Imported work by Victor Hugo. Add description, themes, links, and reading notes later.
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Imported work by Victor Hugo. Add description, themes, links, and reading notes later.
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The Project Gutenberg eBook of Les Misérables This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this eBook. Title: Les Misérables Author: Victor Hugo Translator: Isabel Florence Hapgood Release date: June 22, 2008 [eBook #135] Most recently updated: October 29, 2024 Language: English Other information and formats: www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/135 Credits: Judith Boss and David Widger *** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK LES MISÉRABLES *** L E S M I S É R A B L E S By Victor Hugo Translated by Isabel F. 13, Astor Place New York Copyright 1887 Contents LES MISÉRABLES PREFACE VOLUME I—FANTINE BOOK FIRST—A JUST MAN CHAPTER I—M. MADELEINE IN MOURNING CHAPTER V—VAGUE FLASHES ON THE HORIZON CHAPTER VI—FATHER FAUCHELEVENT CHAPTER VII—FAUCHELEVENT BECOMES A GARDENER IN PARIS CHAPTER VIII—MADAME VICTURNIEN EXPENDS THIRTY FRANCS ON MORALITY CHAPTER IX—MADAME VICTURNIEN’S SUCCESS CHAPTER X—RESULT OF THE SUCCESS CHAPTER XI—CHRISTUS NOS LIBERAVIT CHAPTER XII—M. CHAPTER XVII—IS WATERLOO TO BE CONSIDERED GOOD? CHAPTER I—JEAN VALJEAN CHAPTER II—MARIUS CHAPTER III—M. MABEUF BOOK TENTH—THE 5TH OF JUNE, 1832 CHAPTER I—THE SURFACE OF THE QUESTION CHAPTER II—THE ROOT OF THE MATTER CHAPTER III—A BURIAL; AN OCCASION TO BE BORN AGAIN CHAPTER IV—THE EBULLITIONS OF FORMER DAYS CHAPTER V—ORIGINALITY OF PARIS BOOK ELEVENTH—THE ATOM FRATERNIZES WITH THE HURRICANE CHAPTER I—SOME EXPLANATIONS WITH REGARD TO THE ORIGIN OF GAVROCHE’S POETRY. VOLUME I FANTINE BOOK FIRST—A JUST MAN CHAPTER I—M. Charles-François-Bienvenu Myriel was Bishop of D—— He was an old man of about seventy-five years of age; he had occupied the see of D—— since 1806. Although this detail has no connection whatever with the real substance of what we are about to relate, it will not be superfluous, if merely for the sake of exactness in all points, to mention here the various rumors and remarks which had been in circulation about him from the very moment when he arrived in the diocese. True or false, that which is said of men often occupies as important a place in their lives, and above all in their destinies, as that which they do. Myriel was the son of a councillor of the Parliament of Aix; hence he belonged to the nobility of the bar. It was said that his father, destining him to be the heir of his own post, had married him at a very early age, eighteen or twenty, in accordance with a custom which is rather widely prevalent in parliamentary families. In spite of this marriage, however, it was said that Charles Myriel created a great deal of talk. He was well formed, though rather short in stature, elegant, graceful, intelligent; the whole of the first portion of his life had been devoted to the world and to gallantry. The Revolution came; events succeeded each other with precipitation; the parliamentary families, decimated, pursued, hunted down, were dispersed. Charles Myriel emigrated to Italy at the very beginning of the Revolution. There his wife died of a malady of the chest, from which she had long suffered. The ruin of the French society of the olden days, the fall of his own family, the tragic spectacles of ’93, which were, perhaps, even more alarming to the emigrants who viewed them from a distance, with the magnifying powers of terror,—did these cause the ideas of renunciation and solitude to germinate in him? Was he, in the midst of these distractions, these affections which absorbed his life, suddenly smitten with one of those mysterious and terrible blows which sometimes overwhelm, by striking to his heart, a man whom public catastrophes would not shake, by striking at his existence and his fortune? No one could have told: all that was known was, that when he returned from Italy he was a priest. Myriel was the Curé of B—— [Brignolles]. He was already advanced in years, and lived in a very retired manner.
Interpretation
Central ideas
Recurring concerns and concepts identified across the indexed text.
Family
MADELEINE IN MOURNING CHAPTER V—VAGUE FLASHES ON THE HORIZON CHAPTER VI—FATHER FAUCHELEVENT CHAPTER VII—FAUCHELEVENT BECOMES A GARDENER IN PARIS CHAPTER VIII—MADAME VICTURNIEN EXPENDS THIRTY FRANCS ON MORALITY CHAPTER IX—MADAME VICTURNIEN’S SUCCESS CHAPTER X—RESULT OF THE SUCCESS CHAPTER XI—CHRISTUS NOS LIBERAVIT CHAPTER XII—M. Myriel was the son of a councillor of the Parliament of Aix; hence he belonged to the nobility of the bar.
View supporting passages
“MADELEINE IN MOURNING CHAPTER V—VAGUE FLASHES ON THE HORIZON CHAPTER VI—FATHER FAUCHELEVENT CHAPTER VII—FAUCHELEVENT BECOMES A GARDENER IN PARIS CHAPTER VIII—MADAME VICTURNIEN EXPENDS THIRTY FRANCS ON MORALITY CHAPTER IX—MADAME VICTURNIEN’S SUCCESS CHAPTER X—RESULT OF THE SUCCESS CHAPTER XI—CHRISTUS NOS LIBERAVIT CHAPTER XII—M.”
“Myriel was the son of a councillor of the Parliament of Aix; hence he belonged to the nobility of the bar.”
“It was said that his father, destining him to be the heir of his own post, had married him at a very early age, eighteen or twenty, in accordance with a custom which is rather widely prevalent in parliamentary families.”
Faith and doubt
Therefore it is a country which is blessed by God. God gives air to men; the law sells it to them.
View supporting passages
“Therefore it is a country which is blessed by God.”
“God gives air to men; the law sells it to them.”
“I do not blame the law, but I bless God.”
Meaning
He was well formed, though rather short in stature, elegant, graceful, intelligent; the whole of the first portion of his life had been devoted to the world and to gallantry. Was he, in the midst of these distractions, these affections which absorbed his life, suddenly smitten with one of those mysterious and terrible blows which sometimes overwhelm, by striking to his heart, a man whom public catastrophes would not shake, by striking at his existence and his fortune?
View supporting passages
“He was well formed, though rather short in stature, elegant, graceful, intelligent; the whole of the first portion of his life had been devoted to the world and to gallantry.”
“Was he, in the midst of these distractions, these affections which absorbed his life, suddenly smitten with one of those mysterious and terrible blows which sometimes overwhelm, by striking to his heart, a man whom public catastrophes would not shake, by striking at his existence and his fortune?”
“She had never been pretty; her whole life, which had been nothing but a succession of holy deeds, had finally conferred upon her a sort of pallor and transparency; and as she advanced in years she had acquired what may be called the beauty of goodness.”
Justice
God gives air to men; the law sells it to them. I do not blame the law, but I bless God.
View supporting passages
“God gives air to men; the law sells it to them.”
“I do not blame the law, but I bless God.”
““The least possible sin is the law of man.”
Suffering
My brethren, have pity! behold the suffering on all sides of you!” Born a Provençal, he easily familiarized himself with the dialect of the south. He sought to counsel and calm the despairing man, by pointing out to him the resigned man, and to transform the grief which gazes upon a grave by showing him the grief which fixes its gaze upon a star.
View supporting passages
“My brethren, have pity! behold the suffering on all sides of you!” Born a Provençal, he easily familiarized himself with the dialect of the south.”
“He sought to counsel and calm the despairing man, by pointing out to him the resigned man, and to transform the grief which gazes upon a grave by showing him the grief which fixes its gaze upon a star.”
“They have been suffering longer.” Another silence ensued.”
Responsibility
He said, “The faults of women, of children, of the feeble, the indigent, and the ignorant, are the fault of the husbands, the fathers, the masters, the strong, the rich, and the wise.” He said, moreover, “Teach those who are ignorant as many things as possible; society is culpable, in that it does not afford instruction gratis; it is responsible for the night which it produces. He did not ignore the fact that therein lay his greatest duty and his greatest labor.
View supporting passages
“He said, “The faults of women, of children, of the feeble, the indigent, and the ignorant, are the fault of the husbands, the fathers, the masters, the strong, the rich, and the wise.” He said, moreover, “Teach those who are ignorant as many things as possible; society is culpable, in that it does not afford instruction gratis; it is responsible for the night which it produces.”
“He did not ignore the fact that therein lay his greatest duty and his greatest labor.”
“Only, a rather obscure note was found among the Bishop’s papers, which may bear some relation to this matter, and which is couched in these terms, “The question is, to decide whether this should be turned over to the cathedral or to the hospital.” CHAPTER VIII—PHILOSOPHY AFTER DRINKING The senator above mentioned was a clever man, who had made his own way, heedless of those things which present obstacles, and which are called conscience, sworn faith, justice, duty: he had marched straight to his goal, without once flinching in the line of his advancement and his interest.”
Love and compassion
A wretched man, being at the end of his resources, had coined counterfeit money, out of love for a woman, and for the child which he had had by her. He understood how to sit down and hold his peace for long hours beside the man who had lost the wife of his love, of the mother who had lost her child.
View supporting passages
“A wretched man, being at the end of his resources, had coined counterfeit money, out of love for a woman, and for the child which he had had by her.”
“He understood how to sit down and hold his peace for long hours beside the man who had lost the wife of his love, of the mother who had lost her child.”
““Ecclesiastes calls you the All-powerful; the Maccabees call you the Creator; the Epistle to the Ephesians calls you liberty; Baruch calls you Immensity; the Psalms call you Wisdom and Truth; John calls you Light; the Books of Kings call you Lord; Exodus calls you Providence; Leviticus, Sanctity; Esdras, Justice; the creation calls you God; man calls you Father; but Solomon calls you Compassion, and that is the most beautiful of all your names.” Toward nine o’clock in the evening the two women retired and betook themselves to their chambers on the first floor, leaving him alone until morning on the ground floor.”
Freedom
“Ecclesiastes calls you the All-powerful; the Maccabees call you the Creator; the Epistle to the Ephesians calls you liberty; Baruch calls you Immensity; the Psalms call you Wisdom and Truth; John calls you Light; the Books of Kings call you Lord; Exodus calls you Providence; Leviticus, Sanctity; Esdras, Justice; the creation calls you God; man calls you Father; but Solomon calls you Compassion, and that is the most beautiful of all your names.” Toward nine o’clock in the evening the two women retired and betook themselves to their chambers on the first floor, leaving him alone until morning on the ground floor. The very man who is embarrassed by his name is the one who needs shelter.” It chanced that a worthy curé, I know not whether it was the curé of Couloubroux or the curé of Pompierry, took it into his head to ask him one day, probably at the instigation of Madame Magloire, whether Monsieur was sure that he was not committing an indiscretion, to a certain extent, in leaving his door unfastened day and night, at the mercy of any one who should choose to enter, and whether, in short, he did not fear lest some misfortune might occur in a house so little guarded.
View supporting passages
““Ecclesiastes calls you the All-powerful; the Maccabees call you the Creator; the Epistle to the Ephesians calls you liberty; Baruch calls you Immensity; the Psalms call you Wisdom and Truth; John calls you Light; the Books of Kings call you Lord; Exodus calls you Providence; Leviticus, Sanctity; Esdras, Justice; the creation calls you God; man calls you Father; but Solomon calls you Compassion, and that is the most beautiful of all your names.” Toward nine o’clock in the evening the two women retired and betook themselves to their chambers on the first floor, leaving him alone until morning on the ground floor.”
“The very man who is embarrassed by his name is the one who needs shelter.” It chanced that a worthy curé, I know not whether it was the curé of Couloubroux or the curé of Pompierry, took it into his head to ask him one day, probably at the instigation of Madame Magloire, whether Monsieur was sure that he was not committing an indiscretion, to a certain extent, in leaving his door unfastened day and night, at the mercy of any one who should choose to enter, and whether, in short, he did not fear lest some misfortune might occur in a house so little guarded.”
“The choice rests with me: suffer or enjoy.”
Section 1
CHAPTER I—M. MYRIEL
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Section 2
CHAPTER II—M. MYRIEL BECOMES M. WELCOME
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Section 3
CHAPTER III—A HARD BISHOPRIC FOR A GOOD BISHOP
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Section 4
CHAPTER IV—WORKS CORRESPONDING TO WORDS
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Section 5
CHAPTER V—MONSEIGNEUR BIENVENU MADE HIS
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Section 6
CHAPTER VI—WHO GUARDED HIS HOUSE FOR HIM
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Section 7
CHAPTER VII—CRAVATTE
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Section 8
CHAPTER VIII—PHILOSOPHY AFTER DRINKING
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Section 9
CHAPTER IX—THE BROTHER AS DEPICTED BY THE SISTER
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Section 10
CHAPTER X—THE BISHOP IN THE PRESENCE OF AN
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Section 11
CHAPTER XI—A RESTRICTION
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Section 12
CHAPTER XII—THE SOLITUDE OF MONSEIGNEUR WELCOME
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Section 13
CHAPTER XIII—WHAT HE BELIEVED
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Section 14
CHAPTER XIV—WHAT HE THOUGHT
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Section 15
CHAPTER I—THE EVENING OF A DAY OF WALKING
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Section 16
CHAPTER II—PRUDENCE COUNSELLED TO WISDOM
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Section 17
CHAPTER III—THE HEROISM OF PASSIVE OBEDIENCE
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Section 18
CHAPTER IV—DETAILS CONCERNING THE CHEESE-DAIRIES
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Section 19
CHAPTER V—TRANQUILLITY
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Section 20
CHAPTER VI—JEAN VALJEAN
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Section 21
CHAPTER VII—THE INTERIOR OF DESPAIR
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Section 22
CHAPTER VIII—BILLOWS AND SHADOWS
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Section 23
CHAPTER IX—NEW TROUBLES
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Section 24
CHAPTER X—THE MAN AROUSED
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Section 25
CHAPTER XI—WHAT HE DOES
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Section 26
CHAPTER XII—THE BISHOP WORKS
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Section 27
CHAPTER XIII—LITTLE GERVAIS
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Section 28
CHAPTER I—THE YEAR 1817
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Section 29
CHAPTER II—A DOUBLE QUARTETTE
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Section 30
CHAPTER III—FOUR AND FOUR
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Section 31
CHAPTER IV—THOLOMYÈS IS SO MERRY THAT HE SINGS A
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Section 32
CHAPTER V—AT BOMBARDA’S
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Section 33
CHAPTER VI—A CHAPTER IN WHICH THEY ADORE EACH
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Section 34
CHAPTER VII—THE WISDOM OF THOLOMYÈS
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Section 35
CHAPTER VIII—THE DEATH OF A HORSE
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Section 36
CHAPTER IX—A MERRY END TO MIRTH
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Section 37
CHAPTER I—ONE MOTHER MEETS ANOTHER MOTHER
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Section 38
CHAPTER II—FIRST SKETCH OF TWO UNPREPOSSESSING
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Section 39
CHAPTER III—THE LARK
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Section 40
CHAPTER I—THE HISTORY OF A PROGRESS IN BLACK GLASS
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Section 41
CHAPTER II—MADELEINE
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Section 42
CHAPTER III—SUMS DEPOSITED WITH LAFFITTE
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Section 43
CHAPTER IV—M. MADELEINE IN MOURNING
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Section 44
CHAPTER V—VAGUE FLASHES ON THE HORIZON
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Section 45
CHAPTER VI—FATHER FAUCHELEVENT
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Section 46
CHAPTER VII—FAUCHELEVENT BECOMES A GARDENER IN
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Section 47
CHAPTER VIII—MADAME VICTURNIEN EXPENDS THIRTY
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Section 48
CHAPTER IX—MADAME VICTURNIEN’S SUCCESS
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Section 49
CHAPTER X—RESULT OF THE SUCCESS
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Section 50
CHAPTER XI—CHRISTUS NOS LIBERAVIT
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Section 51
CHAPTER XII—M. BAMATABOIS’S INACTIVITY
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Section 52
CHAPTER XIII—THE SOLUTION OF SOME QUESTIONS
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Section 53
CHAPTER I—THE BEGINNING OF REPOSE
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Section 54
CHAPTER II—HOW JEAN MAY BECOME CHAMP
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Section 55
CHAPTER I—SISTER SIMPLICE
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Section 56
CHAPTER II—THE PERSPICACITY OF MASTER SCAUFFLAIRE
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Section 57
CHAPTER III—A TEMPEST IN A SKULL
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Section 58
CHAPTER IV—FORMS ASSUMED BY SUFFERING DURING
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Section 59
CHAPTER V—HINDRANCES
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Section 60
CHAPTER VI—SISTER SIMPLICE PUT TO THE PROOF
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Section 61
CHAPTER VII—THE TRAVELLER ON HIS ARRIVAL TAKES
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Section 62
CHAPTER VIII—AN ENTRANCE BY FAVOR
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Section 63
CHAPTER IX—A PLACE WHERE CONVICTIONS ARE IN
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Section 64
CHAPTER X—THE SYSTEM OF DENIALS
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Section 65
CHAPTER XI—CHAMPMATHIEU MORE AND MORE
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Section 66
CHAPTER I—IN WHAT MIRROR M. MADELEINE
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Section 67
CHAPTER II—FANTINE HAPPY
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Section 68
CHAPTER III—JAVERT SATISFIED
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Section 69
CHAPTER IV—AUTHORITY REASSERTS ITS RIGHTS
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Section 70
CHAPTER V—A SUITABLE TOMB
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Section 71
CHAPTER I—WHAT IS MET WITH ON THE WAY FROM
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Section 72
CHAPTER II—HOUGOMONT
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Section 73
CHAPTER III—THE EIGHTEENTH OF JUNE, 1815
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Section 74
CHAPTER IV—A
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Section 75
CHAPTER V—THE QUID OBSCURUM OF BATTLES
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Section 76
CHAPTER VI—FOUR O’CLOCK IN THE AFTERNOON
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Section 77
CHAPTER VII—NAPOLEON IN A GOOD HUMOR
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Section 78
CHAPTER VIII—THE EMPEROR PUTS A QUESTION TO THE
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Section 79
CHAPTER IX—THE UNEXPECTED
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Section 80
CHAPTER X—THE PLATEAU OF MONT-SAINT-JEAN
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Section 81
CHAPTER XI—A BAD GUIDE TO NAPOLEON; A GOOD GUIDE
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Section 82
CHAPTER XII—THE GUARD
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Section 83
CHAPTER XIII—THE CATASTROPHE
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Section 84
CHAPTER XIV—THE LAST SQUARE
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Section 85
CHAPTER XV—CAMBRONNE
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Section 86
CHAPTER XVI—QUOT LIBRAS IN DUCE?
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Section 87
CHAPTER XVII—IS WATERLOO TO BE CONSIDERED GOOD?
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Section 88
CHAPTER XVIII—A RECRUDESCENCE OF DIVINE RIGHT
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Section 89
CHAPTER XIX—THE BATTLE-FIELD AT NIGHT
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Section 90
CHAPTER I—NUMBER 24,601 BECOMES NUMBER 9,430
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Section 91
CHAPTER II—IN WHICH THE READER WILL PERUSE TWO
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Section 92
CHAPTER III—THE ANKLE-CHAIN MUST HAVE UNDERGONE
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Section 93
CHAPTER I—THE WATER QUESTION AT MONTFERMEIL
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Section 94
CHAPTER II—TWO COMPLETE PORTRAITS
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Section 95
CHAPTER III—MEN MUST HAVE WINE, AND HORSES MUST
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Section 96
CHAPTER IV—ENTRANCE ON THE SCENE OF A DOLL
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Section 97
CHAPTER V—THE LITTLE ONE ALL ALONE
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Section 98
CHAPTER VI—WHICH POSSIBLY PROVES BOULATRUELLE’S
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Section 99
CHAPTER VII—COSETTE SIDE BY SIDE WITH THE STRANGER
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Section 100
CHAPTER VIII—THE UNPLEASANTNESS OF RECEIVING INTO
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Close reading
Important passages
“MADELEINE IN MOURNING CHAPTER V—VAGUE FLASHES ON THE HORIZON CHAPTER VI—FATHER FAUCHELEVENT CHAPTER VII—FAUCHELEVENT BECOMES A GARDENER IN PARIS CHAPTER VIII—MADAME VICTURNIEN EXPENDS THIRTY FRANCS ON MORALITY CHAPTER IX—MADAME VICTURNIEN’S SUCCESS CHAPTER X—RESULT OF THE SUCCESS”
This passage relates to Family.
FamilyChunk 4
“CHAPTER IX—JONDRETTE COMES NEAR WEEPING CHAPTER X—TARIFF OF LICENSED CABS: TWO FRANCS AN HOUR CHAPTER XI—OFFERS OF SERVICE FROM MISERY TO WRETCHEDNESS CHAPTER XII—THE USE MADE OF M.”
This passage relates to Suffering.
SufferingChunk 12
“Myriel was the son of a councillor of the Parliament of Aix; hence he belonged to the nobility of the bar.”
This passage relates to Family.
FamilyChunk 26
“It was said that his father, destining him to be the heir of his own post, had married him at a very early age, eighteen or twenty, in accordance with a custom which is rather widely prevalent in parliamentary families.”
This passage relates to Family.
FamilyChunk 26
“He was well formed, though rather short in stature, elegant, graceful, intelligent; the whole of the first portion of his life had been devoted to the world and to gallantry.”
This passage relates to Meaning.
MeaningChunk 26
“The ruin of the French society of the olden days, the fall of his own family, the tragic spectacles of ’93, which were, perhaps, even more alarming to the emigrants who viewed them from a distance, with the magnifying powers of terror,—did these cause the ideas of renunciation and solitude to germinate in him?”
This passage relates to Family.
FamilyChunk 26
“Was he, in the midst of these distractions, these affections which absorbed his life, suddenly smitten with one of those mysterious and terrible blows which sometimes overwhelm, by striking to his heart, a man whom public catastrophes would not shake, by striking at his existence and his fortune?”
This passage relates to Meaning.
MeaningChunk 26
“Myriel had arrived at D—— accompanied by an elderly spinster, Mademoiselle Baptistine, who was his sister, and ten years his junior.”
This passage relates to Family.
FamilyChunk 27
“She had never been pretty; her whole life, which had been nothing but a succession of holy deeds, had finally conferred upon her a sort of pallor and transparency; and as she advanced in years she had acquired what may be called the beauty of goodness.”
This passage relates to Meaning.
MeaningChunk 28
“His sister was in receipt of a yearly income of five hundred francs, which sufficed for her personal wants at the vicarage.”
This passage relates to Family.
FamilyChunk 30
“This holy woman regarded Monseigneur of D —— as at one and the same time her brother and her bishop, her friend according to the flesh and her superior according to the Church.”
This passage relates to Family.
FamilyChunk 31
“At last!” That same evening the Bishop wrote out and handed to his sister a memorandum conceived in the following terms:— EXPENSES OF CARRIAGE AND CIRCUIT.”
This passage relates to Family.
FamilyChunk 33
Literary reading
Literary analysis
The hospital was a low and narrow building of a single story, with a small garden. Then, raising his voice:— “Hold, Monsieur the director of the hospital, I will tell you something. At times he talked to himself, and stammered lugubrious monologues in a low voice.
Literary observation 1
The hospital was a low and narrow building of a single story, with a small garden.
Literary observation 2
Then, raising his voice:— “Hold, Monsieur the director of the hospital, I will tell you something.
Literary observation 3
At times he talked to himself, and stammered lugubrious monologues in a low voice.
Literary observation 4
It is necessary that we should, in this place, give an exact idea of the dwelling of the Bishop of D—— CHAPTER VI—WHO GUARDED HIS HOUSE FOR HIM The house in which he lived consisted, as we have said, of a ground floor, and one story above; three rooms on the ground floor, three chambers on the first, and an attic above.
Literary observation 5
Mademoiselle Baptistine had also in her own room a very large easy-chair of wood, which had formerly been gilded, and which was covered with flowered pekin; but they had been obliged to hoist this bergère up to the first story through the window, as the staircase was too narrow; it could not, therefore, be reckoned among the possibilities in the way of furniture.
Literary observation 6
G——, calm, his body almost upright, his voice vibrating, was one of those octogenarians who form the subject of astonishment to the physiologist.
Ideas
Philosophical analysis
MADELEINE IN MOURNING CHAPTER V—VAGUE FLASHES ON THE HORIZON CHAPTER VI—FATHER FAUCHELEVENT CHAPTER VII—FAUCHELEVENT BECOMES A GARDENER IN PARIS CHAPTER VIII—MADAME VICTURNIEN EXPENDS THIRTY FRANCS ON MORALITY CHAPTER IX—MADAME VICTURNIEN’S SUCCESS CHAPTER X—RESULT OF THE SUCCESS CHAPTER XI—CHRISTUS NOS LIBERAVIT CHAPTER XII—M. Was he, in the midst of these distractions, these affections which absorbed his life, suddenly smitten with one of those mysterious and terrible blows which sometimes overwhelm, by striking to his heart, a man whom public catastrophes would not shake, by striking at his existence and his fortune? Myriel was utterly astonished to learn that he had been appointed Bishop of D—— What truth was there, after all, in the stories which were invented as to the early portion of M.
Philosophical observation 1
MADELEINE IN MOURNING CHAPTER V—VAGUE FLASHES ON THE HORIZON CHAPTER VI—FATHER FAUCHELEVENT CHAPTER VII—FAUCHELEVENT BECOMES A GARDENER IN PARIS CHAPTER VIII—MADAME VICTURNIEN EXPENDS THIRTY FRANCS ON MORALITY CHAPTER IX—MADAME VICTURNIEN’S SUCCESS CHAPTER X—RESULT OF THE SUCCESS CHAPTER XI—CHRISTUS NOS LIBERAVIT CHAPTER XII—M.
Philosophical observation 2
Was he, in the midst of these distractions, these affections which absorbed his life, suddenly smitten with one of those mysterious and terrible blows which sometimes overwhelm, by striking to his heart, a man whom public catastrophes would not shake, by striking at his existence and his fortune?
Philosophical observation 3
Myriel was utterly astonished to learn that he had been appointed Bishop of D—— What truth was there, after all, in the stories which were invented as to the early portion of M.
Philosophical observation 4
The usage being that bishops shall announce their baptismal names at the head of their charges and their pastoral letters, the poor people of the country-side had selected, with a sort of affectionate instinct, among the names and prenomens of their bishop, that which had a meaning for them; and they never called him anything except Monseigneur Bienvenu [Welcome].
Philosophical observation 5
“What a strange burden of titles is cheerfully imposed on him, and how much wit must men have, in order thus to press the tomb into the service of vanity!” He was gifted, on occasion, with a gentle raillery, which almost always concealed a serious meaning.
Philosophical observation 6
He said, “The faults of women, of children, of the feeble, the indigent, and the ignorant, are the fault of the husbands, the fathers, the masters, the strong, the rich, and the wise.” He said, moreover, “Teach those who are ignorant as many things as possible; society is culpable, in that it does not afford instruction gratis; it is responsible for the night which it produces.
Context
Historical context
The Revolution came; events succeeded each other with precipitation; the parliamentary families, decimated, pursued, hunted down, were dispersed. Charles Myriel emigrated to Italy at the very beginning of the Revolution. The ruin of the French society of the olden days, the fall of his own family, the tragic spectacles of ’93, which were, perhaps, even more alarming to the emigrants who viewed them from a distance, with the magnifying powers of terror,—did these cause the ideas of renunciation and solitude to germinate in him?
Historical observation 1
The Revolution came; events succeeded each other with precipitation; the parliamentary families, decimated, pursued, hunted down, were dispersed.
Historical observation 2
Charles Myriel emigrated to Italy at the very beginning of the Revolution.
Historical observation 3
The ruin of the French society of the olden days, the fall of his own family, the tragic spectacles of ’93, which were, perhaps, even more alarming to the emigrants who viewed them from a distance, with the magnifying powers of terror,—did these cause the ideas of renunciation and solitude to germinate in him?
Historical observation 4
Very few families had been acquainted with the Myriel family before the Revolution.
Historical observation 5
The episcopal palace was a huge and beautiful house, built of stone at the beginning of the last century by M.
Historical observation 6
Myriel had no property, his family having been ruined by the Revolution.
Reflection
Questions to carry
theological
How does the work distinguish faith from certainty?
Examine how belief is tested by suffering, doubt, reason and human relationships.
philosophical
Is legal judgment presented as equivalent to moral judgment?
Notice where institutional justice agrees or conflicts with conscience and truth.
ethical
Does suffering transform the characters, or merely expose who they already are?
Compare the different ways characters respond to pain, loss and injustice.
ethical
To what extent are people responsible for consequences they desired but did not directly cause?
Consider the relationship between thought, intention, action, guilt and shared responsibility.
philosophical
What does genuine freedom require, and what responsibilities accompany it?
Consider whether freedom is presented as liberation, burden, temptation or moral obligation.
Your reading
Personal synthesis
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