Thénardiers

The Thénardiers, commonly known as Thénardier (born 1773) and Madame Thénardier (1788-1832) are two of the primary villains in Victor Hugo's novel Les Misérables and the stage musical of the same name. It can be argued that they are the only "villains" of the tale, as the more heavily featured Javert is commonly considered a misguided antagonist, rather than a true "evil villain". They are ordinary working class people who blame society for their sufferings. They care nothing for the lives of others and only care about themselves and acquiring money, whether by cheating customers at their inn or robbing people.

Background

They have two daughters named Éponine and Azelma, whom they spoil and pamper as children, and three sons, a middle child called Gavroche whom they have left to the streets, and the two youngest sons of whom they send away to a woman named Magnon and abandon. When they first appear in the book (and musical) they run an inn in the town of Montfermeil. It is here where a working class girl named Fantine asks them to look after her daughter Cosette (whose real name is Euphrasie), providing that she pays them regularly. However, they treat Cosette very badly, dressing her in rags, forcing her to work, and beating her often, and they spend all the money Fantine sends them on their daughters. However Jean Valjean buys Cosette off them at the dying Fantine's request and they leave to Paris. Within the next eight years the Thénardiers lose their inn and they too move to Paris, where they live in poverty. They re-encounter Valjean and Cosette and with the help of Patron-Minette try to rob Valjean.

In the musical, at Marius Pontmercy and Cosette's wedding the Thénardiers try to blackmail Marius by telling him that Cosette's father is a murderer and Thénardier reveals a ring he robbed from the corpse that Valjean was carrying. Marius recognises the ring as his and realises that Valjean rescued him from the barricades that night. In the book, only Monsieur Thénardier is present, as Madame Thénardier previously disappears from the text. In addition, instead of showing Marius a ring, Thénardier shows him a piece of his jacket that he tore off the unconscious Marius in the sewers that night.

The Thénardiers in the novel

The Thénardiers are both described as being very ugly people. Mme. Thénardier is described as "tall, blond, ruddy, barrel-like, brawny, boxy, huge, and agile". M. Thénardier is described as being "a skinny little runt, pale, engular, bony, rickety, who looked sick but was as fit as a fiddle..."

Part One: Fantine

The Thénardiers are first seen when Fantine, a struggling single mother, arranges for her daughter Cosette to stay with them, if she pays a regular fee. Cosette stays with the Thénardiers in their inn at Montfermeil along with their two daughters Éponine and Azelma, and their infant son Gavroche. Although Éponine and Azelma are spoiled by M. and Mme. Thénardier, Cosette is abused and treated as a slave, and Gavroche is ignored. Since the inn (called "The Sergeant at Waterloo") makes very little money, the fee sent by Fantine becomes the Thénardiers' main source of income. M. Thénardier extorts more money from Fantine by claiming that Cosette is ill from time to time.

Part Two: Cosette

After Fantine's death, Jean Valjean arrives in Montfermeil on Christmas Eve. He finds Cosette fetching a pail of water for the Thénardiers and accompanies her back to the inn. After arranging lodgings at the inn for the night, he watches the Thénardiers’ appalling treatment of her. He also sees how Éponine and Azelma are unkind to her when they go to their mother and point to Cosette playing with their doll. After seeing this, Valjean leaves the inn and returns a moment later with an expensive new doll, which he offers to Cosette. At first Cosette is unsure if the doll really is for her and is reluctant to take it, but then joyfully accepts it. This leaves Mme. Thénardier to become furious at Valjean, but M. Thénardier tells her that he can do as he wishes as long as he pays them.

The next morning on Christmas Day, Valjean informs the Thénardiers that the real reason he is at the inn is because he wants to take Cosette with him. Mme. Thénardier immediately agrees to do this, but M. Thénardier pretends to have adoration for Cosette and that he is reluctant to give her up. Valjean pays them 1,500 francs, settling all of Fantine's debts, and he and Cosette leave the inn. However, M. Thénardier tries to attempt to swindle more money out of Valjean. He runs after them and tells Valjean that he has changed his mind and wants Cosette back. He informs Valjean that Cosette's mother has given her to them to be under their care and that he cannot release Cosette without a note from the mother. Valjean, agreeing with him, hands him a letter signed by Fantine. M. Thénardier tries another attempt and orders Valjean to either give back Cosette or pay a thousand crowns, but Valjean ignores him and he and Cosette leave again. M. Thénardier regrets to himself that he did not bring his gun, and turns back to the inn.

Part Three: Marius

The inn, which is forced to close down after Cosette is taken, is called "The Sergeant at Waterloo", because of a peculiar adventure that M. Thénardier had following the famous battle. While looting the corpses shortly after the fighting has ceased, M. Thénardier accidentally saves the life of a Colonel, The Baron Pontmercy. Not wanting to be revealed as a looter, Thénardier claimed to be a sergeant of Napoleon's army. The tale as told by Thénardier eventually transformed into one of him rescuing a general during the heat of battle under a hail of grapeshot, as it grew more elaborate with each telling. In a bizarre coincidence, the Thénardier family ends up living next to the disgraced son of the baron, Marius Pontmercy, at an apartment building named Gorbeau House nine years after the closing of the inn.

In the nine years following the inn's closing, the Thénardier family had assumed the name Jondrette. In addition, they had born two more sons, who they essentially sold to Magnon so that she could pass them off as the children supported by Marius' grandfather M. Gillenormand for the sake of procuring child support. Magnon had accused M. Gillenormand of fathering the two children, which he denied, although he agreed to support them as long as Magnon did not bring him any more children to support. The Thénardiers' eldest son, Gavroche, was left to the streets, where he became a gamin.

The Jondrette's support themselves by sending letters begging for money to well-known philanthropists. Éponine comes in the apartment in a rush and announces that a philanthropist and his daughter are arriving any minute to visit them. In order to look poorer, M. Jondrette puts out their fire and breaks a chair. He then orders Azelma to punch out a window pane. Although hesitant, she does so, resulting in cutting her hand. M. Jondrette is pleased, for he had hoped for that result. The philanthropist and his daughter then come in to their apartment, who turn out to be Valjean and Cosette. Marius, observing the Jondrettes through a crack in the wall, recognizes Cosette as the girl he met at the Luxembourg Gardens. After their visit, M. Jondrette arranges with Valjean to meet again, but after recognizing Valjean, he plots to rob him upon his arrival with the aid of the street gang Patron-Minette.

Marius learns of M. Jondrette's plan to rob Valjean, and goes to the police. At the police station, an inspector named Javert instructs Marius to stand lookout with two pistols, and to fire as soon as the crime is committed to signal the police to come. Marius returns to his apartment and continues to observe the Jondrettes. M. Jondrette sends Éponine and Azelma outside as look-outs. When Valjean returns with rent money, M. Jondrette and Patron-Minette ambush him and he reveals his real identity: M. Thénardier. Marius, hearing this, recognizes him as the man his father had mentioned in his will as a hero who was due any service that Marius could grant him. Marius, torn between his desire to aid Valjean and his sense of duty to the man who had once saved his father, does not signal the police. Valjean denies knowing M. Thénardier and that they have never met. Valjean then tries to escape through a window, but he is restrained and tied up. M. Thénardier orders Valjean to write a letter to Cosette, telling her to return to the apartment, and they would keep her as a hostage until Valjean delivers 200,000 francs to him. After Valjean writes the letter and gives his address, M. Thénardier sends out Mme. Thénardier to get Cosette. However, Mme. Thénardier comes back alone, and announces the address Valjean has given is a false address. It was during her absence that Valjean has managed to free himself. M. Thénardier decides with Patron-Minette that they have no choice but to kill Valjean. Marius remembers that Éponine had come in to his apartment earlier and wrote on a sheet of paper "The cognes (police) are here" to prove her literacy. Marius grabs the paper and throws it in through the wall crack. M. Thénardier reads it and thinks Éponine threw it inside as a warning. The Thénardiers and Patron-Minette try to escape, but Javert arrives and arrests them all (except Gavroche, who is not present, and Montparnasse, who escapes). Valjean escapes through the window undetected.

Part Four: St. Denis

Mme. Thénardier dies in prison and Éponine and Azelma are released. Gavroche, not involved with his family's crimes, encounters purely by chance his two younger brothers, who are unaware of their identities. He briefly takes care of them, but they soon leave him in search of their missing foster mother. It is unknown what has happened to the two after that.

Éponine is sent by Babet to investigate Valjean's house, but since she knows that Cosette, who now lives with Valjean, is the beloved of her former neighbor Marius (for whom she harbors some affection), sends back a biscuit to Babet (which is code for "not worth the trouble"). She leads Marius to Valjean's house so that he may be with his beloved. M. Thénardier and Patron-Minette, with the aid of Gavroche, manages to escape from jail and persists in robbing Valjean's house. However, Éponine wards them off by threatening to scream. The next day, Éponine tries to tear Cosette and Marius apart by sending Valjean a warning to "move out," and later telling Marius that his friends invited him to fight with them at the barricade at the Rue de la Chanvrerie, intending for both her and Marius to perish in the émeute of 1832 so that she will not have to share him with Cosette. Both Éponine and Gavroche are killed at Rue de la Chanvrerie, despite Marius' efforts to protect the Thénardier family.

Part Five: Jean Valjean

Marius himself is wounded in the battle, and Valjean attempts to save him by taking him through the sewers into safety. In the sewers, Valjean encounters M. Thénardier, who is hiding from Javert. Thinking him to be a simple murderer, M. Thénardier offers Valjean his key to the sewer grating in exchange for the contents of Marius' pockets. He then searches Valjean and Marius' pockets. Moreover, believing Marius to be a corpse, he tears off part of Marius' coat in order to blackmail Valjean with it later. In the end, M. Thénardier finds only 30 francs. He reluctantly takes the money and lets Valjean out.

M. Thénardier and his only living child Azelma are next seen as "masks" in the Mardi Gras parade. When he sees Marius and Cosette's wedding party pass by, he recognizes Valjean as both the man who had ruined him and the man he had met in the sewer, and bids Azelma to follow him and find out where he lives.

Near the end of the book, M. Thénardier visits Marius dressed in a rented statesman's suit and referring to himself as "M. Thénard," but the disguise does not fool Marius. M. Thénardier attempts to blackmail Marius of all the things he knows about Valjean, but he inadvertently corrects Marius’ misunderstandings about Valjean and actually reveals all the good deeds he has done. He then tries to expose Valjean for a murderer, producing the piece of Marius' jacket as proof. Marius realizes that it is a piece of his own jacket, and that that must mean that Valjean saved him from the battle and carried him through the sewers to save him. Marius pulls out his bloodied coat and flings it to M. Thénardier. He then confronts M. Thénardier about all the crimes he himself committed and promises to pay "M. Thénard" a great deal of money if he leaves and never returns. M. Thénardier and Azelma use the money to move to America, where M. Thénardier becomes a slave trader.

The Thénardiers in the musical

The Thénardiers own an inn in the town of Montfermeil, where they have been entrusted with the care of Cosette, Fantine's daughter. However, the Thénardiers treat Cosette as a skivvy whilst pampering their own daughter Éponine. They welcome all customers to their inn, but whilst they appear to look friendly and welcoming, they secretly con their customers with watered-down wine, sausages made with horse kidney or cat liver and rooms where one is charged extra for simply keeping their windows shut at night ("Master of the House"). One night after sending Cosette out to draw water from the well, she returns to them in the company of Valjean. Valjean tells them of Fantine's passing and initially requests to take Cosette with him, but the Thénardiers attempt to con Valjean, deceivingly claiming they love Cosette as if she was their own daughter, have had to purchase expensive medicine to treat her for frequent illness and are worried about the treacherous people she may encounter in the outside world ("The Thénardier Waltz of Treachery"). In the end, Valjean offers 1500 francs to take Cosette, and delighted with the money, the Thénardiers hand her over without question.

Ten years later, they are living in the slums of Paris, having lost their inn. One day, they hatch a plan to rob Valjean, whom they have learned in now also living in Paris ("The Robbery"). They disguise themselves as beggars and beg the passing Valjean and Cosette to give them money. With the help of robbers Brujon, Babet, Montparnasse, and Claquesous, they surround Valjean and rip open his shirt, revealing the brand on his chest. However Éponine notices the police arriving and warns them, but they are captured by Javert and his constables. Thénardier tells Javert about Valjean and the brand on his chest and that he is the one who Javert should really arrest, and Javert releases them.

The Thénardiers then try to rob Valjean again ("The Attack on Rue Plumet"). Thénardier and his gang of robbers reach the gates of Valjean's house on Rue Plumet, when Éponine intercepts them and tries to force them to leave in order to protect Marius. Thénardier refuses to listen and orders Éponine to leave. Éponine is forced to scream in order to get them to leave. Thénardier and his gang escape via the sewers. Afterwards, whilst the students plan to build the barricades, the Thénardiers plan to wait underground, in the hope that they will pick up lots of wealth and riches from the dead students after the battle is over ("One Day More").

After the barricade falls, Thénardier is in the Parisian sewers robbing the corpses of the rebels ("Dog Eats Dog"). Here he crosses a man carrying what he believes to be an unknown corpse (actually the unconscious Marius, wounded from the barricades). When the man collapses, Thénardier steals a ring from the Marius' body, and then departs upon realizing that the collapsed man is Jean Valjean. The Thénardiers appear at the wedding of Marius and Cosette, posing as the Baron and Baroness de Thénard. Marius sees through their disguise and orders them to leave, but they refuse to do so until they have properly extorted him. They attempt to blackmail Marius with the information that Valjean is a murderer, offering the stolen ring as evidence. Their plan backfires when Marius recognizes the ring as his own, realizing that Valjean must have rescued him after the barricades fell. He hits Thénardier and throws him the rest of his money before leading Cosette away, leaving the Thénardiers to enjoy the feast and gloat over their survival, despite their children's deaths ("Beggars At The Feast"). They do not appear in the show's finale, presumably due to their villainous roles, as well as the fact that they are among the only characters to survive the entire play (much of the finale consists of those who died at the barricades).

Differences in the musical

• Mme. Thénardier disdains her husband in the musical, but is willing to work with him to further their collective schemes; in the book, she is worshipful of him in the beginning, and their relationship cools as the plot progresses.
• Although Gavroche is present in the musical, no reference is made about him being the Thénardiers' son.
• The Thénardiers' other daughter Azelma and their two youngest sons are also cut from the musical. This could imply that Éponine is presented as the Thénardiers’ only child.
• In the middle of the novel, Mme. Thénardier dies in prison, while at the end of the musical she is shown to be alive and well with her husband at Marius and Cosette's wedding.
• Unlike their portrayal in the novel, the Thénardiers are given a more humorous and relatively light-hearted role in the musical version of Les Misérables (although the songs featuring Thénardier without his wife are darker in tone). Composer Claude-Michel Schönberg said "in the middle of a dramatic and very sad story we decided to turn the Thénardiers into a kind of comic characters...to relax the audience because it's a very heavy show." Though they remain the real villains of the story, the Thénardiers provide more or less all of the laughs in the show, and are therefore some of the show's most popular characters.

Songs

In the musical, the Thénardiers appear in the following songs:

At the End of the Day (mentioned only)

While they do not appear in this song, Fantine mentions them by saying that Cosette lives with an innkeeper and his wife (referring to the Thenardiers). The couple is also briefly mentioned by a woman reading a note from them to Fantine, telling that Cosette is very sick and needs money for a doctor (this being a lie to trick her into giving them more money.) Known as La Journée est finie in the French original version and as Quand un jour est passé in the 1991 revival.

Castle on a Cloud (Madame Thénardier only)

A song of Cosette's dreams of heaven, which is quickly interrupted by Madame Thénardier to make her fetch a bucket of water. Known as Une poupée dans la vitrine or Mon Prince au Chemin in the successive French versions.

Master of the House

A song sung by both of the Thénardiers, along with his drunken customers singing how well it is to have power in the pub. Known as La Devise du Cabaretier in the original French version, then as Maître Thénardier in the 1991 version.

The Thénardier Waltz of Treachery

Where the duo repeatedly try to swindle as much money as they can from Valjean in exchange for Cosette. Known as La Valse de la Fourberie then as La Transaction in the various French version.

Look Down (non-sing)

Though not singing, in this scene they try to trick people into charitable donations for their "child" which is actually a loaf of bread in a blanket. Known as Donnez, Donnez in the original French version, or Bonjour, Paris in the 1991 version.

The Robbery/Javert's Intervention

Thénardier approaches Valjean, asking for donations for the fake child seen in Look Down. Thénardier recognizes Valjean and assaults him before Javert intervenes.

The Attack on Rue Plumet (Thénardier only)

Known simply as Rue Plumet in the original French version, and later as Le casse de la Rue Plumet. Thénardier rounds up his gang as they attempt to rob Valjean’s home as he blames his poverty on him. Éponine stops them from doing so and they are forced to retreat.

One Day More

Though small, the two appear every now and then telling how they'll simply hide in the shadows, wait things out, and pick the pockets of the corpses when they're the only ones left. Known as Demain in the original French version and as Le Grand Jour in the 1991 version.

The Sewers/Dog Eats Dog (Thénardier only)

Thénardier sings to himself in the sewers as he fingers through the bodies of the students. One of the show's darkest songs, it is known as Fureurs Cannibales in the 1991 French version.

Beggars at the Feast

In an ironic twist, the Thénardiers have sunk from masters of the house to being beggars at a feast, and they are not complaining. They have become rich off of their earnings of the stealing and other villainous acts they have committed. They sing how joyful it is to simply sneak into parties and chat with the upper crust of society, and gloat about their survival; once again, however, there is a certain irony, because they are the very last of the remaining Thénardiers, since their own children have been killed during the rebellion. Known as Mendiants à la Fête in the French revival.

Adaptations

M. Thénardier

Musical

• Yvan Dautin, 1980 Original French Casts
• Alun Armstrong, 1985 London Musical & 1995 Concert
• Leo Burmester, 1987 Broadway Musical
• Graeme Campbell, 1989 Original Canadian Cast
• Laurent Gendron, 1991 Paris Revival
• Gary Beach, 2006 Broadway Revival
• Jean-Raymond Châles, 2008 Québec City Production
• Michael McCormick, 2008 Hollywood Bowl Concert
• Matt Lucas, 25th Anniversary Concert

Film and television

• Émile Mylo, 1913 Adaptation
• Edward Elkas, 1917 Adaptation
• Georges Saillard, 1925 Adaptation
• Charles Dullin, 1934 Adaptation
• Ferdinand Gottschalk, 1935 Adaptation
• Luigi Pavese, 1948 Adaptation
• Bourvil, 1958 Adaptation
• Antonio Battistella, 1964 Adaptation
• Alain Mottet, 1972 Adaptation
• Carlos Ancira, 1973 Adaptation
• Ian Holm, 1978 Adaptation
• Jean Carmet, 1982 Adaptation
• Jon Kenny, 1998 Adaptation
• Christian Clavier, 2000 Adaptation

Mme. Thénardier

Musical

• Marie-France Roussel, 1980 Original French Casts & 1991 Paris Revival
• Susan Jane Tanner, 1985 London Musical
• Jennifer Butt, 1987 Broadway Musical
• Janelle Hutchison, 1989 Original Canadian Cast
• Jenny Galloway, 1995 Concert, 2006 Broadway Revival, 25th Anniversary Concert
• Kathleen Fortin, 2008 Québec City Production
• Ruth Williamson, 2008 Hollywood Bowl Concert

Film and television

• Eugénie Nau, 1913 Adaptation
• Mina Ross, 1917 Adaptation
• Renée Carl, 1925 Adaptation
• Marguerite Moreno, 1934 Adaptation
• Jane Kerr, 1935 Adaptation
• Jone Romano, 1948 Adaptation
• Elfriede Florin, 1958 Adaptation
• Cesarina Gheraldi, 1964 Adaptation
• Micha Bayard, 1972 Adaptation
• Magda Guzmán, 1973 Adaptation
• Caroline Blakiston, 1978 Adaptation
• Françoise Seigner, 1982 Adaptation
• Gillian Hanna, 1998 Adaptation
• Veronica Ferres, 2000 Adaptation

External links

• M. Thénardier at the Internet Movie Database
• Mme. Thénardier at the Internet Movie Database
• Search under "Thénardier" at the Internet Broadway Database