Book Les miserables by Víctor Hugo: summary, analysis and characters

The Miserables is a historical novel by Victor Hugo, published in 1862. The story is part of the period of the restoration of the French monarchy, which took place in the first half of the 19th century. Its theme revolves around good, evil, ethics, justice and faith.

The novel examines the values ​​in force in French society in the mid-nineteenth century and reflects on human nature in the face of adversity. To do this, he tells the story of an ex-convict who wants to reform. The Miserables It is structured in five volumes, each one divided into different books. The volumes are organized and titled as follows:

• Volume 1: Fantine.
• Volume 2: Cosette.
• Volume 3: Marius.
• Volume 4: The idyll of Rue Plumet and the epic of Rue Saint-Denis.
• Volume 5: Jean Valjean.

Let's see below a brief summary of each volume, followed by the analysis of the novel and the description of the characters.

Summary of The Miserables by Victor Hugo

The plot of the novel The Miserables Victor Hugo focuses on the story of Jean Valjean, sentenced to prison for stealing a loaf of bread for his nephews. Upon leaving prison, Valjean repeats the robbery, but the good will of a priest makes him reform his life. Inspector Javert becomes obsessed with capturing him again.

Volume I: Fantine

The year 1815 passed in France. Jean Valjean is released from prison after serving a nineteen-year sentence, five for stealing bread and the rest for his attempted escape. No one gives him food or lodging, except the good Bishop Myriel, from whom Valjean steals a set of silverware. The authorities arrest him but the priest, instead of filing a complaint, gives him a couple more candlesticks and urges him to change.

Free again, Valjean steals a coin from a boy, but the memory of the priest makes him see his own cruelty and he decides to reform. Since his criminal record closes the doors on him, he adopts a false identity under the last name Magdalena. Over the years, he becomes a prosperous and beloved businessman in the city of Montreuil-sur-Mer, where he becomes mayor.

At that time, she Fantina works in the factory of Mr. Magdalena (Valjean) in Montreuil-sur-Mer. Fantina is Cosette's single mother, and cannot have her with her. For this reason, she leaves her in the care of the Thenardiers in the town of Montfermeil. This couple mistreat the girl and extort money from Fantina. very soon, the young woman is fired from the factory and is forced to prostitute herself. She blames Mr. Magdalena, who is ignorant of her situation.

In Montreuil-sur-Mer works Inspector Javert, a former Valjean jailer and a ruthless vigilante of the law. She arrests Fantina for attacking a man, but Mayor Magdalena intercedes for her. Fantina realizes that she has misjudged the mayor. She falls seriously ill and Mr. Magdalena takes her under her care.

Later, Mayor Magdalena uses her colossal strength to rescue a man named Fauchelevent from being crushed by a cart. Javert recognizes Valjean and denounces him. However, the authorities mistakenly arrest the vagrant Champmathieu believing him to be Valjean. To free the innocent Champmathieu, Mayor Magdalena (Valjean) voluntarily surrenders, but not before promising to reunite Cosette with Fantina. Before succeeding, Javert captures him and Fantina dies.

Volume II: Cosette

Back in time, Jean Valjean is arrested and sentenced to life imprisonment. While being taken to jail, he saves the life of a sailor stuck in the rigging of the ship, which he takes advantage of to fake his own death by jumping into the water. After deceiving the authorities, Valjean searches for Cosette and takes her from the Thenardiers.

Valjean takes Cosette to Paris, where they live for a while. He is rediscovered by Javert, so he flees with the girl and takes refuge in the Petit-Picpus convent. There he meets Fauchelevent, who now works as a gardener for the compound. This makes him pass as his brother and gives him the last name. Thanks to that, Cosette receives a good education.

Volume III: Marius

Marius Pontmercy is raised by his grandfather, Mr. Gillenormand. He believes that his father, Captain Pontmercy, abandoned him. When his father died, he gave her the title of baron and entrusted him to thank Mr. Thenardier. (Indeed, the captain believes that Thenardier had rescued him from among the fallen at the Battle of Waterloo, not realizing that he had only taken him for dead and was trying to steal his belongings.)

The captain's son is indifferent to the will of his father, until an old man named Mabeuf lets him know that his grandfather is responsible for the separation between them. Outraged, Marius leaves and rents a room in Paris.

His neighbors are the Jondrettes, the false name of the Thernadiers, who moved to Paris after losing their Montfermeil tavern. Marius meets Eponina, the couple's oldest daughter. He also gets involved with the Friends of the ABC, a group of young revolutionaries. Finally, he meets Cosette and falls in love with her. By this time, Valjean - now called Ultimo Fauchelevent - had left the convent.

Last Fauchelevent (Valjean) helps those in need, like the supposed artist Fabontou, but such an artist does not exist. He is a scam of the Thenardier family, who conspire with the Patron-Minette criminal gang to ambush Fauchelevent. Alerted by Marius who sees everything from his room, Javert stops the criminals, while Fauchelevent (Valjean) takes advantage of the confusion to escape before being recognized.

Volume IV: The Idyll of Rue Plumet and the Epic of Rue Saint-Denis

Marius begins an affair with Cosette, which worries Fauchelevent (Valjean). Due to this and Thenardier's escape, he decides to go to England. However, between June 5 and 6, 1832, the friends of ABC started the revolt. Marius gets involved out of spite, dragged by Eponina. Old Mabeuf and Gavroche, one of the Thenardiers' abandoned sons, also join in.

The revolutionaries take Inspector Javert prisoner. Meanwhile, Eponina is killed while protecting Marius. Before she dies, she confesses her love to him and gives him a letter from Cosette with her current whereabouts. Marius writes a letter to his lover, but the one who receives it is Valjean.

Volume V: Jean Valjean

Shaken, Valjean decides to help Marius on the barricades. He stands out to such an extent that the leader Enjolras allows him to shoot Inspector Javert, but Valjean frees him without anyone noticing. The barricade fails and Gavroche dies heroically.

Valjean carries the wounded Marius in tow through the sewers of Paris, where he meets the fugitive Thenardier. Thinking that he is a common thief and murderer, Thenardier opens the sewer for him. Outside is Javert. The inspector grants him two requests: deliver Marius to his grandfather and say goodbye to Cosette. Meanwhile, tormented by the internal conflict between following the law or forgiving the one who has forgiven him, Javert throws himself into the river and dies.

Marius recovers, but does not remember who saved his life. Upon recovering, he marries Cosette and receives an unexpected dowry of six hundred thousand francs. Valjean confesses her dark past to him, but Marius doesn't understand it, instead he takes Cosette away from her father.

In a desperate bid for money and revenge, Thenardier goes to Marius's house to sell information on Valjean, as he has recognized him at the marriage ceremony. But he only makes Marius discover that he is the savior of his life. Marius gives Thenardier money to go to America with his daughter Azelma, where he becomes a slave trader.

Regretful, Marius takes Cosette and they run to meet Valjean, who is on his deathbed. There, they have the time to forgive each other.

Analysis of The Miserables

The novel The Miserables by Víctor Hugo has as historic context the period of the restoration of the absolutist monarchy in France, which began after the fall of Napoleon and lasted until the middle of the 19th century. In this period libertarian, republican and democratic ideals grow, fueled by deep social inequalities and injustices perpetrated by the state.

Two things come to the fore in the play: the social order perpetuates poverty and forces the most disadvantaged people to corrupt themselves. At the same time, the justice system is cruel against those who violate the law, without realizing how responsible they are for the iniquities. Victor Hugo implies that the law of men, rather than seeking the common good, seeks punishment.

The question of justice runs through the entire novel and is clearly represented in the characters Jean Valjean and Javert. Valjean is a strong, hardworking man who wants to feed his family. But he not only earns little, but ends up without a job. Desperation drives him to steal bread. It's true that stealing is wrong, Valjean thinks, but does he deserve five years in prison? Is not the punishment disproportionate to the damage caused? Isn't it an excess of the justice system?

On the part of him, Javert represents law and order, the absolute attachment to the law above the good. Actually, the law is for Javert the closest thing to an idol thirsty for sacrifices, at whose feet he offers the victims. Javert does not question whether the people he is pursuing have caused harm. They have simply broken the law.

The notions of good and evil present in The Miserables

Through his criticism of the notion of justice in society, Víctor Hugo uncovers a deeper question, the basis of the entire work: the notions of good and evil. Javert's mistake is to make laws the absolute, when the true absolute is good. In this way, it is clear that for Victor Hugo there is a significant distance between morality, understood as mere compliance with rules, and ethics (and love).

If the law is designed for punishment, love and faith are designed for rehabilitation, for they invoke and motivate it. This is exactly what Bishop Myriel represents. This character embodies the fundamental Christian principle: love of neighbor and faith in the rehabilitation capacity of the human being. Although he is not a main character, Bishop Myriel drives the axes of change in the novel, like an energy that transforms from one state to another without ever destroying itself.

Mercy as the engine of human and social transformation

The positive response to rehabilitation is the path of humanization. Conversely, debasement is the path to dehumanization. In this we also see Valjean and Javert: Valjean allows himself to be transformed for the good. Javert, on the other hand, despite acknowledging his mistake, does not even have room for self-understanding. Therefore, he dehumanizes himself to the point of seeking his own death.

Although the human being requires the faith of another to find the desire to rehabilitate, it is true that free will constitutes the final hook. If the person is open to the good that he receives from others, he will be able to change. If not, he will continue to dehumanize himself.

Like Jean Jacques Rousseau in the 18th century, Victor Hugo implies that the social system corrupts the human being. However, Víctor Hugo does not justify it, since the human being has before him the option of choosing between humanizing himself or dehumanizing himself (debasing himself). But what does it depend on? It is very clear that for Víctor Hugo this process is not spontaneous, but rather something outside the subject provokes it.

The human being needs the help of his peers; he needs to feel loved by others; she needs mercy, the answer to the injustice of "justice." This loving relationship, in its deepest and most committed sense, is what touches the corrupted heart of Valjean before the injustices suffered, and it is also what frees Fantine from her loss at the end of her days.

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Characters of The Miserables by Victor Hugo

Main characters

Jean Valjean. Robust and hardworking man. He sentenced to a total of 19 years in prison. Cosette's adoptive father. He develops various occupations as a logger, businessman, mayor of Montreuil and gardener. His other names are: alias 24601, Señor Magdalena, Ultimo Fauchelevent and 9430. His enemy is Jarvet.

Javert. Son of a convict and a fortune teller. Raised in prison and possessed of an inflexible personality, although not of a bad nature. He becomes a jailer and later a police inspector. He develops an obsession with chasing Jean Valjean.

Fatina. Illiterate and single mother of Cosette. She was abandoned by Félix Tholomyès, her former lover. She hands over her daughter to the care of the Thenardier family, who extort money from her.

Cosette. Her official name is Euphrasia. Her alias is "the lark." Fatina's daughter with her lover Félix Tholomyes. She is given over to the service of the Thenardier innkeepers. She is later adopted by Valjean. She marries Marious Pontmercy.

Marius Pontmercy. Young lawyer, related to the group Amigos del ABC. He lived under the care of his maternal grandfather, Monarchist-minded Mr. Gillenormand, and his aunt. He fell in love with Cosette, Jean Valjean's adopted daughter.

Mr and Mrs Thenardier. Innkeepers, parents of Eponina, Azelma, Gavroche and two young children. Extortionists and criminals. They receive Cosette, subjecting her to forced labor, while extorting Fatina. When they moved to Paris they changed their last name to Jondrette.

Charles-François-Bienvenu Myriel. Bishop of the city, also known as Monseigneur Bienvenu. Priest faithful to his principles. Responsible for the rehabilitation of Jean Valjean.

Eponina or the Jondrette girl. First-born of the Thenardier couple. A child pampered during her childhood. Raising her makes her a girl capable of getting involved in scams and street activities. She falls in love with Marius without being reciprocated.

Gavroche. Third son of the Thernadiers. His parents didn't want him. He lives on the streets. His adventurous spirit leads him to participate in the barricades, where he meets his death.

Secondary characters

Given that the secondary characters are very numerous, we have organized them into groups according to family or social affiliation.

Other children of the Thenardiers

• Azelma. Second daughter. His father's accomplice in his crimes.
• Two small children. Minor children. They are abandoned.

Religious characters

• Baptistine Myriel. Bishop Myriel's sister.
• Madame Magloire. Maid to Bishop Myriel and his sister.
• Sister Simplice. Religious. She takes Fantina under her care during her illness.
• Innocent Mother. Prioress of the Petit-Picpus convent.

ABC Friends

• Enjolras. Leader of the Friends of ABC. He participates with his group in the Paris uprising.
• Grantaire. Known as "R". Compulsive drinker, which affects his participation in the June rebellion. He deeply admires Enjolras, although Enjolras sometimes looks at him with disdain.
• Bahorel. Peasant turned dandy and lazy. Responsible for putting the group in contact with other similar companies.
• Lesgle. The oldest in the group of Friends of ABC. He has suffered from baldness since he was 25 years old. Introduce Marius to the brotherhood.
• Combeferre. Medical student. Philosopher of movement.
• Courfeyrac. Law student. Heart of the group. Conqueror of women.
• Feuilly. Orphan. Autodidact. Fan manufacturer.
• Jean Prouvaire or Jehan. An inveterate romantic and medievalist. He speaks Italian, Greek, Latin and Hebrew.
• Joly. Medical student, hypochondriac in character.

Seamstresses, friends of Fantina

• Dahlia. Sentimentally involved with Listolier.
• Favorite. Leader of the seamstresses. He becomes involved with Blachevelle, a friend of Félix Tholomyès, motivated by his economic position. However, she doesn't like him.
• Zéphine. He becomes romantically involved with Fameuil, a friend of Félix Tholomyès.

Wealthy Students Wrapped Up With The Seamstresses

• Felix Tholomyès. Fantine's lover and Cosette's biological father. Abandon Fantina.
• Fameuil. Friend of Félix Tholomyès. Sentimentally involved with Zéphine.
• Blachevelle. Friend of Félix Tholomyès and eventual lover of Favorite.
• Listolier. Friend of Félix Tholomyès. He becomes romantically involved with Dahlia.

Marius family

• Georges Pontmercy. Marius's father. Colonel in the Napoleonic army.
• Lord Gillenormand. Marius's grandfather. Of monarchical ideology.
• Miss Gillenormand. Daughter of Monsieur Gillenormand. Marius's mother's half sister.

Criminals of the Patron-Minette gang

• Main: Montparnasse, Claquesous, Babet and Gueulemer.
• Affiliates: Brujon, Bigrenaille, Boulatruelle, Deux-milliards, among others.

Other characters

• Petit Gervais. Savoyard boy from whom Jean Valjean steals a coin.
• Fauchelevent. Unsuccessful businessman. Valjean saves his life and gets him a job as a gardener in a convent.
• Champmathieu. Tramp mistaken for Valjean.
• Bamatabois. Lazy young man. He harasses Fatine on the street.
• Mabeuf, sacristan. Friend of Colonel Pontmercy. He intercedes with Marius to let him know that his father loved him.
• Toussaint. Maid of the Valjean house in Paris.
• Magnon. Former maid of the Gillenormand family and later a friend of the Thénardiers.
• Madame Bougon or Madame Burgon. She is a housekeeper at the Gorbeau house.
• Brevet. Ex-con. She meets Valjean in prison.
• Chenildieu. He is sentenced to life imprisonment. He remained chained to Valjean for five years.
• Cochepaille. He is sentenced to life imprisonment. Shepherd of the Pyrenees, turned smuggler.

Adaptations of The Miserables

The novel The Miserables Victor Hugo became a reference of universal culture, so it has been the subject of numerous adaptations throughout history. Let's look at some of the most important ones.

Theater plays and musicals

1908. The Bishop’s Candlesticks (Scotland)

• Author: Norman McKinnel
• Description: theatrical adaptation of one of the sections of The Miserables by Victor Hugo, corresponding to the meeting between Bishop Myriel and Jean Valjean.

1980. The Miserables (France - premiere - and United Kingdom)

• Authors: Music and lyrics by Claude-Michel Schönberg, Alain Boublil and Jean-Marc Natel. English adaptation by Herbert Kretzmer.
• Description: musical adaptation of the novel, fully sung.

Films

1897. Victor Hugo et les principaux personnages des Misérables (France)

• Directors: Lumier Brothers.
• Description: short film in which an actor disguises himself as Victor Hugo, Jean Valjean, Bishop Myriel, Thenardier and Javert.

1909. The Miserables (USA)

• Director: J. Stuart Blackton.
• Description: film lost. It is known that it starred Maurice Costello and William V. Ranous.

1913. The Miserables(France)

• Direct: Albert Capellani.
• Description: film starring Henry Krauss.

1931. The Miserables (Japan)

• Director: Tomu Uchida.
• Description: focuses your attention on the character of Valjean. By this time, there were already other Japanese adaptations of the novel to the screens.

1934. The Miserables (France)

• Director: Raymond Bernard
• Description: Famous for her fidelity to the plot of Víctor Hugo. In this film, Henry Krauss, who had already acted in the adaptation of Capellani as Valjean, participates in the role of Bishop Myriel.

1935. The Miserables (USA)

• Director: Richard Boleslawski.
• Description: Boleslawski makes a short film, with a length of 108 minutes.

1937. Gavrosh (Russia)

• Director: Tatyana Lukashevich.
• Description: Film focused on the character of Gavroche.

1943. The Miserables (Mexico)

• Director: Renando A. Rovero.
• Description: Film of Mexican origin, starring Domingo Soler, Manolita Saval and David Silva.

1943. The boassa (Egypt)

• Director: Kamal Selim.
• Description: Starring Saleh Abdel Hai, Shafya Ahmed, and Latifa Amin.

1948. I Miserabili (Italy)

• Director: Riccardo Freda.
• Description: Starring Gino Cervi, Valentina Cortese and Hans Hinrich.

1955. Kundan (India)

• Director: Sohrab Modi.
• Description: feature film adapted by Pandit Sudarshan.

1995. The Miserables (France)

• Director: Claude Lelouch.
• Description: feature film that translates the history of the early 19th century to the first half of the 20th century.

1998. The Miserables (United Kingdom, Germany, United States)

• Director: Bille August.
• Description: Starring Liam Neeson, Geoffrey Rush, Uma Thurman, and Claire Danes.

2012. The Mirables (United Kingdom, France, United States)

• Director: Tom Hooper.
• Description: musical film based entirely on the 1980 musical. It starred Hugh Jackman, Anne Hathaway, Russell Crowe, Amanda Seyfried, Eddie Redmayne, Helena Bonham Carter, and Sacha Baron Cohen.

Series, miniseries and soap operas

1971. The Miserables (Spain)

• Director: José Antonio Páramo.
• Description: Spanish series of about 19 episodes.

1978. The Miserables (UK)

• Director: Glenn Jordan.
• Description: British series focused only on some of the characters from the original plot.

2000. The Miserables (France)

• Director: Josée Dayan.
• Description: French miniseries of four chapters starring Gerard Depardieu and John Malkovich.

2014. The Miserables (Mexico)

• Distributor: Telemundo.
• Description: telenovela of 119 chapters, adapted by the Venezuelan writer Valentina Párraga. It was starred by Aracely Arámbula, Erik Hayser, Aylín Mujica, Gabriel Porras and Aarón Díaz.

2018. The Miserables (UK)

• Director: Tom Shankland.
• Description: six-part miniseries, adapted by Andrew Davies and co-produced and distributed by BBC Studios. In this adaptation, the character of Marius is more important. He is represented by David Bradley. Joining him are talents Dominic West, David Oyelowo and Lily Collins.