Les Misérables is set in multiple locations in Paris and Montreuil-sur-Mer, often featuring places populated by the impoverished and downtrodden. Like some other notable authors of the era, such as Honoré de Balzac and Stendhal, Victor Hugo employs realist elements to tackle complex issues in urban French society.

How historically accurate is Les Misérables?

The historic events are real (like Waterloo, the revolution,…) The characters, however probably not real. There may be some real people that inspired Hugo to come up with a character in his novel. But in order to express his view, most novelists adapt the characters, idealize them, or evilize them.

Where in France is Les Mis Set?

Paris: City of light, city of love, and city of Victor Hugo's Les Misérables! Immortalized in its many incarnations, from the page to the stage to screens both big and small, Hugo's Paris of 1832 largely exists no more.

What is the true story behind Les Misérables?

Valjean's character is loosely based on the life of the ex-convict Eugène François Vidocq. Vidocq became the head of an undercover police unit and later founded France's first private detective agency. He was also a businessman and was widely noted for his social engagement and philanthropy.

Is Les Misérables set in the French Revolution?

The films and musicals often play up the revolution portion of Les Misérables, so it's only natural that people associate it with one of France's most widely known historical events. However, Les Misérables is actually set 43 years after the French Revolution took place, during an uprising known as the June Rebellion.

Les Mis In 60 Seconds

What war is being fought in Les Misérables?

What are they fighting for in Les Miserables? The strict answer is that the fighting is part of the June Rebellion of 1832 in support of a return to a republic and the end of the monarchy of Louis Philippe.

What historical event are Les Misérables based on?

June Rebellion: Inspiration for Hugo's Les Misérables

Victor Hugo, a well-known author of the 19th century, was inspired by the events of 1832 to write one of his best-known works, Les Misérables. However, it is a common misconception that Les Misérables takes place during the first French Revolution of 1789.

What caused Fantine death in Les Miserables?

After he abandons her, she is forced to look after their child, Cosette, on her own. Originally a beautiful and naive girl, Fantine is eventually forced by circumstances to become a prostitute to support her daughter, losing her beauty and health until she finally dies of tuberculosis.

Who adopted Cosette when Fantine died?

Fantine might die, but her love for Cosette ensures Cosette's survival. Jean Valjean adopts Cosette as his own daughter, and the young rebel Marius Pontmercy falls in love with her.

Who is the real life equivalent of Jean Valjean?

Valjean's character is loosely based on the life of Eugène François Vidocq, an ex-convict who became a successful businessman widely noted for his social engagement and philanthropy. Vidocq helped Hugo with his research for Claude Gueux and Le Dernier jour d'un condamné (The Last Day of a Condemned Man).

What does "les miserables" mean in English?

In English, the novel's title literally translates to "the miserable ones." However, the meaning in French is more specifically about the disenfranchised, which describes most of the main characters.

What city was Les Misérables based on?

Les Misérables is set in multiple locations in Paris and Montreuil-sur-Mer, often featuring places populated by the impoverished and downtrodden. Like some other notable authors of the era, such as Honoré de Balzac and Stendhal, Victor Hugo employs realist elements to tackle complex issues in urban French society.

Where did they shoot Les Misérables?

Filming locations in England included Boughton House, the Chantry Chapel and Cloisters at Winchester College, Winchester Cathedral Close, Her Majesty's Naval Base Portsmouth, Chatham Dockyard, the Ashridge Estate, St Mary the Virgin Church, Ewelme, South Oxfordshire and Pinewood Studios.

What is the main message of Les Misérables?

The main theme of Les Miserables is social injustice. Many of the characters in the novel are victims of injustice who are unable to seek recompense through traditional channels. Jean Valjean, as a former convict, is scorned because of his mistakes.

What is the main problem in Les Misérables?

Major conflict Valjean struggles to transform himself from a thief into an honest man; over the years he struggles to stay a step ahead of the zealous police officer Javert and tries to raise his adopted daughter, Cosette.

Who suffers the most in Les Misérables?

Emma Oliveros The most miserable or tragic character in Les Miserables for me is Eponine. As soon as I read about her, my heart really felt sad about her. Like she was an innocent, poor one. I honestly forgot she was once evil to Cosette.

Why did they take Fantine's teeth?

In the acclaimed musical and novel Les Miserables, an unmarried woman named Fantine struggles to support her daughter in 19th century France. Fantine resorts to selling her possessions, her hair, her teeth, and eventually herself in order to send more and more money to the family caring for Cosette.

Who is Fantine's illegitimate daughter?

Euphrasie, nicknamed Cosette by her mother, is the illegitimate daughter of Fantine and Félix Tholomyès, a rich student.

What killed Jean Valjean?

Answer and Explanation:

Jean Valjean, the protagonist of the novel, dies of natural causes at the end of the novel. The denouement of the novel reveals that he does die as an integral man. Valjean transitions under Bishop Myriel's candlesticks.

Was Cosette actually sick?

She didn't know that Cosette wasn't really sick. It was all a trick for the Thenardiers to get more money from her. Fantine coughed while she sewed the soldiers' shirts. She was coughing when she read Monsieur Thenardier's next letter.

Who is Cosette's biological father?

Félix Tholomyès – Fantine's lover and Cosette's biological father. A wealthy, self-centered student in Paris originally from Toulouse, he eventually abandons Fantine when their daughter is two years old.

What is Fantine's dying wish?

Before she died, Fantine wanted to see Cosette one last time. She begged of Jean Valjean to being her daughter to her. Without a word, he nodded his assent and left to fetch her. The only thing keeping Fantine's failing heart from giving out was her fervent wish to see Cosette.

What is the famous quote of Victor Hugo?

"To love is to act."

Hugo believed in active love — calls to action recur repeatedly in his writings: “It is not easy to keep silent when silence is a lie.” “Being good is easy; what's difficult is being just.” And “No army can withstand the strength of an idea whose time has come.”

How historically accurate is Les Mis?

Essentially, yes. Victor Hugo was present for the June Rebellion of 1832, and had written about the events in France that led up to it. The students who planned and executed the uprising were very much real, however Les Amis is a fictionalization of these students.

Why was Victor Hugo exiled?

When Louis Napoleon (Napoleon III) seized complete power in 1851, establishing an anti-parliamentary constitution, Hugo openly declared him a traitor to France. He moved to Brussels, then Jersey, from which he was expelled for supporting a Jersey newspaper that had criticised Queen Victoria.