[anxiety tw, abuse tw]
Marius’ childhood should really, really not be ignored — he was on the receiving end of abuse from his grandfather growing up, and this is clear from these lines in the brick:
In reality, we have said, M. Gillenormand worshipped Marius. He worshipped him in his own way, with an accompaniment of cuffs, and even of blows
beyond the physical violence, there was also verbal abuse which also provided emotional trauma, as you can see exhibited in the first quote and reflected in the second:
…a child, a little boy, who was always trembling and mute in the presence of M. Gillenormand. There was also in this house, between the old man and the old maid, a child, a little boy, who was always quiet and trembling in the old gentleman’s presence. M. Gillenormand never spoke to this boy except in a stern voice, and sometimes with uplifted cane. ” Come here, sir ! Scamp, scoundrel, come here. Answer me, fellow! Only let me look at you, vagabond ! ” etc. He adored him.
This child, who had been all joy and light on entering this strange world, soon became melancholy, and, what is still more contrary to his age, grave.
in short, Marius did not have a happy childhood. he grew up treated coldly and cruelly by his grandfather, without a mother, and believing his father had abandoned him. that last in particular is important here, the concept of abandonment — everybody knows and makes light of the intensity with which Marius clung to Cosette ( “to Marius, Cosette bore a halo” ; “Marius was scarcely conscious of the fact that Cosette had a father; his wits were drugged with happiness.” ), but I think people underestimate the power that her returning his affections gave him.
Marius had spent months just being around her in the Luxembourg and Hugo described how much that uplifted him (considering at the time Marius was still impoverished, his mood boost was extra significant) and then, in the lapse when the Fauchelevents stopped going to the Luxembourg Hugo describes him falling into a ‘despair’ which sounds a lot like depression.
it’s clear that he seeks out happiness and clings to it almost in desperation, and this is understandable due to his upbringing; Marius needs happiness, he thrives and survives on it and the idea of losing it is devastating to him — which is shown clearly in ‘Marius gives Cosette his address’, when Cosette tells him she is moving to england. this is his reaction from the brick:
He found not a word to say. Cosette merely felt that his hand was very cold. She said to him in her turn: “What is the matter?”
He replied in so low a tone that Cosette hardly heard him:— “I did not understand what you said.”
instantly on hearing that Cosette might be leaving, Marius shuts down, closes up— he speaks quietly and his body turns cold. at this point it’s like he’s in denial, then, when she repeats it, he’s suddenly agitated and even angry, his following responses are:
“But this is outrageous!” exclaimed Marius.
[…]
He demanded in a weak voice:—
“And when do you leave?”
“He [Valjean] did not say when.”
“And when shall you return?”
“He did not say when.”
Marius rose and said coldly:—
“Cosette, shall you go?”
Marius is clearly distraught here, and what is interesting but unfortunately not translated in English editions is that, in the French, here he switches to the ‘vous’ form of speaking when addressing Cosette:
—En Angleterre? irez-vous? (“To England? You are going?”)
—Pourquoi me dis-tu vous? (“Why do you say ‘you’ to me?”)
this is incredibly expressive as Hugo has already by this point explicitly stated (in both the English and French versions) that Marius and Cosette began talking to each other in the familiar ‘tu’ form instantly, neither asking for the permission to do so which is still required now and was likely even more important in the 1800s. but now, suddenly, having heard that Cosette might leave, Marius retreats and springs back to the formal ‘vous’, showing how dramatically the news has affected him — which is hammered home with Cosette’s surprise.
now, a lot of people interpret Marius’ tendency to be cold at times (such as now, or when he glimpsed her leg before their ‘first quarrel’, or when he tries to forbid her seeing Valjean) as him being mean or cruel, but I think it’s understandable, and springs from fear. as I said before, Marius has such an inherent fear of abandonment and an anxiety which comes from that that he overreacts and jumps the gun immediately because he needs his secure and steady habits to feel safe. seeing Cosette in the Luxembourg every day was a pattern; when the pattern was broken, he slipped down. now, he’s been seeing Cosette in the garden every night in an even stronger pattern than before, because now they’re actually lovers; when he thinks that this pattern’s going to break, and he’s going to lose Cosette AGAIN, he immediately freaks.
because, character-wise Marius and Cosette complement each other: I once saw a post describing them as ‘both sad orphans who fall in love’, and though Marius is not really raised an orphan - he’s with family - they are both mistreated. but unlike Cosette, who was taken to a place of love and cared for by Valjean, Marius stayed with his grandfather until he left onto the streets himself: though Cosette’s abuse was considerably more extensive, she was given safety and security. Marius never had this, and so he reacts intensely and anxiously when he perceives something might be going wrong. that’s why Cosette is such an important character — she brings that peace to Marius, and also Valjean. especially when he’s suffering with the PTSD later on, she’s there to provide the constant reassurance needs. and that is so, so important.
so to conclude, I think it’s important for the fandom to remember when they’re teasing Marius for loving Cosette just how important that love was. Cosette is helping him to recover, and so Marius isn’t just love-sick or overly emotional, or clingy or too attached — well, he is, but that’s not without reason. Marius clearly has a form of anxiety which can’t be trivialised, and in my opinion should not be written off so often. yes, it’s easy to throw a Romeo characterisation onto Marius and leave it at that, but it’s not at all correct.
Marius Pontmercy is so much more and so much stronger than that.
