to injure any man, after what he had seen? After what had transpired, after so much life had been lost? In his heart, though not aloud, he prayed to them.

'My friends, my friends. Forgive me. I am weak where I believed myself strong. I crave the home once lost, for to be alone seems terrible to me now. I am alive who should have died, and now I must live another life. Be at peace, for you are all with God.'

He felt Cosette's arm tighten around his waist, and looked down to see her eyes gazing up at him with concern. His smile was tight, and made with more sadness than peace, but he took the hint, and walked outside with her. The streets beyond the cafe were cleaner than they had been in months, after the poor women of the area had scrubbed away the blood that revolution had left behind. Few reminders of that night were left, but his gaze was drawn to those small signs of what had been. The holes and scores on wood and stone where bullets had not found their mark. The broken splinters of wood, brushed now to the side of the road where they gathered like all the detritus of the street. The spot in front of the Cafe where Enjolras had stood, directing men who had never been soldiers, and dreaming of a greater tomorrow.

This was a place of profound grief. That was why he had to go home, why he had to live another life. Why however much it hurt, however impossible it seemed, he had to move on. That was what people did, was it not? That was always what people did. They saw their lives change, and they managed to keep living anyway. It was all that he could do.

And even though it was difficult, even though it was painful, there was the woman at his side to consider. Just looking at her made his heart feel lighter. He loved as her much as he had the first moment he saw her, and it was to her he would be bound now. He would be proud to be her husband.

"Cosette," he said, speaking aloud now, and summoning more strength into his voice. "It is time. Let us go from here; I am too tired to continue today. Let us go home, my love."

She smiled at him, and she praised his progress. It pleased her to see him healing. He knew that she was worried about him, that she wanted to see his strength return in full. She never wished to dwell on the things that hurt his heart, and always she attempted to divert his attention when she caught him brooding. He was grateful, so very grateful, for her presence. And she directed him now, not to the apartment where he had lived such a short time ago, but back to his grandfather's house. To Marius it seemed that a lifetime had passed in the fewest of days, and yet he could adapt, because she was here beside him. He took a breath, ignoring the further stab of pain that shot through his collarbone. He must school his thoughts, and turn them to the future. He must say adieu, at last, to revolution, even though grief remained.

He must live on.