With its amazing visual effects and talented actors Les Miserables is definitely a must see. It is a beautiful musical that involves love, hate, death, and life. It takes place in France early 1800’s. The plot involves a refugee named Jean Valjean, who is released from prison but violates his parole to start a new life, then he meets a dying woman he vows to take care of her daughter Cosette, which turns out to be more difficult than he thought considering there is a war going on. Twentieth century musical is known for its outstanding details and numerous characters, especially Les Miserables.
Many events helped to shape Les Miserables. One important event that happened in this time period was invention of the airplane. It was invented on December
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It starts out with Jean Valjean, who was just released from prison but then violates his parole to start a new life as a mayor and factory owner(Les Miserables). When he meets one of his factory workers, Fantine, who turns very ill and is arrested for prostitution he promises
Fantine he will find and look after Cosette, Fantine’s only daughter(Les Miserables). After Valjean finds
Cosette and takes her in as his own Javert, Valjean’s old prison guard, recognizes Valjean(Les
Miserables). As Cosette grows older she has fallen in love with a man named Marius, who is a rebel in the French war(Les Miserables). Valjean realizes Javert has recognized him and insists they move.
Valjean saves Marius after the rebels were attacked. Valjean is given a chance to kill Javert but gives mercy, and Javert overcome with guilt kills himself(Les Miserables). Later at Cosette and Marius’s wedding Marius realizes Valjean saved him and goes to Valjean, now an old man, to thank him, but
Valjean dies at the reunion of Valjean, Marius, and Cosette(Les Miserables).
The theme of this beautiful production is the importance of love and compassion. Boubil
The period between early 1940s to mid-1960s or so, alternatively, the period between when the musical Oklahoma! (1943) was produced till the time when Hair (1968) was produced, is usually referred to as the Golden Age of the American musical (Kantor, 2010). It is during this period, that most of the noted titles such as “Carousel”, “South Pacific” etc. were produced. 1940s and early 1950s were dominated thoroughly by MGM musicals, while the late 1950s and 1960s belonged to Broadway. Initially, the musicals of this era had simple plots, unchallenging themes, with romantic or comedic characters and lots of singing and dancing. But towards the end of it, the plots were sophisticated, serious with singing, dancing as well as dialogue. In this paper, I choose to elaborate more on the musical – Arthur Laurents’s West Side Story. In the first part of this paper, I discuss the plot, songs and other aspects of the musical such as the awards etc. Later on, I explain how this musical revolutionized the theatre and the cultural effects it had on Americans. Finally, I conclude in the end the historical importance of this musical piece.
thesis of how the musical brought our inner child out to realize our true struggles in life.
Great Depression was one of the most severe economic situation the world had ever seen. It all started during late 1929 and lasted till 1939. Although, the origin of depression was United Sattes but with US Economy being highly correlated with global economy, the ill efffects were seen in the whole world with high unemployment, low production and deflation. Overall it was the most severe depression ever faced by western industrialized world. Stock Market Crashes, Bank Failures and a lot more, left the governments ineffective and this lead the global economy to what we call today- ‘’Great Depression’’.(Rockoff). As for the cause and what lead to Great Depression, the issue is still in debate among eminent economists, but the crux provides evidence that the worst ever depression ever expereinced by Global Economy stemed from multiple causes which are as follows:
The Great Depression was the worst economic slump ever in U.S. history, and one which spread to virtually all of the industrialized world. The depression began in late 1929 and lasted for about a decade. Many factors played a role in bringing about the depression; however, the main cause for the Great Depression was the combination of the greatly unequal distribution of wealth throughout the 1920's, and the extensive stock
The epic movie Les Misérables, directed by Billie August, tells the tale of life and exploits of a man named Jean Valjean. Valjean was convicted of stealing food at young age, but after being released from prison and rising through the ranks to become the mayor of Vigo, he finds himself being constantly pursued by one of his ex-prison guards. This man, Javert, is determined to have Valjean locked up once again. During this intense struggle, it becomes easy to see that different people from this time period decide to follow the law in different ways. Throughout this film, Jean Valjean repeatedly chooses to abide by the spirit of the law, while his sworn enemy, Javert, mercilessly enforces the letter of the law.
The Great Depression was a period from October 29, 1929 to around 1940, close to when the U.S. entered World War II. This period was an economic depression that was started by the Stock Market crash. Such a catastrophic time span has many different causes that can all relate and combine. The Great Depression had many underlying causes that started originated after World War I. A series of events, including the economic boom of the 1920’s were contributors to the Great Depression.
The great depression started on black Tuesday, October 29, 1929 and lasted until 1939. Some of the main causes of the great depression were that there was overproduction of food and also industrial parts, banks gave out too many loans and at the end people could not pay them, and also the stock market crash of 1929. Farmers in the western world produced more food than Americans needed. Farmers then couldn’t sell the food and then lost their farms. Industrial workers produced too many things. Workers couldn’t buy goods. Banks made bad loans to people. The banks wanted to expand. But people couldn’t pay for the loans.
The fundamental weakness and contradictions of the world economy was the actual cause of the Great Depression. The international economy was in shambles because of the cost of war and the American economy was indirectly damaged by this; however, October 29, 1929 is the official beginning of the Great Depression because of the stock market crash of 1929. Paper fortunes had vanished but money was the foundation of American life. People usually took loans from banks so they could start businesses but because of the Depression, they took out loans so they would have e...
First off, is the element of forgiveness. In a book of mistrust, poverty, and hate…forgiveness thrives in the world of Les Miserables. The first example of this was at the very beginning, when Jean Valjean stayed with the bishop. Valjean stole his silver…and ran off. He ends up being caught by police, but when the police questioned the bishop, he claimed to have given the silver to Valjean. Jean was confused…and the bishop claimed that with the silver, he had purchased the convicts soul, and had given it to God, and from that day forward, Valjean must be a good man. Another example of forgiveness goes two ways. Javert, in his relentless pursuit of Valjean, is captured by revolutionaries. In reward for saving the lives of a few of these revolutionaries, Valjean asks for, and gets, permission to take Javert outside, and kill him. Once outside, a small monologue occurs…and Valjean releases Javert, and lets him go free. Valjean just wanted to be left alone in peace, and hoped this act of kindness would change Javert, and make him realize that Valjean was no longer the man he was. The second way…is that in the end, after Javert finally captures Valjean, he lets him go. Since Javert had broken the law… that he loved so dearly, he kills himself shortly thereafter, by jumping into a river.
The Great Depression was a period of first-time decline in economic movement. It occurred between the years 1929 and 1939. It was the worst and longest economic breakdown in history. The Wall Street stock market crash started the Great Depression; it had terrible effects on the country (United States of America). When the stock market started failing many factories closed production of all types of good. Businesses and banks started closing down and farmers fell into bankruptcy. Many people lost everything, their jobs, their savings, and homes. More than thirteen million people were unemployed.
Within the last few decades we've seen a huge resurgence in the popularity of the musical. With shows like Hamilton, Wicked, and Once, musicals have become more modern, edgy, and overall more accessible to a wide range of patrons of the arts. In this, the movie musical has also seen a regrowth in popularity – with reinventions of classic musicals like Hairspray (2007), Sweeny Todd (2007), and Les Miserables (2012) and original movie musicals like La La Land (2016) and Across the Universe (2007).
Wells, E A. (2011) West Side Story Cultural Perspectives on an American musical. Maryland: Scarecrow Press, Inc.
Les Miserables and A Tale of Two cities capture some of the most inspiring moments in history. The power of the people and love seems to always overcome all the bad. Both help audiences feel love, evil, revenge, loss, and passion. The characters play a tremendous role in helping the audience capture these emotions. Lucie and Cosette are the perfect symbols of love and light. The experienced loss and pain, but the see the good in everyone and everything. The distinctive characters display slightly different backgrounds, although the both give off joy despite all the darkness around them. Although being in different eras Lucie, A Tale of Two Cities and Cosette, Les Miserables are remarkably comparable due to their like experiences and charisma that draw them closer together.
Ebert effectively points out the highs and lows of Schumacher’s The Phantom of the Opera. Though the film is visually stunning, much is left to be said for the storyline, acting, and length. Few redeeming qualities make Schumacher’s version of The Phantom of the Opera worth watching. By glorifying the Phantom, Schumacher detracts from the demon that he was and the torment that he inflicted on those around him.
... in a true act of redemption confesses his true identity even though it would ruin his new life as mayor. Ironically, both fire and water are used as archetypes to show redemption. When Jean Valjean escapes from Toulon by “falling” off the Orion, he is reborn from his old-life as a convict. He uses this opportunity for redemption by keeping his promise to Fantine and taking Cosette. Ascent is used as an archetype when Jean Valjean saves Cosette and himself by scaling the wall. As they ascend higher and higher, it becomes evident that Jean Valjean is changing. He is no longer a convict, but both a mother and father figure to Cosette. Jean Valjean loves and protects Cosette no matter what it costs him. In conclusion, Victor Hugo presents the fault in human society that we do do bad things - even good people, but it is how people fix their wrongs that they are redeemed.