@Lost_in_the_woods: Thanks for your input. I agree with you about the older Cosette, but the younger Cosette was the icon of suffering as a child. I don't think I was identifying with her, I was just trying to make a point how her misery made her to create an imaginary place that represents all she wished to have and see: no sweeping, no cries, love ... etc. The whole novel is built around misery. Sure Valjean and Fontaine sacrificed for Cosette which shows love, but also shows misery. Valjean from the beginning was in pain and crying because he was imprisoned for 19 years for stealing a loaf of bread because his niece/nephew was starving, which shows the cruelty of the law and humans. Probably one of the most loving scenes in the musical for me was when the Bishop redeemed Valjean and gave him a new beginning. I think this is love, because he knew him just for only one night. He (the Bishop) understood the humanity suffering. This incident was the changing point for Valjean. He couldn't believe because all he experienced was cruelty, and all he learned was "eye for an eye".