Sunday, 15 July 2012

Cosette vs. Johanna

I was thinking while watching clips of the Sweeney Todd film & Les Miz & I was thinking Johanna & Cosette are quite similar.


  • They both have pretty soprano voices.
  • They fall in love at first sight (Anthony & Marius).
  • They're both raised by men who aren't their fathers
  • Their mothers die (Even though Johanna wasn't aware the beggar was her mother)
  • They both yearn to be free from their loneliness.
  • They both have blonde hair (depending on the actress in Les Miz i.e Camilla Kerslake, Amanda Seyfried)
  • They're both serenaded by their loves which become their theme songs (Johanna/Kiss Me & A Heart Full of Love)
  • Their roles are condensed in different adaptations (2007 Sweeney Todd film & Les Miz musical)
What do you think? If there are any other similarities I've missed let me know!


2 comments:

  1. I've thought about the similarities between these 2 as well, mostly because of amanda seyfried playing both of them. One more similarity is that both of their fathers die by the end. Anthony: "Joanna, when we're free of this place all the the ghosts will go away." Joanna: "No Anthony, they never go away." While she's haunted by her ghosts, at the end of Les Miserables, Jean Valjean's ghost watches over Cosette. So that's more of a contrast than a similarity, but still, thought it was a parallel worth mentioning.

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  2. I find it interesting how Cosette in the book is refered to as a Lark amping other birds and Joanna is also in a sense refered to as a bird trapped in a cage. They both also yearn to explore the outside world.

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