The musical is based on the 1862 novel Les Misérables by Victor Hugo. Set in early 19th-century France, it follows the intertwining stories of a cast of characters as they struggle for redemption and revolution. The characters include a paroled convict named Jean Valjean who, failing attempts to find work as an honest man with his yellow ticket of leave, breaks his parole and conceals his identity; the police inspector Javert who becomes obsessed with finding Valjean; Fantine, the single mother who is forced to become a prostitute to support her daughter Cosette; Cosette, who, after her mother's death, becomes Jean Valjean's adopted daughter and who eventually falls in love with a revolutionary student named Marius Pontmercy; the Thénardiers, the unscrupulous innkeepers who initially foster Cosette, and who thrive on cheating and stealing; Éponine, their young daughter who is hopelessly in love with Marius; Gavroche, a young beggar boy and the young son of the Thénardiers; and a student leader Enjolras who plans the revolt to free the oppressed lower classes of France. The main characters are joined by an ensemble that includes prostitutes, student revolutionaries, factory workers, and others.
Les Misérables begins at a prison in Toulon, France in 1815, where the imprisoned men are forced to do labor. After nineteen years of imprisonment Jean Valjean, Prisoner 24601, is released on parole by the policeman Javert. By law, Valjean must display a yellow ticket-of-leave, which condemns him as an outcast as he tries to start anew. He then meets the Bishop of Digne, who offers food and shelter. Nevertheless, Valjean repays the bishop by stealing some silver, and is soon caught by the police. However the bishop lies to save Valjean then gives him two expensive candlesticks and asks him to start a new, honest life. Humbled by the bishop's mercy and kindness, Valjean decides to follow the bishop's advice and breaks his parole as he tears apart his yellow ticket-of-leave. Les Miserables tickets are in great demand to this day.
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