Beginning in 1815 and culminating in the 1832 June Rebellion in Paris, the novel follows the lives and interactions of several characters, particularly the struggles of ex-convict Jean Valjean and his experience of redemption.

What time period are Les Misérables set in?

Set in early 19th-century France, Les Misérables is the story of Jean Valjean, a French peasant, and his desire for redemption, released in 1815 after serving nineteen years in jail for stealing a loaf of bread for his sister's starving child.

Is Les Misérables set during 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.

What is the historical timeline of Les Misérables?

But the 1789 revolution is not the backdrop for Les Misérables. Instead, Hugo's novel and the musical take place during the Bourbon Restoration (1815-1830) and the very beginning of the July Monarchy (1830-1848).

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.

Les Mis In 60 Seconds

What is the deeper meaning of Les Misérables?

The primary message of Les Misérables is one of hope. The book describes a lot of misery for a lot of characters, but it also focuses on the possibility that the world will improve.

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.

What war was in Les Misérables?

A major political event that is occurring when Les Mis begins is the Napoleonic Wars. In June 1815, the Duke of Wellington defeated Napoleon at Waterloo which sent the French Emperor into exile (yay!) The Napoleonic Wars were very expensive.

How old is Jean Valjean in the timeline?

Answer and Explanation: In les Miserables, Jean Valjean is about forty-six years old when the novel begins. Valjean was born in 1769, and he was sentenced to nineteen years in prison for stealing bread in 1795 at the age of twenty-six. At the end of the novel, when he dies, he is sixty-four years old.

Was Victor Hugo a royalist?

Although he was a committed royalist when young, Hugo's views changed as the decades passed, and he became a passionate supporter of republicanism, serving in politics as both deputy and senator. His work touched upon most of the political and social issues and the artistic trends of his time.

What part of Les Misérables is true?

Many of the incidents in the book - including Cosette's poor living conditions, the lives of Eponine and Gavroche, and Fantine's demise - were all based on real things Victor Hugo witnessed during his lifetime.

Who ruled France during Les Misérables?

Yes, the events of Les Misérables take place at a time when France was embroiled in the June Rebellion of 1832. Les Amis de l'ABC were anti-monarchist Parisian republicans who wanted to overthrow the reign of Louis Philippe.

What revolution were Les Misérables based on?

In the French historical novel Les Misérables by Victor Hugo, now a popular stage production musical, the June Rebellion, also known as the Paris Uprising of 1832, acts as a powerful backdrop to the story.

Where are Les Misérables playing in 2024?

Why is it called Les Misérables?

Updated September 30, 2021. Les Misérables has several shades of meaning in French. Translators say that Victor Hugo's novel, published in 1862, could just as well be titled The Miserable Ones, The Outcasts, The Wretched Poor, The Victims or The Dispossessed.

Why is Javert so obsessed?

Born in a prison (his mother a fortune-teller and his father serving in the prison galleys), Javert sees himself as excluded from a society that "irrevocably closes its doors on two classes of men, those who attack it and those who guard it." He becomes a law officer on the basis of "an irrepressible hatred for that ...

What does the number 24601 mean?

In Les Misérables, 24601 is Jean Valjean's (primary antagonist) prison number while serving a nineteen-year sentence for stealing bread for his sister and her children. Victor Hugo selects this as his number because he deemed him to be conceived on June 24th.

Did Jean Valjean love Cosette?

Poor old Jean Valjean, of course, loved Cosette only as a father; but, as we noted earlier, into this fatherly love his lonely single status in life had introduced every other kind of love; he loved Cosette as his daughter, and he loved her as his mother, and he loved her as his sister; and, as he had never had either ...

Is Les Mis based on a true story?

Les Misérables was inspired in part by the true story of Eugène-François Vidocq, who turned a criminal career into an anti-crime industry. He created the Bureau des Renseignements, said to be the world's first detective agency, in 1833, though he himself continued to be pursued by police.

Is Les Miserables about communism?

The students might be Bolsheviks dedicated to a redistributive paradise. But the narrator of Les Misérables was hostile to communism, writing that "equal sharing abolishes competition and, in consequence, labour". And the cruellest oppression in the story isn't economic.

Why do Les Miserables talk about Waterloo?

In Les Miserables, he used the battle of Waterloo as a plot device: the place where Marius's father dies and the battlefield where the corrupt innkeeper Thenardier crafts his brave legend (but in reality robbed the dead).

What kills Fantine in Les Mis?

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.

What is the moral lesson of Les Misérables?

Moral values in the novel “Les Miserables” are love and sincerity, forgiveness, Sacrifice, Justice/Injustice. Fantine earned less and less money from her sewing, and the Thenardiers demanded more and more money to look after Cosette.

Who is the most important character in Les Misérables?

Jean Valjean

He finds fulfillment in loving his adopted daughter and helping people who are in difficult situations, even when it means risking his own life and welfare. Valjean adopts pseudonyms to evade the police and combines a convict's street smarts with his newfound idealism and compassion.