Hugo's Cathedral: Les Miserables summary. Les Miserables

In 1815, Charles-François Myriel was the bishop of the city of Digne. He was nicknamed Bienvenu the Desired for his good deeds. This unusual man had many love affairs when he was young. He led a social life, but the Revolution changed everything. Mister Miriel went to Italy, from where he returned as a priest. At the whims of Napoleon, the old parish priest occupied the throne of the bishop. He began his career as a pastor by ceding the building of the bishop's palace to the local hospital, and he himself moved into a small, cramped house. He distributed his large salary entirely to the local poor residents. Rich and poor alike knocked on his door. Some came for alms, while others brought it. This pure man was widely respected because he had the gift of forgiveness and healing.
In October, a dusty traveler entered the city of Digne.

He was a stocky, stocky man in the prime of his life. His poor clothes and weathered, gloomy face made a repulsive impression. First he went to the city hall, and then tried to settle down somewhere for the night. However, he was persecuted from everywhere, even though he was ready to pay in full coin. This man's name is Jean Valjean. He was in hard labor for nineteen years because he once stole a loaf of bread for the hungry seven children of his widowed sister. When he became embittered, he turned into a hunted wild animal. With his yellow passport, he could not find a place for himself in this world. Finally, one woman took pity on him and advised him to turn to the bishop. Bishop Bienvenu listened to his grim confession and ordered him to be fed in the guest room. In the middle of the night Jean woke up. He was haunted by 6 silver cutlery, because this was the only wealth of the bishop that was kept in the bedroom. On tiptoe, Valjean approached the bishop's bed, broke open the cabinet with silver and wanted to crush the good shepherd's head with a massive candlestick, but some inexplicable force held him back. And he escaped through the window.

In the morning, the gendarmes brought a fugitive with stolen silver to the bishop. Monseigneur has the right to send Valjean to hard labor for life. Instead, Mr. Miriel brought out 2 silver candlesticks, which yesterday’s guest allegedly forgot. The bishop's final advice was to use the gift to become a decent person. The convict hastily left the city. A painful, complex work was taking place in his coarsened soul. At sunset, he took a 40 sou coin from a boy he met. It was only when the boy began to cry bitterly and ran away that Valjean realized how vile his act was. He sits down on the ground and for the first time in 19 years begins to cry bitterly.

In 1818, the city of Montreal began to prosper, and it owes this to one person: 3 years ago, an unknown person settled here, who managed to improve the local traditional craft - the production of fake jet. D. Madeleine not only became rich himself, but also helped many others increase their wealth. Just recently, unemployment was raging in the city - now everyone has forgotten about the need. D. Madeleine is distinguished by unusual modesty. He was not interested in either his Order of the Legion of Honor or his parliamentary seat. However, in 1820 he happened to become the mayor of the city: an ordinary old woman put him to shame. She told him that it was shameful to back down when there was an opportunity to do good. And D. Madeleine turns into Mr. Madeleine. Everyone was in awe of him. He was a man who was suspicious of him - policeman Javert. He had room in his soul for only two feelings, which he carried to the extreme - hatred of rebellion and respect for authority. In his eyes, a judge could never miss, and a criminal could never correct himself. He himself was blameless to the point of disgust. All his life he followed - this was the meaning in Javert's life.

One day a policeman informed the mayor that he needed to leave for the neighboring city of Arras. There will be a trial in the case of Jean Valjean, a former convict who, after his release, committed a robbery of a boy. Previously, Javert believed that Jean Valjean was hiding under the guise of Mr. Madeleine - but this turned out to be a mistake. The mayor, having released Javert, fell into deep thoughts and then left the city. In Arras, during the trial, the defendant stubbornly refused to admit that he was Jean Valjean and claimed that his name was D. Chanmathieu and there was no guilt behind him. The judge was ready to pronounce a sentence, but at that moment an unknown man stood up and announced that he was Jean Valjean. It soon turned out that the mayor, Mr. Madeleine, was the escaped convict. Javert was triumphant as he had cleverly set a snare for the criminal.
The court pronounced its verdict: Valjean should be sent for life to Toulon on the galleys. When he found himself on the Orion ship, he saved the life of a sailor who fell from the yard, and then threw himself from a great height into the sea. A message appeared in the newspapers of Toulon that Jean Valjean had drowned. But after some period of time he showed up in Montfermeil. When he was mayor, he treated very strictly a woman who gave birth to an illegitimate child, and repented when he remembered the merciful Bishop Miriel. Before his death, Fantine asked him to take care of Cosette. The Thenardier family embodied the malice and cunning that went together in marriage. They all tortured the girl in their own way: they beat her, forced her to work until she died. It was all my wife's fault. The girl walked barefoot and in rags in winter - her husband was to blame for this. Jean Valjean takes Cosette and moves in with her on the remote outskirts of Paris. He taught the little girl to read and write and allowed her to play to her heart's content. Soon she became his meaning of life. However, Inspector Javert did not give him peace here either. He staged a night raid and Jean Valjean miraculously escaped by jumping unnoticed into the garden through a blank wall. It turned out that there was a convent there. Cosette was taken to a monastery boarding house, and her stepfather became an assistant gardener.

Mr. Gillenormand lived at that time with his grandson, who had a different surname - the boy's name was Marius Pontmercy. Marius's mother died, and he never saw his father. Georges Pontmercy rose to the rank of colonel and almost died in the battle of Waterloo. Marius learned about all this from the dying message of the pope, who for him turned into a titanic figure. The former royalist became a passionate admirer of the emperor himself and almost hated his grandfather. Marius left home with a scandal. Now he lived very poorly, but this brought him a sense of freedom and independence. Walking through the garden of Luxembourg, Marius noticed an old man accompanied by a girl of fifteen years old. Marius fell passionately in love with a stranger, but his natural shyness prevented him from meeting her. The elder noticed Marius’s close attention and therefore moved out of the apartment and stopped coming to the garden.

An unhappy young man thinks that he has lost his beloved forever. But one day he heard a familiar voice behind the wall. It was the apartment of the large Jondrette family. He looked through the crack and saw the same old man from the garden. He promised to bring money in the evening. Most likely, Jondrette had the opportunity to blackmail him. Marius was an interested party, so he overheard the scoundrel conspiring with a gang called the Cock Hour. In the conversation, he hears how they want to set a trap for the old man and take everything from him. Marius notified the police about this. Inspector Javert thanked him for his participation and handed him pistols just in case. The young man sees a terrible scene - the innkeeper Thenardier, hiding under the name Jondrette, managed to track down Jean Valjean. Marius is about to intervene, but the police, led by Javert, burst into the room. While the inspector was dealing with the bandits, Jean Valjean jumped out the window.

In 1832, there was fermentation in Paris. Marius's friends were delirious with the ideas of revolution, but the young man was interested in something completely different - he continued to persistently look for the girl from the garden in Luxembourg. Finally, luck smiled on him. With the help of Thénardier's daughter, he found Cosette and confessed his love to her. It turned out that Cosette had also been in love with Marius for a long time. Jean Valjean suspected nothing. What bothered the former convict more was that Thenardier was watching their neighborhood. In June, an uprising broke out in the city. Marius could not leave his friends. Cosette wanted to send a message for him, and then Jean Valjean’s eyes finally opened: his girl had already matured and found her love. Despair, along with jealousy, choked the convict, and he decided to go to the barricade, which was defended by the Republicans along with Marius. They fall into the hands of a disguised Javert - the detective is captured, and Jean Valjean again meets his enemy. He had the opportunity to deal with him, but the noble convict preferred to free the policeman. At that moment, government troops were advancing: one after another, the defenders of the barricade died. Among them was a nice boy named Gavroche. Marius's collarbone was crushed by a rifle shot and he found himself at the mercy of Jean Valjean.

The convict carried Marius on his shoulders from the battlefield. Punishers were prowling everywhere, and Valjean descended into the underground sewers. The detective allowed Valjean to take Marius to his grandfather and go to say goodbye to Cosette. Valjean was very surprised when he realized that the policeman had let him go. The most tragic moment came for Javert: he broke the law for the first time and released a criminal.

Marius remained for a long time between death and life. Finally, youth has won. He met Cosette and their love blossomed. They received the blessing of Jean Valjean and M. Gillenormand, who completely forgave his grandson. In February 1833 the marriage took place. Valjean admitted to Marius that he was an escaped convict. Pontmercy was horrified, since nothing should have overshadowed Cosette’s happiness, so the criminal should gradually disappear from her life. At first, Cosette was a little surprised, but then she got used to the rare visits of her former patron. Soon the old man stopped coming completely, and the girl forgot about him. Jean Valjean began to fade and waste away. They invited a doctor for him, but he just threw up his hands - medicines are not able to help here. Marius thinks that the convict deserves such treatment. He already began to believe that it was he who robbed Mr. Madeleine and killed Javert, who saved him from the bandits. Then Thenardier revealed all the secrets: Jean Valjean is neither a thief nor a murderer. besides, it was he who carried Marius out of the barricade. The young man paid the innkeeper generously. The scoundrel once did a good deed, rummaging in the pockets of the dead and wounded. And the man he saved was named Georges Pontmercy. Marius and Cosette went to see Jean Valjean. They wanted to ask him for forgiveness. The convict died happy - his beloved children finally took his last breath. A young couple ordered a touching epitaph for the grave of the sufferer.

A summary of the novel “Les Miserables” was retold by A. S. Osipova.

Please note that this is only summary literary work"Les Miserables" This summary omits many important points and quotes.

Victor Hugo

Les Miserables

As long as, by the force of laws and morals, a social curse exists, which, in the midst of the flourishing of civilization, artificially creates hell and aggravates the fate depending on God with fatal human predestination; as long as the three main problems of our age continue to exist - the humiliation of man because of his belonging to the proletarian class, the fall of woman due to hunger, the withering away of the child due to the darkness of ignorance; as long as social suffocation is possible in some sections of society; in other words, and from an even broader point of view - as long as there is need and ignorance on earth, books like this will perhaps turn out to be quite useful.

Hauteville House, 1862

Part one

Book one

RIGHTEOUS

I. Bishop Miriel

In 1815, the Right Reverend Charles-François-Bienvenu Myriel was bishop of Digne. He was an old man of about seventy, who had occupied the episcopal throne in Digne since 1806. It may be useful, although this does not at all relate to the essence of our story, to convey here, for greater accuracy, those rumors and rumors that circulated about him upon his arrival in the diocese. What is said falsely or fairly about people often occupies the same place in their lives, and especially in their fate, as their actions. His Eminence Miriel was the son of a councilor of the court chamber of the city of Aix, and therefore belonged to the judicial aristocracy. They said that his father, who intended him to be his successor in office, married him very early, at the age of eighteen or twenty, which was a fairly common custom in parliamentary families. Despite his marriage, Charles Myriel was said to continue to provide fodder for gossip. He was well built, despite his short stature, graceful, elegant and witty; the first part of his life was devoted to light and success with women.

The revolution has arrived; events alternated; the magistracy, ruined, persecuted and expelled, scattered. Charles Miriel emigrated to Italy at the very beginning of the revolution. His wife died there from a chest illness that she had suffered from for a long time. They had no children. What revolution took place then in the life of Mr. Miriel? Was it the collapse of ancient French society, the fall of his own family, or the tragic events of 1993, which assumed even more threatening proportions in the eyes of the emigrants, looking at them from afar, through exaggerated fears, that instilled in him the idea of ​​renunciation and withdrawal from the world? Or, in the midst of the entertainments and affections that filled his life, he was suddenly struck by one of the secret and all-crushing blows that, directly touching the heart, strikes a person who is able to stand calmly in the midst of social upheavals that destroy his existence and well-being. Nobody could give an answer to this. All they knew was that he had returned from Italy as a priest.

In 1804, Miriel filled the duties of curé at Brignoles. He was already old and lived in deep solitude.

During the era of the coronation, some insignificant matter upon his arrival, exactly what is unknown, forced him to come to Paris. Among other influential persons, he petitioned Cardinal Fesch (1) regarding the case of his parishioners. One day, when the Emperor came to visit his uncle, the venerable curé, who was waiting in the hall, met His Majesty. Napoleon, noticing the old man's gaze on himself, who was examining him with some curiosity, turned around and sharply asked:

Who is this good guy looking at me?

Your Majesty, - said Miriel, - you look at a good man, and I look at a great man. Each of us can find benefit in this.

The emperor that same evening asked the cardinal the name of this curé, and some time later Miriel was surprised by the news of his appointment as bishop of Digne.

No one could say positively how much truth there was in the stories concerning the first half of Bishop Miriel’s life. Few people knew the Miriel family before the revolution.

Miriel had to experience the fate of every newcomer to a small town, where there are many talking mouths and few thinking heads. He had to experience this even though he was a bishop and because he was a bishop. But in the end, the talk to which his name was mingled was nothing more than talk: noise, chatter, words, even less than words, “clangs,” in the energetic expression of the southern dialect.

Be that as it may, after nine years of his stay as bishop in Dina, all these tales, all these topics of conversation, which at first occupied the small town and small people, were completely forgotten. No one would dare to talk about them, no one would dare to remind them.

Bishop Miriel arrived in Digne, accompanied by an old maid, Mademoiselle Baptistine, and an old woman named Magloire, a former servant of Monsieur curé and now received a double title - the young lady's maid and housekeeper of his eminence.

Mademoiselle Baptistine was a tall, pale, thin and meek person; she personified the ideal expressed by the word “venerable,” since it seems necessary for a woman to be a mother in order to become “honorable.” She was never beautiful; her whole life, which represented a series of good deeds, left the stamp of purity and clarity on her; as she grew old she acquired what might be called the beauty of kindness. What was thin in youth seemed airy in mature years, and something angelic shone through this transparency. More of a spirit than a virgin. She seemed woven from shadow with a hint of flesh in order to recognize her as a woman; a ray of light clothed in the ghost of matter; large downcast eyes, an excuse for the soul to have something to keep on earth. Madame Magloire was a little old lady, white, plump, active, always out of breath, firstly, due to constant movement, and secondly, due to asthma.

Upon his arrival, the Right Reverend Miriel was installed in the episcopal palace with all the honors prescribed by imperial decrees, assigning a place to the bishop directly after the chief of staff. The mayor and the chairman of the council paid him the first visits, and he, for his part, went on his first visit to the general and the prefect.

When the arrangement in the new place was completed, the city began to wait for the bishop to show himself in action.

II. Bishop Miriel turns into the Reverend Bienvenu

The Bishop's Palace at Dina is adjacent to the hospital. The Bishop's Palace was a vast stone building, built at the end of the last century by the Right Reverend Henri Puget, Doctor of Theology of the Faculty of Paris, and Abbot Seymour, former bishop of Digne in 1712. The palace was truly the home of a nobleman. Everything in it was on a grand scale: the bishop's quarters, the reception rooms, the front courtyard with galleries under high arches, in the ancient Florentine taste, and gardens with magnificent trees. In the dining room, a long and majestic gallery opening onto the garden, the Right Reverend Henri Puget gave a ceremonial dinner on June 29, 1714 to their eminences: Charles Brulard de Genlis, Prince Archbishop of Ambrun; Antoine Megrigny, Capuchin, Bishop of Grasse; Philippe of Vendôme, Superior of the Order of Malta in France; to the Abbot of Saint-Honoré in Lerains; François de Berton Grillon, Bishop-Baron of Vienna; Caesar de Sabran de Forcalquier, sovereign bishop of Glandev, and Jean Soanin, presbyter of the Oratory, royal court preacher, sovereign bishop of Senese. Portraits of these seven archpastors decorated the walls of the chambers, and the memorable date July 29, 1714 was inscribed in gold letters on a white marble board. The hospital was located in a small, low, one-story house with a small garden. Three days after his arrival, the bishop visited the hospital. After the visit, he invited the director to visit him.

"The writing of this book came from the inside out. The idea gave birth to the characters, the characters produced the drama."

“This book from beginning to end, in general and in detail, represents the movement from evil to good, from unjust to just, from false to true, from darkness to light, from greed to conscience, from rotting to life, from bestiality to feeling duty, from hell to heaven, from nothingness to god"

- from the first preface to the novel.

Victor Marie Hugo

Year of creation
1862

In the photo - the manuscript and drawings of V. Hugo

He wrote this book for about 30 years with interruptions...

The idea of ​​a novel about the life of the lower classes, victims of social injustice, arose from the writer at the beginning of his creative career.

Having learned in 1823 that his friend Gaspard de Pope would be passing through Toulon, he asked him to collect information about the life of convicts.

Hugo's interest in penal servitude was probably awakened by the story of an escaped convict who caused a lot of noise.

who became a colonel and was arrested in 1820 in Paris.

In 1828, the former prefect Miollis told Hugo about his brother, Monseigneur Miollis, bishop of Digne,

who provided hospitality to the freed convict Pierre Morin in 1806.

Spiritually reborn under the influence of the bishop, Morin became a military orderly and then died near Waterloo.

In 1829, Hugo placed in Chapter XXIII of “The Last Day of a Convict Condemned to Death” the story of a convict,

who has served his sentence and is faced with the prejudice and hostility of others from his first steps in freedom;

in many ways this was already reminiscent of the story of Jean Valjean.

By the beginning of 1830, Hugo began to imagine the outlines of the future novel and sketched the beginning of the preface to it: "

To those who would ask whether this story really happened, as they say, we would answer,

that it doesn't matter. If by chance this book contains a lesson or advice,

if the events it talks about or the feelings it evokes are not meaningless, then it has achieved its goal...

What matters is not that the story be true, but that it be true..."

In 1832, Hugo intended to begin direct work on “history”,

for in March of this year he entered into an agreement with the publishers Goslin and Randuelle for the publication of a novel,

the name of which was not indicated, although there is no doubt that it was about the future romance “Poverty” (“Les Miseres”),

the first version of Les Miserables.

The theater distracted the writer from the novel, but the idea of ​​the book continued to mature in his soul, enriched with new impressions,

which life gave him, and Hugo’s ever-increasing interest in social issues

(we can also find the outlines of the future novel in the 1834 story “Claude Gue”, the hero of which has a lot in common with Jean Valjean,

and in poems of the 30s and 40s associated with the ideas of social compassion).

Finally, the resounding success of "Parisian Mysteries" by Eugene Sue (1842-1843) turned Hugo's thoughts to a novel about the life of the people,

although, of course, entering into obvious competition with Sue, Hugo was not thinking about a lively feuilleton novel, but about a social epic.

On November 17, 1845, Hugo began to write the novel that he had dreamed about so much and which he called “Jean Trejean”;

two years later the title changes to “Poverty,” and at this time Hugo is so engrossed in his work that

that he decides to have lunch only at nine o’clock for two months “to lengthen his working day.”

The events of the revolution of 1848 interrupted this hard work, and Hugo returned to it again in August 1851.

This was followed by a new break caused by the December 2 coup. Hugo finishes the last part in Brussels.

The first edition of the novel was thus ready by 1852.

It consisted of four parts and contained a much smaller number of episodes and author's digressions,

than the final text. When Hugo decided in 1860 to revise the book, finally titled Les Misérables in 1854,

he gave complete freedom to the lyrical beginning of his prose.

Branches from the main storyline also appeared in it.

In 1861, during a trip to Belgium, Hugo created a description of the Battle of Waterloo in two weeks;

at the same time, new chapters are included in the novel, depicting the secret republican society “Friends of the ABC”,

the ideal image of the “priest of the revolution” Enjolras is created.

Some new shades appeared in the characterization of Marius, in which certain features were reflected

young Victor Hugo. The first edition of the book, which appeared in early 1862, sold out like lightning:

in two days the entire circulation - seven thousand copies - was sold out.

A new, second edition was immediately required, which was published two weeks later.

Poems by Hugo during the writing of the book:

Don't you have anything to fight with? OK! Hammer
Pick it up or use a crowbar!
There the pavement stone is split,
A hole has been cut through the wall.
And with a cry of rage and with a cry
Hopes, in great friendship, -
For France, for our Paris! -
In the last mad struggle,
Washing away contempt from memory,
You will establish your own order.

(Translation by P. Antokolsky)

Prototypes

Jean Valjean- one of the prototypes of the hero was the convict Pierre Morin, who in 1801 was sentenced to five years of hard labor

for a stolen piece of bread. Only one person, the bishop of the city of Digne, Monsignor de Miollis,

took a consistent part in his fate after his release, first giving shelter,

In addition to Morin, researchers also name Zh.V. among the prototypes. the famous François Vidocq,

chief of the Paris criminal police, a former convict.

It was with Vidocq that the rescue of Zh.V. described in the novel took place. old Fauchelevent from under an overturned cart.

Gavroche- Josepha Bar. He lived and fought half a century before Hugo's hero rose to the barricade, in those great days

when the French went into battle for freedom, equality and fraternity, stormed the Bastille,

they waged war with all of aristocratic Europe, fought with their own counter-revolution.

The fate of thirteen-year-old drummer Joseph Bart does not have much in common with Gavroche.

But the writer often does not need the facts of life of the real prototype and his hero to coincide exactly.

For Hugo it was important to draw a heroic character, to create a living literary character.

Joseph Barat was in this sense a magnificent “model”, from whom it was very convenient to paint the image of the young hero.

His feat could not help but excite and inspire the artist.

And it is no coincidence that so many songs were composed and so many poems were written about this little brave man,

No wonder artists and sculptors depicted him in their works.

Poets T. Rousseau, M.-J. Chenier, O. Barbier dedicated poems to him, the artist Jean-José Weerts, the sculptors David D'Angers,

Albert Lefebvre created monuments to him, and even Louis David, the world's first great painter who became a revolutionary,

Of the three paintings dedicated to the figures of the French revolution, the “martyrs of freedom” - Lepeletier and Marat, one was dedicated to Joseph Barat.

Joseph Bara- a small citizen of the French Republic, fought bravely in the ranks of the patriots.

In mid-October, the so-called Catholic and royal army of the Vendeans was surrounded at Cholet.

There were fierce battles, the rebel troops stubbornly resisted.

The more hopeless their situation was, the more fiercely they fought, using cunning and deceit.

During a skirmish in the forest, Joseph Barat was surrounded by a detachment of rebels.

Twenty gun barrels were pointed at the young drummer. Twenty Vendeans were waiting for the order of their leader.

The boy could have saved himself at the cost of shame. All one had to do was shout, as the enemies demanded, three words: “Long live the king!”

The young hero responded with the exclamation: “Long live the Republic!” Twenty bullets pierced his body.

A few hours later, revolutionary troops broke into Cholet, the last stronghold of the rebels.

After the victory at the walls of Cholet, the commissioners reported to the Convention that many brave men had distinguished themselves in battle.

Drummer Joseph Barat was first on the list of brave men.

By that time, another young hero had become known in Paris - Agricole Viala.

He was almost the same age as Joseph Bara. And he was also a little soldier -

volunteered to join a small National Guard unit in his hometown of Avignon.

In the summer of ninety-three, the detachment took part in battles with counter-revolutionaries.

The royalists, who had rebelled in the south, marched towards Avignon. Their path was blocked by the waters of the Durance River and a detachment of brave men.

The forces were too unequal to doubt the outcome of the battle.

There is only one way to prevent the rebels from moving forward: to cut the rope from the pontoon,

on which the enemies intended to cross the river. But even adults could not dare to do this -

The royalist battalions were within rifle range.

Suddenly everyone saw a boy in the uniform of a national guardsman, grabbing an ax and rushing to the shore.

The soldiers froze. Agricole Viala ran to the water and hit the rope with all his might with an axe.

A hail of bullets rained down on him. Ignoring the volleys from the opposite side,

he continued to furiously cut the rope. The fatal blow knocked him to the ground. "I'm dying for freedom!" -

were the last words of Agricole Vial. The enemies nevertheless crossed the Durance.

The boy was still alive. They angrily attacked the daredevil, stretched out on the sand near the water.

Several bayonets pierced the child's body, then he was thrown into the waves of the river.

Prototype Cosette was Zhanna Lanvin, world famous Parisian designer

A kind of “continuation” of the novel “Les Miserables”, was written by journalist Francois Ceresa -

"Cosette, or the Time of Illusions"("Cosette ou le Temps des Illusions").

The publication of this novel even caused a legal battle between the great-great-grandson of Victor Hugo, Pierre Hugo and Francois Cereza.

Film adaptations

1. "Les Miserables", film, 1935, USA, dir. R. Boleslavsky, starring Frederic March.
2. "The Life of Jean Valjean", film, 1952, USA, dir. L. Milestone.
3. "Les Miserables", film, 1958, France-Italy, dir. J. P. Le Chanois, starring Jean Gabin.
4. "Les Miserables", film, 1978, USA. starring Richard Jordan.
5. "Les Miserables", film, 1982, France, dir. R. Hossein, starring Lino Ventura.
6. "Les Miserables", film, 1998, USA, dir. B. August. Starring Liam Neeson.
7. "Les Miserables", film, 2000, France, starring Gerard Depardieu.
8. "Cosette", cartoon, USSR, 1977
9. "Les Misérables: Cosette", animated series Japan, 2007
10. "Les Miserables", film, 2012, UK, starring Hugh Jackman.

What is the secret of the great and unfading French novel, which Andre Maurois called “one of the great creations of the human mind,” and Théophile Gautier called it “a product of the elements.”

After all, the critics who have been criticizing Les Misérables for over a century and a half are formally right:

the structure of a grandiose epic cannot be considered flawless and logically consistent;

there are too many lengths, philosophical and non-philosophical reasoning, unjustified deviations

from the general line of plot development. And yet they read Les Misérables and continue to read them

burning with hatred against social injustice and the vile face of the oppressors.

Why is that? It's not hard to guess!

Because Hugo put part of his own heart into his great creation -

its beating is transmitted to everyone who comes to this source of fiery feelings!

In a foreign land, during the period of emigration from the Bonapartist republic, during the heyday of his creative powers, Victor Hugo created the greatest late-romantic painting - “Les Miserables”. With this, the writer summed up a significant part of his author’s journey. This work is still his most famous creation in the modern world.

Concept

Even in his youth, the writer had an idea for a novel that described the life of the lower class, injustice and prejudices of society. Hugo asked one of his friends to collect information about the life and life of convicts. Most likely, interest in the convicts was awakened by the story of an escaped convict who became a colonel and was later arrested in the capital of France.

The city prefect told Hugo about a relative, the bishop, who welcomed a freed convict into his home. Reborn under the influence of a clergyman, he, in turn, became a military orderly, who later died near Waterloo. In the twenty-third chapter of the novel Les Misérables, Victor Hugo wrote a story about a convict who, from the first days of his freedom, faces cruelty, prejudice and the hostility of those around him. In many ways, this story resembled the story of the main character of the work. And so, when the author had already imagined the outlines of the novel and wrote a preface to it, he was distracted by the theater. But still, the idea for the book did not leave Hugo and continued to mature in his head, enriched with new impressions and great interest in social issues and problems. In some works of that time one can find the outlines of the future novel Les Misérables.

The history of writing a historical novel

The writer is so passionate about his work that he even tries to “lengthen” his working day by moving lunch to the evening. But such hard work was interrupted first by the events of the revolution, and then by the coup. As a result, Victor Hugo finished writing the book “Les Miserables” in a foreign land, in the capital of Belgium.

Editions of the work

Compared to the final text, the first edition contained much fewer author's digressions and episodes. It consisted of four parts.

Fifteen years after starting work on the book, which Hugo finally called Les Misérables, he decided to rework the novel and give complete freedom to his lyrical prose. Due to such authorial deviations, the work has increased in volume. There are also branches from the main plot line.

While in Brussels, in two weeks the writer created chapters in the novel that described the secret republican society with the created ideal image of the priest of the revolution, as well as the battle of Waterloo.

Regarding the final edition of the book, it can be said that the author’s democratic views had deepened significantly by that time.

The idea of ​​the novel and the truth of the principles

Victor Hugo's novel “Les Miserables” is historical, since it is precisely this scale, in the author’s opinion, that is necessary to raise questions of human existence.

The main idea of ​​the plan is moral progress as the main component of social change. This is what permeates the entire mature work of the writer.

We are watching how main character Victor Hugo (Les Misérables) improves morally. That is why the author called his work “an epic of the soul.”

Social problems and the romantic idea of ​​the struggle between good and evil move into an ethical plane. According to the writer, there are two justices in life: one is the highest humanity, based on the laws of the Christian religion (bishop), and the other is determined by the laws of jurisprudence (inspector).

But, despite this, the novel that Victor Hugo wrote (“Les Miserables”), no matter how many volumes it contains (the work consists of three volumes), is aura of the romantic struggle of good with evil, mercy and life-giving love. This is precisely the core of the entire novel.

Novel "Les Miserables". Historical meaning

The historical significance of this work is that here the writer takes under protection the persecuted and oppressed people and the rejected, suffering person, and also exposes the hypocrisy, cruelty, lies and soullessness of the bourgeois world.

That is why it is impossible to remain indifferent when reading one of the best works written by Victor Hugo - “Les Miserables”. Reviews about it were also left by great Russian classics. In particular, Tolstoy, who is a great Russian humanist, called this book the best French novel. And Dostoevsky reread the work, taking advantage of his two-day arrest for violating censorship conditions.

The images of the book's heroes are integral parts of the world cultural heritage. Interest in them has not subsided to this day. It is impossible to remain indifferent to the problems that Victor Marie Hugo raised in his book. “Les Misérables” is still going through more and more publications and film adaptations, the last of which was released about three years ago. Famous Hollywood actors took part in the musical film.

The novel “Les Miserables” is one of the most famous works of the titan of French literature, Victor Hugo. The archetypal images of Jean Valjean, Inspector Javert, Cosette, Fantine, Gavroche have become integral parts of the world cultural heritage.

Despite the fact that Les Misérables was published a century and a half ago, in 1862, interest in the work does not subside. The novel successfully survives successive publications and generates new works of art. In particular, thirteen film adaptations were made based on the novel. One of the first screen versions pleased the public in 1913. It was a silent four-part film produced in France. It was created by the then popular director Albert Capellani.

The last film version of the cult work was released in 2012. The dramatic musical film was directed by Tom Hooper. The project featured Hollywood stars Hugh Jackman (Jean Valjean), Russell Crowe (Inspector Javert), Anne Hathaway (Fantine), Amanda Seyfried (Cosette) and others.

Let's remember the plot of this great epic about people who were once rejected by life and forever linked by fate.

Healing by Mercy: Bishop Miriel

France. 1815 Former convict Jean Valjean is released after nineteen years of imprisonment. Exactly so many years ago, he stole a loaf of bread for his widowed sister Jeanne and her seven children. Valjean was sentenced to four years of hard labor, and for repeated attempts to escape, another twelve years of imprisonment were added.

He spent almost two decades in the company of notorious criminals, and changed his name to number 24601. Now Valjean is free, but the so-called “yellow passport”, which is issued to all former convicts, prevents him from starting a new life. He is driven out from everywhere, despised everywhere. He's an outcast. Valjean has only one choice - to take the dark path of crime, which is the only one open to him.

Fate brings Valjean to the town of Digne. After futile attempts to find somewhere to spend the night, he comes to the house of the local bishop Miriel. Surprisingly, the dignitary treats the suspicious stranger very cordially, treats him to lunch and orders the traveler to be accommodated in one of the guest rooms. The habits of the underworld take over, and despite his host's hospitality, Valjean cannot resist stealing the silver candlesticks. At first he wants to kill the bishop himself, but at the last moment an unknown force stops the attacker and he flees the crime scene.

The next day, a man in beggar's clothing with stolen silver candlesticks is detained and brought to Miriel. Now Valjean regrets that he showed weakness and did not kill the main witness - now the priest will give testimony that will send him to hard labor for the rest of his days. Imagine Valjean’s surprise when Miriel brought out two more candlesticks, telling the guards that his guest, who was arrested by an absurd accident, had forgotten them in a hurry.

Start over again

When Valjean and Miriel are alone, the bishop encourages the man to start a new life. Let this starting capital in the form of candlesticks help him become human again.

Valjean, who has hitherto seen only evil, betrayal, injustice, greed, at first cannot understand such a selfless manifestation of mercy. Out of old habit, he catches the boy on the street and takes his money. Coming out of his stupor, Valjean suddenly understands that he was given a chance that rarely falls to someone who stumbles. He will use the bishop's gift for good and begin a new life.

Sworn Enemies: Jean Valjean and Inspector Javert

Three years later. Town of Montreal. Previously, this place was practically no different from those wretched French cities where poverty and unemployment reign. But one day a wealthy philanthropist appeared in the city and built a factory for the production of artificial jet. Montreal was transformed before our eyes, its residents began to work and glorify their benefactor, Uncle Madeleine, that was the name of the mysterious philanthropist. Despite his wealth, he was distinguished by fairness. With kindness and modesty, residents unanimously elected him mayor of Montreal.

There was only one person who disliked Madeleine - Inspector Javert. Fanatically devoted to his work, Javert strictly followed the letter of the law. He did not recognize halftones - only black and white. A person who has stumbled once will no longer be able to justify himself in the eyes of the inspector. The law is unshakable and inviolable.

The bloodhound has long been searching for the former convict Jean Valjean, who three years ago robbed a boy on the street. By cunning, Javert forces Madeleine to publicly admit that he is the same Jean Valjean. The former mayor is immediately referred to life imprisonment in the Toulon galleys. Risking his life, Valjean escapes from the ship on which the prisoners were transported. The risk was worth it, because he still had one unfulfilled promise.

A Lost Life: The Story of Fantine

A beautiful girl named Fantine worked at a Montreal factory. Inexperienced and gullible, she innocently fell in love with Felix Toloman. The poor thing had no idea that a handsome rake from a rich family would never marry a commoner. Soon Fantine gave birth to an illegitimate daughter; she named her charming baby Cosette. The girl was forced to give the baby up to the Thenardier innkeepers; the mother sent all the money she earned to her daughter, not even suspecting that the baby was getting nothing.

When the factory found out about Fantine's illegitimate child, she was immediately fired. A woman finds herself on the street without a livelihood and a roof over her head. Worried about her daughter's well-being, Fantine decides to do desperate things - she sells her luxurious hair and snow-white teeth, and then becomes a prostitute.

All this time, Valjean, the owner of the very factory where Fantine worked, remains in the dark about the fate of his ward. He meets Fantine much later, when she is dying of tuberculosis - withered, broken, fallen. Valjean curses himself for his fatal negligence. He will no longer be able to help Fantine - her life is hopelessly ruined - but it is still possible to arrange the happiness of little Cosette. Valjean swears to the dying Fantine that he will not abandon her daughter. This was the promise for which Jean Valjean survived and escaped from the convict ship.

A ray of light in the kingdom of darkness: the story of Cosette

Escaped convict Jean Valjean is unable to adopt Cosette. He steals the girl from the vile Thenardiers and goes on the run with her. Fortunately, Valjean managed to retain a considerable fortune from his days as the owner of the factory. Money matters, and Valjean begins a new life again. He places Cosette in a monastery boarding house and calls himself her father. This is how the quiet begins family life two outcasts who accidentally found each other.

Years have passed. Little Cosette turned into a beautiful girl. And soon, along with tender daughterly love, a new unknown feeling arises in Cosette’s heart for a young man named Marius Pontmercy. Having met one day while walking in the garden, Cosette and Marius could no longer forget each other. However, on the path to joint happiness, the lovers had to overcome many obstacles - a revolutionary uprising, Valjean's paternal jealousy, the persecution of Inspector Javert, who even years later did not forget about his sworn enemy Jean Valjean.

This time, fate is favorable to the heroes - Marius miraculously survives during an armed confrontation in Paris, Valjean realizes that his daughter has grown up and has the right to personal happiness, and Javert releases Valjean when he was in his hands. The convinced fanatic could not survive the collapse of his ideals, his orderly system cracked, and the law turned out to be not as fair as he thought. Javert commits suicide by throwing himself off a bridge.

We invite you to get acquainted with , a French writer whose work has gained many admirers and through whom the rich inner world of the playwright is revealed to us.

The next famous work of Victor Hugo is ““, a historical novel about an unusual man, whose appearance frightened everyone, but his true beauty was hidden deep inside.

Jean Valjean lives out his last days in mournful solitude. He was slandered in the eyes of Marius, called a convict, a bandit, a criminal. To avoid hurting Cosette, Valjean leaves her life. By a fatal accident, old Thenardier, who ruined Cosette’s childhood, reveals the truth. Cosette and Marius rush to Valjean to ask for forgiveness and find him dying. Bursting with tears, the daughter begs her father to forgive her. There is nothing to forgive - Valjean is happy. He dies with a calm heart and a smile on his lips.