Victor Hugo and Les Misérables

Victor Hugo's Les Misérables: a game with destiny

Les Misérables by Victor Hugo

The Revolution and Republic of France had failed to redress the unconscionable social conditions in which many French citizens languished. The closest thing to a homeless shelter was prison, a macabre dungeon where inmates slept on bare planks and ate rancid food. To this place the disabled, insane, hungry, or desperate citizens of France eventually found their way.

The one hope of the poor for relief was charity from those who were, if not indifferent to their plight, outright hostile to it. Workers pooled their money to buy the book not one of them could afford on their own. The struggling people of France had found an articulate illustration of the unjust forces arrayed against them. Hugo sees the world as a convoluted pattern: The immense popularity of this story has not diminished over time. Why does this story continue to charm and inspire audiences and readers?

See a Problem?

Hugo illustrates how the most profound revolution takes place in our individual consciences, how every moment we are faced with decisions to do right or wrong, and how to make in our hearts pitched battles against our own worst impulses. Time cannot change the necessity or urgency of that message—only people can. Victor Hugo died in as one of the most famous Europeans in history. At eighty-three years old, Hugo had outlived two siblings, his wife, three out of four of his children, and thousands of admirers and critics who had watched his career transform and flourish.

  • Related Articles.
  • Kindle Riches The Easy Way To Publish Your Ebook On Kindle Made Simple.
  • Simple Anti-Aging Secrets.

Prolific and protean as an artist, a politician, and a man, Hugo was capable of testing the limits of extremes, having learned the tension of polar opposites from his parents early in life. Under the care of his stoic mother, Hugo grew into a traditionalist, sworn to preserving the neo-Classical tradition of French literature and the rights of the French monarchy.

These writings all supported traditional French literature and castigated early Romanticism, an ideology that soon thereafter lured Hugo to its camp with its irresistible ideals of freedom, honesty, and originality.

Thus began a volatile and prolific career, each work fresh, surprising, and loaded with that Hugolian tendency to incite controversy. Add to this his political and cultural commentary, his travelogues, letters, speeches, and plays, and you have a corpus of work that scholars are still compiling, publishing, and analyzing.

Download This eBook

Hugo made no attempt to separate his life as a writer from his life as a citizen. In , Hugo was made a pair de France life peer and member of the Upper House , a position which should have endeared him to powerful circles and alienated him from the people. For the next twenty years, Hugo disseminated his works from Belgium and the small islands in the English Channel, smuggling political satires and polemical verse in sardine tins, walking sticks, and baggy trousers. Throughout his life, Hugo worked to further Republican virtues, affirming education and a democratic distribution of property, denouncing the unbalance of power and capital punishment.

This family avoided the actress and ex-prostitute who resided down the street from them, Juliette.

  • Les Miserables.
  • Navigation menu.
  • READERS GUIDE?
  • Les Misérables - Wikipedia.
  • Black and Blue;

Her affair with Hugo lasted for fifty years, perhaps the longest extra-marital affair in history. Neither a model of virtue or simplicity, Hugo nonetheless inspired the people of many nations and many generations to act with greater regard for others. Today it is hard to imagine a playwright whose works young men die defending, a poet whose followers cry for revolution, a thinker whose thoughts change world history.

Les Miserables by Victor Hugo - Reading Guide - www.farmersmarketmusic.com: Books

Hugo was all of these and his legacy survives through his tremendous literary bequest. He lived in a time when children were shot in the streets of Paris and governments were violently overthrown every twenty years. His presence was a beacon and a pillar, a palpable force to struggle against or with, a mad blend of courage, genius, and kindness. This powerful evocation of Paris in and the tragic tale of Quasimodo has become the classic example of French romanticism.

What about this man surprised the Bishop and why? How are the Revolutionary ideals espoused by G— similar to or different from the pure Christian ideals of the Bishop? For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. The classic novel—and hit Broadway show—about escaped convict Jean Valjean has been adapted with easy-to-read text, large type, and short chapters.

Questions and Topics for Discussion

This engaging adaptation of the timeless tale is ideal for reluctant readers and kids not yet ready to tackle the original. Hugo was… More about Victor Hugo. Literary Fiction Historical Fiction Audiobooks. Buy the Audiobook Download: Apple Audible downpour eMusic audiobooks. About Les Miserables The classic novel—and hit Broadway show—about escaped convict Jean Valjean has been adapted with easy-to-read text, large type, and short chapters.

Similar Books

Les Misérables is a French historical novel by Victor Hugo, first published in , that is considered one of the greatest. "He was no longer Jean Valjean, but No. " Victor Hugo's tale of injustice, heroism and love follows the fortunes of Jean Valjean, an escaped.

Also by Victor Hugo. Inspired by Your Browsing History. Looking for More Great Reads?