Anyone who has delved deeper into the realm of Les Miserables probably knows the popular opinion on Cosette. In a cast of well-loved characters, she is often seen as the least favorite. She was written, I think, as someone that should be liked by everyone, and instead she is liked by almost no one. I think the main reason people tend to dislike Cosette is her perfection. She is, for all intents and purposes, practically flawless. To a reader, that isn't likeable. It's annoying. I don't want to read another episode of "Cosette's Perfect Day" because that's boring. If the only thing a character does is have one fabulous day after another, it's frustrating. A person can't learn anything from days like that. Valjean, however, does his very best to make sure all of Cosette's days are perfect, especially after rescuing her from the Thenardiers. It's a nice idea, but it ends up creating a character who is naive and childish. Because of her privileged, sheltered lifestyle, Cosette remains a static character for most of the book. Her constant happiness ends up being vexing for the reader, and she isn't even kind of relatable.
Once Marius is introduced, she becomes slightly more human. Now, instead of being relentlessly happy all the time, Cosette has emotions. When Marius is gone she misses him. When she thinks he might be in danger, she's worried for him. When it seems they might be separated, she's distraught. Cosette is still puppy-dog happy most of the time (and when she isn't it usually has to do with Marius), but she's getting there. I wouldn't say that Marius causes her emotional growth, however. Instead he acts as more of a catalyst. In chemistry, the catalyst is added to a reaction in order to speed it up. The reaction will happen regardless, but it'll go a lot faster with the catalyst present. This is what Marius does for Cosette - he helps her grow up a little bit faster. Without Marius, Cosette surely would have come upon this emotional maturity at some point. However, his presence helps her reach this point faster.
Do you think that Marius causes Cosette's emotional growth, or is he more of a catalyst as I suggested?
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