Character guide
Fantine
from Les Misérables
Fantine is the desperate young mother whose sacrifice sets much of the plot in motion in Les Misérables, the 1987 musical with music by Claude-Michel Schönberg.
- Show
- Les Misérables
- Premiered
- 1987
- Role
- Supporting
- Composer
- Claude-Michel Schönberg
Who is Fantine?
Fantine is a factory worker who, after being dismissed from her job and abandoned by the father of her child, is forced into increasingly desperate circumstances to provide for her daughter, Cosette. Her decline, from working woman to destitution, is one of the most devastating passages in the musical, and her fate becomes the reason Jean Valjean vows to raise Cosette as his own.
Though her time on stage is relatively brief, Fantine's story sets the moral stakes of the entire show, illustrating the cruelty of a society that offers no safety net to the poor and vulnerable.
Fantine's role in Les Misérables
Fantine is a supporting role, but one of the most emotionally powerful in the show, built around a single showcase number that has become one of the most performed songs from the musical theatre canon. The part demands an actress who can convey raw vulnerability and heartbreak with vocal control, often within a compressed amount of stage time.
Performers and audiences alike are drawn to Fantine because her arc, however brief, distills the entire musical's themes of injustice, sacrifice, and redemption into one unforgettable emotional journey.
Frequently asked
What show is Fantine from?
Fantine appears in Les Misérables, which premiered on Broadway in 1987.
Is Fantine a lead or supporting role?
Fantine is a supporting role, though she is one of the show's most memorable and emotionally central characters.
Who wrote the music for Les Misérables?
Claude-Michel Schönberg composed the music for Les Misérables.
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