For this project, I will examine several key moments, themes, and characters in Les Miserables and Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings and expanded world – in novel, stage, and screen adaptations. I want to draw parallels as well as contrasts – in order to highlight the themes they share and the ways in which each work presents its ideas and things it values.

In particular, I will draw connections between several key characters as well as character relationships and scenes from each, which will bring out comparisons of shared themes – for example, nature, light and darkness, domestic vs. military concerns, the heights of ideals and beauty vs. depths of depravity, the power of the “common” man vs. the Great Men, friendship and community, temptation, redemption, faith, hope, common welfare, use of language, poetry, music, and storytelling.

I will focus a lot on comparisons between the characters and story arcs and beats between Jean Valjean, Marius, Cosette, Frodo, and Sam; and their troubled yet merciful relations toward Javert and Gollum, the tragic “anti-villains” spared by the heroes but not by the story. There will also be an exploration of connection between Eowyn and Eponine, along with their relations toward Aragorn and Marius, as well as Grima Wormtongue and Montparnasse. Further character and thematic parallels will be enriched by Tolkien’s commentary in his Letters and unpublished drafts.

In the end, I’ll do a lightning round conclusion where I compare and contrast two iterations of connection between the nine members of Les Amis de L’ABC with the nine members of the Fellowship of the Ring, mapping characters and their relationships onto each other in two ways with varying priority of connection. All this will hopefully present a fun piece of comparative literature, which with its parallels will highlight and enrich our understanding and appreciation all the wonderful themes we love about these stories.