Marius should have ended up with Eponine-not Cosette!!!

Because this is the final round, I won't introduce any new points and will stick to refuting instead. "Probably what they saw at first sight was beauty: Marius though Cosette was beautiful and Cosette thought Marius was handsom [sic] and they got to know each other a bit more. .. " In that case, it was a purely physical attraction, not grounds for a romance. Perhaps Marius and Cosette had feelings of adolescent lust towards each other, but those are far different from love. Carnal desire can help initiate a romantic relationship, for sure, but this couple has neither romantic nor sexual chemistry. They have none of the conversations that lovers would have. They don't joke, flirt, comfort each other, get in fights, or even engage in small talk. Just empty declarations of "I love you! " Their romance feels totally artificial. "I think the reason Cosette seems so unisteresting to so many readers/viewers is because of the time period she's in- women back in those days were just expected to look pretty so a man would woo her- she was not supposed to be interesting. " I have to disagree with this. Just because women in 19th-century France were expected to be quiet and obedient doesn't mean they lacked a personality outside of that. Fantine was one of the most tragic, emotional characters in the entire story, and for a while, it was her job to look pretty and have men woo her. There are also plenty of female characters written around Hugo's time (or before) that had far more depth while sticking close social norms. Alice's Adventures in Wonderland was published only 3 years after Les Miserables, and that book's protagonist manages to be a more likable, clever, curious, and interesting character than Cosette. Even though Alice is only seven years old! Going back three centuries earlier, Shakespeare's plays featured great female characters like Ophelia and Gertrude from Hamlet, Juliet from Romeo & Juliet, Lady Macbeth from Macbeth. All of them are ladylike in the traditional sense, and products of their own time, but still complex. Therefore, Cosette's adherence to social norms can't be used as an excuse for why she lacks any personality. "she was abusive towards Cosette as a child and never even said sorry. .. If Eponine truly loved him, she would have not hidden those letters. " Eponine was only a child and, as children do, followed her parents' wicked example. Maybe she should have apologized or felt some form of remorse, but since she was only a kid, she can't be held accountable for abusing Cosette. I agree that preventing the two lovers from communicating was perhaps an amoral thing to do on Eponine's part, but can you blame her? She is desperately in love with Marius; naturally, she wants to do all she can to prevent him from hooking up with her foster sister. Definitely a selfish thing to do, but a human thing to do as well. In contrast to Cosette's bland, unblemished, angelic purity. "Cosette lost her mother, never met her father, and was abused by the Thenardiers whilst they spoiled their own daughters so in a way, Eponine kind of got what she deserved- she has no one to love her like Cosette did during her childhood. " I understand this from a storytelling standpoint. Eponine's life begins with loving companionship and ends with miserable loneliness; Cosette's life is the exact opposite. Simple irony. But did Eponine really "get what she deserved"? Not at all. Cosette's horrible treatment at the hands of the Thernardiers was not Eponine's fault. I felt great pity for Cosette early on in the story, mostly because of her mother's heart-rending situation. But the pity I felt for Eponine later on was so much greater. In summary, I think Marius would have been better off with Eponine because she is a far more interesting character, as well as a tragic figure who deserved love as much as any character in Les Miserables.