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About ace!Enjolras…
I get why so many fans are invested in the idea of Enjolras being asexual/aromantic. While I somewhat doubt that Hugo intended that “his mistress is ‘patria’” line to be an indicator of asexuality/aromanticism in the way that some of the Classical allusions Hugo makes in reference to Grantaire are most likely meant indicate homosexuality, simply because the Victorians didn’t have a concept of aromantic aces in the same way that they did “Greek Love,” I also somewhat doubt that Tolkien actually intended Legolas and Gimli to get gay-married at the end of LotR, but will nevertheless argue until my dying breath that they totally, totally do and that said marriage is 100% supported-by-text canon whether Tolkien did it on purpose or not, so, you know, each to his own.
The thing I do wonder, however, is this: Why is Enjolras the only character fannish consensus has chosen to make asexual/aromantic? Yes, he’s an easier sell for aromanticism than Cosette-obsessed!Marius or Marius-obsessed!Eponine or HappilyShackedUpInAThreesome!Joly&Bossuet, since Hugo makes a point about the fact that his dedication to his political cause comes before everything else and he has no girlfriend, but Enjolras is still in his early 20s when he dies, at an age when some people still haven’t completely figured out their sexuality. (I can’t be the only one here who didn't develop a sex drive or have any kind of romantic relationship until I was halfway through college, right? Right?)
Meanwhile, Jean Valjean lives into his late 60s without ever appearing to have a significant sexual or romantic relationship of any kind. (I mean, yes, I totally ship him with Fantine, but the fact remains that this is not actually consummated in any way in the book). Yes, he spends a 19-year chunk of that time in prison, where women are not present and most m/m relationships were presumably non-consensual (Hugo doesn't go into rape in the French prison system, but there are other French authors of the period who do - it definitely happened), but during his time in Montreuil-sur-Mer and his time in Paris as M. Fauchelevent he pursues no romantic relationships with women, and while you could put that down to the fact that he’s in hiding, we also never see him pining after a woman whom he’s decided he can’t risk having a relationship with, or regretting that his secrets and fugitive status prevent him from wooing and marrying a wife. This could of course simply mean that he’s gay, just as Enjolras’s lack of interest in women might, but we also don’t see him either having any close relationships with other men (not even platonic ones) or angsting extensively about his own sinful desires, which someone as devoutly religious as post-candlesticks Valjean would presumably do (he certainly angsts and has internal conflicts over plenty of other things).
Personally, I’m all aboard the good ship Valjean/Fantine (as well as the good ship Javert/gay crush on M. Madelaine & Javert/obsessive homoerotic fixation on Valjean), but an asexual and/or aromantic Valjean seems like a very plausible interpretation to me. As does, for that matter, asexual and/or aromantic Javert (another man who lives well into middle age without appearing to seek out any sexual or romantic partners).
How come it’s always Enjolras, guys? Why don’t the middle-aged French virgins get some of the (lack of) love?
I get why so many fans are invested in the idea of Enjolras being asexual/aromantic. While I somewhat doubt that Hugo intended that “his mistress is ‘patria’” line to be an indicator of asexuality/aromanticism in the way that some of the Classical allusions Hugo makes in reference to Grantaire are most likely meant indicate homosexuality, simply because the Victorians didn’t have a concept of aromantic aces in the same way that they did “Greek Love,” I also somewhat doubt that Tolkien actually intended Legolas and Gimli to get gay-married at the end of LotR, but will nevertheless argue until my dying breath that they totally, totally do and that said marriage is 100% supported-by-text canon whether Tolkien did it on purpose or not, so, you know, each to his own.
The thing I do wonder, however, is this: Why is Enjolras the only character fannish consensus has chosen to make asexual/aromantic? Yes, he’s an easier sell for aromanticism than Cosette-obsessed!Marius or Marius-obsessed!Eponine or HappilyShackedUpInAThreesome!Joly&Bossuet, since Hugo makes a point about the fact that his dedication to his political cause comes before everything else and he has no girlfriend, but Enjolras is still in his early 20s when he dies, at an age when some people still haven’t completely figured out their sexuality. (I can’t be the only one here who didn't develop a sex drive or have any kind of romantic relationship until I was halfway through college, right? Right?)
Meanwhile, Jean Valjean lives into his late 60s without ever appearing to have a significant sexual or romantic relationship of any kind. (I mean, yes, I totally ship him with Fantine, but the fact remains that this is not actually consummated in any way in the book). Yes, he spends a 19-year chunk of that time in prison, where women are not present and most m/m relationships were presumably non-consensual (Hugo doesn't go into rape in the French prison system, but there are other French authors of the period who do - it definitely happened), but during his time in Montreuil-sur-Mer and his time in Paris as M. Fauchelevent he pursues no romantic relationships with women, and while you could put that down to the fact that he’s in hiding, we also never see him pining after a woman whom he’s decided he can’t risk having a relationship with, or regretting that his secrets and fugitive status prevent him from wooing and marrying a wife. This could of course simply mean that he’s gay, just as Enjolras’s lack of interest in women might, but we also don’t see him either having any close relationships with other men (not even platonic ones) or angsting extensively about his own sinful desires, which someone as devoutly religious as post-candlesticks Valjean would presumably do (he certainly angsts and has internal conflicts over plenty of other things).
Personally, I’m all aboard the good ship Valjean/Fantine (as well as the good ship Javert/gay crush on M. Madelaine & Javert/obsessive homoerotic fixation on Valjean), but an asexual and/or aromantic Valjean seems like a very plausible interpretation to me. As does, for that matter, asexual and/or aromantic Javert (another man who lives well into middle age without appearing to seek out any sexual or romantic partners).
How come it’s always Enjolras, guys? Why don’t the middle-aged French virgins get some of the (lack of) love?
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