What Have I Done?

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What Have I Done? is the fourth song in first act of Les Misérables, sung by the main character; Jean Valjean.

Both instrumentation and vocals fluxuate tone and feeling: going from soft to strong and so forth as Valjean confronts an inner conflict and "discusses" and reasons through it. The end of the song becomes darker as Valjean resolves to the conflict's resolution. The "dark music's" theme and music reccurs throughout the play in the future; in songs such as Who am I?, Stars, On My Own, and Javert's Suicide.

[edit] Overview

Valjean sings What Have I Done? directly after the song Valjean Arrested & Forgiven, where he is saved from rightful imprisonment from a reverend, who's house he had just robbed.

Jean Valjean is hurt by the Bishop's kindness, especially after being given extremely expensive silver candlesticks after having just robbed the Bishop. Because of this, he confronts the idea of staying a criminal, and after a deep inner conflict, resolves to become a new; law abiding citizen.

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