Fantine ([fɑ̃tin]) is a character in Victor Hugo's 1862 book Les Misérables. She is a young woman in Paris who becomes pregnant by a wealthy student. After he leaves her, she must care for their child, Cosette, alone. Fantine starts as a beautiful and innocent girl but faces difficult circumstances. To support her daughter, she is forced to work as a prostitute, which harms her health and beauty. Eventually, she dies from tuberculosis.

In the musical version of the story, Fantine was first played by Rose Laurens in France. Later, when the musical was performed in England, Patti LuPone portrayed Fantine in the West End. Many other actresses have played the role since then.

Fantine is an example of a mother who sacrifices her own needs to care for her child. She has been acted by many performers in stage and film versions of the story. Artists have also created works that show her character.

In the novel

Hugo introduces Fantine as one of four fair girls connected to young, wealthy students. "She was called Fantine because she had never been known by any other name." She is described as having "gold and pearls for her dowry; but the gold was on her head and the pearls in her mouth." Hugo explains: "Fantine was fair, without being too aware of it. She was fair in two ways—style and rhythm. Style is the form of the ideal, rhythm is its movement."

Her name comes from the Fantines, fairies in Swiss folklore. Their name is based on the French word "enfantine," meaning "childlike," which reflects Fantine's innocent, simple nature.

Fantine is deeply in love with Félix Tholomyès, one of four students. One day, the four men invite their four lovers on an outing. They spend the day at a restaurant, but the men leave the women with a goodbye note. While the other three girls laugh it off, Fantine feels heartbroken. Tholomyès had fathered their illegitimate daughter, Cosette, and Fantine is left to care for her alone.

By the time Cosette is about three years old, Fantine arrives at Montfermeil and meets the Thénardiers, who own an inn. She asks them to care for Cosette after seeing their daughters, Éponine and Azelma, playing outside. They agree only if Fantine sends them money. Fantine’s only hope to live is keeping Cosette safe. She works in Mayor Madeleine’s (also known as Jean Valjean’s) factory in her hometown of Montreuil-sur-Mer. Because she cannot read or write, she hires someone else to write letters to the Thénardiers. However, she does not know that the Thénardiers abuse Cosette and force her to work at their inn. She also does not know that the letters asking for money are lies meant to take money from her.

Fantine is fired by a strict supervisor, Madame Victurnien, without the mayor’s knowledge, after learning Fantine is an unwed mother. Fantine begins working at home, earning twelve sous a day while Cosette’s lodging costs ten sous. Her hard work makes her sick with a cough and fever. She rarely leaves her home, fearing shame from the townspeople.

The Thénardiers send a letter saying they need ten francs to buy a woolen skirt for Cosette. To get the money, Fantine cuts and sells her hair. She tells herself, "My child is no longer cold, I have clothed her with my hair." Soon after, she starts to blame the mayor for her hardships. She later takes on a lover, but he beats her and leaves. The Thénardiers send another letter saying they need forty francs for medicine for Cosette, who is "ill." Desperate, Fantine removes and sells her two front teeth.

Meanwhile, Fantine’s health worsens, and her debts grow. The Thénardiers’ letters demand more money. To earn money for Cosette, Fantine works in a place where people pay to have sex. One evening, a man named Bamatabois insults her and pushes snow into her dress. Fantine attacks him. Javert, the town’s police inspector, arrests her. She begs to be released, but Javert sentences her to six months in prison. Valjean arrives to help Fantine, but she spits in his face. Valjean forgives her and orders Javert to free her, which he reluctantly does. Valjean promises to help Fantine and Cosette, telling Fantine he will find Cosette. He sends Fantine to the hospital, where she is suffering from tuberculosis.

After Valjean reveals his true identity during Champmathieu’s trial, he visits Fantine in the hospital. She asks about Cosette, and the doctor lies, saying Cosette is in the hospital but cannot see Fantine until she is healthier. Fantine is comforted and mistakenly thinks she hears Cosette laughing. Suddenly, she and Valjean see Javert at the door. Valjean asks Javert for three days to find Cosette, but Javert refuses loudly. Fantine realizes Cosette was never rescued and frantically asks where she is. Javert tells Fantine to be quiet and reveals Valjean’s identity. Shocked, Fantine has a severe fit of trembling, falls back on her bed, and dies. Valjean whispers to her and kisses her hand. After Valjean is taken into custody, Fantine’s body is placed in a public grave. Later, after escaping prison, Valjean rescues Cosette and raises her in Fantine’s place.

Character

Fantine is often seen as a holy prostitute who becomes a perfect example of a mother by giving up her body and dignity to save her child’s life. She represents a common stereotype in 19th-century stories of a prostitute who is saved and shown as holy. This idea also appears in the works of writers like Fyodor Dostoevsky, Leo Tolstoy, and Charles Dickens. Oscar Wilde described Fantine as a character whose pain makes her loved. He wrote that people want to kiss Fantine’s bleeding mouth after she has her teeth removed. Kathryn M. Grossman explains that Fantine reaches a kind of "maternal sainthood." She says that when Madeleine (Jean Valjean’s fake name as mayor) tells Fantine she stayed virtuous and holy, Fantine can let go of her anger and love others again. This happens because Madeleine sees the truth behind Fantine’s suffering and finds her worthy of devotion. For Valjean, Fantine’s poor and broken appearance almost makes her seem "holy" because of her suffering.

John Andrew Frey says Fantine’s character has political meaning. He argues that Fantine shows how women in the working class were treated unfairly in 19th-century France. He also says that Victor Hugo showed deep care for people who suffer, especially women from poor backgrounds. Mario Vargas Llosa has a different view. He believes Hugo makes Fantine suffer greatly as punishment for her past sexual choices. He writes, "What disasters come from a sin of the flesh! The moral ideas in Les Misérables match the strictest and most judgmental version of Catholic morality."

Fantine’s image as a holy symbol of a woman who suffers is also found in the writings of Eugene V. Debs, a union leader and founder of the Industrial Workers of the World. In 1916, Debs wrote an essay called Fantine in Our Day, where he compared Fantine’s suffering to the hardships faced by women in his time.

In the musical

In the stage musical of the same name, Fantine is one of the main characters. Her role is classified as an alto or mezzo-soprano.

• Instead of being fired by a female supervisor for being an unwed mother, another female worker steals Fantine’s letter from the Thénardiers, claiming she needs money. This worker believes Fantine is a prostitute to avoid paying her debts with low wages. Valjean sees this but does not act. His foreman, who had been rejected by Fantine, fires her.
• Fantine is not illiterate and does not sell her teeth in the original story. However, in the film adaptation of the musical, as in the novel, she sells two of her teeth. In the film, she sells her back teeth.
• Bamatabois wants to buy Fantine’s services and becomes angry when she refuses him. In the novel, he is a young layabout who humiliates her by putting snow down her dress, treating her like an object for fun. In the film, he is shown as a mix of these two versions: he tries to buy her services and later puts snow down her dress after she says no.
• Fantine dies peacefully in a hospital with Valjean by her side after she gives him responsibility for Cosette. Javert does not tell Fantine about Valjean’s true identity because he arrives too late, after her death.
• Fantine appears as a ghost to guide Valjean to Heaven. In the novel, however, Valjean tells Cosette about Fantine on his deathbed.

Adaptations

Since the first publication of Les Misérables in 1862, the character of Fantine has appeared in many different versions of the story across various types of media, such as books, films, musicals, plays, and video games. In 2012, Anne Hathaway won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role as Fantine in the film version of Les Misérables.