Les Misérables Group at eNotes

While the musical portrays the innkeeper and his wife, Monsieur and...

Wed, 14 Oct 2009 23:11:35 PST

While the musical portrays the innkeeper and his wife, Monsieur and Madame Thenardier, as comical characters, it strays greatly from the import intended by Hugo. Nevertheless, the motifs of human suffering are yet present in "Les Mis." The poignancy of the injustice of Jean Valjean's lifetime of punishment as he must continually run from Inspector Javert and his efforts to redeem his life through his good works is true to the novel in both...

What traits of the book become universal in the movie and musical...

Wed, 14 Oct 2009 19:46:52 PST

What traits of the book become universal in the movie and musical versions of "Les Miserables"?

A contemporary of Victor Hugo's, Charles Dickens felt that society was a...

Tue, 13 Oct 2009 17:05:50 PST

A contemporary of Victor Hugo's, Charles Dickens felt that society was a prison. Certainly this perception is applicable to Les Miserables. For, Hugo's grand novel is a plea for social justice. The main character, Jean Valjean suffers in the prison of society as he first starves and acts out of desperation, actions for which he is unjustly punished. After his release, Valjean steals a coin out of desperation, and is,...

What are the themes in Les Miserables by Victor Hugo?

Tue, 13 Oct 2009 16:23:50 PST

What are the themes in Les Miserables by Victor Hugo?

In the 1st section, the author compares Fantine to a lark. What bird...

Thu, 8 Oct 2009 19:36:12 PST

In the 1st section, the author compares Fantine to a lark. What bird image does he use in the 2nd section?

If you are talking about ideals, you could meaning the ethical behaviors...

Thu, 17 Sep 2009 07:06:59 PST

If you are talking about ideals, you could meaning the ethical behaviors of the characters in the story, revealing which one is real or sincere, and which what is fake and misleading. There are plenty of these stuffs in the novel to explore this theme. In this story, the author, Victor Hugo explore was trying to signify the "Miserables" meaning the poor scoundrels and villains of the story, painting a detailed expression of Paris's seamier...

Jean Valjeans is an ex-convinct who is struggling to redeem himself...

Sun, 30 Aug 2009 01:10:33 PST

Jean Valjeans is an ex-convinct who is struggling to redeem himself morally and gains acceptance from the human society who had branded and rejected him as a social outcast and put him in the bottom of the social hierarchy. It was the meeting with the Bishop of Digne, who accepts him for who is are and gives him a helping hand regardless of his criminal past that engulfs his entire life, even though he had tried to steal something from his...

Les Miserables is about a man, Valjean, that is paroled after serving...

Wed, 26 Aug 2009 04:44:58 PST

Les Miserables is about a man, Valjean, that is paroled after serving 19 years in prison. He is shunned by most because of this past. Valjean is befriended by Bishop Digne, only to steal from him. When he is caught by police, Digne not only lies to police so that Valjean is released, but Digne gives Valjean two candlesticks. After this Valjean vows to be a good person.

Can you explain the main plot of LES MISERABLES? Please, I need it later...

Tue, 25 Aug 2009 21:52:48 PST

Can you explain the main plot of LES MISERABLES? Please, I need it later for our group presentation in english.

How good is good the beshpo and how bad is bad of valjean

Mon, 3 Aug 2009 00:41:20 PST

How good is good the beshpo and how bad is bad of valjean

There have been many editions of this work published since 1862, and no...

Thu, 16 Jul 2009 01:07:40 PST

There have been many editions of this work published since 1862, and no two will have the exact same page numbers. This is often true of many books, but in the case of Les Miserables this can be pretty extreme, since the original is quite long and even most modern abridgements run well over eleven or twelve hundred pages, so it is very easy to find editions with very different page numbers. I'm not sure that I have seen any modern...

I got the book Les Miserables by Victor Hugo,but if they are the same...

Wed, 15 Jul 2009 22:10:16 PST

I got the book Les Miserables by Victor Hugo,but if they are the same title and author can the text be different?

In Victor Hugo's classic, "Les Miserables," he writes in Volume II, 6, ...

Sun, 24 May 2009 10:11:03 PST

In Victor Hugo's classic, "Les Miserables," he writes in Volume II, 6, One day there was brought to his [M. Gillennormand's] house in a basket, something like an oyster bastket, a big boy, new-born, crying like the deuce, and duly wrapped in swaddling clothes, which a servant girl turned away six months before attributed to him. This baby is Marius, son of Colonel Georges Pontmercy of Napoleon's army, the son-in-law of Monsieur Luke Esprit...

In "Les Miserables," why does Marius leave home?

Mon, 4 May 2009 15:30:30 PST

In "Les Miserables," why does Marius leave home?

Wow -- that's a lot of detail. Let me start back at the original...

Mon, 6 Apr 2009 07:21:50 PST

Wow -- that's a lot of detail. Let me start back at the original question: What Eponine has sacrificed for Marius. In essence, Eponine puts aside her own feelings so that Marius may pursue the person he truly loves, Cosette. She keeps her affections to herself so as not to interfere in the Cosette-Marius relationship, all the while longing in her heart after him. In fact, upon her death, when she is being held by Marius, she declares that she...

Oh sorry. I meant to put Eponine as the first name..not cosette (it...

Mon, 6 Apr 2009 07:21:50 PST

Oh sorry. I meant to put Eponine as the first name..not cosette (it should be eponine sacrificed)..sorry if that was confusing

what is the rising action,climax,falling action and resolution of les...

Mon, 30 Mar 2009 05:24:25 PST

what is the rising action,climax,falling action and resolution of les miserables

What do you think Eponine sacrificed for Marius that showed she loved...

Fri, 27 Mar 2009 13:44:21 PST

Cosette sacrificed not being selfish but instead allowed Marius to be with Cosette instead of letting him die and be with her in heaven. (since the letter told Marius that Cosette was not in England)

(but is that really sacrificing..how can i put this into better wording?)

Also, comparing what Cosette sacrificed for Marius would it be accurate to say that Cosette sacrificed hurting Valjean to go live with Marius at his...

Much like his British contemporary, Charles Dickens, Victor Hugo was...

Thu, 19 Mar 2009 09:09:55 PST

Much like his British contemporary, Charles Dickens, Victor Hugo was very concerned about France's social conditions, in Paris--much like the London of Dickens--these conditions were apparent in the microcosm of a city. The squalor and filth and desease of the poor is apparent in the gamins such as Gavrocheand in the plight of the wretched prostittue Fantine and her daughter Cosette. And, just as in Dickens's novel, "Great Expectations,"...

In what ways is "Les Miserables" a "social novel" that analyzes the...

Thu, 19 Mar 2009 07:22:21 PST

In what ways is "Les Miserables" a "social novel" that analyzes the problems of its day?