Lesson 5 Victor Hugos Les Mis

by Victor Hugo
Les Misérables
• 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

its original French title. However, several alternatives have
been used.
Les Misérables
The alternative titles are:
The Miserables
The Wretched
The Miserable Ones
The Poor Ones
The Wretched Poor
The Victims
The Dispossessed
Synopsis
• 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.
Les Misérables
• 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.
Hugo’s Sources
The Making
Of
Les Misérables
• 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 inspiration for Fantine and Cosette.
• Hugo imagined the life of the man in the jail and the mother and
daughter taken away from each other.
• 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 Franc’s first private detective agency. He was also a
businessman and was widely noted for his social engagement and
philantrophy.
• Vidocq also inspired Hugo’s “Claude Gueux” and Le Dernier Jour

d’un Condamné (The Last Day of a Condemned Man).
• 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 in the novel.
• 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.
• 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.
• On February 22, 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. He spent
several vacations in Montreuil-sur-Mer.
• 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.
• He participated more directly in the 1848 Paris insurrection,
helping to smash barricades and suppress both the popular revolt
and its monarchist allies.
• 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.
• 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 Cosette’s wedding night (Part V, Book
6, Chapter 1) takes place on February 16, 1833 which is also
the date when Hugo and his lifelong mistress Juliette Drouet
expressed their love for each other for the first time.
The Characters
Jean Valjean
•Imprisoned for stealing bread in order to
feed his sister's children, Valjean is a good
man turned bad by circumstances. When
he meets a generous priest, he begins to
turn his life around, becoming a successful
businessman and later taking in the lost
child Cosette. However, his past threatens
to follow him into his brighter present, and
he has to go into hiding once more. He is
also referred to as Monsieur Madeleine.
Valjean is intelligent and resourceful, and
notable for his incredible physical strength.
Fantine
•A young and beautiful woman from an

impoverished background, Fantine is
impregnated and abandoned by the man she
loves. In order to support her daughter
Cosette, she takes up a number of low paying
manual jobs, and finally resorts to
prostitution. She dies from consumption, but
not before securing a better future for her
daughter.
Cosette
•The daughter of Fantine, Cosette is

abandoned by her father shortly after her
birth. In order to earn money, Fantine was
forced to leave her daughter with the
Thénardier family, who use her as a servant
and a means to extort money from her
mother. Valjean rescues her and raises her
as his daughter. A gentle and pure young
woman, she falls in love with Marius.
Javert
•A narrow-minded police officer, Javert is
completed focused on upholding the law
and punishing every kind of criminal
activity. He does not believe that one can
reform oneself from a criminal
background, and he pursues Valjean
relentlessly, waiting for him to take a
misstep. Javert is completely without
mercy, but this harshness stems from his
own past: he was born in a prison.
Marius Pontmercy
•The son of a war hero and grandson of an

eccentric member of nobility, Marius is an
intelligent and idealistic young man. He falls
in love with Cosette and fights on the
barricades.
Éponine Thénardier
•The eldest daughter of the

Thénardiers, Éponine enjoys a
pampered childhood but an
impoverished adolescence. Her
parents teach her to steal and cheat,
but she is redeemed by her deep love
for Marius.
Monsieur Thénardier
and Madame Thénardier
•A greedy and selfish man, he works in a variety of jobs, including tavern owner. He
claims to have fought in the 1815 campaign. He is the husband of Madame Thénardier
and the father of Azelma and Éponine. He and his wife take in Cosette, charging her
mother a great deal of money and forcing the little girl to perform a number of chores.
•A nasty and selfish woman, she is the wife of Monsieur Thénardier and the mother of
Azelma and Éponine. She and her husband take in Cosette, charging her mother a
great deal of money and forcing the little girl to perform a number of chores.
Enjolras
•The leader of the ABC Society,

Enjolras is an intense young student
and a radical revolutionary. Despite his
good looks, he is uninterested in
women, focusing all of his efforts on
revolution.
Gavroche
•A little urchin boy, he roams the

streets of Paris. He is the
neglected son of the Thénardiers,
but he prefers the streets to the
company of his family. He dies a
heroic death on the barricades.
Bishop Myriel
•Despite a tragic past (the French

Revolution ruined his family, and his
wife died young), Myriel is a generous
and kindhearted man of God. He is
famed for his good deeds throughout
the area of Digne. Myriel is the one
who restores Valjean's faith in
humanity.
Read the excerpt on your book at pages 60-64. It
is highly encouraged to watch the film version of
Les Misérables (2012) directed by Tom Hooper.
Merci et au revoir!

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by Victor Hugo

• First published in 1862, that is considered one of the greatest

• In the English-speaking world, the novel is usually referred to

• Beginning in 1815 and culminating in the 1832 June

• Les Misérables has been popularized through numerous

• Vidocq became the head of an undercover police unit and later

• Vidocq also inspired Hugo’s “Claude Gueux” and Le Dernier Jour

• Hugo had used the departure of prisoners from the Bagne of

• On one of the pages of his notes about the prison, he wrote in

• On February 22, 1846, when he had begun work on the novel,

• Victor Hugo drew his inspiration from everything he heard and

• He asked his mistresses, Léonie d’Aunet and Juliette Drouet, to tell

•A young and beautiful woman from an

•The daughter of Fantine, Cosette is

•The son of a war hero and grandson of an

•The eldest daughter of the

•The leader of the ABC Society,

•A little urchin boy, he roams the

•Despite a tragic past (the French

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