July 28, 2009 5:49 PM
Les Miserables book study - pages 821-940
With the first three sections now behind us - Fantine, Cosette and Marius - we begin the fourth: Saint-Denis. First, Hugo sets the political stage - as always showing the dramatic interplay between the larger cultural forces and the human dramas directly or indirectly affected by them.
Not being a student of French history, I find much I don't understand in these historical passages, but I'm getting more out of reading them this time around. Hugo's writing is brilliant and I'm finding gems here and there worth digging for.
As far as the historical context Hugo describes, here's the summary from SparkNotes (I didn't know about this site before, but you might want to bookmark it if you're having trouble unraveling a chapter or distilling the cogent points):
The narrator explains the causes and consequences of the 1830 July Revolution in France. After Napoléon's defeat at Waterloo in 1815, the monarchy tries to reassert the rights that it enjoyed before the French Revolution of 1789. Since the post-1815 government has been hampered by unsuccessful military campaigns and social injustice, the monarchy mistakenly believes that it can slowly rescind the rights it granted in 1815. When it attempts to do so, the government collapses, resulting in the July Revolution of 1830. The new government, however, faces as many problems as the old one. The new king, Louis-Philippe, tries to find a middle ground among the different political factions but succeeds only in alienating all sides. His miscalculations lead to another revolution in 1832. Led by Enjolras, student revolutionaries begin to organize a massive political insurrection in the Faubourg Saint-Antoine, a district of Paris.The French Revolution (1787-1799) was very different than our own. Why, if the Revolution was over, were they still having all this struggle? Why was it not successful? From The French and American Revolutions Compared:
In contrast, the French Revolution was a true civil war. Its goal was not to expel a foreign enemy, but to overthrow the government of France and establish a new political order for all of Europe. As the Revolution progressed, its Jacobin rulers thought it necessary to erase all vestiges of the past and abolish the ancient institutions of France without any clear understanding of what would replace them. They even abolished the calendar and renamed the days of the week. Professing equality and fraternity, they addressed each other as "citizen." In a mad frenzy, they set out to destroy the entire social fabric of France, including all traces of the Christian religion. Following the execution of King Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette in 1793, they turned on the aristocracy and the clergy. Those who escaped capture fled the country. The rest were marched to the guillotine, a new and efficient decapitating device first conceived by a French doctor to reduce extended suffering and speed up mass executions. Eventually all classes, including the peasants, fell victim to the Revolution. During the Reign of Terror in 1793, when Maximillian Robespierre was in charge of the Committee of Public Safety, it is estimated that 4,554 persons were put to death by revolutionary courts. In 1794, Robespierre himself felt the executioner's blade. In this bloody revolution, it has been said, France was at war not only with itself but with Western civilization. "With regard to the lawfulness of the origin, character of the conduct, quality of the object, and compass of resistance," Gentz concluded, "every parallel" drawn between the French and American revolutions "will serve much more to display the contrast than the resemblance between them."
This is important in understanding Les Miserables because there is an elitism as well as a bloodthirsty pattern in this part of France's history - a disregard for the inherent dignity of the individual that is really what has led to the huddled masses referred to by Hugo as Les Miserables - The Miserable Ones. In pages 840-842, Hugo discusses the ideals of socialism and I think I hear him sigh as he sees how impossible it has been to translate those ideals into a coherent reality.
So now we find ourselves with Hugo in the years following the French Revolution of 1830. For atmosphere, here is the second act's opening song - in which the audience meets Gavroche and Marius and Enjolras for the first time (keep in mind this is the 10th anniversary Dream Cast so no sets or scenery, a stand-up chorus, and main characters dressed and acting their parts but in concert form) :
It is amazing to me how the writers of the musical - who had to leave an awful lot on the cutting room floor, so to speak - could establish so much so quickly. I love the breadth and depth of the book, but I also love the finely-tuned drama of the music.
In the play, from Valjean's first escape/retrieval of Cosette we fast forward 10 years to find him established at his out-of-the-way house on the Rue Plumet (rue is French for street). Left out are the first imprisonment on the ship and the years at the convent. Also abbreviated are the many months of love and longing of Marius for Cosette. All we really know of Marius is that he is one of a band of students who fancy themselves to be revolutionaries who will lead "the people" into a glorious future:
Again the interplay between the personal and the political - with different personalities establishing different priorities. And I have to say, the strong character of Enjolras is very appealing to me. . . . He is a natural born leader.
But back to the book: Thenardier is in prison. Marius is pining for a young lady whose name he does not know. Eponine is looking for Marius, but when she finds him all he wants from her is to find out where "the lark" lives (page 876).
Book Three takes a break from the narrative to show us where Valjean and Cosette live - The house on the Rue Plumet. As in so many specific places Hugo describes, I have a feeling this was a real place preceding his writing by 40 years. And now he goes back some time before to fill us in on how Valjean came to bring Cosette here.
It seems that Valjean just can't help himself - as the years go by, he becomes more and more selfless. In the convent, he realizes that he is in the perfect place to be close to Cosette the rest of his life as she would - knowing only the cloistered environment of the school - quite naturally become a nun herself. Pages 879-880 describe his moral dilemma as he realizes that she has a right to know what she would be giving up - and his very human fear that she might someday realize what had happened and hate him.
When Fauchelevent dies, they leave the cloister and move into a more normal, but still very quiet life (not yet at house on the Rue Plumet). Cosette loves her father, as beautifully described on page 889. She loves listening to him, and Hugo tells us that he was a great reader who had become a well-spoken man.
And then she loved her father, that is to say, Jean Valjean, with all her heart, with a frank filial passion that made the good man a welcome and very pleasant companion for her. . . At the Luxembourg in their conversations, he gave long explanationsl of everything, drawing on what he had read, drawing also on what he had suffered. As she listened, Cosette's eyes wandered dreamily,The simple man was enough for Cosette's thoughts, even as the wild garden was for her eyes. . .
And then we hear the other side of the story - we've heard Marius's - of the walks in the Luxembourg. And we hear described what happened in that period between the time Marius on his daily walks barely noticed an old man and a little girl and when after a six month absence he was shaken to the core by a radiant and irresistible young lady.
Talk about romantic! Page 896: "The Battle Commences" - have you noticed the irony in many of Hugo's chapter titles?
In her seclusion, Cosette, like Marius in his, was ready to catch fire. Destiny, with its mysterious and fatal patience, was slowly bringing these two beings closer, fully charged and languishing with the stormy electricities of passion, these two souls holding love as two clouds hold lightning, which were to meet and mingle in a glance like clouds in a flash.
Wow.
Other thoughts of Hugo on love:
Few people dare say nowadays that two beings have fallen in love because they have looked at each other, Yet that is the way love begins, and only that way. The rest is only the rest and comes afterwards.
And then, oddly enough, the first symptom of true love in a man is timidity, in a young woman boldness. This is surprising and yet nothing is more natural. It is the two sexes tending to unite, and each acquiring the qualities of the other.
Their flirtation - though it seems so much heavier than that - is carried on through looks and glances only. But Marius is so lovesick that he eventually overplays his hand and follows Valjean and Cosette home. When Valjean learns he has been asking about them, he packs up his daughter and moves to the Rue Plumet.
Now begins a time of great sadness for all three of them. And Valjean and Cosette are incapable of communicating anything about their grief. Their one happiness is to take food and clothing to the poor. And it is then they meet the Jondrettes and that one night Valjean comes home with a wound on his arm - the self-inflicted burn from the ambush he escaped.
One evening Valjean is attacked by a dandy-ish thief named Montparnasse, who is amazed by the brute strength of the old man, who overcomes his assailant, gives him a dissertation on the value of work and gives him his purse of his own volition. Except for the absence of the benediction he received, this is an echo of the moment the Bishop's act of mercy in releasing Valjean the thief.
However, the outcome is not the same. Montparnasse appears to be unmoved.
Witness to this vicious vignette has been Gavroche, who steals the purse from Montparnasse's pocket not to feed himself but to leave in the pocket of a destitute old man. We will see many more acts of mercy from this ragged little gamin.
Cosette, who spends much time in an uncultivated garden that is part of the grounds of the house on the Rue Plumet - a garden which Hugo lingers over lovingly as a symbol of the love that will bloom and blossom therre - begins to be troubled by sounds and shadows outside her window coming from her special place.
And then one night she finds a letter. And what a romantic - but in a substantive way - letter! Rather than quote from it, I'll just urge you if you weren't struck by its beauty to go back and read pages 932-35 again. Would you have been ready to fall into this man's arms when stole into your garden?
Here is the scene from the play - which also incorporated Eponine, who you remember has helped Marius find Cosette even though she loves him herself:
Though this is a happy ending, there's a lot more story to go. See you next week.
Please tell us what you're thinking.
~~~~~~~~
Remember: complete notes, resources, maps,. music available by clicking on Les Miz icon and scrolling to the bottom to read forward.
Posted in Les Miserables Book Study | Permalink
Comments
Great summary! The French Revolution was different from the American Revolution in more ways than people realize. Americans embraced the wisdom of the Bible and sought to establish a new nation upon Biblical principles (sans an established government church), while the French chose to throw out religion altogether and establish "reason" as the goddess of their new republic...a large part of the reason why their revolution turned into a horrific, murderous nightmare. Here's a fantastic article on the starkly different philosophies which drove the two revolutions: http://townhall.com/columnists/DavidRStokes/2009/07/05/which_revolution&Comments=true
Posted by: Rachel | July 29, 2009 2:39 AM
This has been one of my favorite parts! I'm a sucker for a good love story. I've seen the theatrical version, and I'm so glad I'm reading the book. Although the musical does an incredible job of relating the story in a relatively short amount of time, this part of the story gets much better attention and understanding in the book. Thanks again for encouraging us to read it, Barbara!
Posted by: Joani | July 29, 2009 10:53 AM
Wow- I loved the part of the book where Eponine not only saves Cosette and Jean from the robbers conspiring in the prison, but she also leads Marius to Cosette, knowing of his own disinterest in her. Such selflessness! My heart broke for her as she watched his hopes rise while hers were dashed away. It just goes to show that the family a person is born into does not fatally determine their moral character. The whole love story section moved me to tears! I would wish such a love on my children:).
Poor Jean, in all his own agony over Cosette's coming of age, I hope he can learn to see Cosette's gain as his own. To gain a son in addition to a daughter is one of the joys of marriage:). Marius too would gain a good father, which hopefully could fill the ache inside which he has towards his own deceased and unknown father.
I can't wait to see how it all turns out! Thanks again for the reading suggestion!
Posted by: Sarah | August 3, 2009 2:53 PM
I tried to leave a comment previously, but somehow navigated away in the middle of typing it up. Hopefully this is not a duplicate.
Thank you for the historical background information. It is very helpful to me in understanding the setting.
I love the innocence demonstrated in Marius and Cosette’s relationship. Thankfully their hearts were both pure as one could easily taken advantage of either of them. Such innocence is refreshing to see as it is not something often portrayed today.
My heart hurt for Valjean and Cosette’s relationship as Valjean tried to hold tight to Cosette. It reminded me to enjoy every moment of every stage with my littles, but that ultimately, my goal as a mom is to work myself out of a job. It also is a good reminder to invest love in my children so that the relationship will, Lord willing, remain strong despite the changing dynamics of life.
I thought that Valjean’s lecture to Montparnasse on pages 920 – 923 was excellent. He has such wise words for Montparnasse, yet they fall on deaf ears. I hope that Gavroche will take them to heart.
I am so glad that all the strands of this story are beginning to weave together and look forward to seeing how it all turns out. I have never read, watched, or even really heard much of the storyline of Les Mis before, so it’s all a surprise for me!
Posted by: Karen | August 20, 2009 9:13 PM
