Les misérables Watch Full Without Signing Up Without Sign Up Mojo

⬇⬇⬇⬇⬇⬇

DOWNLOAD ^ WATCH

123Movies

⇪⇪⇪⇪⇪⇪

 

 

Release Date=2019; writer=Alexis Manenti; tomatometers=8,3 / 10 Stars; genre=Thriller; France; A cop from the provinces moves to Paris to join the Anti-Crime Brigade of Montfermeil, discovering an underworld where the tensions between the different groups mark the rhythm. Robin Hood Vs Wolverine. Literature Guides Introduction Widely regarded as one of the greatest and most recognized French writers, Victor Hugo was the son of a general in Napoleons army. As such, he spent a significant portion of his childhood travelling Italy and Spain before joining his mother in Paris at the age of eleven. It was there that he developed his love affair with books and poetry. Hugo experimented with many different genres of literature, however, it was his plays that proved the most successful. The July 1830 Revolution is credited as the driving force for many of Hugos best works, most remarkably, the literary masterpiece The Hunchback of Notre-Dame (1831. Not long after, Hugo developed a keen interest in politics and was awarded a seat on Frances National Assembly. Taking a predominately leftist stance, Hugo found himself outcast from France in the early 1850s after voicing his disapproval of the monarch Napoleon. Hugo did not return to his homeland for nearly two decades and continued to be active in the literary world up until his passing in 1885. To date, Hugo is recognized as not only a literary genius, but also a French national hero. Even now, nearly a century and a half later, the writings of Victor Hugo are at the foundation of popular culture, having spawned many movies and inspired countless other books. Hugo is thought to be a leader of the Romantic Movement and the creator of a unique brand of literature that combines imaginative realism with exaggerated symbolism and realistic elements. The characters in his stories serve the purpose of highlighting significant social issues, as Hugos fondness for politics compelled him to bring light to issues like universal suffrage and the availability of affordable education. Hugo firmly believed that it was his duty to stand up for those less fortunate than himself, a quality that drew him widespread appreciation. Interestingly enough, Les Miserables was conceptualized two decades before being published in 1862. Les Miserables is viewed as a prolific example of humanitarian efforts that compel compassion and inspire hope in the face of social injustice and adversity. Even more so, it is a piece of history that paints a very clear picture of French politics and society during the nineteenth century. In writing Les Miserables, Hugo hoped that he would inspire a more democratic future. Hugos fondness for imaginative realism is evident in Les Miserables. The novel takes places in an artificially crafted ‘hell on earth that boldly stresses the three primary issues of the nineteen century. Each of the three primary characters are used to symbolize these issues: Jean Valjean signifies the deprivation of man in the proletariat Fantine signifies the oppression of women through starvation Cossette signifies the atrophy of children in darkness It is widely argued that Hugo created each character to symbolically represent much larger social issues without minimizing any of the other. Summary After serving a nineteen year sentence for stealing a loaf of bread, criminal Jean Valjean is released from a French prison. Upon arriving to the small town of Digne, Valjean learns that none of the townspeople are willing to offer him shelter because of his criminal past. Seeking refuge, Valjean comes across the home of the bishop Myriel, who offers him kindness and a warm place to stay. Not quite used to life outside of the prison, Valjean steals silverware from the bishop and is later arrested. However, upon his arrest, the bishop lies to the police, insisting that he gave the silverware to Valjean as a gift. Being spared what would have undoubtedly been a return trip to prison, Valjean promises the bishop that he will do whatever he needs to do in order to become an honest, law abiding man. With the intent of keeping his promise, Valjean recreates himself as the inventor Madeleine and endeavours to create a new life in the town of Montreuil-sur-mer. While there, Valjean creates a unique manufacturing process that brings great wealth to the town and is later elected as mayor. Fantine, a beautiful young lady from Montreuil, has relocated to Paris. While there, she meets and falls in love with Tholomyes, a student from a prosperous family who romances the young Fantine but eventually abandons her after she falls pregnant. Being left with no way of supporting herself or the daughter she must now raise alone, Fantine makes the decision to return to her homeland with her infant daughter, Cosette. During her journey, Fantine comes to the sobering realization that she will never be capable of finding employment if the people are aware of her fatherless child. While travelling through Montfermeil, she encounters the Thenardiers; they are the keepers of the local inn. The Thenardier family agree to take care of Cosette in exchange for a regular monthly allowance. While in Montreuil, Fantine seeks out employment at the factory owned by Madeleine. However, upon learning about her daughter, Fantine is fired. In turn, the Thenardier family request an increase in allowance in order to continue caring for Cosette. Spurned by an inability to support herself or her daughter, Fantine turns to prostitution. Eventually, Fantine is arrested by the local police chief, Javert. Had it not been for the intervention of Madeleine, Fantine would have been sent off to prison. Having fallen ill, Fantine asks to be able to see her daughter, Cosette, and asks that Madeleine send for her. However, before he is able to do so, he must appease Javert who has discovered the truth about his identity. Javert informs Madeleine that they have found a man who has been accused of being the criminal Valjean and later prompts a confession by Madeleine. As Javert arrives to arrest Valjean, Fantine dies. Several years later, Valjean escapes from prison and ventures towards Montfermeil where he buys Cosette from the Thenardiers. It is revealed that the Thernardiers were an awful bunch who neglected and abused Cosette while treating their own daughters like royalty. Valjean takes Cosette and moves to  a destitute area in Paris. However, after having been discovered by Javert, the pair must flee. They are lucky to find refuge in a convent, and Cosette receives an education while Valjean earns a tidy wage as a gardener. Marius Pontmercy, the grandson of wealthy M. Gillenormand, has been estranged from his father due to their differences in political affiliation. However, after the passing of his father, Marius learns more about him and comes to relate to his democratic views. Angry with his grandfather for having kept him away from his father, Marius moves out of the house and adapts to life as a struggling law student. While in school, Marius befriends a group of radicals known as the Friend of ABC, who are spearheaded by Enjolras.  One day, Marius encounters Cosette at a local park and is immediately smitten. However, Valjean is immensely protective of the girl and tries to prevent the two young people from meeting. However, their paths eventually cross once more when Valjean makes a social welfare visit to the Jondrettes, Mariuss lower class neighbors. As it turns out, the Jondrettes are actually the Thenardiers, who after having lost their inn, were forced to relocate to Paris under a new identity. When Valjean leaves, Mr. Thenardier announces his plan to rob Valjean. Disgusted by the announcement, Marius contacts the local police to inform them of the crime that is about to happen. Unfortunately, the police inspector is none other than Javert. Javert arrests the Thenardiers, but Valjean is able to slip away before he is recognized. Eponine, the daughter of Thenardier, is in love with Marius and assists him in locating Cosette. After successfully contacting Cosette, the two declare their feelings for each other. However, the excitement is cut short. Valjean fears that he will lose Cosette and doesnt want her mixed up in the political unrest that plagues the city. The two make plans to move to London, England. Out of pure desperation, Marius seeks the assistance of his grandfather and asks for his permission to marry Cosette. Their encounter ends in a fight. Marius later learns that Cosette and Valjean have gone. Broken hearted, Marius decides to accompany his radical friends, who have begun to revolt. Armed with pistols, Marius sets out for the barricades. The political uprising appears to be frivolous, however, Marius and his friends refuse to stand down and continue on in their fight for freedom and democracy. The students soon learn that Javert has infiltrated their group. Labeling him a spy, Enjolras captures him. The army has begun to fight against the group, and in the heat of it all, Eponine jumps in front of the bullet of a riffle to save the life of Marius. As she lays dying in Mariuss arms, she hands him a letter written by Cosette. Marius pens a reply and asks a boy named Gavroche to deliver it. Valjean intercepts the note, and after reading it, sets out to save Marius. When Valjean reaches the barricade, he volunteers to execute Javert. However, instead of executing him, he lets him go. When the army reaches the barricade, Valjean drags the wounded Marius through the sewers in order to escape. After the pair emerge, Javert arrests him without hesitation. However, Valjean convinces Jalvet to allow him to escort Marius, who is dying, to the home of his grandfather. Javert is plagued by the thoughts of doing the right thing; should he uphold his commitment to the law, or should he uphold his debt to Valjean? In the end, Javert releases Valjean and commits suicide by jumping into the river and drowning. Marius recovers fully and reconciles with his grandfather, who later consents to the marriage of Marius and Cosette. Their wedding is a joyous celebration, however, joy turns to fear when Valjean confesses his past to Marius. The news of his criminal past alarms Marius, who still has not learned that it was Valjean who saved him at the barricades. Marius attempts to prevent Cosette from seeing the man who loved her like a daughter, and this throws Valjean into a deep depression. Marius later learns from the Thenardiers that it was Valjean who saved him and he sets out to correct his wrongdoing. He discloses everything to Cosette and the pair rush off to see Valjean just before he takes his final breath. Happy to have his daughter by his side once more, Valjean passes away with a full heart. Characters Analysis Jean Valjean Jean Valjean is the pseudo-father figure to Cosette. Valjean received a nineteen year prison sentence for stealing a load of bread. After experiencing the kindness of a bishop, Valjean renounces his life of crime and vows to lead a prosperous life. He develops a manufacturing process that nets him a comfortable lifestyle. He finds love he never thought possible in Cosette, the illegitimate daughter of a prostitute, and devotes his life to helping those in dire straits. Over the years, Valjean adopts many different personas in order to evade the police. He spends his entire life looking for forgiveness for his wrongdoings and searching for redemption. Upon his death bed, he finally makes peace with his past. Cosette Cosette is the illegitimate daughter of Fantine. Upon the death of her mother, she is adopted by Valjean. Throughout her childhood, Cosette was raised to be the servant of the Thenardier family in Montfermeil. However, despite her tumultuous upbringing, she maintains a positive outlook and always sees the best in people. While living with Valjean and a group of nuns in Petit-Picpus, Cosette receives an excellent education and grows into a caring and well-rounded young woman. She later finds true love in Marius, the grandson of a wealthy businessman. On the outside, Cosette appears complacent and innocent, however, her willing participation in Valjeans many attempts to thwart the law paint a more daring and intellectual tale. Javert Javert is the local police inspector. He has a firm belief in law and the pursuit of justice and has committed his life to upholding the strict penal codes of France. In the beginning, it appears that Javert is incapable of showing compassion or taking pity on those less fortunate than himself. He carries out his work with extreme precision, and hunts for lawbreakers in the way that a beast would hunt its prey. Javert has a keen desire to capture Valjean and bring him to justice. Ultimately, Javert battles with his inner self when trying to decide if Valjean truly deserves to be punished. In the end, it is this personal struggle that forces him to undermine the very belief in the system that he has based his entire life on. Fantine Fantine is a typical small town girl. She leaves her home in search of a brighter future in the city. Whilst there, she falls in love and has an affair with a young man who abandons her after learning that she is with child. Despite being sickly, Fantine makes every effort possible to support herself and her daughter, Cosette. Even as her life begins to fall to shambles, and she turns to prostitution in order to make ends meet, she never stops loving her child. Fantine is symbolic of the nineteenth century destruction of the less fortunate. Marius Pontmery Marius is the son of George, an active member of Napoleons army. The family did not approve of Georges political affiliations and exiled him. Marius was raised in the home of his grandfather, Gillenormand. However, upon learning the true reason for having been kept from his father, Marius leaves on a journey to discover himself. Marius is not yet wise to the ways of the world, but desires change. Having bonded with a group of radicals, Marius fights on the barricades and eventually marries the love of his life – Cosette. Myriel Myriel is the bishop of the town of Digne. His love for his fellow men has made him quite popular. The bishop shows kindness and compassion to Valjean and inspires him to live a life of gratitude, seeking out ways to help those less fortunate. M. Thenardier The sire Thernardier is an awful, greedy man who, under false pretences, agrees to care for Cosette. He ends up abusing the girl and turning her into his familys slave. Thenardier is driven by greed and will extort anyone he can. He is capable of anything, including murder. Mme. Thenardier Equally as horrible as her husband, she finds joy in torturing Cosette. Later in the novel, she plays an eager role in helping her husband to plan to rob Valjean and Cosette. Eponine The eldest Thenardier daughter. Eponine is a product of her upbringing and sees no harm in helping her parents destroy the lives of those around them. She is later redeemed by her pure love for Marius. As she lays dying, she is revealed as one of the most heroic characters in the novel. Gillenormand The elder grandfather of Marius, his mothers father. Gillenormand keeps Marius away from his father, George, because he worries that he will corrupt Marius with his political views. Gillenormand is a strict monarchist and is opposed to the French Revolution. Despite his views, Gillenormand truly loves Marius and wants nothing more than for his grandson to be happy. Gavroche The youngest son of the evil Thernardiers, Gavroche is kind and generous. He was kicked out of his family home at an early age and shows bravery well beyond his years. Important Quotes “Valjean strained his eyes in the distance and called out…”Petit Gervais! …” His cries died away into the mist, without even awakening an echo…[H]is knees suddenly bent under him, as if an invisible power suddenly overwhelmed him with the weight of his bad conscience; he fell exhausted…and cried out, “Im such a miserable man! ” In Book Two of “Fantine” Valjeans encounter with Petit Gervais after leaving the bishops home. It is here when he first realized his inability to keep his promise to live the life of an honest man – he begins to recognize how immoral he is. Valjean pleads for forgiveness, but receives no response, not even an echo. It is this portrayal of desolation that suggests that Valjean might be experiencing a feeling of emptiness, further expressed when he refers to himself as ‘miserable. To owe life to a malefactor…to be, in spite of himself, on a level with a fugitive from justice…to betray society in order to be true to his own conscience; that all these absurdities…should accumulate on himself – this is what prostrated him. This quote from Book Four of Jean Valjean is used to illustrate the frame of mind that Javert has prior to committing suicide. It is clear how much of an impact Valjeans mercy and compassion have had on Javert. Torn between fulfilling his obligation to the law, or repaying his debt to Valjean, Javert is extremely bewildered. In the end, it is unconditional love for mankind that wins. Javert feels that there is no way that he can continue his commitment to the law without bias, and drowns himself. Symbolism Hugo utilizes symbolism quite consistently throughout the novel. However, the most prevalent symbols are the bishops silver candlesticks, and the use of animals such as snakes, birds and insects. It is noted that the silver candlesticks, belonging to the Bishop, are symbolic of compassion as they create a beacon of light that delivers hope and love. In the start of the novel, the author plays with the contrast between light and dark to support the differences between the bishop and Valjean. When the bishop offers his candlesticks to Valjean, he is symbolically transferring the light inside of him to Valjean as he asks him to promise to lead an honest life. In speaking of snakes, insects and birds, Hugo regularly uses animals to describe the personas of his main characters. Cosette and Gavroche, for example, where described as ‘creatures of flight during their orphaned years. Whereas the Thernardiers we commonly referred to as ‘snakes. Key Facts Full title: Les Miserables Written By: Victor Hugo Type of literary work: Novel, and later musical. Original Language: French Time and Place of Origin: Paris and The Channel Islands, 1845 to 1862 First published: 1862 Published by: Pagnerre Viewpoint: Les Miserables is told from the point of view of an all-seeing story teller who frequently addresses the readers. The story teller not only has a deep understanding of the characters, but also is quick to deliver a strong viewpoint of the political unrest of the times. Setting: France, 1789-1832 Major Character: Jean Valjean Themes: Love and compassion; social injustice; the French Revolution Symbols: The bishops candlesticks; snakes and birds Primary conflict: Jean Valjean struggles with letting go of his life as a thief and transforming into an honest and caring man. As time goes on, he fights to stay one step ahead of police inspector, Javert, who wants nothing more than to capture him and send him back to prison. Valjeans most important mission is to raise his adopted daughter, Cosette.

Anne Hathaway was breathtaking in this, no wonder she won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress. Could never understand the hate though, she deserved it, maybe because she was overexposed. Les mis -pretty much THE BEST MUSICAL. From Wikisource Jump to navigation Jump to search sister projects: Wikipedia article, Commons gallery, Commons category, quotes, Wikidata item. Les Misérables (1862) one of the most well known novels of the 19th century follows the lives and interactions of several French characters over a twenty year period in the early 19th century that includes the Napoleonic wars and subsequent decades. Principally focusing on the struggles of the protagonist—ex-convict Jean Valjean—to redeem himself through good works, the novel examines the impact of Valjean's actions as social commentary. — Excerpted from Les Misérables on Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Translated from the original French by Isabel F. Hapgood Author's Preface Volume I ( Fantine. edit] Book First - A Just Man Book Second - The Fall Book Third - In the Year 1817 Book Fourth - To Confide is Sometimes to Deliver into a Person's Power Book Fifth - The Descent Book Sixth - Javert Book Seventh - The Champmathieu Affair Book Eighth - A Counter-Blow Volume II ( Cosette. edit] Book First - Waterloo Book Second - The Ship Orion Book Third - Accomplishment of the Promise Made to a Dead Woman Book Fourth - The Gorbeau Hovel Book Fifth - For a Black Hunt, a Mute Pack Book Sixth - Le Petit-Picpus Book Seventh - Parenthesis Book Eighth - Cemetaries Take That Which is Commited Them Volume III ( Marius. edit] Book First - Paris Studied in Its Atom Book Second - The Great Bourgeois Book Third - The Grandfather and the Grandson Book Fourth - The Friends of the ABC Book Fifth - The Excellence of Misfortune Book Sixth - The Conjunction of Two Stars Book Seventh - Patron Minette Book Eighth - The Wicked Poor Man Volume IV ( Saint Denis. edit] Book First - A Few Pages of History Book Second - Eponine Book Third - The House in the Rue Plumet Book Fourth - Succor From Below May Turn Out To Be Succor From On High Book Fifth - The End of Which does not Resemble the Beginning Book Sixth - Little Gavroche Book Seventh - Slang Book Eighth - Enchantments and Desolations Book Ninth - Whither are They Going? Book Tenth - The 5th of June, 1832 Book Eleventh - The Atom Fraternizes with the Hurricane Book Twelfth - Corinthe Book Thirteenth - Marius Enters the Shadow Book Fourteenth - The Grandeurs of Despair Book Fifteenth - The Rue de L'Homme Arme Volume V ( Jean Valjean. edit] Book First - The War Between Four Walls Book Second - The Intestine of the Leviathan Book Third - Mud But the Soul Book Fourth - Javert Derailed Book Fifth - Grandson and Grandfather Book Sixth - The Sleepless Night Book Seventh - The Last Draught from the Cup Book Eighth - Fading away of the Twilight Book Ninth - Supreme Shadow, Supreme Dawn.

The film touches subjects which although very important, remain out of focus in almost all contemporary narratives. As the title «Les miserables» indicates, the protagonists are the victims of a system which breeds inequality and marginalization of a large proportion of the population. The story develops linearly, the scenes stay within the essential statements, spectacularly false impressions are omitted and the message comes through effectively. My feeling was that there was really no plot but an ordinary, documentary like, day to day happening in one of the ghettos of civilized Paris in France. What I found very interesting and revealing was the depiction of the inability of western societies to assimilate, integrate and absorb different cultures. I was left wondering.

I'm hoping to see Wicked in March 2019. So, I found out there was a book, IKR. So, I'm currently reading it. Decided to go in search of the soundtrack, I thank you for putting this here for our ears. This I swear by the stars. vengeance upon those who think they are untouchable. Critics Consensus Les Misérables transcends its unwieldy story with compelling ideas and an infectious energy that boils over during a thrilling final act. 84% TOMATOMETER Total Count: 131 88% Audience Score Verified Ratings: 26 Les Misérables Ratings & Reviews Explanation Tickets & Showtimes The movie doesn't seem to be playing near you. Go back Enter your location to see showtimes near you. Les Misérables Videos Photos Movie Info Stéphane (Damien Bonnard, Staying Vertical) has recently joined the Anti-Crime squad in Montfermeil, a sensitive district of the Paris projects. Paired up with Chris (Alexis Manenti) and Gwada (Djebril Zonga) whose methods are sometimes unorthodox, he rapidly discovers the tensions between the various neighborhood groups. When the trio finds themselves overrun during the course of an arrest, a drone begins filming every move they make. Rating: R (for language throughout, some disturbing/violent content, and sexual references) Genre: Directed By: Written By: In Theaters: Jan 10, 2020 limited Runtime: 103 minutes Studio: Amazon Studios Cast News & Interviews for Les Misérables Critic Reviews for Les Misérables Audience Reviews for Les Misérables Les Misérables Quotes Movie & TV guides.

Part of the 2018-2019 Broadway In Richmond Series Cameron Mackintosh presents the new production of Alain Boublil and Claude-Michel Schönbergs Tony Award-winning musical phenomenon, Les Misérables, direct from an acclaimed two-and-a-half-year return to Broadway. With its glorious new staging and dazzlingly reimagined scenery inspired by the paintings of Victor Hugo, this breathtaking new production has left both audiences and critics awestruck, cheering “Les Miz is born again! ” (NY1.  Set against the backdrop of 19th-century France, Les Misérables tells an enthralling story of broken dreams and unrequited love, passion, sacrifice and redemption – a timeless testament to the survival of the human spirit. Featuring the thrilling score and beloved songs “I Dreamed A Dream, ” “On My Own, ” “Stars. “Bring Him Home, ” “One Day More, ” and many more, this epic and uplifting story has become one of the most celebrated musicals in theatrical history. Seen by more than 70 million people in 44 countries and in 22 languages around the globe, Les Misérables is still the worlds most popular musical, breaking box office records everywhere in its 32nd year. Ticket Information Season tickets available at or by calling [phone]. Individual show tickets are available August 3 at the Altria Theater and Dominion Energy Center box offices, by phone at [phone] and online at Ticket prices subject to applicable fees. Ticket prices and sections subject to change. Group Sales Save 10% on tickets when purchasing 10+ through our Group Sales Office. Call 804-592-3401 or email us at [email protected. No discount offered on Friday evening, Saturday matinee or Saturday evening performances. Run Time This production runs 2 hours and 55 minutes which includes an intermission. Age Appropriateness Recommended for ages 10+ LES MISÉRABLES has been a mainstay on the stage for over 30 years and while this epic musical is an inspiring story of love, courage and redemption it also contains many themes related to complex and difficult subject matter including social revolution, poverty and prostitution. When choosing to bring the family to LES MISÉRABLES, parents should make their own decision based on the maturity of their child.

OHH MY GOOD LES MISERABLES THIS One OF MY FAVORITE MOVIE THIS FULL STREAMING MOVIE CAN BE SEEN FROM. Home Huffington Post THE MUSICAL PHENOMENON. Eddy redmayne could do several things to me.

 

YouTube. Being free means being free of the mind that hides true life from people. Now we can know the truth of life. Google the○truth○contest and se for your self. Won 3 Oscars. Another 84 wins & 173 nominations. See more awards  » Learn more More Like This Biography, Drama Romance 1 2 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7. 1 / 10 X A fictitious love story loosely inspired by the lives of Danish artists Lili Elbe and Gerda Wegener. Lili and Gerda's marriage and work evolve as they navigate Lili's groundbreaking journey as a transgender pioneer. Director: Tom Hooper Stars: Eddie Redmayne, Alicia Vikander, Amber Heard Comedy Music 8 / 10 While navigating their careers in Los Angeles, a pianist and an actress fall in love while attempting to reconcile their aspirations for the future. Damien Chazelle Ryan Gosling, Emma Stone, Rosemarie DeWitt Musical 7. 2 / 10 Good girl Sandy and greaser Danny fell in love over the summer. When they unexpectedly discover they're now in the same high school, will they be able to rekindle their romance? Randal Kleiser John Travolta, Olivia Newton-John, Stockard Channing James Marsh Felicity Jones, Tom Prior 6. 4 / 10 The story of a bride-to-be trying to find her real father told using hit songs by the popular 1970s group ABBA. Phyllida Lloyd Meryl Streep, Pierce Brosnan, Amanda Seyfried A writer and wall street trader, Nick, finds himself drawn to the past and lifestyle of his millionaire neighbor, Jay Gatsby. Baz Luhrmann Leonardo DiCaprio, Carey Mulligan, Joel Edgerton 7. 6 / 10 Celebrates the birth of show business and tells of a visionary who rose from nothing to create a spectacle that became a worldwide sensation. Michael Gracey Hugh Jackman, Michelle Williams, Zac Efron 7. 8 / 10 A seventeen-year-old aristocrat falls in love with a kind but poor artist aboard the luxurious, ill-fated R. M. S. Titanic. James Cameron Kate Winslet, Billy Zane History The story of King George VI, his impromptu ascension to the throne of the British Empire in 1936, and the speech therapist who helped the unsure monarch overcome his stammer. Colin Firth, Geoffrey Rush, Helena Bonham Carter Thriller During World War II, the English mathematical genius Alan Turing tries to crack the German Enigma code with help from fellow mathematicians. Morten Tyldum Benedict Cumberbatch, Keira Knightley, Matthew Goode Beca, a freshman at Barden University, is cajoled into joining The Bellas, her school's all-girls singing group. Injecting some much needed energy into their repertoire, The Bellas take on their male rivals in a campus competition. Jason Moore Anna Kendrick, Brittany Snow, Rebel Wilson 7. 7 / 10 A musician helps a young singer find fame as age and alcoholism send his own career into a downward spiral. Bradley Cooper Lady Gaga, Bradley Cooper, Sam Elliott Edit Storyline Jean Valjean, known as Prisoner 24601, is released from prison and breaks parole to create a new life for himself while evading the grip of the persistent Inspector Javert. Set in post-revolutionary France, the story reaches resolution against the background of the June Rebellion. Written by Anonymous Plot Summary Plot Synopsis Taglines: The Dream Lives This Christmas See more  » Motion Picture Rating ( MPAA) Rated PG-13 for suggestive and sexual material, violence and thematic elements See all certifications  » Details Release Date: 25 December 2012 (USA) Box Office Budget: 61, 000, 000 (estimated) Opening Weekend USA: 27, 281, 735, 30 December 2012 Cumulative Worldwide Gross: 441, 809, 770 See more on IMDbPro  » Company Credits Technical Specs See full technical specs  » Did You Know? Goofs During "The Robbery" Thénardier speaks to Javert and grows nearer and nearer to his face. The shot changes, however, and shows Javert at a different angle, moving closer to Thénardier. See more » Quotes [ first lines] Jean Valjean: Look down, look down, don't look them in the eye. Chain Gang: Look down, look down, you're here until you die. See more » Crazy Credits The first six seconds of the Universal Pictures logo are cut out, fading in when the studio's name starts to fly over the globe. See more » Frequently Asked Questions See more ».

Les Miserables Summary When Victor Hugo's novel Les Miserables first came out in 1862, people in Paris and elsewhere lined up to buy it Although critics were less receptive, the novel was an instant popular success. The French word "miserables" means both poor wretches and scoundrels or villains The novel offers a huge cast that includes both kinds of "miserables. A product of France's most prominent Romantic writer, Les Miserables ranges far and wide. It paints a... (read more from the Study Guide) Study Pack The Les Miserables Study Pack contains: Les Miserables Study Guide Encyclopedia Articles (2) 817 words, approx. 3 pages Les Miserables Billed as & x0022;the world& x0027;s most popular musical. x0022; Les Miserables has been translated into numerous languages and has been performed in theaters all over the world. With... Read more 3, 905 words, approx. 14 pages by Victor Hugo Victor Hugo, the son of a general in Napoleon's empire, was born in 1802 in Besancon, France. Although raised by his mother to be a royalist, Hugo's inclination to rep... Victor Hugo Biographies (5) 5, 918 words, approx. 20 pages When Victor Hugo died in 1885 at the age of eighty-three, one million mourners gathered in the streets of Paris to see his corpse borne to the Pantheon. Buried with honors usually reserved for heads o... 14, 862 words, approx. 50 pages No century of French literature has been better represented by a single author than the nineteenth, and no writer better personifies the French nineteenth century than Victor Hugo. His life span corre... 11, 841 words, approx. 40 pages Victor Hugo, one of France's most prolific nineteenth-century authors, wrote novels, poems, and dramatic works. His career as a playwright began in 1816 and ended almost sixty years later. The dramas... 15, 001 words, approx. 51 pages On 22 May 1885 Victor Hugo died, prompting international mourning unprecedented for a literary figure. Within an hour the periodical Gil Blas published a special edition, which sold out everywhere, a... 2, 304 words, approx. 8 pages The French author Victor Marie, Vicomte Hugo (1802-1885) was the supreme poet of French romanticism. He is noted for the breadth of his creation, the versatility that made him as much at ease in the... Essays & Analysis (16) 706 words, approx. 3 pages Les Mis& 233;rables uses philanthropic and loving tones to demonstrate the transformation of Jean Valjean from a hardened convict to a humanitarian. The diction of Les Mis& 233;rables amplifies the c... 1, 045 words, approx. 4 pages Everyone goes throughout there lives in a certain social standing. Whether it may be they're considered to me rich, or poor, or popular, or nerdy. Pretty much as you go through out life you place your... 574 words, approx. 2 pages Victor Hugo lived in France in the mid to late 19th century as a republican, playwright, poet, and novelist. France was consumed in a long period of political instability, and had several bloody conf... 560 words, approx. 2 pages Although he was first a convict, Jean Valjean eventually became a moral person. Victor Hugo portrayed Valjean in Les Mis& 233;rables as someone his readers should look up to. At the end of the book. 1, 633 words, approx. 6 pages The story Les Miserables by Victor Hugo, began with introducing the main character, Jean Valjean to us. He was a convict, who had to do time in prison for stealing a loaf of bread for his family. Duri... 947 words, approx. 4 pages First of all, the story starts with a character named Jean Val jean. He is a victim of harsh penal laws of the nineteenth century. In those days, penal laws are more like laws in ancient civiliz... 974 words, approx. 4 pages Paris, France- While picking up a book the other day to read, I read it with great detail in goal to find mistakes. Not just spelling or capitalization, I am talking about falsified facts and details... 1, 484 words, approx. 5 pages Les Mis& 233;ables is the story of Jean Valjean as he struggles to erase the stain that being a convict has left on his life, but the yellow passport signifying he is an ex-convict is like a brand tha... 455 words, approx. 2 pages At the beginning of the novel Jean Valjean is introduced right after he has been released from the galleys. He is a ragged traveler and is about 46 or 47 years old. He is of medium height and appears... 614 words, approx. 3 pages Les Mis& 233;rables is a novel of many components. It has innumerable themes that can be applied to life, although it is a fictional novel. It is a novel which exposes the life of the poor, and the ig... 1, 739 words, approx. 6 pages Divine Intervention and Biblical Symbolism as seen in Les Mis& 233;rables Morality and revolution are two focuses presented in the Catholic Bible. These two ideas, hand in hand, also mold the themat... 303 words, approx. 2 pages "After he had fully determined that the young man was at the bottom of this state of affairs, and that it all came from him, he, Jean Valjean, the regenerated man, the man who had labored so much upon... 1, 177 words, approx. 4 pages Les Mis& 233;rables is a captivating French novel, which follows the life of an unfortunate man named Jean Valijean. Jean Valijean is an escaped prisoner, who was convicted for stealing a loaf of bre... 1, 002 words, approx. 4 pages Throughout history, there have been numerous debates about the presence of a Supreme Being or many supreme beings, for that matter. The debates have led to wars, unaccountable numbers of deaths, fami... 516 words, approx. 2 pages Nowadays, heroes are hard to be found. Every now and again, the heroic side of a person may appear, but they then return to hibernation. What would an ideal hero be like? In the novel Les Miserables. 1, 079 words, approx. 4 pages In Les Miserables, by Victor Hugo, Jean Valjean strives to redeem himself while Javert strives to enforce justice. The goals of these two men, one who was formerly a convict and one is a police office... Lesson Plan Les Miserables Lesson Plans contain 140 pages of teaching material, including: Les Miserables Lesson Plans.

GOD, can you imagine singing like that? Why do some people get to be philip quast, and other people get to be me. Lea salonga's version leaves me sobbing every single time... 23:07 Who am I. Victor Hugo's 1862 novel Les Misérables may not actually hold the record for most adaptations (ask Dracula and Sherlock Holmes about this) but the list is still very impressive. There are currently 66 adaptations (although that's sometimes stretching the word a bit. A handful of these are easily available; die-hard fans have managed to see more than twenty. Check Wikipedia for a list. Adaptations are in this article mainly referred to by production year. See also the dedicated wiki. Some adaptations: Les Misérables (film, 1934 starring Harry Baur as Jean Valjean) Les Misérables (film, 1935, starring Charles Laughton as Javert) Les Misérables (film, 1958, starring Jean Gabin as Jean Valjean) Les Misérables (TV film, 1978, starring Anthony Perkins as Javert) Les Misérables (musical, 1985) Les Misérables (film, 1995, starring Jean-Paul Belmondo as Jean Valjean) Les Misérables (film, 1998, starring Liam Neeson and Geoffrey Rush) Les Misérables (TV miniseries, 2000, starring Gérard Depardieu, John Malkovich and Christian Clavier) Les Misérables: Shōjo Cosette (anime, 2007, by Masashi Sugawara) Les Misérables (film, 2012, starring Hugh Jackman and Russell Crowe) Les Misérables (manga, 2013, by Takahiro Arai in Japan's Monthly Shounen Sunday magazine) Les Misérables (manga, 2014, published by UDON in their Manga Classics line of novel adaptations) Les Misérables (TV miniseries, 2019, starring Dominic West, David Oyelowo and Lily Collins) Note that Les Misérables (film, 2019, directed by Ladj Ly) is not an adaptation, although its title being the same is not a coincidence. All adaptations without their own trope pages provide examples of: Adaptational Attractiveness: Usually with Javert. Some movies have Fantine look incredibly pretty (and above all healthy) when she's supposed to be dying of TB. Sometimes Valjean — the 1978 version (starring Richard Jordan as Valjean) was released on video a blurb beginning: Jean Valjean, a handsome young woodcutter. Always with Eponine, at least in adaptations that include her (such as the stage musical. In the book, she's described as having lost any beauty she may have had, but you'd be hard pressed to find an actress playing her who isn't drop-dead gorgeous, even when covered in dirt. Adaptational Badass: Stretching it a bit, but Cosette is this in the 1992 French cartoon. Adaptation Dye-Job: In the book, Fantine and Enjolras are blond, Marius has curly black hair, and Cosette is brown-haired. The last one is often particularly ignored, usually in order to play up the visual similarity to her mother instead. Seems The Ingenue just has to be blonde. Adaptation Expansion: The 2018 Mini Series spends a lot of time focusing on the backstories of Valjean, Marius, and Fantine, something not even explored in the original novel, much less in most other adaptations. Adaptation Explanation Extrication: Both Javert's suspicion that Madeleine might be Valjean and the reasons for Champmathieu being mistaken for Valjean, while lengthily explained in the novel, are often condensed to "He looks like Valjean. Adaptational Heroism: Arguably, Éponine. Her cruelty towards Cosette when she is exploited into being her family's slave tends to be downplayed in film adaptions (and omitted entirely in the 2012 film) and it is implied she actually wanted Marius to die at the barricades in the book. Adaptation-Induced Plot Hole: In a plot stretched over nearly twenty years, probably the most frequent one is characters failing to get older: Gavroche in the 2000 miniseries starts off older than Cosette, but is still the same age nine years later. Cosette in the '52 adaptation stays the same age from when Valjean fetches her to adulthood. Cosette in the '82/ 85 adaptation stays the same age from when Fantine leaves her to when Valjean fetches her. Adaptational Villainy: Javert in the novel may be Valjean's antagonist for most of the time, but some adaptations portray him as outright evil, sometimes even brutal ( 35, 52, 98. This is often due to the removal of the Thénardier couple, who would otherwise serve as primary antagonists. Jean in a minor way in the 2018-2019 adaptation. In the book when he robbed Petit Gervais of the coin it is ambiguous whether he is really aware of what he is doing, only realising after Gervais has run away. In the series he clearly knows what he is doing and even pockets the coin, though repents of it quickly as well. He also fires Fantine in person for lying about her child rather than leaving it to the foreman and being ignorant of the situation. His charitable actions are also downplayed, while his relationship with Cosette is far more controlling. Animated Adaptation: Several, including at least four anime adaptations. The three Soviet cartoons that focus on the children are also worth a mention; two are called " Gavroche " and are only propaganda. The Bad Guy Wins: In any faithful adaptation of the story, Thenardier will be the only character who gets an unambiguously happy ending. Black and White Morality: What Javert believes in. Unfortunately, some adaptations turn the Morality Kitchen Sink of the original into this. Bookends: The 1982/85 adaptation starts with Javert telling Valjean he's free. The end is a fantasy/dream sequence, where Javert tells an aged Valjean that NOW he is free. But Now I Must Go: After Cosette and Marius reunite in the 1935 version, Valjean tells the two of them that he will retreat to England. Cliffhanger: All the serialised versions try at least one. Come to Gawk: The crowd in the scene where the convict chain passes (1933 movie and 2000 miniseries. Composite Character: The 1935 version combines Marius and Enjolras, making Marius the leader of some students protesting the poor treatment of galleys prisoners. Compressed Adaptation: Is there any other kind when it comes to Les Misérables? Now, Compressed Is Not Bad, but still. Fourteen hundred pages. Averted with the 1964 Italian miniseries, which is eleven hours long and has managed to put in most of Hugo's long narrative passages, such as some information on the underworld or the battle of Waterloo. Deadpan Snarker: Javert is allowed to keep a few lines in some adaptations: 1933, 1963, 1972 and 2000 most prominently. Death by Adaptation: Rare, since nearly everyone dies anyway, but the '47 adaptation in addition kills off notorious Karma Houdini Thénardier by letting him fall through a skylight. Divided for Adaptation: The 1934 film adaptation, rather than try to compress the novel, spread it over three films, running a total of four-and-a-half hours, which were released in three subsequent weeks. Determinator: Javert. Taken almost to Implacable Man levels in some versions. Downer Ending: Especially in the 1985 movie, where Cosette and Marius only arrive after Valjean has died alone and unloved. Dudley Do-Right Stops to Help: Jean Valjean repeatedly detours from his flight from Javert in order to help those in need, which on multiple occasions nearly gets him captured by the inspector. Epic Movie: The 1934 version by Raymond Bernard, which is one of the most accurate adaptations of the book and clocks in at 5 hours. The Film of the Series: There's a French 26-episode cartoon from 1992. In 1993, a 90 minute movie version was released. The Game of the Book: Actually called "Les misérables: The game of the book" it's a point-and-click adventure with very simple graphics in which you have to make the story happen. Arm Joe, a StreetFighter esque fighting game that utilizes the characters from Les Mis. Les Miserables: Eve of Revolution, a card game based solely on the book. Happily Ever Before: Some movies commit the sin of ending with Javert's suicide, leaving Valjean to live happily ever after. Heel–Face Turn: Valjean gets the biggest one after being pardoned by the bishop. Javert gets one when Valjean refuses to kill him. Fantine gets one in some versions; Marius can have up to four. The more complete the movie, the more heel face turns included. Hellhole Prison: One thing nearly all adaptations appear to agree on, although some emphasise it more (1935, 1952, 1978, 1982. than others (1958, 1972, 2000. Institutional Apparel: Depending on the version: Historically correct (yellow trousers, white shirt, red vest, and jacket and green caps for lifers or red caps for non-lifers) 1925, 1933, 1934, 1958, 1992, 2000. Partially correct: 1978. Just any kind of prison uniform: 1947, 1955, 1964, 1972. Hollywood Old: Valjean is supposed to be over sixty at the end? Incredible in the cases of Fredric March, Michael Rennie, Richard Jordan, and downright ridiculous with Hugh Jackman! Kill 'Em All: One of Victor Hugo's favourite tropes. Some adaptations don't seem to like it, though. The record is kept by the 1992 French cartoon with exactly one named character that dies. Lawful Stupid: Javert has tendencies towards this in the book, but in some adaptations (notable the ones from '35 and '52) he as good as flat out refuses to take any responsibility for his actions, blaming each and every decision on the law. Lighter and Softer: The 1992 French cartoon. This is the adaptation where no death occurs on screen. Cosette also has a dog friend, Amiral. There are several Indian adaptations ( 50, 55, 72) that have this. Bollywood! Les Mis probably says it all. Line-of-Sight Name: How Jean Valjean chooses the alias of M. Madeleine in the 1952 movie, somewhat undercutting the symbolic significance of the name. Lost in Imitation: Who still remembers that Javert did not devote his entire career to tracking down Valjean? Les Misérables is not only a musical: Liam Neeson 's most famous quote concerning the '98 adaptation: One of the greatest novels in Western literature, and all everybody's asking is, Do you sing in it. Meaningful Echo: The 1935 version has one. When the Bishop gives Valjean the candlesticks, he tells him, Life is to give, not to take. Later, Valjean passes on the candlesticks to Cosette and Marius, and tells them, Remember, as was once told me: life is to give, not to take. Named by the Adaptation: The 1935 and 1952 movies each give Javert a first name (Émile and Étienne, respectively. Nightmare Sequence: Valjean's night at the bishop's house is this in a few adaptations, usually in the form of a traumatic flashback dream (examples in the movies from 1935, 1989, 1998. No Name Given: Usually, as in the novel, Inspector Javert, Fantine, both Thénardiers, all of the students except Marius Pontmercy (and Jean Prouvaire, if he appears. Most movies add Bishop Myriel and his sister and house keeper to that list. And Gavroche, though in the novel he's a Thénardier. An Offer You Can't Refuse: Thénardier kidnaps Cosette in both the 1992 animated series and the Duck family comic book. The Old Convict: Genflou, from the 1952 movie, has aspects of this. Plot-Triggering Death: Fantine and Gen. Lamarque. P. O. V. Sequel: A Little In Love" is Les Miserables told from Eponine's POV. Promoted to Love Interest: Various adaptations made Valjean fall in love with Fantine. By the time the two met she was sickly, dying, and completely insane from a disease that reached her brain. Another adaptation has Valjean clearly say that he's in love with Cosette, his adoptive daughter. Punishment Box: The solitary confinement cell in the 1978 movie. Apparently makes you go crazy, if Valjean is any example. Relationship Compression: Marius/Cosette. It is very pointedly NOT Love at First Sight in the novel, but most adaptations make it into just that. The Remake: The '52 version openly admits being this to the '35 version. Remake Cameo: To name a few (not always cameos) Dominique Zardi, in France known as the "king of supporting roles" starred in three adaptations: as Claquesous, Chenildieu and Cochepaille. Lucien Nat plays Montparnasse in the '33 movie and M. Gillenormand in the '72 miniseries. Henry Krauss played Valjean in the 1913 movie and came back in '33 as Myriel. Émile Genevois, 1933's Gavroche, was a bus driver in the '58 version. Georges Geret took over for Marcel Bozzufi as Javert for the third part of the '61- 63 adaptation. In 1972 he was back: as Valjean. Chittor V. Nagaiah played "Valjean" in two Indian adaptations, from '50 and '72, respectively. Sessue Hayakawa also played Valjean twice, namely in '50 and '64. Joke or mistake example: Gino Cervi played Valjean in the Italian movie of 1947. Several webpages (imdb, most notably) credit him for an unnamed part in the '64 series, but so far it seems no-one has spotted him. Colm Wilkinson, who originated the musical's Jean Valjean on both the West End and Broadway, played Bishop Myriel in the 2012 version. Rock Opera: The original French concept album was a complete show in and of itself, and is self-contained in the music. Setting Update: The story was adapted to different countries and different eras several times, most notably to Japan (14 adaptations, although some of them are set in France) India (four times) and Egypt (twice. One French adaptation puts the plot into early 20th century France. Shipped in Shackles: The 1978 movie in a rare example of historical accuracy in that movie, shows a group of convicts, of which Valjean is a part, being chained together by their necks before being transported to Toulon on carts. The scene where Cosette and Valjean watch such a chain gang pass by is included in the 1933 and the 2000 movie. Shirtless Scene: Marius in the 1952 movie. Valjean in the Italian 1947 movie. Valjean in the Indian 1950 movie. Slave Galley: There is some confusion going on here anyway, as the novel frequently refers to Valjean as a galley slave. This is due to the words "galley" and "galley slaves" continuing to be used in French for a kind of penitentiary (bagne in French) and their inmates, long after they were not actual slave galleys anymore. Two movies (from '35 and '52) however, are (in)famous for taking the word too literally. Spared by the Adaptation: Gavroche, Mme Thénardier, Valjean, Javert, Éponine, and all of the friends of the ABC manage to survive in at least one adaptation each. Although sometimes these are the adaptations aimed at kids. Stern Chase: Javert hounding Valjean for decades. (Which is really an artifact of adaptation distillation/compression; Javert is not such a monomaniac in the book. Some do at least give the impression he actually did other things, but keeps hearing about that ONE guy. A Taste of the Lash: Well, the main character is an (ex- convict, and some adaptations seem to be only too glad to make clear just how bad 19th-century French prisons were. Three movies show Valjean being flogged (1935, 1947, 1950) with three more heavily inferring it (1952, Egyptian 1978, and 2012. The Theme Park Version: The 1992 cartoon is definitely this. What Are You in For. In the 1978 movie. Where the Hell Is Springfield. Yes, original editions censored the town names Digne and Montreuil-sur-Mer. It's still easy to find out which city is meant, especially in the case of Montreuil (a road map description) and there is no need for cities like Morvein (1952 movie, no city of such name exists in France) Monteis-sur-Monteis (1978 movie; leaving aside the fact that it sounds ridiculous, “Monteis” doesn't actually mean anything in French) or Vigo (1998 movie, small town in northern Spain. Widget Adaptation: Arm Joe Wife Husbandry: In the 2000 TV miniseries, Valjean admits to Marius that he is in love with Cosette. Implied also in the '35 movie where Valjean asks why Cosette loves Marius and not him, at which Cosette has to remind him that she thinks of him as her father. In the '52 movie, Marius accuses Valjean of being in love with Cosette and 'wanting her for himself' to which Valjean only partially denies. The 2018/19 TV miniseries also has characters assuming Cosette is Valjean's mistress and has a scene where he sees her in her underwear as she's trying on dresses. Squick. You Are Number 6: Valjean's prison number is mentioned by most adaptations, but few of them do more than name it. Many filmmakers seem to have a problem with the numbers that Hugo chose (24601 and later 9430) as the number often gets changed to: 2906 (1935 adaptation) 872 (1947 Italian adaptation) 1082 (1952 adaptation) 335 (1955 Indian adaptation) 1205 (1982 adaptation. In the musical however, Javert refers to Valjean more often by his number than his name.

Icy young men our own age in coffins. and 'mothers' in tears 'four' their suns. And golden ribbons in their hare. Cossett, you vixen, you. #4eme 3 #eval #mardi. Only after that Napoleon named himself emperor. This movie may not be perfect but it has some really amazing moments! My dad actually thinks having Valjean move the flag was an incredible addition because it really got to show off Valjeans strength to Javert and made the cart moving scene all the more impactful.

Les Misérables Jean Valjean as Monsieur Madeleine. Illustration by Gustave Brion Author Victor Hugo Illustrator Emile Bayard Country Belgium Language French Genre Epic novel, historical fiction Publisher A. Lacroix, Verboeckhoven & Cie. Publication date 1862 Les Misérables. 1] French: le mizeʁabl(ə. is a French historical novel by Victor Hugo, first published in 1862, that is considered one of the greatest novels of the 19th century. In the English-speaking world, the novel is usually referred to by its original French title. However, several alternatives have been used, including The Miserables, The Wretched, The Miserable Ones, The Poor Ones, The Wretched Poor, The Victims and The Dispossessed. [2] Beginning in 1815 and culminating in the 1832 June Rebellion in Paris, the novel follows the lives and interactions of several characters, particularly the struggles of ex-convict Jean Valjean and his experience of redemption. [3] Examining the nature of law and grace, the novel elaborates upon the history of France, the architecture and urban design of Paris, politics, moral philosophy, antimonarchism, justice, religion, and the types and nature of romantic and familial love. Les Misérables has been popularized through numerous adaptations for film, television and the stage, including a musical. Novel form Upton Sinclair described the novel as "one of the half-dozen greatest novels of the world" and remarked that Hugo set forth the purpose of Les Misérables in the Preface: 4] So long as there shall exist, by reason of law and custom, a social condemnation, which, in the face of civilization, artificially creates hells on earth, and complicates a destiny that is divine with human fatality; so long as the three problems of the age—the degradation of man by poverty, the ruin of women by starvation, and the dwarfing of childhood by physical and spiritual night—are not solved; so long as, in certain regions, social asphyxia shall be possible; in other words, and from a yet more extended point of view, so long as ignorance and misery remain on earth, books like this cannot be useless. Towards the end of the novel, Hugo explains the work's overarching structure: 5] The book which the reader has before him at this moment is, from one end to the other, in its entirety and details. a progress from evil to good, from injustice to justice, from falsehood to truth, from night to day, from appetite to conscience, from corruption to life; from bestiality to duty, from hell to heaven, from nothingness to God. The starting point: matter, destination: the soul. The hydra at the beginning, the angel at the end. The novel contains various subplots, but the main thread is the story of ex-convict Jean Valjean, who becomes a force for good in the world but cannot escape his criminal past. The novel is divided into five volumes, each volume divided into several books, and subdivided into chapters, for a total of 48 books and 365 chapters. Each chapter is relatively short, commonly no longer than a few pages. The novel as a whole is one of the longest ever written, 6] with 655, 478 words in the original French. Hugo explained his ambitions for the novel to his Italian publisher: 7] I don't know whether it will be read by everyone, but it is meant for everyone. It addresses England as well as Spain, Italy as well as France, Germany as well as Ireland, the republics that harbour slaves as well as empires that have serfs. Social problems go beyond frontiers. Humankind's wounds, those huge sores that litter the world, do not stop at the blue and red lines drawn on maps. Wherever men go in ignorance or despair, wherever women sell themselves for bread, wherever children lack a book to learn from or a warm hearth, Les Misérables knocks at the door and says: open up, I am here for you. Digressions More than a quarter of the novel—by one count 955 of 2, 783 pages—is devoted to essays that argue a moral point or display Hugo's encyclopedic knowledge, but do not advance the plot, nor even a subplot, a method Hugo used in such other works as The Hunchback of Notre Dame and Toilers of the Sea. One biographer noted that "the digressions of genius are easily pardoned. 8] The topics Hugo addresses include cloistered religious orders, the construction of the Paris sewers, argot, and the street urchins of Paris. The one about convents he titles "Parenthesis" to alert the reader to its irrelevance to the story line. [9] Hugo devotes another 19 chapters (Volume II, Book I) to an account of—and a meditation on the place in history of—the Battle of Waterloo, the battlefield which Hugo visited in 1861 and where he finished writing the novel. It opens volume 2 with such a change of subject as to seem the beginning of an entirely different work. The fact that this 'digression' occupies such a large part of the text demands that it be read in the context of the 'overarching structure' discussed above. Hugo draws his own personal conclusions, taking Waterloo to be a pivot-point in history, but definitely not a victory for the forces of reaction. Waterloo, by cutting short the demolition of European thrones by the sword, had no other effect than to cause the revolutionary work to be continued in another direction. The slashers have finished; it was the turn of the thinkers. The century that Waterloo was intended to arrest has pursued its march. That sinister victory was vanquished by liberty. One critic has called this "the spiritual gateway" to the novel, as its chance encounter of Thénardier and Colonel Pontmercy foreshadows so many of the novel's encounters "blending chance and necessity" a "confrontation of heroism and villainy. 10] Even when not turning to other subjects outside his narrative, Hugo sometimes interrupts the straightforward recitation of events, his voice and control of the story line unconstrained by time and sequence. The novel opens with a statement about the bishop of Digne in 1815 and immediately shifts: Although these details in no way essentially concern that which we have to tell. Only after 14 chapters does Hugo pick up the opening thread again, In the early days of the month of October, 1815. to introduce Jean Valjean. [11] Hugo's sources Eugène Vidocq, whose career provided a model for the character of Jean Valjean An incident Hugo witnessed in 1829 involved three strangers and a police officer. One of the strangers was a man who had stolen a loaf of bread, similar to Jean Valjean. The officer was taking him to the coach. The thief also saw the mother and daughter playing with each other which would be an inspiration for Fantine and Cosette. Hugo imagined the life of the man in jail and the mother and daughter taken away from each other. [12] Valjean's character is loosely based on the life of the ex-convict Eugène François Vidocq. Vidocq became the head of an undercover police unit and later founded France's first private detective agency. He was also a businessman and was widely noted for his social engagement and philanthropy. Vidocq also inspired Hugo as he wrote Claude Gueux and Le Dernier jour d'un condamné ( The Last Day of a Condemned Man. 13] In 1828, Vidocq, already pardoned, saved one of the workers in his paper factory by lifting a heavy cart on his shoulders as Valjean does. [14] Hugo's description of Valjean rescuing a sailor on the Orion drew almost word for word on a Baron La Roncière's letter describing such an incident. [15] Hugo used Bienvenu de Miollis (1753–1843) the Bishop of Digne during the time in which Valjean encounters Myriel, as the model for Myriel. [16] 29 Hugo had used the departure of prisoners from the Bagne of Toulon in one of his early stories, Le Dernier Jour d'un Condamné. He went to Toulon to visit the Bagne in 1839 and took extensive notes, though he did not start writing the book until 1845. On one of the pages of his notes about the prison, he wrote in large block letters a possible name for his hero: JEAN TRÉJEAN. When the book was finally written, Tréjean became Valjean. [17] In 1841, Hugo saved a prostitute from arrest for assault. He used a short part of his dialogue with the police when recounting Valjean's rescue of Fantine in the novel. [18] On 22 February 1846, when he had begun work on the novel, Hugo witnessed the arrest of a bread thief while a duchess and her child watched the scene pitilessly from their coach. [19] 16] 29–30 He spent several vacations in Montreuil-sur-Mer. [16] 32 During the 1832 revolt, Hugo walked the streets of Paris, saw the barricades blocking his way at points, and had to take shelter from gunfire. [20] 173–174 He participated more directly in the 1848 Paris insurrection, helping to smash barricades and suppress both the popular revolt and its monarchist allies. [20] 273–276 Victor Hugo drew his inspiration from everything he heard and saw, writing it down in his diary. In December 1846, he witnessed an altercation between an old woman scavenging through rubbish and a street urchin who might have been Gavroche. [21] He also informed himself by personal inspection of the Paris Conciergerie in 1846 and Waterloo in 1861, by gathering information on some industries, and on working-class people's wages and living standards. He asked his mistresses, Léonie d'Aunet and Juliette Drouet, to tell him about life in convents. He also slipped personal anecdotes into the plot. For instance Marius and Cosettes wedding night (Part V, Book 6, Chapter 1) takes place on 16 February 1833, which is also the date when Hugo and his lifelong mistress Juliette Drouet made love for the first time. [22] Plot Volume I: Fantine The story begins in 1815 in Digne, as the peasant Jean Valjean, just released from 19 years' imprisonment in the Bagne of Toulon —five for stealing bread for his starving sister and her family and fourteen more for numerous escape attempts—is turned away by innkeepers because his yellow passport marks him as a former convict. He sleeps on the street, angry and bitter. Digne's benevolent Bishop Myriel gives him shelter. At night, Valjean runs off with Myriel's silverware. When the police capture Valjean, Myriel pretends that he has given the silverware to Valjean and presses him to take two silver candlesticks as well, as if he had forgotten to take them. The police accept his explanation and leave. Myriel tells Valjean that his life has been spared for God, and that he should use money from the silver candlesticks to make an honest man of himself. Valjean broods over Myriel's words. When opportunity presents itself, purely out of habit, he steals a 40- sous coin from 12-year-old Petit Gervais and chases the boy away. He quickly repents and searches the city in panic for Gervais. At the same time, his theft is reported to the authorities. Valjean hides as they search for him, because if apprehended he will be returned to the galleys for life as a repeat offender. Six years pass and Valjean, using the alias Monsieur Madeleine, has become a wealthy factory owner and is appointed mayor of Montreuil-sur-Mer. Walking down the street, he sees a man named Fauchelevent pinned under the wheels of a cart. When no one volunteers to lift the cart, even for pay, he decides to rescue Fauchelevent himself. He crawls underneath the cart, manages to lift it, and frees him. The town's police inspector, Inspector Javert, who was an adjutant guard at the Bagne of Toulon during Valjean's incarceration, becomes suspicious of the mayor after witnessing this remarkable feat of strength. He has known only one other man, a convict named Jean Valjean, who could accomplish it. Years earlier in Paris, a grisette named Fantine was very much in love with Félix Tholomyès. His friends, Listolier, Fameuil, and Blachevelle were also paired with Fantine's friends Dahlia, Zéphine, and Favourite. The men abandon the women, treating their relationships as youthful amusements. Fantine must draw on her own resources to care for her and Tholomyès' daughter, Cosette. When Fantine arrives at Montfermeil, she leaves Cosette in the care of the Thénardiers, a corrupt innkeeper and his selfish, cruel wife. Fantine is unaware that they are abusing her daughter and using her as forced labor for their inn, and continues to try to meet their growing, extortionate and fictitious demands. She is later fired from her job at Jean Valjean's factory, because of the discovery of her daughter, who was born out of wedlock. Meanwhile, the Thénardiers' monetary demands continue to grow. In desperation, Fantine sells her hair and two front teeth, and she resorts to prostitution to pay the Thénardiers. Fantine is slowly dying from an unspecified disease. A dandy named Bamatabois harasses Fantine in the street, and she reacts by striking him. Javert arrests Fantine. She begs to be released so that she can provide for her daughter, but Javert sentences her to six months in prison. Valjean (Mayor Madeleine) intervenes and orders Javert to release her. Javert resists but Valjean prevails. Valjean, feeling responsible because his factory turned her away, promises Fantine that he will bring Cosette to her. He takes her to a hospital. Javert comes to see Valjean again. Javert admits that after being forced to free Fantine, he reported him as Valjean to the French authorities. He tells Valjean he realizes he was wrong, because the authorities have identified someone else as the real Jean Valjean, have him in custody, and plan to try him the next day. Valjean is torn, but decides to reveal himself to save the innocent man, whose real name is Champmathieu. He travels to attend the trial and there reveals his true identity. Valjean returns to Montreuil to see Fantine, followed by Javert, who confronts him in her hospital room. After Javert grabs Valjean, Valjean asks for three days to bring Cosette to Fantine, but Javert refuses. Fantine discovers that Cosette is not at the hospital and fretfully asks where she is. Javert orders her to be quiet, and then reveals to her Valjean's real identity. Weakened by the severity of her illness, she falls back in shock and dies. Valjean goes to Fantine, speaks to her in an inaudible whisper, kisses her hand, and then leaves with Javert. Later, Fantine's body is unceremoniously thrown into a public grave. Volume II: Cosette Valjean escapes, is recaptured, and is sentenced to death. The king commutes his sentence to penal servitude for life. While imprisoned in the Bagne of Toulon, Valjean, at great personal risk, rescues a sailor caught in the ship's rigging. Spectators call for his release. Valjean fakes his own death by allowing himself to fall into the ocean. Authorities report him dead and his body lost. Valjean arrives at Montfermeil on Christmas Eve. He finds Cosette fetching water in the woods alone and walks with her to the inn. He orders a meal and observes how the Thénardiers abuse her, while pampering their own daughters Éponine and Azelma, who mistreat Cosette for playing with their doll. Valjean leaves and returns to make Cosette a present of an expensive new doll which, after some hesitation, she happily accepts. Éponine and Azelma are envious. Madame Thénardier is furious with Valjean, while her husband makes light of Valjean's behaviour, caring only that he pay for his food and lodging. The next morning, Valjean informs the Thénardiers that he wants to take Cosette with him. Madame Thénardier immediately accepts, while Thénardier pretends to love Cosette and be concerned for her welfare, reluctant to give her up. Valjean pays the Thénardiers 1, 500 francs, and he and Cosette leave the inn. Thénardier, hoping to swindle more out of Valjean, runs after them, holding the 1, 500 francs, and tells Valjean he wants Cosette back. He informs Valjean that he cannot release Cosette without a note from the child's mother. Valjean hands Thénardier Fantine's letter authorizing the bearer to take Cosette. Thénardier then demands that Valjean pay a thousand crowns, but Valjean and Cosette leave. Thénardier regrets that he did not bring his gun and turns back toward home. Valjean and Cosette flee to Paris. Valjean rents new lodgings at Gorbeau House, where he and Cosette live happily. However, Javert discovers Valjean's lodgings there a few months later. Valjean takes Cosette and they try to escape from Javert. They soon find shelter in the Petit-Picpus convent with the help of Fauchelevent, the man whom Valjean once rescued from being crushed under a cart and who has become the convent's gardener. Valjean also becomes a gardener and Cosette becomes a student at the convent school. Volume III: Marius Eight years later, the Friends of the ABC, led by Enjolras, are preparing an act of anti- Orléanist civil unrest (ie. the Paris uprising on 5–6 June 1832, following the death of General Lamarque, the only French leader who had sympathy towards the working class. Lamarque was a victim of a major cholera epidemic that had ravaged the city, particularly its poor neighborhoods, arousing suspicion that the government had been poisoning wells. The Friends of the ABC are joined by the poor of the Cour des miracles, including the Thénardiers' eldest son Gavroche, who is a street urchin. One of the students, Marius Pontmercy, has become alienated from his family (especially his royalist grandfather M. Gillenormand) because of his Bonapartism views. After the death of his father, Colonel Georges Pontmercy, Marius discovers a note from him instructing his son to provide help to a sergeant named Thénardier who saved his life at Waterloo — in reality Thénardier was looting corpses and only saved Pontmercy's life by accident; he had called himself a sergeant under Napoleon to avoid exposing himself as a robber. At the Luxembourg Garden, Marius falls in love with the now grown and beautiful Cosette. The Thénardiers have also moved to Paris and now live in poverty after losing their inn. They live under the surname "Jondrette" at Gorbeau House (coincidentally, the same building Valjean and Cosette briefly lived in after leaving the Thénardiers' inn. Marius lives there as well, next door to the Thénardiers. Éponine, now ragged and emaciated, visits Marius at his apartment to beg for money. To impress him, she tries to prove her literacy by reading aloud from a book and by writing "The Cops Are Here" on a sheet of paper. Marius pities her and gives her some money. After Éponine leaves, Marius observes the "Jondrettes" in their apartment through a crack in the wall. Éponine comes in and announces that a philanthropist and his daughter are arriving to visit them. In order to look poorer, Thénardier puts out the fire and breaks a chair. He also orders Azelma to punch out a window pane, which she does, resulting in cutting her hand (as Thénardier had hoped. The philanthropist and his daughter enter — actually Valjean and Cosette. Marius immediately recognizes Cosette. After seeing them, Valjean promises them he will return with rent money for them. After he and Cosette leave, Marius asks Éponine to retrieve her address for him. Éponine, who is in love with Marius herself, reluctantly agrees to do so. The Thénardiers have also recognized Valjean and Cosette, and vow their revenge. Thénardier enlists the aid of the Patron-Minette, a well-known and feared gang of murderers and robbers. Marius overhears Thénardier's plan and goes to Javert to report the crime. Javert gives Marius two pistols and instructs him to fire one into the air if things get dangerous. Marius returns home and waits for Javert and the police to arrive. Thénardier sends Éponine and Azelma outside to look out for the police. When Valjean returns with rent money, Thénardier, with Patron-Minette, ambushes him and he reveals his real identity to Valjean. Marius recognizes Thénardier as the man who saved his father's life at Waterloo and is caught in a dilemma. He tries to find a way to save Valjean while not betraying Thénardier. Valjean denies knowing Thénardier and tells him that they have never met. Valjean tries to escape through a window but is subdued and tied up. Thénardier orders Valjean to pay him 200, 000 francs. He also orders Valjean to write a letter to Cosette to return to the apartment, and they would keep her with them until he delivers the money. After Valjean writes the letter and informs Thénardier of his address, Thénardier sends out Mme. Thénardier to get Cosette. Mme. Thénardier comes back alone, and announces the address is a fake. It is during this time that Valjean manages to free himself. Thénardier decides to kill Valjean. While he and Patron-Minette are about to do so, Marius remembers the scrap of paper that Éponine wrote on earlier. He throws it into the Thénardiers' apartment through the wall crack. Thénardier reads it and thinks Éponine threw it inside. He, Mme. Thénardier and Patron-Minette try to escape, only to be stopped by Javert. He arrests all the Thénardiers and Patron-Minette (except Claquesous, who escapes during his transportation to prison, and Montparnasse, who stops to run off with Éponine instead of joining in on the robbery. Valjean manages to escape the scene before Javert sees him. Volume IV: The Idyll in the Rue Plumet and the Epic in the Rue St. Denis Éponine prevents the robbery at Valjean's house After Éponine's release from prison, she finds Marius at "The Field of the Lark" and sadly tells him that she found Cosette's address. She leads him to Valjean's and Cosette's house on Rue Plumet, and Marius watches the house for a few days. He and Cosette then finally meet and declare their love for one another. Thénardier, Patron-Minette and Brujon manage to escape from prison with the aid of Gavroche (a rare case of Gavroche helping his family in their criminal acitivities. One night, during one of Marius's visits with Cosette, the six men attempt to raid Valjean's and Cosette's house. However, Éponine, who has been sitting by the gates of the house, threatens to scream and awaken the whole neighbourhood if the thieves do not leave. Hearing this, they reluctantly retire. Meanwhile, Cosette informs Marius that she and Valjean will be leaving for England in a week's time, which greatly troubles the pair. The next day, Valjean is sitting in the Champ de Mars. He is feeling troubled about seeing Thénardier in the neighbourhood several times. Unexpectedly, a note lands in his lap, which says "Move Out. He sees a figure running away in the dim light. He goes back to his house, tells Cosette they will be staying at their other house on Rue de l'Homme Arme, and reconfirms to her that they will be moving to England. Marius tries to get permission from M. Gillenormand to marry Cosette. His grandfather seems stern and angry, but has been longing for Marius's return. When tempers flare, he refuses his assent to the marriage, telling Marius to make Cosette his mistress instead. Insulted, Marius leaves. The following day, the students revolt and erect barricades in the narrow streets of Paris. Gavroche spots Javert and informs Enjolras that Javert is a spy. When Enjolras confronts him about this, he admits his identity and his orders to spy on the students. Enjolras and the other students tie him up to a pole in the Corinth restaurant. Later that evening, Marius goes back to Valjean's and Cosette's house on Rue Plumet, but finds the house no longer occupied. He then hears a voice telling him that his friends are waiting for him at the barricade. Distraught to find Cosette gone, he heeds the voice and goes. When Marius arrives at the barricade, the revolution has already started. When he stoops down to pick up a powder keg, a soldier comes up to shoot Marius. However, a man covers the muzzle of the soldier's gun with his hand. The soldier fires, fatally wounding the man, while missing Marius. Meanwhile, the soldiers are closing in. Marius climbs to the top of the barricade, holding a torch in one hand, a powder keg in the other, and threatens to the soldiers that he will blow up the barricade. After confirming this, the soldiers retreat from the barricade. Marius decides to go to the smaller barricade, which he finds empty. As he turns back, the man who took the fatal shot for Marius earlier calls Marius by his name. Marius discovers this man is Éponine, dressed in men's clothes. As she lies dying on his knees, she confesses that she was the one who told him to go to the barricade, hoping they would die together. She also confesses to saving his life because she wanted to die before he did. The author also states to the reader that Éponine anonymously threw the note to Valjean. Éponine then tells Marius that she has a letter for him. She also confesses to have obtained the letter the day before, originally not planning to give it to him, but decides to do so in fear he would be angry at her about it in the afterlife. After Marius takes the letter, Éponine then asks him to kiss her on the forehead when she is dead, which he promises to do. With her last breath, she confesses that she was "a little bit in love" with him, and dies. Marius fulfills her request and goes into a tavern to read the letter. It is written by Cosette. He learns Cosette's whereabouts and he writes a farewell letter to her. He sends Gavroche to deliver it to her, but Gavroche leaves it with Valjean. Valjean, learning that Cosette's lover is fighting, is at first relieved, but an hour later, he puts on a National Guard uniform, arms himself with a gun and ammunition, and leaves his home. Volume V: Jean Valjean Valjean in the sewers with the wounded Marius (US edition, 1900) Valjean arrives at the barricade and immediately saves a man's life. He is still not certain if he wants to protect Marius or kill him. Marius recognizes Valjean at first sight. Enjolras announces that they are almost out of cartridges. When Gavroche goes outside the barricade to collect more ammunition from the dead National Guardsmen, he is shot dead. Valjean volunteers to execute Javert himself, and Enjolras grants permission. Valjean takes Javert out of sight, and then shoots into the air while letting him go. Marius mistakenly believes that Valjean has killed Javert. As the barricade falls, Valjean carries off the injured and unconscious Marius. All the other students are killed. Valjean escapes through the sewers, carrying Marius's body. He evades a police patrol, and reaches an exit gate but finds it locked. Thénardier emerges from the darkness. Thénardier recognizes Valjean, but not Marius. Thinking Valjean a murderer lugging his victim's corpse, Thénardier offers to open the gate for money. As he searches Valjean and Marius's pockets, he surreptitiously tears off a piece of Marius's coat so he can later find out his identity. Thénardier takes the thirty francs he finds, opens the gate, and allows Valjean to leave, expecting Valjean's emergence from the sewer will distract the police who have been pursuing him. Upon exiting, Valjean encounters Javert and requests time to return Marius to his family before surrendering to him. Surprisingly Javert agrees, assuming that Marius will be dead within minutes. After leaving Marius at his grandfather's house, Valjean asks to be allowed a brief visit to his own home, and Javert agrees. There, Javert tells Valjean he will wait for him in the street, but when Valjean scans the street from the landing window he finds Javert has gone. Javert walks down the street, realizing that he is caught between his strict belief in the law and the mercy Valjean has shown him. He feels he can no longer give Valjean up to the authorities but also cannot ignore his duty to the law. Unable to cope with this dilemma, Javert commits suicide by throwing himself into the Seine. Marius slowly recovers from his injuries. As he and Cosette make wedding preparations, Valjean endows them with a fortune of nearly 600, 000 francs. As their wedding party winds through Paris during Mardi Gras festivities, Valjean is spotted by Thénardier, who then orders Azelma to follow him. After the wedding, Valjean confesses to Marius that he is an ex-convict. Marius is horrified, assumes the worst about Valjean's moral character, and contrives to limit Valjean's time with Cosette. Valjean accedes to Marius' judgment and his separation from Cosette. Valjean loses the will to live and retires to his bed. Thénardier approaches Marius in disguise, but Marius recognizes him. Thénardier attempts to blackmail Marius with what he knows of Valjean, but in doing so, he inadvertently corrects Marius's misconceptions about Valjean and reveals all of the good he has done. He tries to convince Marius that Valjean is actually a murderer, and presents the piece of coat he tore off as evidence. Stunned, Marius recognizes the fabric as part of his own coat and realizes that it was Valjean who rescued him from the barricade. Marius pulls out a fistful of notes and flings it at Thénardier's face. He then confronts Thénardier with his crimes and offers him an immense sum to depart and never return. Thénardier accepts the offer, and he and Azelma travel to America where he becomes a slave trader. As they rush to Valjean's house, Marius tells Cosette that Valjean saved his life at the barricade. They arrive to find Valjean near death and reconcile with him. Valjean tells Cosette her mother's story and name. He dies content and is buried beneath a blank slab in Père Lachaise Cemetery. Characters Major Jean Valjean (also known as Monsieur Madeleine, Ultime Fauchelevent, Monsieur Leblanc, and Urbain Fabre) – The protagonist of the novel. Convicted for stealing a loaf of bread to feed his sister's seven starving children and sent to prison for five years, he is paroled from prison nineteen years later (after four unsuccessful escape attempts added twelve years and fighting back during the second escape attempt added two extra years. Rejected by society for being a former convict, he encounters Bishop Myriel, who turns his life around by showing him mercy and encouraging him to become a new man. While sitting and pondering what Bishop Myriel had said, he puts his shoe on a forty-sou piece dropped by a young wanderer. Valjean threatens the boy with his stick when the boy attempts to rouse Valjean from his reverie and recover his money. He tells a passing priest his name, and the name of the boy, and this allows the police to charge him with armed robbery – a sentence that, if he were caught again, would return him to prison for life. He assumes a new identity (Monsieur Madeleine) in order to pursue an honest life. He introduces new manufacturing techniques and eventually builds two factories and becomes one of the richest men in the area. By popular acclaim, he is made mayor. He confronts Javert over Fantine's punishment, turns himself in to the police to save another man from prison for life, and rescues Cosette from the Thénardiers. Discovered by Javert in Paris because of his generosity to the poor, he evades capture for the next several years in a convent. He saves Marius from imprisonment and probable death at the barricade, reveals his true identity to Marius and Cosette after their wedding, and is reunited with them just before his death, having kept his promise to the bishop and to Fantine, the image of whom is the last thing he sees before dying. Javert – A fanatic police inspector in pursuit to recapture Valjean. Born in the prisons to a convict father and a fortune teller mother, he renounces both of them and starts working as a guard in the prison, including one stint as the overseer for the chain gang of which Valjean is part (and here witnesses firsthand Valjean's enormous strength and just what he looks like. Eventually he joins the police force in Montreuil-sur-Mer. He arrests Fantine and comes into conflict with Valjean/Madeleine, who orders him to release Fantine. Valjean dismisses Javert in front of his squad and Javert, seeking revenge, reports to the Police Inspector that he has discovered Jean Valjean. He is told that he must be incorrect, as a man mistakenly believed to be Jean Valjean was just arrested. He requests of M. Madeline that he be dismissed in disgrace, for he cannot be less harsh on himself than on others. When the real Jean Valjean turns himself in, Javert is promoted to the Paris police force where he arrests Valjean and sends him back to prison. After Valjean escapes again, Javert attempts one more arrest in vain. He then almost recaptures Valjean at Gorbeau house when he arrests the Thénardiers and Patron-Minette. Later, while working undercover behind the barricade, his identity is discovered. Valjean pretends to execute Javert, but releases him. When Javert next encounters Valjean emerging from the sewers, he allows him to make a brief visit home and then walks off instead of arresting him. Javert cannot reconcile his devotion to the law with his recognition that the lawful course is immoral. After composing a letter to the prefect of police outlining the squalid conditions that occur in prisons and the abuses that prisoners are subjected to, he takes his own life by jumping into the Seine. Fantine – A beautiful Parisian grisette abandoned with a small child by her lover Félix Tholomyès. Fantine leaves her daughter Cosette in the care of the Thénardiers, innkeepers in the village of Montfermeil. Thénardier spoils her own daughters and abuses Cosette. Fantine finds work at Monsieur Madeleine's factory. Illiterate, she has others write letters to the Thénardiers on her behalf. A female supervisor discovers that she is an unwed mother and dismisses her. To meet the Thénardiers' repeated demands for money, she sells her hair and two front teeth, and turns to prostitution. She becomes ill. Valjean learns of her plight when Javert arrests her for attacking a man who called her insulting names and threw snow down her back, and sends her to a hospital. As Javert confronts Valjean in her hospital room, because her illness has made her so weak, she dies of shock after Javert reveals that Valjean is a convict and hasn't brought her daughter Cosette to her (after the doctor encouraged that incorrect belief that Jean Valjean's recent absence was because he was bringing her daughter to her. Cosette (formally Euphrasie, also known as "the Lark" Mademoiselle Lanoire, Ursula) – The illegitimate daughter of Fantine and Tholomyès. From approximately the age of three to the age of eight, she is beaten and forced to work as a drudge for the Thénardiers. After her mother Fantine dies, Valjean ransoms Cosette from the Thénardiers and cares for her as if she were his daughter. Nuns in a Paris convent educate her. She grows up to become very beautiful. She falls in love with Marius Pontmercy and marries him near the novel's conclusion. Marius Pontmercy – A young law student loosely associated with the Friends of the ABC. He shares the political principles of his father and has a tempestuous relationship with his royalist grandfather, Monsieur Gillenormand. He falls in love with Cosette and fights on the barricades when he believes Valjean has taken her to London. After he and Cosette marry, he recognizes Thénardier as a swindler and pays him to leave France. Éponine (the Jondrette girl) – The Thénardiers' elder daughter. As a child, she is pampered and spoiled by her parents, but ends up a street urchin when she reaches adolescence. She participates in her father's crimes and begging schemes to obtain money. She is blindly in love with Marius. At Marius' request, she finds Valjean and Cosette's house for him and sadly leads him there. She also prevents her father, Patron-Minette, and Brujon from robbing the house during one of Marius' visits there to see Cosette. After disguising herself as a boy, she manipulates Marius into going to the barricades, hoping that she and Marius will die there together. Wanting to die before Marius, she reaches out her hand to stop a soldier from shooting at him; she is mortally wounded as the bullet goes through her hand and her back. As she is dying, she confesses all this to Marius, and gives him a letter from Cosette. Her final request to Marius is that once she has passed, he will kiss her on the forehead. He fulfills her request not because of romantic feelings on his part, but out of pity for her hard life. Monsieur Thénardier and Madame Thénardier (also known as the Jondrettes, M. Fabantou, M. Thénard. Some translations identify her as the Thenardiess) – Husband and wife, parents of five children: two daughters, Éponine and Azelma, and three sons, Gavroche and two unnamed younger sons. As innkeepers, they abuse Cosette as a child and extort payment from Fantine for her support, until Valjean takes Cosette away. They become bankrupt and relocate under the name Jondrette to a house in Paris called the Gorbeau house, living in the room next to Marius. The husband associates with a criminal group called "the Patron-Minette. and conspires to rob Valjean until he is thwarted by Marius. Javert arrests the couple. The wife dies in prison. Her husband attempts to blackmail Marius with his knowledge of Valjean's past, but Marius pays him to leave the country and he becomes a slave trader in the United States. Enjolras – The leader of Les Amis de l'ABC (Friends of the ABC) in the Paris uprising. He is passionately committed to republican principles and the idea of progress. He and Grantaire are executed by the National Guards after the barricade falls. Gavroche – The unloved middle child and eldest son of the Thénardiers. He lives on his own as a street urchin and sleeps inside an elephant statue outside the Bastille. He briefly takes care of his two younger brothers, unaware they are related to him. He takes part in the barricades and is killed while collecting bullets from dead National Guardsmen. Bishop Myriel – The Bishop of Digne (full name Charles-François-Bienvenu Myriel, also called Monseigneur Bienvenu) – A kindly old priest promoted to bishop after a chance encounter with Napoleon. After Valjean steals some silver from him, he saves Valjean from being arrested and inspires Valjean to change his ways. Grantaire – Grantaire (Also known as "R" was a student revolutionary with little interest in the cause. He reveres Enjolras, and his admiration is the main reason that Grantaire spends time with Les Amis de l'ABC (Friends of the ABC) despite Enjolras's occasional scorn for him. Grantaire is often drunk and is unconscious for the majority of the June Rebellion. He and Enjolras are executed by the National Guards after the barricade falls. Friends of the ABC A revolutionary student club. In French, the letters "ABC" are pronounced identically to the French word abaissés, the abased. Bahorel – A dandy and an idler from a peasant background, who is known well around the student cafés of Paris. Combeferre – A medical student who is described as representing the philosophy of the revolution. Courfeyrac – A law student who is described as the centre of the group of Friends. He is honorable and warm and is Marius' closest companion. Enjolras – The leader of the Friends. A resolute and charismatic youth, devoted to progress. Feuilly – An orphaned fan maker who taught himself to read and write. He is the only member of the Friends who is not a student. Grantaire – A drunk with little interest in revolution. Despite his pessimism, he eventually declares himself a believer in the Republic, and dies alongside Enjolras. Jean Prouvaire (also Jehan) – A Romantic with knowledge of Italian, Latin, Greek, and Hebrew, and an interest in the Middle Ages. Joly – A medical student who has unusual theories about health. He is a hypochondriac and is described as the happiest of the Friends. Lesgle (also Lègle, Laigle, L'Aigle [ The Eagle] or Bossuet) – The oldest member of the group. Considered notoriously unlucky, Lesgle begins balding at the age of twenty-five. It is Lesgle who introduces Marius to the Friends. Minor Azelma – The younger daughter of the Thénardiers. Like her sister Éponine, she is spoiled as a child, impoverished when older. She abets her father's failed robbery of Valjean. On Marius and Cosette's wedding day, she tails Valjean on her father's orders. She travels to America with her father at the end of the novel. Bamatabois – An idler who harasses Fantine. Later a juror at Champmathieu's trial. (Mlle) Baptistine Myriel – Bishop Myriel's sister. She loves and venerates her brother. Blachevelle – A wealthy student in Paris originally from Montauban. He is a friend of Félix Tholomyès and becomes romantically involved with Fantine's friend Favourite. Bougon, Madame (called Ma'am Burgon) – Housekeeper of Gorbeau House. Brevet – An ex-convict from Toulon who knew Valjean there; released one year after Valjean. In 1823, he is serving time in the prison in Arras for an unknown crime. He is the first to claim that Champmathieu is really Valjean. He used to wear knitted, checkered suspenders. Brujon – A robber and criminal. He participates in crimes with M. Thénardier and the Patron-Minette gang (such as the Gorbeau Robbery and the attempted robbery at the Rue Plumet. The author describes Brujon as being "a sprightly young fellow, very cunning and very adroit, with a flurried and plaintive appearance. " Champmathieu – A vagabond who is misidentified as Valjean after being caught stealing apples. Chenildieu – A lifer from Toulon. He and Valjean were chain mates for five years. He once tried to unsuccessfully remove his lifer's brand TFP ( travaux forcés à perpetuité. forced labour for life" by putting his shoulder on a chafing dish full of embers. He is described as a small, wiry but energetic man. Cochepaille – Another lifer from Toulon. He used to be a shepherd from the Pyrenees who became a smuggler. He is described as stupid and has a tattoo on his arm, 1 Mars 1815. Colonel Georges Pontmercy – Marius's father and an officer in Napoleon's army. Wounded at Waterloo, Pontmercy erroneously believes M. Thénardier saved his life. He tells Marius of this great debt. He loves Marius and although M. Gillenormand does not allow him to visit, he continually hid behind a pillar in the church on Sunday so that he could at least look at Marius from a distance. Napoleon made him a baron, but the next regime refused to recognize his barony or his status as a colonel, instead referring to him only as a commandant. The book usually calls him "The colonel. Dahlia – A young grisette in Paris and member of Fantine's group of seamstress friends along with Favourite and Zéphine. She becomes romantically involved with Félix Tholomyès' friend Listolier. Fameuil – A wealthy student in Paris originally from Limoges. He is a friend of Félix Tholomyès and becomes romantically involved with Fantine's friend Zéphine. Fauchelevent – A failed businessman whom Valjean (as M. Madeleine) saves from being crushed under a carriage. Valjean gets him a position as gardener at a Paris convent, where Fauchelevent later provides sanctuary for Valjean and Cosette and allows Valjean to pose as his brother. Favourite – A young grisette in Paris and leader of Fantine's group of seamstress friends (including Zéphine and Dahlia. She is independent and well versed in the ways of the world and had previously been in England. Although she cannot stand Félix Tholomyès' friend Blachevelle and is in love with someone else, she endures a relationship with him so she can enjoy the perks of courting a wealthy man. Listolier – A wealthy student in Paris originally from Cahors. He is a friend of Félix Tholomyès and becomes romantically involved with Fantine's friend Dahlia. Mabeuf – An elderly churchwarden, friend of Colonel Pontmercy, who after the Colonel's death befriends his son Marius and helps Marius realize his father loved him. Mabeuf loves plants and books, but sells his books and prints in order to pay for a friend's medical care. When Mabeuf finds a purse in his yard, he takes it to the police. After selling his last book, he joins the students in the insurrection. He is shot dead raising the flag atop the barricade. Mademoiselle Gillenormand – Daughter of M. Gillenormand, with whom she lives. Her late half-sister (M. Gillenormand's daughter from another marriage) was Marius' mother. Madame Magloire – Domestic servant to Bishop Myriel and his sister. Magnon – Former servant of M. Gillenormand and friend of the Thénardiers. She had been receiving child support payments from M. Gillenormand for her two illegitimate sons, who she claimed were fathered by him. When her sons died in an epidemic, she had them replaced with the Thénardiers' two youngest sons so that she could protect her income. The Thénardiers get a portion of the payments. She is incorrectly arrested for involvement in the Gorbeau robbery. Monsieur Gillenormand – Marius' grandfather. A monarchist, he disagrees sharply with Marius on political issues, and they have several arguments. He attempts to keep Marius from being influenced by his father, Colonel Georges Pontmercy. While in perpetual conflict over ideas, he holds his grandson in affection. Mother Innocente (a. k. a. Marguerite de Blemeur) – The prioress of the Petit-Picpus convent. Patron-Minette – A quartet of bandits who assist in the Thénardiers' ambush of Valjean at Gorbeau House and the attempted robbery at the Rue Plumet. The gang consists of Montparnasse, Claquesous, Babet, and Gueulemer. Claquesous, who escaped from the carriage transporting him to prison after the Gorbeau Robbery, joins the revolution under the guise of "Le Cabuc" and is executed by Enjolras for firing on civilians. Petit Gervais – A travelling Savoyard boy who drops a coin. Valjean, still a man of criminal mind, places his foot on the coin and refuses to return it. Sister Simplice – A famously truthful nun who cares for Fantine on her sickbed and lies to Javert to protect Valjean. Félix Tholomyès – Fantine's lover and Cosette's biological father. A wealthy, self-centered student in Paris originally from Toulouse, he eventually abandons Fantine when their daughter is two years old. Toussaint – Valjean and Cosette's servant in Paris. She has a slight stutter. Two little boys – The two unnamed youngest sons of the Thénardiers, whom they send to Magnon to replace her two dead sons. Living on the streets, they encounter Gavroche, who is unaware they are his siblings but treats them like they are his brothers. After Gavroche's death, they retrieve bread tossed by a bourgeois man to geese in a fountain at the Luxembourg Garden. Zéphine – A young grisette in Paris and member of Fantine's group of seamstress friends along with Favourite and Dahlia. She becomes romantically involved with Félix Tholomyès' friend Fameuil. The narrator Hugo does not give the narrator a name and allows the reader to identify the narrator with the novel's author. The narrator occasionally injects himself into the narrative or reports facts outside the time of the narrative to emphasize that he is recounting historical events, not entirely fiction. He introduces his recounting of Waterloo with several paragraphs describing the narrator's recent approach to the battlefield: Last year (1861) on a beautiful May morning, a traveller, the person who is telling this story, was coming from Nivelles. 23] The narrator describes how " a]n observer, a dreamer, the author of this book" during the 1832 street fighting was caught in crossfire: All that he had to protect him from the bullets was the swell of the two half columns which separate the shops; he remained in this delicate situation for nearly half an hour. At one point he apologizes for intruding—"The author of this book, who regrets the necessity of mentioning himself"—to ask the reader's understanding when he describes "the Paris of his youth. as though it still existed. This introduces a meditation on memories of past places that his contemporary readers would recognize as a self-portrait written from exile: you have left a part of your heart, of your blood, of your soul, in those pavements. He describes another occasion when a bullet shot "pierced a brass shaving-dish suspended. over a hairdresser's shop. This pierced shaving-dish was still to be seen in 1848, in the Rue du Contrat-Social, at the corner of the pillars of the market. As evidence of police double agents at the barricades, he writes: The author of this book had in his hands, in 1848, the special report on this subject made to the Prefect of Police in 1832. " Contemporary reception The appearance of the novel was a highly anticipated event as Victor Hugo was considered one of France's foremost poets in the middle of the nineteenth century. The New York Times announced its forthcoming publication as early as April 1860. [24] Hugo forbade his publishers from summarizing his story and refused to authorize the publication of excerpts in advance of publication. He instructed them to build on his earlier success and suggested this approach: What Victor H. did for the Gothic world in Notre-Dame of Paris [ The Hunchback of Notre Dame] he accomplishes for the modern world in Les Miserables. 25] A massive advertising campaign [26] preceded the release of the first two volumes of Les Misérables in Brussels on 30 or 31 March and in Paris on 3 April 1862. [27] The remaining volumes appeared on 15 May 1862. Critical reactions were wide-ranging and often negative. Some critics found the subject matter immoral, others complained of its excessive sentimentality, and others were disquieted by its apparent sympathy with the revolutionaries. L. Gauthier wrote in Le Monde of 17 August 1862: One cannot read without an unconquerable disgust all the details Monsieur Hugo gives regarding the successful planning of riots. 28] The Goncourt brothers judged the novel artificial and disappointing. [29] Flaubert found "neither truth nor greatness" in it. He complained that the characters were crude stereotypes who all "speak very well – but all in the same way. He deemed it an "infantile" effort and brought an end to Hugo's career like "the fall of a god. 30] In a newspaper review, Charles Baudelaire praised Hugo's success in focusing public attention on social problems, though he believed that such propaganda was the opposite of art. In private he castigated it as "repulsive and inept. immonde et inepte. 31] The Catholic Church placed it on the Index Librorum Prohibitorum. [32] The work was a commercial success and has been a popular book ever since it was published. [33] 34] Translated the same year it appeared into several foreign languages, including Italian, Greek, and Portuguese, it proved popular not only in France, but across Europe and abroad. English translations Charles E. Wilbour. New York: Carleton Publishing Company, June 1862. The first English translation. The first volume was available for purchase in New York beginning 7 June 1862. [35] Also New York and London: George Routledge and Sons, 1879. Lascelles Wraxall. London: Hurst and Blackett, October 1862. The first British translation. [35] Translator identified as "A. F. Richmond, Virginia, 1863. Published by West and Johnston publishers. The Editor's Preface announces its intention of correcting errors in Wilbour's translation. It said that some passages "exclusively intended for the French readers of the book" were being omitted, as well as " a] few scattered sentences reflecting on slavery" because "the absence of a few antislavery paragraphs will hardly be complained of by Southern readers. Because of paper shortages in wartime, the passages omitted became longer with each successive volume. [35] Isabel Florence Hapgood. Published 1887, this translation is available at Project Gutenberg. [36] Norman Denny. Folio Press, 1976. A modern British translation later re-published in paperback by Penguin Books, ISBN   0-14-044430-0. The translator explains in an introduction that he has placed two of the novel's longer digressive passages into appendices and made some minor abridgements in the text. Lee Fahnestock and Norman McAfee. Signet Classics. 3 March 1987. An unabridged edition based on the Wilbour translation with its language modernized. Paperback ISBN   0-451-52526-4 Julie Rose. 2007. Vintage Classics, 3 July 2008. A new translation of the full work, with a detailed biographical sketch of Victor Hugo's life, a chronology, and notes. ISBN   978-0-09-951113-7 Christine Donougher. Penguin Classics, 7 November 2013. ISBN   978-0141393599 Adaptations Since its original publication, Les Misérables has been the subject of a large number of adaptations in numerous types of media, such as books, films, musicals, plays and games. Notable examples of these adaptations include: The 1935 film directed by Richard Boleslawski, starring Fredric March and Charles Laughton. The film was nominated for Best Picture, Best Film Editing, Best Assistant Director at 8th Academy Awards. The 1937 radio adaptation by Orson Welles. [37] The 1952 film adaptation directed by Lewis Milestone, starring Michael Rennie and Robert Newton. The 1958 film adaptation directed by Jean-Paul Le Chanois, with an international cast starring Jean Gabin, Bernard Blier, and Bourvil. [38] Called "the most memorable film version" it was filmed in East Germany and was overtly political. [39] The 1978 television film adaptation, starring Richard Jordan and Anthony Perkins. The 1980 musical, by Alain Boublil and Claude-Michel Schönberg. [40] The 1982 film adaptation, directed by Robert Hossein, starring Lino Ventura and Michel Bouquet. The 1995 film, by Claude Lelouch, starring Jean-Paul Belmondo [41] The 1998 film, starring Liam Neeson and Geoffrey Rush. [42] The 2000 TV miniseries, starring Gérard Depardieu and John Malkovich. [43] The 2007 TV anime adaptation, by Studio Nippon Animation. The 2012 film of the musical, starring Hugh Jackman, Russell Crowe, Anne Hathaway and Amanda Seyfried. [44] The film received eight Academy Award nominations including Best Picture, Best Actor for Jackman, and won three, for Best Sound Mixing, Best Makeup and Hairstyling, and Best Supporting Actress for Hathaway. A 2013 Japanese manga adaptation by Takahiro Arai, to be published in Shogakukan 's Monthly Shonen Sunday magazine from September 2013. [45] A 2018 TV miniseries by Andrew Davies, starring Dominic West, David Oyelowo and Lily Collins. [46] Sequels Laura Kalpakian 's Cosette: The Sequel to Les Misérables was published in 1995. It continues the story of Cosette and Marius, but is more a sequel to the musical than to the original novel. In 2001, two French novels by François Cérésa that continue Hugo's story appeared: Cosette ou le temps des illusions and Marius ou le fugitif. The former has been published in an English translation. Javert appears as a hero who survived his suicide attempt and becomes religious; Thénardier returns from America; Marius is unjustly imprisoned. [47] The works were the subject of an unsuccessful lawsuit brought by Hugo's great-great-grandson. [48] 49] See also Fex urbis lex orbis Jean Val Jean, abridged version in English (1935) References ^ Les Misérables. Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English. Longman. Retrieved 16 August 2019. ^ Novelist Susanne Alleyn has argued that "the phrase “les misérables”, which has a whole range of subtly shaded meanings in French, is much better translated into English as “the dispossessed” or even as “the outsiders” — which can describe every major character in the novel in one way or another — than simply as “the miserable ones” / “the wretched ones. ” No, Its Not Actually the French Revolution: Les Misérables and History. ^ BBC News – Bon anniversaire! 25 facts about Les Mis. BBC Online. 1 October 2010. Retrieved 1 October 2010. ^ Sinclair, Upton (1915. The Cry for Justice: An Anthology of the Literature of Social Protest. Charles Rivers Editors. ISBN   978-1-247-96345-7. ^ Alexander Welsh, Opening and Closing Les Misérables. in Harold Bloom, ed., Victor Hugo: Modern Critical Views (NY: Chelsea House, 1988) 155; Vol. 5, Book 1, Chapter 20 ^ Read the Ten Longest Novels Ever Written. Retrieved 31 December 2012. ^ Behr, Complete Book, 39–42 ^ A. Davidson, Victor Hugo: His Life And Work (J. B. Lippincott, 1929) Kindle Location 4026, 4189 ^ Victor Brombert. Les Misérables: Salvation from Below" in Harold Bloom, ed., Modern Critical Views: Victor Hugo (Chelsea House, 1988) 195 ^ Brombert, Salvation from Below. 195–97 ^ Alexander Welsh, Opening and Closing Les Misérables. in Harold Bloom, ed., Modern Critical Views: Victor Hugo (Chelsea House, 1988) 151–52 ^ Day, Anonymous (15 August 2014. About the Novel" PDF. The Official Les Miserables Website Times. ^ Guyon, Loïc Pierre (2002. Un aventurier picaresque au XIXe siècle: Eugène-François Vidocq. In Glaser, Albert; Kleine-Roßbach, Sabine (eds. Abenteurer als Helden der Literatur (in French. Springer. doi: 10. 1007/978-3-476-02877-8. ISBN   978-3-476-02877-8. ^ Morton, James (2004. The First Detective: The Life and Revolutionary Times of Vidocq, Criminal, Spy and Private Eye. New York: Overlook Press. ^ Hugo, Victor, Les Misérables (Preface by A. Rosa) Laffont, 1985, ISBN   2-221-04689-7, p. IV. ^ a b c Edward Behr, The Complete Book of Les Misérables (Arcade, 1993) Le Bagne de Toulon (1748–1873) Académie du Var, Autres Temps Editions (2010) ISBN   978-2-84521-394-4 ^ Victor Hugo, Things Seen, vol. 1 (Glasgow and New York: George Routledge and Sons, 1887) 49–52. The chapter is title "1841. Origin of Fantine. Behr quotes this passage at length in Behr, Complete Book, 32–36. ^ Victor Hugo, Choses vues: nouvelle série (Paris: Calman Lévy, 1900) 129–130 ^ a b Robb, Graham (1997. Victor Hugo: A Biography. New York: W. W. Norton. ^ Rosa, Annette, Introduction to Les Misérables, Laffont, 1985, ISBN   2-221-04689-7 ^ Robb, Graham (1999. Norton. ISBN   978-0393318999. ^ Victor Brombert. Les Misérables: Salvation from Below" in Harold Bloom, ed., Victor Hugo: Modern Critical Views (NY: Chelsea House, 1988) 198–99; Vol. 2, Book 1, Chapter 1 ^ Personalities. New York Times. 10 April 1860. Retrieved 3 January 2013. ^ Behr, Compete Book, 38 ^ La réception des Misérables en 1862 – Max Bach – PMLA, Vol. 77, No. 5 (December 1962) "les miserables, victor hugo, First Edition, 1862. ABE Books. Retrieved 21 January 2013. ^ PDF) Goncourt, Edmond et Jules, Journal, Vol. I, Laffont, 1989, ISBN   2-221-05527-6, April 1862, pp. 808–09 ^ Letter of G. Flaubert to Madame Roger des Genettes – July 1862 Archived 27 November 2006 at the Wayback Machine ^ Hyslop, Lois Bee (October 1976. Baudelaire on Les Misérables. The French Review. 41 (1) 23–29. ^ Turner, David Hancock (18 January 2013. Les Misérables and Its Critics. Jacobin. Retrieved 14 June 2016. ^ Marguerite Yourcenar. "Réception des Misérables en Grèce" PDF. ^ Réception des Misérables au Portugal Archived 29 September 2007 at the Wayback Machine ^ a b c Moore, Olin H. (March 1959. Some Translations of Les Miserables. Modern Language Notes. 74 (3) 240–46. JSTOR   3040282. ^ Les Misérables by Victor Hugo – Project Gutenberg. 22 June 2008. Retrieved 15 October 2009. ^ Radio Programs Scheduled for this Week, The New York Times, 25 July 1937 ^ Les Misérables on IMDb ^ Behr, Edward (1989. The Complete Book of Les Misérables. NY: Arcade. pp. 152–53. ^ The Broadway League. "The official source for Broadway Information. IBDB. Retrieved 31 December 2012. ^ AlloCine, Les Misérables, retrieved 23 September 2015 ^ Cirque du Freak's Arai Launches Manga of Les Misérables Novel. ^ Otterson, Joe (9 January 2018. David Oyelowo, Dominic West, Lily Collins to Star in BBC's 'Les Misérables' Miniseries. Variety. ^ Riding, Alan (29 May 2001. Victor Hugo Can't Rest in Peace, As a Sequel Makes Trouble. The New York Times. Retrieved 4 January 2013... Les Misérables: la suite rejugée en appel. Le nouvel observateur. 30 January 2007. Retrieved 4 January 2013. ^ Van Gelder, Lawrence (1 February 2007. French Court Says Yes to Misérables Sequels. Retrieved 4 January 2013. External links Les Misérables at Les Misérables at the Internet Movie Database French text of Les Misérables, scroll down to see the links to the five volumes Les Misérables at Project Gutenberg – English translation. Review by Edwin Percy Whipple The Atlantic Monthly. July 1862. Les Miserables public domain audiobook at LibriVox.

Le défi de la communication est moins de partager quelque chose avec ceux dont on est proche que d'arriver à cohabiter avec ceux beaucoup plus nombreux dont on ne partage ni les valeurs, ni les intérêts. Il ne suffit pas que les messages et les informations circulent vite pour que les hommes se comprennent mieux. Transmission et interaction ne sont pas synonymes de communication. 1:05:47 One Day More. Roger Ebert May 1, 1998 "Les Miserables' is like a perfectly respectable Classics Illustrated version of the Victor Hugo novel. It contains the moments of high drama, clearly outlines all the motivations, is easy to follow and lacks only passion. A story filled with outrage and idealism becomes somehow merely picturesque. Liam Neeson stars as Jean Valjean, and the movie makes its style clear in an early scene, where he stands, homeless and hungry, at the door of a bishop, and says, I am a convict. My name is Jean Valjean. I spent 19 years at hard labor. On my passport I am identified as a thief. And so on. "I know who you are. replies the bishop, but not before the audience has been spoon-fed its briefing. Advertisement Valjean is taken in, fed and sheltered, and tries to steal the bishop's silver. In one of the most famous episodes from Hugo's novel, the bishop tells the police he gave the tramp the silver, and later tells Valjean: I've ransomed you from fear and hatred and now I give you back to God. There was a similar scene in Claude Lelouch's 1995 "Les Miserables. which intercut passages from the novel with a story set during World War II; it was touching, but this version feels more like a morality play. Valjean sells the silver, gets a job in a provincial factory and uses the nest egg to buy the factory. As we rejoin him some years later, he is the local mayor, respectable and beloved, trying to teach himself to read and write. Then fate re-enters his life in the person of Inspector Javert ( Geoffrey Rush) a police official who recognizes him from his years at hard labor and wants to expose him: In this world, if you once do something wrong, you are banished forever from the sight of those lucky enough not to have been caught. Consider, in the same light, poor Fantine ( Uma Thurman) fired from the factory and forced into prostitution because it is discovered she has a child out of wedlock. Valjean discovers her plight (he was unaware of the firing) nurses her through a fatal illness and promises to care for the child. Thurman's performance is the best element of the movie. With the unyielding Javert forever at his back, Valjean takes his money and flees to Paris, taking refuge in a convent he had once (foresightedly) given money to. There he and the child, Cosette, spend 10 years. Then Cosette, now a young woman played by Claire Danes, yearns for freedom; Valjean, against his better wishes, takes a house for them. Cosette falls for the fiery radical Marius ( Hans Matheson) who is being tailed by the police, which puts Javert once more onto the trail of poor Valjean. Javert is the kind of man who can say with his dying breath, I've tried to lead my life without breaking a single rule. He means it, and will never cease his pursuit of Valjean, even though the other man, as mayor, spared his job: I order you to forgive yourself. As Javert pursues his vendetta against a man who has become kind and useful, Marius leads the mobs to the barricades, which look a lot here as they do in the stage musical. That musical, by the way, is a long time coming. This is the second movie made of "Les Mis" during a decade when the "musical version" has been promised annually. There is, I think, an obvious person to direct it: Alan Parker, whose " Evita " and "Pink Floyd the Wall" show he is one of the few modern filmmakers who understands musicals. In the meantime, this dramatic version is by the Danish director Bille August, whose work. Pelle the Conqueror. Best Intentions" from the Bergman screenplay "House of the Spirits. while uneven, has shown a juiciness and complexity. Here we have a dutiful, even respectable, adaptation that lacks the rabble-rousing usually associated with "Les Miserables. The sets and locations are handled well, the period looks convincing, but the story is lame. When Cosette pleads with her father to leave the convent, she sounds more like a bored modern teenager than a survivor of murderous times. Don't leave the cab. he tells her on their first venture into the world, so of course she immediately does. Her father could of course settle all her objections with a few words of explanation, but in the great movie tradition of senselessly withholding crucial information, he refuses to; it must have been difficult for Neeson to maintain that expression of fearful regret in scene after scene. Rush, in his first major role since " Shine. somehow doesn't project the fevered ethical madness that drives Javert; he comes across more as a very stubborn bore. It's hard to make a period picture come alive, but when it happens. Restoration.  " Dangerous Beauty. Amistad. we feel transported back in time. "Les Miserables" only made me feel transported back to high school history class. Reveal Comments comments powered by.

Je préfère la version avec Depardieu. All that we are here relating slowly and successively took place at once in all points of the city in the midst of a vast tumult, like the multitude of flashes in a single peal of thunder. Les Misérables ( 1862) is a novel by Victor Hugo which many consider to be one of the greatest works of world literature. It tells of the interwoven lives of its characters over several decades of the early 19th Century, focusing to a great extent on the conflicts between the hero Jean Valjean, a fugitive who spent nearly 20 years of his life as prisoner " 24601 " and police inspector Javert who hunts for him. Others who feature prominently are Cosette the orphaned girl who Valjean raises as a daughter, Marius the revolutionary who loves her, and the villain Thenardier who had horribly exploited Cosette until she was rescued by Valjean. It was originally published in five volumes, four named after some of the primary characters within it. The primary translation used in creating this collection of quotations was that of Charles E. Wilbour. So long as ignorance and misery remain on earth, books like this cannot be useless. See also: Les Misérables (the theatrical musical by Boublil and Schonberg) Preface [ edit] Tant quil existera, par le fait des lois et des mœurs, une damnation sociale créant artificiellement, en pleine civilisation, des enfers, et compliquant dune fatalité humaine la destinée qui est divine; tant que les trois problèmes du siècle, la dégradation de lhomme par le prolétariat, la déchéance de la femme par la faim, latrophie de lenfant par la nuit, ne seront pas résolus; tant que, dans de certaines régions, lasphyxie sociale sera possible; en dautres termes, et à un point de vue plus étendu encore, tant quil y aura sur la terre ignorance et misère, des livres de la nature de celui-ci pourront ne pas être inutiles. So long as there shall exist, by reason of law and custom, a social condemnation, which, in the face of civilisation, artificially creates hells on earth, and complicates a destiny that is divine, with human fatality; so long as the three problems of the age — the degradation of man by poverty, the ruin of woman by starvation, and the dwarfing of childhood by physical and spiritual night — are not solved; so long as, in certain regions, social asphyxia shall be possible; in other words, and from a yet more extended point of view, so long as ignorance and misery remain on earth, books like this cannot be useless. Volume One: FANTINE [ edit] Book I - An Upright Man [ edit] Vrai ou faux, ce quon dit des hommes tient souvent autant de place dans leur vie et souvent dans leur destinée que ce quils font. Be it true or false, what is said about men often has as much influence upon their lives, and especially upon their destinies, as what they do. Chapter I: M. Myriel Sire, dit M. Myriel, vous regardez un bonhomme, et moi je regarde un grand homme. Chacun de nous peut profiter. Sire, said M. Myriel, you behold a good man, and I a great man. May each of us profit by it. M. Myriel to Napoleon Il y a beaucoup de bouches qui parlent et fort peu de têtes qui pensent. There are many tongues to talk, and but few heads to think. Voilà monsieur Géborand qui achète pour un sou de paradis. See Monsieur Geborand, buying a pennyworth of paradise. Chapter IV: Works Answer Words Voilà les hypocrisies effarées qui se dépêchent de protester. How frightened hypocrisy hastens to defend itself. Cette âme est pleine d'ombre, le péché s'y commet. Le coupable n'est pas celui qui y fait le péché, mais celui qui y a fait l'ombre. If the soul is left in darkness, sins will be committed. The guilty one is not he who commits the sin, but he who causes the darkness. Dailleurs qui est-ce qui atteint son idéal? But who ever does attain to his ideal? Chapter VI: How He Protected His House Je ne suis pas au monde pour garder ma vie, mais pour garder les âmes. I am not in the world to care for my life, but for souls. Chapter VII: Cravatte M. Myriel in disregarding dangers to his life. "Let us never fear robbers nor murderers. Those are dangers from without, petty dangers. Let us fear ourselves. Prejudices are the real robbers; vices are the real murderers. The great dangers lie within ourselves. What matters it what threatens our head or our purse! Let us think only of that which threatens our soul. " Personne ne pourrait dire que le passage de cet esprit devant le sien et le reflet de cette grande conscience sur la sienne ne fût pas pour quelque chose dans son approche de la perfection. No one could say that the passage of that soul before his own, and the reflection of that grand conscience upon his own had not had its effect upon his approach to perfection. Chapter X: The Bishop in the presence of an Unknown Light Le général. avait poursuivi lempereur comme quelquun quon veut laisser échapper. The general. pursued the emperor as if he wished to let him escape. Chapter XI: A Qualification Book II - The Fall [ edit] You have promised me to become an honest man. I am purchasing your soul, I withdraw it from the spirit of perversity and I give it to God Almighty. Jean Valjean était entré au bagne sanglotant et frémissant; il en sortit impassible. Il y était entré désespéré; il en sortit sombre. Que sétait-il passé dans cette âme? Jean Valjean entered the galleys sobbing and shuddering: he went out hardened; he entered in despair: he went out sullen. What had happened within this soul? Chapter VI: Jean Valjean Ainsi, pendant ces dix-neuf ans de torture et desclavage, cette âme monta et tomba en même temps. Il y entra de la lumière dun côté et des ténèbres de lautre. Thus, during those nineteen years of torture and slavery, did this soul rise and fall at the same time. Light entered on the one side, and darkness on the other. Chapter VII: The Depths of Despair Le propre des peines de cette nature, dans lesquelles domine ce qui est impitoyable, cest-à-dire ce qui est abrutissant, cest de transformer peu à peu, par une sorte de transfiguration stupide, un homme en une bête fauve, quelquefois en une bête féroce. The peculiarity of punishment of this kind, in which what is pitiless, that is to say, what is brutalizing, predominates, is to transform little be little, by a slow stupefactions, a man into an animal, sometimes into a wild beast. Le point de départ comme le point darrivée de toutes ses pensées était la haine de la loi humaine; cette haine qui, si elle nest arrêtée dans son développement par quelque incident providentiel, devient, dans un temps donné, la haine de la société, puis la haine du genre humain, puis la haine de la création, et se traduit par un vague et incessant et brutal désir de nuire, nimporte à qui, à un être vivant quelconque. The beginning as well as then end of all his thoughts was hatred of human law; that hatred which, if it be not checked in its growth by some providential event, becomes, in a certain time, hatred of society, then hatred of the human race, and then hatred of creation, and reveals itself by a vague, brutal desire to injure some living being, it matters not who. La nuit nétait pas très obscure; cétait une pleine lune sur laquelle couraient de larges nuées chassées par le vent. Cela faisait au dehors des alternatives dombre et de clarté, des éclipses, puis des éclaircies, et au dedans une sorte de crépuscule. Ce crépuscule, suffisant pour quon pût se guider, intermittent à cause des nuages, ressemblait à lespèce de lividité qui tombe dun soupirail de cave devant lequel vont et viennent des passants. The night was not very dark; there was a full moon, across which large clouds were driving before the wind. This produced alternations of light and shade, out-of-doors eclipses and illuminations, and in-doors a kind of twilight. This twilight, enough to enable him to find his way, changing with the passing clouds, resembled that sort of livid light which falls through the window of a dungeon before which men are passing. Chapter X: The Man Awakes Depuis près dune demi-heure un grand nuage couvrait le ciel. Au moment où Jean Valjean sarrêta en face du lit, ce nuage se déchira, comme sil leût fait exprès, et un rayon de lune, traversant la longue fenêtre, vint éclairer subitement le visage pâle de lévêque. Toute sa face silluminait dune vague expression de satisfaction, despérance et de béatitude. Cétait plus quun sourire et presque un rayonnement. Il y avait sur son front linexprimable réverbération dune lumière quon ne voyait pas. For nearly a half hour a great cloud had darkened the sky. At the moment when Jean Valjean paused before the bed the cloud broke as if purposely, and a ray of moonlight crossing the high window, suddenly lighted up the bishops pale face…His entire countenance was lit up with a vague expression of content, hope, and happiness. It was more than a smile and almost a radiance. On his forehead rested the indescribable reflection of an unseen light. Chapter XI: What He Does Jusque-là il avait reçue avec assez dadresse tout entière sur le dos de sa main. Cette fois la pièce de quarante sous lui échappa, et vint rouler vers la broussaille jusquà Jean Valjean. Until this time he had skillfully caught the whole of them upon the back of his hand. This time the forty-sous coin got away from him, and rolled towards the thicket, near Jean Valjean. Chapter XIII: Petit Gervais Il se roidissait contre laction angélique et contre les douces paroles du vieillard. "Vous mavez promis de devenir honnête homme. Je vous achète votre âme. Je la retire à lesprit de perversité et je la donne au bon Dieu. Cela lui revenait sans cesse. Il opposait à cette indulgence céleste lorgueil, qui est en nous comme la forteresse du mal. Il sentait indistinctement que le pardon de ce prêtre était le plus grand assaut et la plus formidable attaque dont il eût encore été ébranlé; que son endurcissement serait définitif sil résistait à cette clémence; que, sil cédait, il faudrait renoncer à cette haine dont les actions des autres hommes avaient rempli son âme pendant tant dannées, et qui lui plaisait; que cette fois il fallait vaincre ou être vaincu, et que la lutte, une lutte colossale et définitive, était engagée entre sa méchanceté à lui et la bonté de cet homme. He set himself stubbornly in opposition to the angelic deeds and the gentle words of the old man, you have promised me to become an honest man. I am purchasing your soul, I withdraw it from the spirit of perversity and I give it to God Almighty. This came back to him incessantly. To this celestial tenderness, he opposed pride, which is the fortress of evil in man. He felt dimly that the pardon of the priest was the hardest assault, and the most formidable attack which he had yet sustained; that the hardness of heart would be complete, if it resisted this kindness; that if he yielded, he must renounce that hatred with which he found satisfaction; that, this time, he must conquer or be conquered, and that the struggle, a gigantic and decisive struggle, had begun between his own wickedness, and the goodness of man. Une voix lui disait-elle à loreille quil venait de traverser lheure solennelle de sa destinée, quil ny avait plus de milieu pour lui, que si désormais il nétait pas le meilleur des hommes il en serait le pire. Did a voice whisper in his ear that he had just passed through the decisive hour of his destiny, that there was no longer a middle course for him, that if, thereafter, he should not be the best of men, he would be the worst. Pendant quil pleurait, le jour se faisait de plus en plus dans son cerveau, un jour extraordinaire, un jour ravissant et terrible à la fois. Tout cela lui revint et lui apparut, clairement, mais dans une clarté quil navait jamais vue jusque-là. Cependant un jour doux était sur cette vie et sur cette âme. Il lui semblait quil voyait Satan à la lumière du paradis. While he wept, the light grew brighter and brighter in his mind — an extraordinary light, a light at once ravishing and terrible. all returned and appeared to him, clearly, but in a light that he had never seen before. There was, however, a softened light upon that life and upon that soul. It seemed to him that he was looking upon Satan by the light of Paradise. Book III - The Year 1817 [ edit] Propos de table et propos damour; les uns sont aussi insaisissables que les autres; les propos damour sont des nuées, les propos de table sont des fumées. Table talk and lovers' talk equally elude the grasp; lovers' talk is clouds, table talk is smoke. Chapter VI: A Chapter of Self-Admiration Une discussion est bonne. une querelle vaut mieux. A discussion is good. a quarrel is better. Chapter VIII: Death of a Horse Book IV - To Entrust is Sometimes to Abandon [ edit] She would have softened a heart of granite; but you cannot soften a heart of wood. Ces êtres appartenaient à cette classe bâtarde composée de gens grossiers parvenus et de gens intelligents déchus, qui est entre la classe dite moyenne et la classe dite inférieure, et qui combine quelques-uns des défauts de la seconde avec presque tous les vices de la première, sans avoir le généreux élan de louvrier ni lordre honnête du bourgeois. They belonged to that bastard class formed of low people who has risen, and intelligent people who have fallen, which lies between the classes called middle and lower, and which unites some of the faults of the latter with nearly all the vices of the former, without possessing the generous impulses of the workman, or the respectability of the bourgeois. Chapter II: First Sketch of Two Equivocal Faces Said of the Thenardiers Elle y noyait ce quelle avait de cervelle. She drowned what little brain she had in them. Said about Madame Thenardier and her reading of cheap novels Il ne suffit pas dêtre méchant pour prospérer. La gargote allait mal. To be wicked does not insure prosperity — for the inn did not succeed well. Chapter III: The Lark About the Thenardier's Inn Book V - The Descent [ edit] Un bon maire, cest utile. Est-ce quon recule devant du bien quon peut faire? A good mayor is a good thing. Are you afraid of the good you can do? Chapter II: Madeleine Said by an old woman to Father Madeleine, urging him to run for mayor. Le suprême bonheur de la vie, cest la conviction quon est aimé. The supreme happiness of life is the conviction that we are loved. Chapter IV: M. Madeleine in Mourning Il ny a rien de tel pour épier les actions des gens que ceux quelles ne regardent pas. For prying into any human affairs, none are equal to those whom it does not concern. Chapter VIII: Madame Victurnien Spends Thirty Francs on Morality Cest une erreur de simaginer quon épuise le sort et quon touche le fond de quoi que ce soit. Hélas! quest-ce que toutes ces destinées ainsi poussées pêle-mêle? où vont-elles? pourquoi sont-elles ainsi? Celui qui sait cela voit toute lombre. Il est seul. Il sappelle Dieu. It is a mistake to imagine that man can exhaust his destiny, or can reach the bottom of anything whatever. Alas! what are all these destinies thus driven pell-mell? whither go they? why are they so? He who knows that, sees all the shadow. He is alone. His name is God. Chapter XI: Christus Nos Liberavit Elle eût attendri un cœur de granit, mais on nattendrit pas un cœur de bois. Chapter XIII: Solution of Some Questions of Municipal Police Of Fantine and Javert La grande douleur est un rayon divin et terrible qui transfigure les misérables. Great grief is a divine and terrible radiance which transfigures the wretched. Chapter XIII: The Solution of Some Questions connected with the Municipal Police Book VII - The Champmathieu Affair [ edit] Faire le poème de la conscience humaine, ne fût-ce quà propos dun seul homme, ne fût-ce quà propos du plus infime des hommes, ce serait fondre toutes les épopées dans une épopée supérieure et définitive. To write the poem of the human conscience, were it only of a single man, were it only of the most infamous of men, would be to swallow up all epics in a superior and final epic. Chapter III: A Tempest in a Brain On nempêche pas plus la pensée de revenir à une idée que la mer de revenir à un rivage. Pour le matelot, cela sappelle la marée; pour le coupable, cela sappelle le remords. One can no more prevent the mind from returning to an idea than the sea from returning to a shore. In the case of the sailor, this is called a tide; in the case of the guilty, it is called remorse. Les bleuets sont bleus, les roses sont roses. Violets are blue. Roses are red. Chapter VI: Sister Simplice Put to the Proof Quand on lavait jugé, Dieu était absent. When he was tried, God was not there. Chapter IX: A Place for Arriving at Convictions Vous êtes bien malins de me dire où je suis né. Moi, je lignore. Tout le monde na pas des maisons pour y venir au monde. Ce serait trop commode. You must be very sharp to tell me where I was born. I don't know myself. Everybody can't have houses to be born in; that would be too handy. Chapter X: The System of Denegations Book VIII - The Counter-Stroke [ edit] Heureusement Dieu sait où retrouver lâme. Happily, God knows where to find her soul. Chapter V: A Fitting Tomb Volume Two: COSETTE [ edit] Book I - Waterloo [ edit] Napoléon. immense somnambule de ce rêve écroulé. Napoleon. mighty somnambulist of a vanished dream. Chapter XIII: The Catastrophe Waterloo est une bataille du premier ordre gagnée par un capitaine du second. Waterloo is a battle of the first rank won by a captain of the second. Chapter XVI: Quot Libras in Duce? Voulez-vous vous rendre compte de ce que cest que la révolution, appelez-la Progrès; et voulez-vous vous rendre compte de ce que cest que le progrès, appelez-le Demain. Would you realize what Revolution is, call it Progress; and would you realize what Progress is, call it Tomorrow. Chapter XVII: Is Waterloo to be considered Good? Quimporte à linfini? What is that to the Infinite? Chapter XVIII: A Recrudescence of Divine Right Book II - The Ship Orion [ edit] Sur un signe affirmatif de lofficier, il avait rompu dun coup de marteau la chaîne rivée à la manille de son pied, puis il avait pris une corde, et il sétait élancé dans les haubans. Personne ne remarqua en cet instant-là avec quelle facilité cette chaîne fut brisée. Ce ne fut que plus tard quon sen souvint. A sign of assent being given, with one blow of a hammer he broke the chain riveted to the iron ring at his ankle, then took a rope in his hand, and flung himself into the shrouds. Nobody, at the moment, noticed with what ease the chain was broken. It was only some time afterwards that anybody remembered it. Chapter III: The Chain Of The Iron Ring Must Needs Have Undergone A Certain Preparation To Be Thus Broken By One Blow Of The Hammer Book III - Fulfillment of the Promise to the Departed [ edit] He caught glimpses of everything, but saw nothing. Il entrevoyait tout, et ne voyait rien. Chapter IX: Thenardier Maneuvering Book V - A Dark Chase Requires a Silent Hound [ edit] Cherché, oui; suivi, non. Sought for, he might be, but followed he was not. Chapter II: It is Fortunate that Vehicles Can Cross the Bridge of Austerlitz Jean Valjean avait cela de particulier quon pouvait dire quil portait deux besaces; dans lune il avait les pensées dun saint, dans lautre les redoutables talents dun forçat. Il fouillait dans lune ou dans lautre, selon loccasion. Jean Valjean had this peculiarity, that he might be said to carry two knapsacks; in one he had the thoughts of a saint, in the other the formidable talents of a convict. He helped himself from one or the other as occasion required. Chapter V: Which would be Impossible were the Streets Lighted with Gas. Certes, en cet instant-là, si Jean Valjean avait eu un royaume, il leût donné pour une corde. Truly at that instant, if Jean Valjean had had a kingdom, he would have given it for a rope. Les fortes sottises sont souvent faites, comme les grosses cordes, dune multitude de brins. Great blunders are often made, like large ropes, of a multitude of fibers. Chapter X: In Which it is explained how Javert lost the Game Book VI - Petite Picpus [ edit] Sur le premier gobelet on lisait cette inscription: vin de singe, sur le deuxième: vin de lion, sur le troisième: vin de mouton, sur le quatrième: vin de cochon. Ces quatre légendes exprimaient les quatre degrés que descend livrogne; la première ivresse, celle qui égaye; la deuxième, celle qui irrite; la troisième, celle qui hébète; la dernière enfin, celle qui abrutit. Upon the first goblet he read this inscription, monkey wine; upon the second, lion wine; upon the third, sheep wine; upon the fourth, swine wine. These four inscriptions expressed the four descending degrees of drunkenness: the first, that which enlivens; the second, that which irritates; the third, that which stupefies; finally the last, that which brutalizes. Chapter IX: A Century under a Guimpe Nous ne comprenons pas tout, mais nous ninsultons rien. We do not comprehend everything, but we insult nothing. Chapter XI: End of the Petit Picpus Motto of the convent Petit Picpus Il est nécessaire de les connaître, ne fût-ce que pour les éviter. It is necessary to understand them, were it only to avoid them. On the study of "the things which are no more" Book VII - A Parenthesis [ edit] Chapter VIII - Faith - Law [ edit] Nous blâmons lÉglise quand elle est saturée dintrigue, nous méprisons le spirituel âpre au temporel; mais nous honorons partout lhomme pensif. We blame the Church when it is saturated with intrigues; we despise the spiritual when it is harshly austere to the temporal; but we honour everywhere the thoughtful man. Nous saluons qui sagenouille. We bow to the man who kneels. Une foi; cest là pour lhomme le nécessaire. Malheur à qui ne croit rien! A faith is a necessity to man. Woe to him who believes nothing. On nest pas inoccupé parce quon est absorbé. Il y a le labeur visible et le labeur invisible. A man is not idle, because he is absorbed in thought. There is a visible labour and there is an invisible labour. Contempler, cest labourer; penser, cest agir. Les bras croisés travaillent, les mains jointes font. Le regard au ciel est une œuvre. To meditate is to labour; to think is to act. Folded arms work, closed hands perform, a gaze fixed on heaven is a toil. Thalès resta quatre ans immobile. Il fonda la philosophie. Thales remained motionless for four years. He founded philosophy. Pour nous les cénobites ne sont pas des oisifs, et les solitaires ne sont pas des fainéants. In our eyes, cenobites are not idlers, nor is the recluse a sluggard. Songer à lOmbre est une chose sérieuse. To think of the Gloom is a serious thing. Sans rien infirmer de ce que nous venons de dire, nous croyons quun perpétuel souvenir du tombeau convient aux vivants. Sur ce point le prêtre et le philosophe sont daccord. Il faut mourir. Without at all invalidating what we have just said, we believe that a perpetual remembrance of the tomb is proper for the living. On this point, the priest and the philosopher agree: We must die. Mêler à sa vie une certaine présence du sépulcre, cest la loi du sage; et cest la loi de lascète. Sous ce rapport lascète et le sage convergent. To mingle with one's life a certain presence of the sepulchre is the law of the wise man, and it is the law of the ascetic. In this relation, the ascetic and the sage tend towards a common centre. Il y a la croissance matérielle; nous la voulons. Il y a aussi la grandeur morale; nous y tenons. There is a material advancement; we desire it. There is, also, a moral grandeur; we hold fast to it. Les esprits irréfléchis et rapides disent: — À quoi bon ces figures immobiles du côté du mystère? À quoi servent-elles? quest-ce quelles font? Hélas! en présence de lobscurité qui nous environne et qui nous attend, ne sachant pas ce que la dispersion immense fera de nous, nous répondons: Il ny a pas dœuvre plus sublime peut-être que celle que font ces âmes. Et nous ajoutons: Il ny a peut-être pas de travail plus utile. Unreflecting, headlong minds say: Of what use are those motionless figures by the side of mystery? What purpose do they serve? What do they effect. Alas! in the presence of that obscurity which surrounds us and awaits us, not knowing what the vast dispersion of all things will do with us, we answer: There is, perhaps, no work more sublime than that which is accomplished by these souls; and we add, There is no labour, perhaps, more useful. Il faut bien ceux qui prient toujours pour ceux qui ne prient jamais. Pour nous, toute la question est dans la quantité de pensée qui se mêle à la prière. Leibniz priant, cela est grand; Voltaire adorant, cela est beau. Deo erexit Voltaire. Those who pray always are necessary to those who never pray. In our view, the whole question is in the amount of thought that is mingled with prayer. Leibnitz, praying, is something grand; Voltaire, worshipping, is something beautiful. Deo erexit Voltaire. Nous sommes pour la religion contre les religions. We are for religion against the religions. Nous sommes de ceux qui croient à la misère des oraisons et à la sublimité de la prière. We are of those who believe in the pitifulness of orisons, and in the sublimity of prayer. Book VIII - Cemeteries Take What is Given Them [ edit] Impossible! dit-il. Père Fauchelevent, mettez que je suis tombé de là-haut. "Impossible. he said. "Father Fauchelevent, let it go that I fell from on high. " Chapter I: Which Treat of the Manner of Entering the Convent Nêtre pas écouté, ce nest pas une raison pour se taire. Not being heard is no reason for silence. Celui qui sévade ne tousse pas et néternue pas. He who is escaping never coughs and never sneezes. Chapter IV: In Which Jean Valjean has Quite the Appearance of Having Read Austin Castillejo Ce conscrit était chez lui, occupé à chercher sa carte, et bien empêché de la trouver dans son logis puisquelle était dans la poche de Fauchelevent. That recruit was at home, hunting up his "card. and rather unlikely he was to find it, as it was in Fauchelevent's pocket. Chapter VII: In Which will be Found the Origin of the Saying: Don't Lose Your Card Personne ne garde un secret comme un enfant. No one ever keeps a secret so well as a child. Chapter VIII: Successful Examination Le rire, cest le soleil; il chasse lhiver du visage humain. Laughter is sunshine; it chases winter from the human face. Chapter IX: The Close Volume Three: MARIUS [ edit] The father of a woman that we love is never a stranger to us. Marius felt proud of this unknown man. Book I - Paris Atomised [ edit] Donnez à un être linutile et ôtez-lui le nécessaire, vous aurez le gamin. Give to a being the useless, and deprive him of the needful, and you have the gamin. Chapter III: He is Agreeable Ce vil sable que vous foulez aux pieds, quon le jette dans la fournaise, quil y fonde et quil y bouillonne, il deviendra cristal splendide, et cest grâce à lui que Galilée et Newton découvriront les astres. This lowly sand which you trample beneath your feet, if you cast it into the furnace, and let it melt and seethe, shall become resplendent crystal, and by means of such as it a Galileo and a Newton shall discover stars. Chapter XII: The Future Latent In the People About the lower classes of France Book II - The Grand Bourgeois [ edit] Ce frère. se croyait obligé de faire laumône aux pauvres quil rencontrait, mais il ne leur donnait jamais que des monnerons ou des sous démonétisés, trouvant ainsi moyen daller en enfer par le chemin du paradis. This brother. felt obliged to give alms to the poor whom he met, but never gave them anything more than coppers or worn-out sous, finding thus the means of going to Hell by the road to Paradise. Chapter VI: In Which We See La Magnon and Her Two Little Ones Toutes deux avaient des ailes, lune comme un ange, lautre comme une oie. Both had wings, one like angel, the other like a goose. Chapter VIII: Two Do Not Make a Pair About two sisters Book III - The Grandfather and the Grandson [ edit] Il nallait nulle part quà la condition dy dominer. He went nowhere save on condition of ruling there. Chapter I: An Old Salon On M. Gillenormand, Grandfather of Marius Un voleur y est admis, pourvu quil soit dieu. A thief is admitted, provided he be a lord. Les années finissent par faire autour dune tête un échevellement vénérable. Years place at last a venerable crown upon a head. Je ne sais point si cest moi qui nentends plus le français, ou si cest vous qui ne le parlez plus, mais le fait est que je ne comprends pas. I do not know whether it is that I no longer understand French, or you no longer speak it; but the fact is I do not understand you. Chapter II: One of the Red Spectres of that Time George Pontmercy's response to his being told he could no longer wear a medal that he had earned fighting in Bonaparte's army Monsieur le procureur du roi, mest-il permis de porter ma balafre? Monsieur procurer du roi, am I allowed to wear my scar? En deux jours le colonel avait été enterré, et en trois jours oublié. In two days the colonel had been buried, and in three days forgotten. Chapter IV: The End of the Brigand Il était plein de regrets, et de remords, et il songeait avec désespoir que tout ce quil avait dans lâme, il ne pouvait plus le dire maintenant quà un tombeau! He was full of regret and remorse, and he thought with despair that all he had in his soul he could say now only to a tomb. Chapter VI: What It Is to have Met a Churchwarden Marius vit en Bonaparte le spectre éblouissant qui se dressera toujours sur la frontière et qui gardera lavenir. Despote, mais dictateur; despote résultant dune République et résumant une révolution. Napoléon devint pour lui lhomme-peuple comme Jésus est lhomme-Dieu. On le voit, à la façon de tous les nouveaux venus dans une religion, sa conversion lenivrait, il se précipitait dans ladhésion et il allait trop loin. Sa nature était ainsi: une fois sur une pente, il lui était presque impossible denrayer. Le fanatisme pour lépée le gagnait et compliquait dans son esprit lenthousiasme pour lidée. Il ne sapercevait point quavec le génie, et pêle-mêle, il admirait la force, cest-à-dire quil installait dans les deux compartiments de son idolâtrie, dun côté ce qui est divin, de lautre ce qui est brutal. À plusieurs égards, il sétait mis à se tromper autrement. Il admettait tout. Il y a une manière de rencontrer lerreur en allant à la vérité. Il avait une sorte de bonne foi violente qui prenait tout en bloc. Dans la voie nouvelle où il était entré, en jugeant les torts de lancien régime comme en mesurant la gloire de Napoléon, il négligeait les circonstances atténuantes. Marius saw in Bonaparte the flashing spectre which will always rise upon the frontier, and which will guard the future. Despot, but dictator; despot resulting from a republic and summing up a revolution. Napoleon became to him the people-man as Jesus is the God-man. We see, like all new converts to a religion, his conversion intoxicated him, he plunged headlong into adhesion, and he went too far. His nature was such; once upon a descent it was almost impossible for him to hold back. Fanaticism for the sword took possession of him, and became complicated in his mind with enthusiasm for the idea. He did not perceive that along with genius, and indiscriminately, he was admiring force, that is to say that he was installing in the two compartments of his idolatry, on one side what is divine, and on the other what is brutal. In several respects he began to deceive himself in other matters. He admitted everything. There is a way of meeting error while on the road of truth. He had a sort of willful implicit faith which swallowed everything in mass. On the new path upon which he had entered, in judging the crimes of the ancient regime as well as in measuring the glory of Napoleon, he neglected the attenuating circumstances. Ne pas voir les gens, cela permet de leur supposer toutes les perfections. Not seeing people permits us to imagine in them every perfection. Chapter VII: Some Petticoat Mon père. cétait un homme humble et héroïque qui a glorieusement servi la République et la France, qui a été grand dans la plus grande histoire que les hommes aient jamais faite, qui a vécu un quart de siècle au bivouac, le jour sous la mitraille et sous les balles, la nuit dans la neige, dans la boue, sous la pluie, qui a pris deux drapeaux, qui a reçu vingt blessures, qui est mort dans loubli et dans labandon, et qui na jamais eu quun tort, cest de trop aimer deux ingrats, son pays et moi! My father. was a humble and heroic man, who served the republic and France gloriously, who was great in the greatest history that men have made, who lived a quarter of a century in the camp, by day under grape and under balls, by night in the snow, in the mud, and in the rain, who captured colours, who received twenty wounds, who died forgotten and abandoned, and who had but one fault; that was in loving too dearly two ingrates, his country and me. Chapter VIII: Marble Against Granite Book IV - The Friends of the A B C [ edit] A fire would cause a dawn, undoubtedly, but why not wait for the break of day? Il ne semblait pas savoir quil y eût sur la terre un être appelé la femme. He did not seem to know that there was on the earth a being called woman. Chapter I: A Group Which Almost Became Historic About Enjolras Un incendie peut faire une aurore sans doute, mais pourquoi ne pas attendre le lever du jour? Sa spécialité était de ne réussir à rien. Par contre, il riait de tout. Il était pauvre, mais son gousset de bonne humeur était inépuisable. Il arrivait vite à son dernier sou, jamais à son dernier éclat de rire. Quand ladversité entrait chez lui, il saluait cordialement cette ancienne connaissance, il tapait sur le ventre aux catastrophes; il était familier avec la Fatalité au point de lappeler par son petit nom. His specialty was to succeed in nothing. He was poor, but his fund of good humor was inexhaustible. He soon reached the last sou but never the last burst of laughter. When met by adversity, he saluted that acquaintance cordially, he patted catastrophes on the back; he was so familiar with fatality as to call it by its nick-name. About L'Aigle [the eagle] aka Lesgueules, Lesgle, or Bossuet Cest dommage que je sois un ignorant, car je vous citerais une foule de choses; mais je ne sais rien. It is a pity that I am ignorant, for I would quote you a crowd of things, but I don't know anything. Chapter IV: The Back Room of the Cafe Musain Grantaire speaking of himself Ce sera avaler une langue bien vite ou une pièce de cent sous bien lentement. That will be swallowing a language very rapidly or a hundred-sous piece very slowly. Chapter VI: Res Angusta Marius must learn German and English to get a job: he only has a hundred sous left and states that this money will last until he learns the languages. His friend, Courfeyrac, remarks that either he will learn fast, or spend slow. Book V - The Excellence of Misfortune [ edit] Voulant toujours être en deuil, il se vêtissait de la nuit. Desiring always to be in mourning, he clothed himself with night. Chapter I: Marius Needy Ses créanciers lavaient cherché aussi, avec moins damour que Marius, mais avec autant dacharnement, et navaient pu mettre la main sur lui. His creditors had sought for him, also, with less love than Marius but with as much zeal, and had not been able to put their hands on him. Chapter II: Marius Poor Marius is looking for Thenardier because he believes his father's life had been saved by Thenardier. Il se gardait fort dêtre inutile; avoir des livres ne lempêchait pas de lire, être botaniste ne lempêchait pas dêtre jardinier. He took good care not to be useless; having books did not prevent him from reading, being a botanist did not prevent him from being a gardener. Chapter IV: M. Mabeuf Il allait à la messe plutôt par douceur que par dévotion, et puis parce quaimant le visage des hommes, mais haïssant leur bruit, il ne les trouvait quà léglise réunis et silencieux. He went to mass rather from good-feeling than from devotion, and because he loved the faces of men, but hated their noise and he found them, at church only, gathered together and silent. Il navait jamais réussi à aimer aucune femme autant quun oignon de tulipe ou aucun homme autant quun elzevir. Finally, he had never succeeded in loving any woman as much as a tulip bulb, or any man as much as an Elzevir. Une horloge ne sarrête pas court au moment précis où lon en perd la clef. A clock does not stop at the very moment you lose the key. Il avait fini par ne plus guère regarder que le ciel, seule chose que la vérité puisse voir du fond de son puits. He had finally come hardly to look at nothing but the sky, the only thing that truth can see from the bottom of her well. Chapter V: Poverty A Good Neighbor of Misery On jugerait bien plus sûrement un homme daprès ce quil rêve que daprès ce quil pense. We should judge a man much more surely from what he dreams than from what he thinks. Book VI - The Conjunction of Two Stars [ edit] Je viens de rencontrer le chapeau neuf et lhabit neuf de Marius et Marius dedans. Il allait sans doute passer un examen. Il avait lair tout bête. I have just met Marius' new hat and coat, with Marius inside. Probably he was going to an examination. He looked stupid enough. Chapter IV: Commencement of a Great Distemper Courfeyrac about Marius Book VII - Patron Minette [ edit] Babet était maigre et savant. Il était transparent, mais impénétrable. On voyait le jour à travers les os, mais rien à travers la prunelle. Babet was thin and shrewd. He was transparent, but impenetrable. You could see the light through his bones, but nothing through his eye. Chapter III: Babet, Gueulemer, Claquesous, and Montparnasse Babet is a bandit Book VIII - The Noxious Poor [ edit] Pauvres mères! pensa-t-il. Il y a une chose plus triste que de voir ses enfants mourir; cest de les voir mal vivre. Poor mothers, he thought. There is one thing sadder than to see their children die — to see them lead evil lives. Chapter II: A Waif Ils sont rares, ceux qui sont tombés sans être dégradés; dailleurs il y a un point où les infortunés et les infâmes se mêlent et se confondent dans un seul mot, mot fatal, les misérables. Those are rare who fall without becoming degraded; there is a point, moreover, at which the unfortunate and the infamous are associated and confounded in a single word, a fatal word, Les Misérables. Chapter V: The Judas of Providence Vous parlez là comme un homme brave et comme un homme honnête. Le courage ne craint pas le crime, et lhonnêteté ne craint pas lautorité. You speak now like a brave man and an honest man. Courage does not fear crime, and honesty does not fear authority. Chapter XIV: In Which a Police Officer Gives a Lawyer Two Fisticuffs Javert speaking to Marius Bossuet! sécria Courfeyrac, aigle de Meaux! vous êtes une prodigieuse brute. Suivre un homme qui suit un homme! Bossuet. Courfeyrac exclaimed. "Eagle of Meaux! you are a prodigious fool. Follow a man who is following a man! Chapter XV: Jondrette Makes his Purchase Le bouge ainsi éclairé ressemblait plutôt à une forge quà une bouche de lenfer, mais Jondrette, à cette lueur, avait plutôt lair dun démon que dun forgeron. The room thus lighted up seemed rather a smithy than the mouth of hell; but Jondrette, in that glare, had rather the appearance of a demon than of a blacksmith. Chapter XVII: Use of Marius' Five-Franc Piece "Jondrette" is Thenardier Chapter XX - The Ambuscade [ edit] Ce vieillard, si ferme et si brave devant un tel danger, semblait être de ces natures qui sont courageuses comme elles sont bonnes, aisément et simplement. Le père dune femme quon aime nest jamais un étranger pour nous. Marius se sentit fier de cet inconnu. This old man, so firm and so brave before so great a peril, seemed to be one of those natures who are courageous as they are good, simply and naturally. The father of a woman that we love is never a stranger to us. Marius felt proud of this unknown man. Je ne mappelle pas Fabantou, je ne mappelle pas Jondrette, je me nomme Thénardier! je suis laubergiste de Montfermeil! entendez-vous bien? Thénardier! Maintenant me reconnaissez-vous? My name is not Fabantou, my name is not Jondrette, my name is Thenardier! I am the innkeeper of Montfermeil! do you understand me? Thenardier! now do you know me? Au moment où Jondrette avait dit: Je me nomme Thénardier, Marius avait tremblé de tous ses membres et sétait appuyé au mur comme sil eût senti le froid dune lame dépée à travers son cœur. When Jondrette had said: My name is Thenardier, Marius had trembled in every limb, and supported himself against the wall as if he had felt the chill of a sword-blade through his heart. Pardon, monsieur, répondit M. Leblanc avec un accent de politesse qui avait en un pareil moment quelque chose détrange et de puissant, je vois que vous êtes un bandit. "Pardon me, monsieur. answered M. Leblanc, with a tone of politeness which, at such a moment, had a peculiarly strange and powerful effect, I see that you are a bandit. " M. Leblanc" is Valjean Le prisonnier nétait plus attaché au lit que par une jambe. Avant que les sept hommes eussent eu le temps de se reconnaître et de sélancer, lui sétait penché sous la cheminée, avait étendu la main vers le réchaud, puis sétait redressé, et maintenant Thénardier, la Thénardier et les bandits, refoulés par le saisissement au fond du bouge, le regardaient avec stupeur élevant au-dessus de sa tête le ciseau rouge doù tombait une lueur sinistre, presque libre et dans une attitude formidable. The prisoner was no longer fastened to the bed save by one leg. Before the seven men had had time to recover themselves and spring upon him, he had bent over to the fireplace, reached his hand towards the furnace, then rose up, and now Thenardier, the Thenardiess, and the bandits, thrown by the shock into the back part of the room, beheld him with stupefaction, holding above his head the glowing chisel, from which fell an ominous light, almost free and in a formidable attitude. Vous êtes des malheureux, mais ma vie ne vaut pas la peine dêtre tant défendue. Quant à vous imaginer que vous me feriez parler, que vous me feriez écrire ce que je ne veux pas écrire, que vous me feriez dire ce que je ne veux pas dire… Il releva la manche de son bras gauche et ajouta: — Tenez. En même temps il tendit son bras et posa sur la chair nue le ciseau ardent quil tenait dans sa main droite par le manche de bois. On entendit le frémissement de la chair brûlée, lodeur propre aux chambres de torture se répandit dans le taudis. Marius chancela éperdu dhorreur, les brigands eux-mêmes eurent un frisson, le visage de létrange vieillard se contracta à peine, et, tandis que le fer rouge senfonçait dans la plaie fumante, impassible et presque auguste, il attachait sur Thénardier son beau regard sans haine où la souffrance sévanouissait dans une majesté sereine. "You are pitiable, but my life is not worth the trouble of so long a defence. As to your imagining that you could make me speak, that you could make me write what I do not wish to write, that you could make me say what I do not wish to say —" He pulled up the sleeve of his left arm, and added: Here. At the same time he extended his arm, and laid upon the naked flesh the glowing chisel, which he held in his right hand, by the wooden handle. They heard the hissing of the burning flesh; the odour peculiar to chambers of torture spread through the den. Marius staggered, lost in horror; the brigands themselves felt a shudder; the face of the wonderful old man hardly contracted, and while the red iron was sinking into the smoking, impassable, and almost august wound, he turned upon Thenardier his fine face, in which there was no hatred, and in which suffering was swallowed up in a serene majesty. Volume Four: ST. DENIS [ edit] Full title: Saint Denis and Idyl of the Rue Plumet Book I - A Few Pages of History [ edit] La logique ignore là peu près; absolument comme le soleil ignore la chandelle. Logic ignores the Almost, just as the sun ignores the candle. Chapter II: Badly Sewed Prospérité sociale, cela veut dire lhomme heureux, le citoyen libre, la nation grande. Social prosperity means man happy, the citizen free, the nation great. Chapter IV: Cracks beneath the Foundation Book II - Eponine [ edit] Rien nest plus dangereux que le travail discontinué; cest une habitude qui sen va. Habitude facile à quitter, difficile à reprendre. Nothing is more dangerous than discontinued labor; it is habit lost. A habit easy to abandon, difficult to resume. Chapter I: The Field of the Lark La pensée est le labeur de lintelligence, la rêverie en est la volupté. Thought is the labor of the intellect, reverie is its pleasure. Heureux, même dans les angoisses, celui à qui Dieu a donné une âme digne de lamour et du malheur! Qui na pas vu les choses de ce monde et le cœur des hommes à cette double lumière na rien vu de vrai et ne sait rien. Happy, even in anguish, is he to whom God has given a soul worthy of love and of grief! He who has not seen the things of this world, and the hearts of men by this double light, has seen nothing, and know nothing of the truth. Non, répondit-elle, je suis le diable, mais ça mest égal. No. I am the devil, but that is all the same to me. Chapter III: An Apparition to Father Mabeuf Eponine responding to F. Mabeuf, who had just said to her "you are an angel, since you care for flowers. " Book III - The House in the Rue Plumet [ edit] En 93, un chaudronnier avait acheté la maison pour la démolir, mais nayant pu en payer le prix, la nation le mit en faillite. De sorte que ce fut la maison qui démolit le chaudronnier. In '93, a coppersmith bought the house to pull it down, but not being able to pay the price for it, the nation sent him into bankruptcy. So that it was the house that pulled down the coppersmith. Chapter I: The Secret House Où finit le télescope, le microscope commence. Lequel des deux a la vue la plus grande? Where the telescope ends, the microscope begins. Which of the two has the grander view? Chapter III: Requiescant Il se disait quil navait vraiment pas assez souffert pour mériter un si radieux bonheur, et il remerciait Dieu, dans les profondeurs de son âme, davoir permis quil fût ainsi aimé, lui misérable, par cet être innocent. He said to himself that he really had not suffered enough to deserve such radiant happiness, and he thanked God, in the depths of his soul, for having permitted that he, a miserable man, should be so loved by this innocent being. Chapter IV: Change of Grating Valjean about Cosette Les femmes jouent avec leur beauté comme les enfants avec leur couteau. Elles sy blessent. Women play with their beauty as children do with their knives. They wound themselves with it. Chapter VI: The Battle Commences Le premier symptôme de lamour vrai chez un jeune homme, cest la timidité, chez une jeune fille, cest la hardiesse. The first symptom of true love in a young man is timidity; in a young girl it is boldness. Chapter VI: The Battle Commences. Trans. Isabel Hapgood. Dante eût cru voir les sept cercles de lenfer en marche. Dante would have thought he saw the seven circles of Hell on their passage. Chapter VIII: The Chain Valjean and Cosette watch a procession of seven wagons of men who are condemned to the galleys pass by Book IV - Aid from Below May be Aid from Above [ edit] Un soir le petit Gavroche navait point mangé; il se souvint quil navait pas non plus dîné la veille; cela devenait fatigant. Il prit la résolution dessayer de souper. One evening little Gavroche had had no dinner; he remembered that he had had no dinner also the day before; this was becoming tiresome. He resolved that he would try for some supper. Chapter II: Mother Plutarch is not Embarrassed on the Explanation of a Phenomenon Book V - An End Unlike the Beginning [ edit] You who suffer because you love, love still more. To die of love is to live by it. Love! A dark and starry transfiguration is mingled with that torment. There is ecstacy in the agony. Chapter IV: A Heart Beneath A Stone Book VI - Little Gavroche [ edit] Le plus terrible des motifs et la plus indiscutable des réponses: Parce que. The most terrible of motives and the most unanswerable of responses: Because. Chapter I: A Malevolent Trick of the Wind. Le barbier, dans sa boutique chauffée dun bon poêle, rasait une pratique et jetait de temps en temps un regard de côté à cet ennemi, à ce gamin gelé et effronté qui avait les deux mains dans ses poches, mais lesprit évidemment hors du fourreau. The barber in his shop, warmed by a good stove, was shaving a customer and casting from time to time a look towards this enemy, this frozen and brazen gamin, who had both hands in his pockets, but his wits evidently out of their sheath. Chapter II: In Which Little Gavroche Takes Advantage of Napoleon the Great. Le bureau est fermé, dit Gavroche, je ne reçois plus de plaintes. "The bureau is closed. said Gavroche. "I receive no more complaints. " Said by Gavroche to someone who complained when Gavroche splashed his polished boots with mud. À un certain degré de détresse, le pauvre, dans sa stupeur, ne gémit plus du mal et ne remercie plus du bien. At a certain depth of distress, the poor, in their stupor, groan no longer over evil, and are no longer thankful for good. Ah çà! sécria Gavroche, quest-ce que cela signifie? Il repleut! Bon Dieu, si cela continue, je me désabonne. "Ah. cried Gavroche, what does this mean? It rains again! Good God, if this continues, I withdraw my subscription. " Gavroche has just given his coat to a girl when the storm starts to worsen. Book VII - Argot [ edit] Les esprits réfléchis usent peu de cette locution: les heureux et les malheureux. Dans ce monde, vestibule dun autre évidemment, il ny a pas dheureux. La vraie division humaine est celle-ci: les lumineux et les ténébreux. Diminuer le nombre des ténébreux, augmenter le nombre des lumineux, voilà le but. Cest pourquoi nous crions: enseignement! science! Thoughtful persons seldom speak of happiness or unhappiness. In this world, which is so plainly the antechamber of another, there are no happy men. The true division of humanity is between those who live in light and those who live in darkness. Our aim must be to diminish the number of the latter and increase the number of the former. That is why we demand education and knowledge. Chapter I: Origin. Norman Denny Ce quon peut faire dans un sépulcre, ils agonisaient, et ce quon peut faire dans un enfer, ils chantaient. Car où il ny a plus lespérance, le chant reste. What can be done in a sepulcher, they agonised, and what can be done in a hell, they sang. For where there is no more hope, song remains. Chapter II: Roots Vous aurez beau faire, vous nanéantirez pas cet éternel reste du cœur de lhomme, lamour. The endeavor is vain, you cannot annihilate that eternal relic of the human heart, love. Plaignons, à légal des estomacs, les esprits qui ne mangent pas. Sil y a quelque chose de plus poignant quun corps agonisant faute de pain, cest une âme qui meurt de la faim de la lumière. Let us lament as over stomachs, over minds which do not eat. If there is anything more poignant than a body agonising for want of bread, it is a soul which is dying of hunger for light. Chapter IV The Two Duties: To Watch and to Hope Il ny a quune manière de refuser Demain, cest de mourir. There is but one way of refusing To-morrow, that is to die. Chapter IV: The Two Duties: To Watch and to Hope Faut-il continuer de lever les yeux vers le ciel? le point lumineux qu'on y distingue est-il de ceux qui s'éteignent? L'idéal est effrayant à voir, ainsi perdu dans les profondeurs, petit, isolé, imperceptible, brillant, mais entouré de toutes ces grandes menaces noires monstrueusement amoncelées autour de lui; pourtant pas plus en danger qu'une étoile dans les gueules des nuages. Should we continue to look upwards? Is the light we can see in the sky one of those which will presently be extinguished? The ideal is terrifying to behold, lost as it is in the depths, small, isolated, a pin-point, brilliant but threatened on all sides by the dark forces that surround it: nevertheless, no more in danger than a star in the jaws of the clouds. Book VIII - Enchantments and Desolations [ edit] Le compliment, c'est quelque chose comme le baiser à travers le voile. A compliment is something like a kiss through a veil. Chapter I: Marius, while seeking a Girl in a Bonnet encounters a Man in a Cap Quand on est à la fin de la vie, mourir, cela veut dire partir; quand on est au commencement, partir, cela veut dire mourir. When we are at the end of life, to die means to go away; when we are at the beginning, to go away means to die. Chapter VI: Marius Becomes so Real as to Give Cosette his Address Book IX - Where are They Going. edit] Il y a des moments où lon a une fournaise sous le crâne. Marius était dans un de ces moments-là. There are moments when a man has a furnace in his brain. Marius was in one of those moments. Chapter II: Marius Book X - June 5th, 1832 [ edit] Le vent des révolutions nest pas maniable. The wind of revolutions is not tractable. Chapter IV: The Ebullitions of Former Times Book XI - The Atom Fraternises with the Hurricane [ edit] Ses frères le soir, son père le matin; voilà quelle avait été sa nuit. His brothers in the evening, his father in the morning; such had been his night. Chapter I: Some Insight into the Origin of Gavroche's Poetry — Influence of an Academician upon that Poetry. In the evening, Gavroche had found food and shelter for two boys without knowing that they were his brothers. Early the next morning he helped in his father's escape from jail and was not even recognized by him. La rue est libre, les pavés sont à tout le monde. The road is free; the streets belong to everybody. Chapter VI: Recruits Book XII - Corinth [ edit] Ce que vous autres appelez le progrès marche par deux moteurs, les hommes et les événements. Mais, chose triste, de temps en temps, lexceptionnel est nécessaire. Pour les événements comme pour les hommes, la troupe ordinaire ne suffit pas; il faut parmi les hommes des génies, et parmi les événements des révolutions. Les grands accidents sont la loi; lordre des choses ne peut sen passer; et, à voir les apparitions de comètes, on serait tenté de croire que le ciel lui-même a besoin dacteurs en représentation. Au moment où lon sy attend le moins, Dieu placarde un météore sur la muraille du firmament. Quelque étoile bizarre survient, soulignée par une queue énorme. Et cela fait mourir César. Brutus lui donne un coup de couteau, et Dieu un coup de comète. What you fellows call progress moves by two springs, men and events. But sad to say, from time to time the exceptional is necessary. For events as well as for men, the stock company is not enough; geniuses are needed among men, and revolutions among events. Great accidents are the law; the order of things cannot get along without them; and, to see the apparitions of comets, one would be tempted to believe that Heaven itself is in need of star actors. At the moment you least expect it, God placards a meteor on the wall of the firmament. Some strange star comes along, underlined by an enormous tail. And that makes Caesar die. Brutus strikes him with a knife, and God with a comet. Chapter II: Preliminary Gaiety Les grands périls ont cela de beau quils mettent en lumière la fraternité des inconnus. Great perils have this beauty, that they bring to light the fraternity of strangers. Chapter IV: Attempt at Consolation upon the Widow Hucheloup Cest la souris qui a pris le chat. The mouse has caught the cat. Chapter VII: The Man Recruited in the Rue Des Billettes Said by Gavroche to Javert after revealing him to be a police spy Sa vie avait été ténèbres; sa fin fut nuit. His life had been darkness, his end was night. Chapter VIII: Several Interrogation Points Concerning One Le Cabuc, Who Perhaps was Not Le Cabuc Book XIII - Marius Enters the Shadow [ edit] La guerre civile? quest-ce à dire? Est-ce quil y a une guerre étrangère? Est-ce que toute guerre entre hommes nest pas la guerre entre frères? La guerre ne se qualifie que par son but. Il ny a ni guerre étrangère, ni guerre civile; il ny a que la guerre injuste et la guerre juste. Civil war? What does this mean? Is there any foreign war? Is not every war between men, war between brothers? War is modified only by its aim. There is neither foreign war, nor civil war; there is only unjust war and just war. Chapter III: The Extreme Limit Book XIV - The Grandeurs of Despair [ edit] Marius avait trop peu vécu encore pour savoir que rien nest plus imminent que limpossible, et que ce quil faut toujours prévoir, cest limprévu. Marius had lived too little as yet to know that nothing is more imminent than the impossible, and that what we must always forsee is the unforseen. Chapter V: End of Jean Prouvaire's Rhyme Tes amis viennent de te fusiller. Your friends have just shot you. Said by Enjolras to Javert after Prouvaire's execution. Book XV - The Rue De L'Homme Armé [ edit] À de certaines heures, tout semble impossible; à dautres heures, tout paraît aisé; Jean Valjean était dans une de ces bonnes heures. At certain hours, everything seems impossible; at other hours, everything appears easy; Jean Valjean was in one of those happy hours. Chapter I: Blotter, Blabber Lâme ne se rend pas au désespoir sans avoir épuisé toutes les illusions. The soul does not give itself up to despair until it has exhausted all illusions. On prend la charrette pour la République et on laisse lAuvergnat à la monarchie. We take the cart for the republic and we leave the Auvergnat to the monarchy. Chapter IV: The Excess of Gavroche's Zeal Gavroche, leaving a note about a cart he has stolen for the barricades Vous parlez gentiment. Vrai, on ne vous donnerait pas votre âge. Vous devriez vendre tous vos cheveux cent francs la pièce. Cela vous ferait cinq cents francs. You talk genteelly. Really, nobody would guess your age. You ought to sell all your hairs at a hundred francs apiece. That would make you five hundred francs. Gavroche talking to the National Guard Se sauver par ce qui vous a perdu, cest là le chef-dœuvre des hommes forts. To save yourself by means of that which has ruined you is the masterpiece of great men. Volume Five: JEAN VALJEAN [ edit] Book I - The War Between Four Walls [ edit] Jamais on ne me voit avec des habits chamarrés dor et de pierreries; je laisse ce faux éclat aux âmes mal organisées. Never am I seen with coats bedizened with gold and gems; I leave this false splendour to badly organized minds. Chapter XVI: How Brother Becomes Father Les peuples comme les astres ont le droit déclipse. Et tout est bien, pourvu que la lumière revienne et que léclipse ne dégénère pas en nuit. Aube et résurrection sont synonymes. La réapparition de la lumière est identique à la persistance du moi. A people, like a star, has the right of eclipse. And all is well, provided the light return and the eclipse does not degenerate into night. Dawn and resurrection are synonyms. The reappearance of the light is identical with the persistence of the Me. Chapter XX: The Dead are Right and the Living are not Wrong Charles E. Wilbour translation (1862) Peoples, like planets, possess the right to an eclipse. And all is well, provided that the light returns and that the eclipse does not degenerate into night. Dawn and resurrection are synonymous. The reappearance of the light is identical with the persistence of the I. Isabel F. Hapgood translation (1887) Nations, like stars, are entitled to eclipse. All is well, provided the light returns and the eclipse does not become endless night. The reappearance of the light is the same as the survival of the soul. Norman Denny translation (1976) A people, like a star, has the right of eclipse. And all is well, provided the light returns and the eclipse does not degenerate into night. The reappearance of the light is identical with the persistence of the self. Lee Fahnestock and Norman MacAfee translation, based upon that of Wilbour. (1987) Hélas! être monté, cela nempêche pas de tomber. On voit ceci dans lhistoire plus souvent quon ne voudrait. Alas! to have risen does not prevent falling. We see this in history oftener than we would wish. Il y a des gens qui observent les règles de lhonneur comme on observe les étoiles, de très loin. There are people who observe the rules of honour as we observe the stars, from afar off. Chapter XXI: The Heroes Les assaillants avaient le nombre; les insurgés avaient la position. Ils étaient au haut dune muraille, et ils foudroyaient à bout portant les soldats trébuchant dans les morts et les blessés et empêtrés dans lescarpement. Cette barricade, construite comme elle létait et admirablement contrebutée, était vraiment une de ces situations où une poignée dhommes tient en échec une légion. The assailants had the numbers; the insurgents the position. They were on the top of a wall, and they shot down the soldiers at the muzzles of their muskets, as they stumbled over the dead and wounded and became entangled in the escarpment. This barricade, built as it was, and admirably supported, was really one of those positions in which a handful of men hold a legion in check. Les assauts se succédèrent. Lhorreur alla grandissant. There was assault after assault. The horror continued to increase. Pour se faire une idée de cette lutte, il faudrait se figurer le feu mis à un tas de courages terribles, et quon regarde lincendie. Ce nétait pas un combat, cétait le dedans dune fournaise; les bouches y respiraient de la flamme; les visages y étaient extraordinaires, la forme humaine y semblait impossible, les combattants y flamboyaient, et cétait formidable de voir aller et venir dans cette fumée rouge ces salamandres de la mêlée. Les scènes successives et simultanées de cette tuerie grandiose, nous renonçons à les peindre. To form an idea of this struggle, imagine fire applied to a mass of terrible valour, and that you are witnessing the conflagration. It was not a combat, it was the interior of a furnace; there mouths breathed flame; there faces were wonderful. There the human form seemed impossible, the combatants flashed flames, and it was terrible to see going and coming in that lurid smoke these salamanders of the fray. The successive and simultaneous scenes of this grand slaughter, we decline to paint. Que lun combatte pour son drapeau, et que lautre combatte pour son idéal, et quils simaginent tous les deux combattre pour la patrie; la lutte sera colossale. Let the one fight for his flag, and the other for his ideal, and let them both imagine that they are fighting for the country; the strife will be colossal... On veut mourir pourvu quon tue. They are willing to die, provided they kill. Chapter XXII: Foot to Foot Book II - The Intestine of the Leviatha [ edit] La philosophie est le microscope de la pensée. Philosophy is the microscope of thought. Chapter II: Ancient History of the Sewer Book III - Mire, But Soul [ edit] Jean Valjean had fallen from one circle of Hell to another. Jean Valjean était tombé dun cercle de lenfer dans lautre. Chapter I: The Cloaca and its Surprises La pupille se dilate dans la nuit et finit par y trouver du jour, de même que lâme se dilate dans le malheur et finit par y trouver Dieu. The pupil dilates in the night, and at last finds day in it, even as the soul dilates in misfortune, and at last finds God in it. Quand un homme habillé par lÉtat poursuit un homme en guenilles, cest afin den faire aussi un homme habillé par lÉtat. Seulement la couleur est toute la question. Être habillé de bleu, cest glorieux; être habillé de rouge, cest désagréable. When a man clad by the state pursues a man in rags, it is in order to make of him also a man clad by the state. Only the colour is the whole question. To be clad in blue is glorious; to be clad in red is disagreeable. Chapter III: The Man Spun Book IX - Supreme Shadow, Supreme Dawn [ edit] Ch. IV - A Bottle Of Ink Which Serves Only To Whiten [ edit] Vous êtes un infâme! vous êtes un menteur, un calomniateur, un scélérat. Vous veniez accuser cet homme, vous lavez justifié; vous vouliez le perdre, vous navez réussi quà le glorifier. Et cest vous qui êtes un voleur! Et cest vous qui êtes un assassin! Je vous ai vu, Thénardier Jondrette, dans ce bouge du boulevard de lHôpital. Jen sais assez sur vous pour vous envoyer au bagne, et plus loin même, si je voulais. You are a wretch! you are a liar, a slanderer, a scoundrel. You came to accuse this man, you have justified him; you wanted to destroy him, you have succeeded only in glorifying him. And it is you who are a robber! and it is you who are an assassin! I saw you Thenardier, Jondrette, in that den on the Boulevard de l'Hopital. I know enough about you to send you to the galleys, and further even, if I wished. Marius to Thenardier Ch. V - Night Behind Which Is Dawn [ edit] Cosette, entends-tu? il en est là! il me demande pardon. Et sais-tu ce quil ma fait, Cosette? Il ma sauvé la vie. Il a fait plus. Il ta donnée à moi. Et après mavoir sauvé et après tavoir donnée à moi, Cosette, qua-t-il fait de lui-même? il sest sacrifié. Voilà lhomme. Et, à moi lingrat, à moi loublieux, à moi limpitoyable, à moi le coupable, il me dit: Merci! Cosette, toute ma vie passée aux pieds de cet homme, ce sera trop peu. Cette barricade, cet égout, cette fournaise, ce cloaque, il a tout traversé pour moi, pour toi, Cosette! Il ma emporté à travers toutes les morts quil écartait de moi et quil acceptait pour lui. Tous les courages, toutes les vertus, tous les héroïsmes, toutes les saintetés, il les a! Cosette, cet homme-là, cest lange! Chut! chut! dit tout bas Jean Valjean. Pourquoi dire tout cela? Mais vous! sécria Marius avec une colère où il y avait de la vénération, pourquoi ne lavez-vous pas dit? Cest votre faute aussi. Vous sauvez la vie aux gens, et vous le leur cachez! Vous faites plus, sous prétexte de vous démasquer, vous vous calomniez. Cest affreux. La vérité, cest toute la vérité; et vous ne lavez pas dite. Vous étiez monsieur Madeleine, pourquoi ne pas lavoir dit? Vous aviez sauvé Javert, pourquoi ne pas lavoir dit? Je vous devais la vie, pourquoi ne pas lavoir dit? Cosette, do you hear? that is the way with him! he begs my pardon, and do you know what he has done for me, Cosette? he has saved my life. He has done more. He has given you to me. And, after having saved me, and after having given you to me, Cosette, what did he do with himself? he sacrificed himself. There is the man. And, to me the ungrateful, to me the forgetful, to me the pitiless, to me the guilty, he says: Thanks! Cosette, my whole life passed at the feet of this man would be too little. That barricade, that sewer, that furnace, that cloaca, he went through everything for me, for you, Cosette! He bore me through death in every form which he put aside from me, and which he accepted for himself. All courage, all virtue, all heroism, all sanctity, he has it all, Cosette, that man is an angel! Hush! hush. said Jean Valjean in a whisper. "Why tell all that. Why have not you told it? It is your fault, too. You save people's lives, and you hide it from them! You do more, under pretence of unmasking yourself, you calumniate, yourself. It is frightful. The truth is the whole truth; and you did not tell it. You were Monsieur Madeleine, why not have said so? You had saved Javert, why not have said so? I owe my life to you! why not have said so? Oh oui, défends-moi de mourir. Qui sait? jobéirai peut-être. Jétais en train de mourir quand vous êtes arrivés. Cela ma arrêté, il ma semblé que je renaissais. Oh, yes, forbid me to die. Who knows? I shall obey perhaps. I was just dying when you came. That stopped me, it seemed to me that I was born again. La mort est un bon arrangement. Dieu sait mieux que nous ce quil nous faut. Que vous soyez heureux, que monsieur Pontmercy ait Cosette, que la jeunesse épouse le matin, quil y ait autour de vous, mes enfants, des lilas et des rossignols, que votre vie soit une belle pelouse avec du soleil, que tous les enchantements du ciel vous remplissent lâme, et maintenant, moi qui ne suis bon à rien, que je meure, il est sûr que tout cela est bien. Voyez-vous, soyons raisonnables, il ny a plus rien de possible maintenant, je sens tout à fait que cest fini. Death is a good arrangement. God knows better than we do what we need. That you are happy, that Monsieur Pontmercy has Cosette, that youth espouses morning, that there are about you, my children, lilacs and nightingales, that your life is a beautiful lawn in the sunshine, that all the enchantments of heaven fill your souls, and now, that I who am good for nothing, that I die; surely all this is well. Look you, be reasonable, there is nothing else possible now, I am sure that it is all over. Ce nest rien de mourir; cest affreux de ne pas vivre. It is nothing to die; it is horrible not to live. Jécrivais tout à lheure à Cosette. Elle trouvera ma lettre. Cest à elle que je lègue les deux chandeliers qui sont sur la cheminée. Ils sont en argent; mais pour moi ils sont en or, ils sont en diamant; ils changent les chandelles quon y met, en cierges. Je ne sais pas si celui qui me les a donnés est content de moi làhaut. Jai fait ce que jai pu. I was writing just now to Cosette. She will find my letter. To her I bequeath the two candlesticks which are on the mantel. They are silver; but to me they are gold, they are diamond; they change the candles which are put into them, into consecrated tapers. I do not know whether he who gave them to me is satisfied with me in heaven. I have done what I could. Les forêts où lon a passé avec son enfant, les arbres où lon sest promené, les couvents où lon sest caché, les jeux, les bons rires de lenfance, cest de lombre. Je métais imaginé que tout cela mappartenait. Voilà où était ma bêtise. Ces Thénardier ont été méchants. Il faut leur pardonner. Cosette, voici le moment venu de te dire le nom de ta mère. Elle sappelait Fantine. Retiens ce nom-là: — Fantine. Mets-toi à genoux toutes les fois que tu le prononceras. Elle a bien souffert. Elle ta bien aimée. Elle a eu en malheur tout ce que tu as en bonheur. Ce sont les partages de Dieu. Il est là-haut, il nous voit tous, et il sait ce quil fait au milieu de ses grandes étoiles. Je vais donc men aller, mes enfants. Aimez-vous bien toujours. Il ny a guère autre chose que cela dans le monde: saimer. The forests through which we have passed with our child, the trees under which we have walked, the convents in which we have hidden, the games, the free laughter of childhood, all is in shadow. I imagined that all that belonged to me. There was my folly. Those Thenardiers were wicked. We must forgive them. Cosette, the time has come to tell of your mother. Her name was Fantine. Remember that name: Fantine. Fall on your knees whenever you pronounce it. She suffered much. And loved you much. Her measure of unhappiness was as full as yours of happiness. Such are the distributions of God. He is on high, he sees us all, and he knows what he does in the midst of his great stars. So I am going away, my children. Love each other dearly always. There is scarcely anything else in the world but that: to love one another. La nuit était sans étoiles et profondément obscure. Sans doute, dans lombre, quelque ange immense était debout, les ailes déployées, attendant lâme. The night was starless and very dark. Without doubt, in the gloom some mighty angel was standing, with outstretched wings, awaiting the soul. Chapter VI - Grass Hides And Rain Blots Out [ edit] Cette pierre est toute nue. On na songé en la taillant quau nécessaire de la tombe, et lon na pris dautre soin que de faire cette pierre assez longue et assez étroite pour couvrir un homme. On ny lit aucun nom. This stone is entirely blank. The only thought in cutting it was of the essentials of the grave, and there was no other care than to make this stone long enough and narrow enough to cover a man. No name can be read there. Il dort. Quoique le sort fût pour lui bien étrange, Il vivait. Il mourut quand il neut plus son ange, La chose simplement delle-même arriva, Comme la nuit se fait lorsque le jour sen va. He sleeps. Although his fate was very strange, He lived. He died when he had no longer his angel. The thing came to pass simply, Of itself, as the night comes when day is gone. These final lines are a statement once pencilled on the stone of Valjean's grave. The Isabel F. Hapgood translation is here used; the Wilbour edition leaves the verses untranslated. He sleeps; although so much he was denied, He when his dear love left him, died. It happened of itself, in the calm way That in the evening night-time follows day. Norman Denny translation He is asleep. Though his mettle was sorely tried, He lived, and when he lost his angel, died. It happened calmly, on its own, The way night comes when day is done. Lee Fahnestock and Norman MacAfee translation, based on the Charles E. Wilbour translation External links [ edit] Les Misérables at French Wikisource Free eBook of Les Misérables at Project Gutenberg — English translation by Isabel F. Hapgood Hugo Central Les Miserables at Online Literature Cameron Mackintosh: Les Misérables A Resourceful Les Mis Fan Site.

I was waiting for Chairman Kaga to sing - Can you hear the people. IRON CHEEFFFF. Am I the only one who's wondered if Les Mis and Phantom take place in the same universe? 🤔 I mean if you think about it, it actually makes a lot of sense, it could work, maybe Marius is Christine's grandfather, and after witnessing the death and holy resurrection of Valjean going to heaven, that's where the idea of the angel comes from, he then passes it on to his son (Christine's Father) and he then changes the belief to match his own customs, the belief that there are angels, in this case the Angel of Music will visit her when he dies.

I walked into the theater to see Les Miserables late this afternoon with no expectations.
Maybe a thought that this was a modern 'woke' version of Hugo's classic. It isn't. It's a gritty, fast paced, police procedural set in the banlieues of Paris. Unflinching about what the police find there, and how the police act and react to a Paris that tourists never see.
Sobering and revolutionary.
A stunning find and a great movie. Je veux voir ce film, c'est sûr. About Les Misérables Hugo wrote several novels, but the only three that have continued to be much read today are Les Misérables; Notre Dame de Paris; and Les Travailleurs de la Mer, the story of a young fisherman who fights the sea to salvage a wreck and win the girl he loves, but who gives her up when he learns she prefers another man. Les Travailleurs de la Mer is read chiefly for its magnificent evocations of the sea, but Notre Dame de Paris is known the world over. Set in medieval Paris, it is one of those Romantic historical novels inspired by Sir Walter Scott, and on more than one score it bears comparison with Ivanhoe. Both are popular classics; both have suspenseful and melodramatic plots; both contain character sketches which, despite their lack of depth, have remained vivid and memorable for a century. Just as every English school child knows Rowena, Rebecca, Ivanhoe, and Sir Brian de Bois Guilbert, so every French reader knows the poor but beautiful gypsy Esmeralda with her little goat; the alchemist-priest Claude Frollo, who desires her; and Quasimodo, the "hunchback of Notre Dame. who loves her and tries to save her. The chief fascination of Notre Dame de Paris, however, lies in its powerful and living recreation of the Middle Ages. Hugo consulted many historical archives and accounts in his research for the novel, but the scenes of Paris life seem the work not of a scholar but of an eyewitness. Les Misérables has many of the same qualities as Notre Dame de Paris, but it is a far more complex creation. As early as 1829, Hugo began to gather notes for a book that would tell the story of "a saint, a man, a woman, and a child. but over the years it became enriched by a throng of new characters and multiple accretions from Hugo's philosophy and experience. When it was finally published in 1862, it had attained, both in quality and quantity, an epic sweep. In both thought and feeling, Les Misérables is far more profound than Notre Dame de Paris. In writing it, Hugo came to grips with the social problems of his own day, which demanded much reflection upon the nature of society and, therefore, upon the nature of man. In 1830, the average life expectancy of a French worker's child was two years. Hugo, unlike many of his contemporaries, did not consider this statistic as "inevitable" or "the fault of the parents. but evaluated it in human terms and cried out that suffering of such magnitude was intolerable and that such conditions must be changed through social action. What social action he considered desirable he shows us indirectly by portraying children who need to be fed, men who need jobs, and women who need protection; but also directly through M. Madeleine, who serves as an example of the ideal employer, and through the students of the 1832 revolt, who demand legislation that will make possible equal education, equal opportunity, and genuine brotherhood among men. But to support this social action Hugo must be convinced, and convince others, that the poor, the outcast — the misérables — are worth saving: that even the most impudent, scruffy street gamin has something to contribute to society, that even the most hardened convict is capable of great good. And the most appealing and enduring quality of Les Misérables is the fact that it is permeated by this unquenchable belief in the spiritual possibilities of man. Like that of Notre Dame de Paris, the plot of Les Misérables is fundamentally melodramatic; its events are often improbable, and it moves in the realm of the socially and psychologically abnormal. But this melodrama is deliberate; Hugo has chosen an extreme example, the conversion of a convict into a saint, to illustrate a general truth: Man is perfectible. Moreover, within this general framework, the sequence and interrelation of the events are credible, and the structure is very carefully plotted. Like a good play, it opens on a situation of high suspense, rises to two increasingly tense climaxes at the ends of Part Three and Part Four, and arrives at a satisfactory and logical denouement in Part Five. Its two themes, the struggle between good and evil in the soul of one man and society's struggle toward a greater good, are skillfully interwoven, and Hugo effectively immortalizes this struggle in our imaginations by a number of striking visual tableaux. Psychological subtleties are not Hugo's forte. He does not, probably cannot, delve into the baffling paradoxes, the complexities, the idiosyncrasies of the soul. His gift is for the fundamental truth. Valjean is a simple character dominated by one powerful emotion: caritas (charity — active, outgoing love for others. He helps a prostitute, protects his workers, gives constantly to the poor. His very raison d'être is literally love since his existence revolves around Cosette; when she leaves him, he dies. Javert is the watchdog of the social order. Marius is the incarnation of the romantic lover. Enjolras is the incorruptible revolutionary. All of Hugo's characters can be briefly described — in other words, labeled. But this simplicity has its own value. It allows the writer to analyze in depth a particular emotion, like a scientist studying an isolated germ. No one has captured better than Victor Hugo the arduous path of virtue or the poignancy of love. Valjean's deathbed scene has brought tears to the most sophisticated reader. Of course, Hugo's truth is the poet's not the psychologist's. He takes great liberties with reality. His characters do not always evolve in convincing steps. Valjean's conversion is almost miraculous, Thénardier's degradation unmotivated. They are larger than life. Marius loves passionately, Valjean is a modern saint, Thénardier a Satanic villain. But these are superficial criticisms. Hugo only distorts details: He scrupulously respects the basic integrity of the character. Les Misérables is the archetypal representation of eternal human emotions such as love, hate, and abnegation. Style is the reflection of the man and it is therefore not surprising that a writer of Hugo's enormous vitality should abandon classical restraint. Hugo revels in language. Ideas are stated and restated. Places are exhaustively described. Characters do not speak; they harangue, lament, eulogize. No doubt, Hugo's exuberance is excessive. His antitheses occasionally grow tiresome. His discourse can degenerate into verbiage. His pronouncements sometimes sound hollow, or worse, false. But the defect is minor, for Hugo suffers only from an overabundance of riches. His style is a mighty organ. He is at home in every idiom from the argot of the underworld to the intellectual tone of student discussion. He captures the slangy sarcasm of the gamin, the eloquence of the idealist, the lyricism of the lover. His expository prose, fed by an insatiable curiosity, deals with a range of subjects rarely encountered in a novel. Hugo writes with an absolute command of the mot juste, about history, logistics, philosophy, religion, and political morality. He remains, of course, the greatest word painter in the French language. In Les Misérables no less than in his poetry, he justifies his claim of being "the sonorous echo of the universe. Countless vignettes and a few bravura pieces such as the description of the Battle of Waterloo invest his novels with a heightened sense of reality. Few writers can rival the vividness and eloquence of Hugo's style.

Les Misérables Introduction It's not easy to put Les Misérables in a nutshell, considering that it's one of the longest novels ever written. But hey! That's our job, so here goes: the novel is about how an ex-con named Jean Valjean tries to live a good life and help the people around him, even while he struggles to escape his criminal past. Along the way, he gets super rich, adopts a child named Cosette, and spends nearly his entire adult life trying to elude a tenacious policeman named Inspector Javert. Plus there's a whole thing about some revolution. And a giant statue of an elephant. And a bunch of French politics. And some rumination of the nature of mercy and justice. And … Okay, you got us. There's practically no way to sum up this massive, gorgeous, breathtaking novel in a nutshell. That's because Les Misérables isn't your everyday ex-con story Published in 1862, it's a platform for Victor Hugo to rant against the injustice that's committed against the poorest and most vulnerable members of modern society. The French Revolution of 1789 was supposed to take care of all that by bringing liberty and equality for all the people of France, but we all know how that ended. (Guillotine. Sure, they took care of that pesky monarchy—but only temporarily. The poor continued to starve in the streets and the rich kept getting richer. Victor Hugo couldn't stand the idea that so many people had fought and died for nothing, and he was determined to use art to do what war couldn't – create real social change. By the time you get through this novel, you'll see just how much a society can work against its poorest and most vulnerable members. To be fair, Hugo never says that a poor person can't work their way out of poverty. After all, that's exactly what Jean Valjean does. But Hugo's no Tea Party ancestor. Les Misérables points out that people like Jean Valjean will always be the exception to the rule. The fact that some people can work their way out of poverty doesn't mean we live in a legitimate society, because the vast majority won't. They're the miserable ones of the title—and they're the ones the modern welfare state evolved to protect. Whatever you think about things like social assistance, unemployment insurance, and pensions, Victor Hugo wants you to understand one thing: a safety net might have saved Fantine. What is Les Misérables About and Why Should I Care? Maybe we should start by letting Victor Hugo tell us. In his preface to Les Misérables, the author writes. So] long as misery and ignorance remain on earth, books like this cannot be useless. In other words, we need books like Les Misérables to teach us that we can't go projecting all of our emotional baggage onto other people. Just because we might be cynical doesn't mean that everyone around us is secretly feeling the same way. And just because we've worked hard and had success doesn't mean we can expect everyone else to do the same. And just because some prostitute is shivering and starving in the street doesn't mean she wants to be there. (Duh? Not according to a lot of people in the book. In other words, Les Misérables teaches us to have sympathy—which is the opposite of assuming that everyone else is just like you. Instead, sympathy means accepting that people have a different mindset and different circumstances, and maybe even different desires and dreams. We dare you to get all the way through Les Misérables and still feel like there's only one way of looking at the world. (Okay, TBH we dare you to get all the way through, full stop. Yes, you can use hard work and innovation to raise yourself up in the world, just like Jean Valjean does, although it helps if some wealthy benefactor gives you a bag full of silver. And yes, there might be some people in the world who will always be selfish and never look out for others (like Thénardier. In between these two extremes, though, are dozens of people who need one simple thing from you: the benefit of the doubt. What we're saying, in other words, is that Hugo has one simple, timeless message for us: Be excellent to each other. Les Misérables Resources WEBSITES All of Les Misérables Free Online Yup. Complete with illustrations, Les Misérables appears on Project Gutenberg in all its glory. The France of Victor Hugo What was the world like in the eyes of Victor Hugo? Why not follow this link and find out? Hugo's Life and Times Here's the fast and furious version of Hugo's background story. Unfortunately, it doesn't include any time in prison. MOVIE OR TV PRODUCTIONS Les Misérables (2012) If you haven't had a chance to see this version (directed by the same dude who did The King's Speech) treat yourself and give it a watch. Just try to ignore Russell Crowe's singing. He's trying, guys. Les Misérables (1998) It needs more song and dance, but it does star Liam Neeson and a 19-year old Claire Danes (you might know her from TV's Homeland. Les Misérables (2000 TV Mini-Series) Hey, Gerard Depardieu is in this thing. Also, it's longer and more in-depth than the movie versions, if that's what you're into. Les Misérables (1978 TV Movie) Yup, it's a made-for-TV movie. But the guy who plays Javert is also the guy who played Norman Bates in Psycho, so that's pretty cool. Les Misérables (1982 Film) This one is French, so it's got that extra soupçon of authenticity. Les Misérables (1935) Of all the film versions, this is probably the oldest one you'll find. ARTICLES AND INTERVIEWS Les Misérables: Victor Hugo's France Planning on a trip to France anytime soon? If so, you'll want to check out this article about all the places Hugo talks about in his novel. Stacking the Deck This article will make a case for why the most important events in Hugo's famous novel all happen toward the end. Deep Thoughts of Les Misérables Here's the place to be for everybody's favorite kind of thoughts… general thoughts. VIDEO Les Misérables 2012 Official Movie Trailer If you're not pumped to watch the 2012 movie yet, this trailer should get you there. The Elephant in the Room You can just tell all hell is going to break loose. And kudos to the director for getting in a reference to the elephant and castle statue. (If you've read the book, you'll remember it. Les Misérables Takes to the Streets These folks in Illinois decided to make Les Misérables come to life in a big way. AUDIO Spice up Your Commute It's hard to imagine someone reading this thing out loud with getting a little hoarse, but someone did. Here's the first part of the Les Misérables audiobook, so get out your earbuds. The Sound of Music Experience the spirit of Les Misérables in musical form. Come on, you know you wan to. "On My Own" Every theatre girl's favorite song: Éponine's conflict, compressed into under three minutes. IMAGES Victor Hugo is Old and Sleepy Yup, he looks like he needs a good snooze. Still Old, Less Sleepy It looks like someone got the poor guy a cup of coffee before posing for this one. A Little Bit Younger Now Since Hugo wasn't born an old bearded man, we thought we'd show you a younger one too.

 

 

Les misérables Watch Full Without Signing Up Without Sign Up Mojo - by lQGVj, February 05, 2020

3.4/ 5stars