Fantine Thibault (1796-1823) was a French factory worker and prostitute who lived in Montreuil-sur-Mer during the 1820s. She was the mother of Cosette by a former lover, Felix Tholomyes, and, after Fantine caught tuberculosis while working as a prostitute to pay for Cosette's needs, her former employer, Mayor Madeleine, decided to take Cosette under his protection and give her a better life.
Biography[]
Fantine Thibault was born in Montreuil-sur-Mer, France in 1796, and she never knew her parents; she was called "Fantine" by a traveller, and she adopted the name as her own. She and three of her friends had romantic adventures with young, wealthy students in Paris during their youths, and one, Felix Tholomyes, impregnated Fantine and abandoned her after a short relationship. Fantine was left to care for their illegitimate daughter Cosette by herself, and, by the time Cosette was three, Fantine arrived at Montfermeil and entrusted her care to the innkeepers Alain and Helene Thenardier; they agreed to care for the girl in exchange for Fantine providing them with money. Fantine then returned to her hometown of Montreuil and found employment at Monsieur Madeleine's factory, but, in 1822, one of her female supervisors discovered a letter from the innkeepers about Fantine's arrangement to send them money to take care of her daughter (who was, according to them, now sick) and delivered it to the foreman Blaise Appell, as she and Fantine's coworkers believed that Fantine's refusal to return the foreman's aggressive flirtations and her sending of money to pay for her illegitimate daughter would cause them trouble. When the foreman made advances on Fantine and insinuated that she was sleeping with other men to make money on the side, Fantine slapped him, causing the foreman to fire her. Fantine called out for Monsieur Madeleine, who was in his office, but she was thrown out before she could convince Madeleine to intervene.
The Mayor coming across Fantine at the docks
In desperation, Fantine traveled to the docks and was persuaded to sell her hair for 10 francs, enough money to pay the Thenardiers. She took a lover with the hope of using some of his finances to help pay off her boarding debts and the Thenardiers' demands, only for him to abandon her, and she came to despise the Mayor for her situation. She was then persuaded to sell her front teeth, losing her beauty and health in the process, and, with her debts running high and no other avenues to turn to, she was forced to become a prostitute. In the evening of January 1823, the dandy Bamatabois heckled Fantine and shoved snow down her dress when she ignored him, causing Fantine to ferociously attack him. Inspector Etienne Javert proceeded to arrest Fantine as Bamatabois snuck away, but Mayor Madeleine persuaded Javert to release the woman, and, upon recognizing her as a former employee of his, he attempted to help her. Fantine spat on him out of hatred, but Madeleine ignored the act and listened as Fantine told him that her daughter was close to dying, and that she wished death upon herself rather than her daughter. Madeleine agreed to care for her daughter, and, upon seeing that Fantine had fallen ill with tuberculosis, he personally carried her to the hospital.
Valjean embracing a dying Fantine
After Madeleine revealed his true identity as "Jean Valjean" at Champmathieu's trial in Paris, Madeleine visited Fantine at the hospital. By then, Fantine grew delirious and heard Cosette laughing and singing, and Valjean promised a dying Fantine that he would take Cosette under his protection and ensure that she would want nothing. Fantine, relieved to hear that her daughter would be in good hands, had Valjean tell her daughter that she loved her, and that she would see Cosette when she awoke from her "sleep". Fantine then passed away, and Valjean escaped Inspector Javert and made his way to Montfermeil to retrieve Cosette.