Les Misérables Study Guide
Introduction to Les Misérables
Les Misérables is a sprawling, five-volume novel by Victor Hugo. First published in 1862, it soon became one of the most popular and influential novels of its time. The novel contains numerous plots, characters, and digressive essays, but it centers around Jean Valjean, a man who has spent nineteen years in prison for stealing a loaf of bread to feed his sister. After engaging in petty thefts, Valjean adopts an alter ego and becomes a well-to-do businessman. However, his past catches up with him, and he is pursued by the dogged police inspector Javert. The novel’s plot unfolds over the course of nearly two decades, mostly taking place in Paris.
Les Misérables is popular and acclaimed for a number of reasons, reflecting its capacious, multifaceted nature. For many, the novel is a stirring story with life-like characters. For others, it is a brilliant social novel that conveys the tensions of nineteenth-century French society. For still others, it is an innovative text whose immense scope and rich digressions represent a fresh approach to the novel form.
A Brief Biography of Victor Hugo
Victor Hugo (1802–1885) was a prolific writer of plays, poetry, essays, and novels. Today, he is most famous for his novels Les Miserables and Notre-Dame de Paris, or The Hunchback of Notre Dame. Hugo was declared a traitor to France and exiled by Napoleon III in 1851; although he was granted amnesty in 1859, he declined and chose instead to continue living in exile until 1870, when Napoleon III was replaced by the Third Republic. Hugo was somewhat of a chameleon and often changed his political views and religion over the years. He was also a strong political figure in France and was elected to the National Assembly and the Senate upon his return to his homeland.
Frequently Asked Questions about Les Misérables
Les Misérables
How did Jean Valjean break his parole?
Jean Valjean's parole was, in some ways, as harsh as his prison sentence. As a paroled prisoner, Valjean was required to carry papers that identified him as a parolee and to show them to pretty...
Les Misérables
How many times did Jean Valjean try to escape?
Jean Valjean is initially sentenced to five years for breaking a bakery window and stealing a loaf of bread to feed his hungry children. After four years, with the help of his fellow inmates, he...
Les Misérables
What revolution is Les Misérables based on?
The revolution described in Les Misérables is one which Victor Hugo actually witnessed, which is sometimes known as the Second French Revolution. Fighting broke out in July 1830 and initially...
Les Misérables
What is the purpose of Victor Hugo in writing Les Misérables?
Victor Hugo's novel arose out of many years of walking the streets of Paris and observing the plight of the poor. As social unrest grew across Europe over the course of the nineteenth century, Hugo...
Les Misérables
Why did Jean Valjean steal bread?
We first witness Jean Valjean stealing bread through the eyes of the baker. The baker, Maubert Isabeau, sees the bakery window being broken: An arm passed through a hole made by a blow from a...
Les Misérables
Who is Marius's best friend?
One might make a convincing case that Marius Pontmercy's best friend in Les Misérables is Eponine. She certainly cares for him more than anyone else in the novel, wishes for nothing better than to...
Les Misérables
Where and when does Les Misérables take place?
Victor Hugo’s book Les Misérables is set in France between the years 1815 and 1832. The events of the story take place in many parts of the country, notably in the capital city of Paris but also in...
Les Misérables
How old is Gavroche?
By the time he is shot to death, Gavroche is around eleven or twelve years old. From his infancy, Gavroche's parents view him as nothing more than another mouth to feed. Living on the streets as a...
Les Misérables
Who are Eponine's parents?
Eponine is the oldest daughter of Monsieur and Madame Thénardier, a pair of innkeepers with a penchant for swindling their guests out of money. During her early childhood, Eponine and her younger...
Les Misérables
Where did Cosette work as a small child?
As a small child, Cosette is forced to work at the Thénardier inn in Montfermeil. Cosette's mother, Fantine, is unable to care for her properly, due to being a single, unwed mother in a society...
Les Misérables
What are the values that we can learn from Les Misérables?
I would say that two of the major themes of Les Misérables are compassion (particularly for the less fortunate) and justice. These are two values which Hugo seems interested in instilling among his...
Les Misérables
Where did Madame Thenardier send Cosette at night?
On Christmas Eve, 1823, Cosette is eight years old and living with Monsieur and Madame Thénardier in Montfermeil. The Thénardiers treat Cosette as an unpaid servant, and, on this particular...
Les Misérables
What is Jean's moral dilemma the night he stays with the bishop?
Les Misérables begins with a typically long and detailed character sketch of Monseigneur Myriel, Bishop of Digne. By the time Jean Valjean enters the story, the reader is familiar with the Bishop's...
Les Misérables
Who is chasing Jean Valjean?
Aside from the protagonist, Jean Valjean, the best-known character in Les Misérables and its numerous musical, stage, and screen adaptations is probably Javert, a character who appears first as a...
Les Misérables
Who is Eponine in love with?
In Les Misérables, Éponine falls in love with Marius Pontmercy, her neighbor in Paris, and she eventually confesses her love for him with her dying breath. Éponine is initially an unsympathetic...
Les Misérables
What is the name of the innkeeper in Les Misérables?
The innkeeper in Les Misérables is named Monsieur Thénardier. He is a petty crook who emerges as one of the major antagonists of the novel, and, along with his equally corrupt wife, is perhaps the...
Les Misérables
What is the elephant in Les Misérables?
The elephant in Les Misérables is a real place in Paris, called the Elephant of the Bastille. It was commissioned by Napoleon, but never completed. By the time of the novel, the unfinished...
Les Misérables
Who is General Lamarque in Les Misérables?
General Lamarque was a real historical figure who served under Napoleon and died in 1832. In the novel, he is depicted as a true champion of the people. His death, the narrator explains, is the...
Les Misérables
How old is Cosette?
Fantine gives birth to Cosette in 1815, and they spend years together, destitute, until she begins to pay Monsieur and Madame Thénardier to care for the girl. This is a mistake, since they treat...
Les Misérables
Why does Fantine leave Cosette, and why do the Thénardiers take her in?
When Fantine finds herself a single mother with a young child and without a means of support in the world, she has to make a hard choice: Either leave her child with other people, so that she can...
