The writer Victor Hugo was an old-fashioned and modest man. In his manner of behavior he was somewhat reminiscent of Zinovy Gerdt. A visible transformation occurred with him when he defended his convictions, expressed in oratorical pathos and personal courage. We will be glad, dear readers, if you yourself want to pick up this book after today’s reading of the author’s modest attempt to present a summary of the novel “Les Miserables.”
Hugo stood out even among the dynamic and determined French: he was called the Banner of the Revolution. He was a staunch opponent of violence against humans and an ardent supporter of the abolition of the death penalty. Compatriots, discussing the novel, forged in the crucible of the writer’s thoughts, feelings and beliefs, agreed on one thing: such a powerful ideological weapon against violence against a person has never happened before. Victor Hugo wrote Les Miserables with inspiration and creativity.
The summary of the epic novel at the plotting stage brings together two completely different people: the convict Jean Valjean, who served his sentence, and the bishop of the city of Digne, Charles Mariel, who sheltered and fed the destitute. Jean hates everything that exists. He is convinced: the world is unfair. He was convicted of stealing bread, which he took to feed his hungry children. Taking advantage of his presence in a wealthy house and noticing where the bishop keeps silver cutlery, the convict immediately steals it. Jean is detained by the police and brought to the bishop, but he not only drops the charge against the detainee, but also, having sent the police, gives him, in addition to the stolen goods, a couple of silver candlesticks that he had previously unnoticed. Hugo’s “Les Miserables” begins with such an almost biblical story. The summary of the book must not miss this moment of truth, a meeting that shocked Jean Valjean and, changing his inner world, aroused the desire to serve Good. However, leaving the bishop's house, he, still in a twilight state of consciousness, out of habit, took money from the boy he met. Almost immediately the convict realizes what he has done and repents, but it is impossible to return the money - the boy instantly ran away.
Jean Valjean begins to build a new life for himself.
Taking someone else's name - Madeleine - she organizes factory production of black glass products. His business is going uphill, and he, the owner of an enterprise that has benefited the city, becomes its mayor. Despite universal recognition and an award - the Order of the Legion of Honor - Madeleine is characterized by modesty and humanity. What further dynamics does the book “Les Miserables” contain? Hugo's summary is further presented with the involvement of a character - the bearer of intrigue, this is Valjean's ideological apologist - police agent Javert. It is paradoxical that, while fulfilling the misanthropic paragraphs, he acts with a clear conscience, in his mind identifying Law and Good. Like a real operative, Javert, suspecting the mayor, with an innocent look informs him about the trial of the allegedly caught convict Jean Valjean (in fact, the innocent Mr. Chanmathieu is being tried) on charges of robbing a boy.
Madeleine, as a worthy person, arrives in court and confesses that in reality he is Jean Valjean, demanding the release of the accused. Anyone who confesses by a court decision receives an excessively severe punishment - lifelong work in the galleys. Having faked his death in the depths of the sea, Valjean appears to correct his sin. By his decision as mayor, the illegitimate girl Cosette, after the death of her mother, ended up in the Thenardier family of innkeepers, who discriminated against her in every possible way. Valjean takes the girl, becomes her adoptive father and takes care of her. After all, love and care are the essence of Les Misérables. The summary (Hugo) is proof of this. The vigilant Javert organizes a night raid on Valjean here too. However, fate is kind to the sufferers; they manage to hide and find shelter at the monastery: Cosette studies at a boarding school, and Jean works as a gardener.
A young bourgeois, Marius Pontmercy, falls in love with the girl. However, the vindictive Thenardier negotiates with the bandits so that they rob and let the old man go around the world. Marius finds out about this and calls the police for help.
By chance, none other than Inspector Javert arrives to help, detaining the bandits. But Valjean himself manages to escape. Revolution engulfs Paris. By this time, Cosette marries Marius. Valjean admits to his son-in-law that he is a convict, and he distances himself from his father-in-law, considering him a criminal. Barricades are being built and local street battles are taking place. Marius protects one of them. He and his comrades capture a disguised police bloodhound - Javert. But the noble Jean Valjean arrived in time and frees him. Government troops defeat the rebels. A former convict carries his wounded son-in-law out from under fire. Human feelings awaken in Javert and he lets Valjean go. But, having broken the law, he comes into conflict with himself, ending his life with suicide.
Meanwhile, Jean is old, and life begins to freeze in him. He, not wanting to compromise Cosette, visits her less and less, fading away. At this time, conscience awakens in the villain Thenardier, and he informs Marius that his father-in-law is not a thief or a murderer, but a decent man. Marius and Cosette come to ask forgiveness for unfair suspicions. He dies happy. This is how the summary ends for the epic novel “Les Miserables”. Hugo sincerely believed (and made others believe) that the coming eras would be marked by Christian values, the internal struggle in every human being, animal and immortal. The great humanist believed that the key to the future of humanity lies in recognizing the value of every life.
The heroes of Victor Hugo are convinced romantics, strong spiritually, possessing an “inner core”, opposing lies, injustice, and cruelty with their exploits and martyrdom.
The respect of the French for Victor Hugo was clearly demonstrated in the farewell to the brilliant writer: on June 1, 1885, the French Parliament announced a national funeral. 800 thousand French were directly present at them. Even after his death he served to unite the nation!
All that remains is to agree with the words of a short farewell word that people, like spring water, will always turn to the works of the “old utopian”, who makes their “hearts tremble” with their “fantasies”.
In 1815, the bishop of the city of Digne was Charles-François Miriel, nicknamed the Desired One - Bienvenue - for his good deeds. This unusual man in his youth had many love affairs and led a social life - however, the Revolution changed everything. Mr. Miriel went to Italy, from where he returned as a priest. At the whim of Napoleon, the old parish priest occupies the episcopal throne. He begins his pastoral activity by handing over the beautiful building of the episcopal palace to the local hospital, and he himself moves into a cramped
Little house. He distributes his considerable salary entirely to the poor. Both rich and poor knock on the bishop's door: some come for alms, others bring it. This holy man is universally respected - he is given the gift of healing and forgiveness.
In early October 1815, a dusty traveler entered Digne - a stocky, dense man in the prime of his life. His beggarly clothes and gloomy weathered face make a repulsive impression. First of all, he goes to the city hall, and then tries to settle down somewhere for the night. But he is driven from everywhere, although he is ready to pay in full coin. This man's name is Jean Valjean.
He spent nineteen years in hard labor because he once stole a loaf of bread for the seven hungry children of his widowed sister. Embittered, he turned into a wild hunted beast - with his “yellow” passport there is no place for him in this world. Finally, some woman, taking pity on him, advises him to go to the bishop. After listening to the convict's gloomy confession, Monseigneur Bienvenu orders him to be fed in the guest room. In the middle of the night, Jean Valjean wakes up: he is haunted by six silver cutlery - the only wealth of the bishop, kept in the master bedroom. Valjean tiptoes up to the bishop's bed, breaks into the silver cabinet and wants to smash the good shepherd's head with a massive candlestick, but some incomprehensible force holds him back. And he escapes through the window.
In the morning, the gendarmes bring the fugitive to the bishop - this suspicious man was detained with obviously stolen silver. Monseigneur can send Valjean to hard labor for life. Instead, Mr. Miriel brings out two silver candlesticks that yesterday’s guest allegedly forgot. The bishop's final advice is to use the gift to become an honest person. The shocked convict hastily leaves the city. A complex, painful work is taking place in his coarsened soul. At sunset, he mechanically takes a forty sou coin from a boy he meets. Only when the baby runs away crying bitterly does Valjean realize the meaning of his action: he sits heavily on the ground and cries bitterly - for the first time in nineteen years.
In 1818, the town of Montreal flourished, and it owes this to one person: three years ago, an unknown person settled here, who managed to improve the traditional local craft - the production of artificial jet. Uncle Madeleine not only became rich himself, but also helped many others make their fortunes. Until recently, unemployment was rampant in the city - now everyone has forgotten about need. Uncle Madeleine was distinguished by extraordinary modesty - neither the deputy seat nor the Order of the Legion of Honor attracted him at all. But in 1820 he had to become mayor: a simple old woman shamed him, saying that he was ashamed to back down if he had the opportunity to do a good deed. And Uncle Madeleine turned into Mister Madeleine. Everyone stood in awe of him, and only the police agent Javert looked at him with extreme suspicion. In the soul of this man there was room only for two feelings, taken to the extreme - respect for authority and hatred of rebellion. In his eyes, a judge could never make a mistake, and a criminal could never correct himself. He himself was blameless to the point of disgust. Surveillance was the meaning of his life.
One day, Javert repentantly informs the mayor that he must go to the neighboring city of Arras - there they will try the former convict Jean Valjean, who immediately after his release robbed the boy. Previously, Javert thought that Jean Valjean was hiding under the guise of Monsieur Madeleine - but this was a mistake. Having released Javert, the mayor falls into deep thought and then leaves the city. At the trial in Arras, the defendant stubbornly refuses to admit that he is Jean Valjean and claims that his name is Uncle Chanmathieu and there is no guilt behind him. The judge is preparing to pronounce a guilty verdict, but then an unknown man stands up and announces that he is Jean Valjean, and the defendant must be released. The news quickly spreads that the venerable mayor, Mr. Madeleine, turned out to be an escaped convict. Javert triumphs - he cleverly set a snare for the criminal.
The jury decided to exile Valjean to the galleys in Toulon for life. Finding himself on the Orion ship, he saves the life of a sailor who fell from the yard, and then throws himself into the sea from a dizzying height. A message appears in the Toulon newspapers that the convict Jean Valjean has drowned. However, after some time he appears in the town of Montfermeil. A vow brings him here. When he was mayor, he treated a woman who gave birth to an illegitimate child too harshly, and repented, remembering the merciful Bishop Miriel. Before her death, Fantine asks him to take care of her girl Cosette, whom she had to give to the Thénardier innkeepers. The Thenardiers embodied the cunning and malice that came together in marriage. Each of them tortured the girl in his own way: she was beaten and forced to work until she was half to death - and the wife was to blame for this; she walked barefoot and in rags in winter - the reason for this was her husband. Having taken Cosette, Jean Valjean settles on the most remote outskirts of Paris. He taught the little girl to read and write and did not stop her from playing to her heart's content - she became the meaning of life for a former convict who saved the money he earned from producing jet. But Inspector Javert does not give him peace here either. He organizes a night raid: Jean Valjean is saved by a miracle, unnoticed by jumping over a blank wall into the garden - it turned out to be a convent. Cosette is taken into a monastery boarding house, and her adoptive father becomes an assistant gardener.
The respectable bourgeois Mr. Gillenormand lives with his grandson, who has a different surname - the boy's name is Marius Pontmercy. Marius’s mother died, and he never saw his father: M. Gillenormand called his son-in-law “the Loire robber”, since the imperial troops were withdrawn to the Loire for disbandment. Georges Pontmercy achieved the rank of colonel and became a Knight of the Legion of Honor. He almost died at the Battle of Waterloo - he was carried off the battlefield by a marauder who was picking the pockets of the wounded and dead. Marius learns all this from the dying message of his father, who turns into a titanic figure for him. The former royalist becomes an ardent admirer of the emperor and begins to almost hate his grandfather. Marius leaves home with a scandal - he has to live in extreme poverty, almost in poverty, but he feels free and independent. During his daily walks through the Luxembourg Gardens, the young man notices a handsome old man, who is always accompanied by a girl of about fifteen. Marius passionately falls in love with a stranger, but his natural shyness prevents him from getting to know her. The old man, noticing Marius’s close attention to his companion, moves out of the apartment and stops appearing in the garden. The unfortunate young man thinks that he has lost his beloved forever. But one day he hears a familiar voice behind the wall - where the large Jondrette family lives. Looking through the crack, he sees an old man from the Luxembourg Gardens - he promises to bring money in the evening. Obviously, Jondrette has the opportunity to blackmail him: an interested Marius overhears how the scoundrel conspires with members of the “Cock Hour” gang - they want to set a trap for the old man to take everything from him. Marius notifies the police. Inspector Javert thanks him for his help and hands him pistols just in case. A terrible scene plays out before the young man’s eyes - the innkeeper Thenardier, hiding under the name Jondrette, tracked down Jean Valjean. Marius is ready to intervene, but then the police, led by Javert, burst into the room. While the inspector is dealing with the bandits, Jean Valjean jumps out the window - only then does Javert realize that he has missed a much bigger game.
In 1832 Paris was in a state of unrest. Marius's friends are delirious with revolutionary ideas, but the young man is occupied with something else - he continues to persistently search for the girl from the Luxembourg Gardens. Finally, happiness smiled on him. With the help of one of Thénardier's daughters, the young man finds Cosette and confesses his love to her. It turned out that Cosette had also loved Marius for a long time. Jean Valjean suspects nothing. Most of all, the former convict is concerned that Thénardier is clearly watching their neighborhood. June 4th arrives. An uprising breaks out in the city - barricades are built everywhere. Marius cannot leave his comrades. Alarmed Cosette wants to send him a message, and Jean Valjean's eyes finally open: his baby has grown up and found love. Despair and jealousy choke the old convict, and he goes to the barricade, which is defended by the young republicans and Marius. They fall into the hands of a disguised Javert - the detective is grabbed, and Jean Valjean again meets his sworn enemy. He has every opportunity to deal with the person who caused him so much harm, but the noble convict prefers to free the policeman. Meanwhile, government troops are advancing: the defenders of the barricade are dying one after another - among them the nice boy Gavroche, a true Parisian tomboy. Marius's collarbone was shattered by a rifle shot - he finds himself in the complete power of Jean Valjean.
The old convict carries Marius from the battlefield on his shoulders. Punishers are prowling everywhere, and Valjean goes underground - into the terrible sewers. After much ordeal, he makes it to the surface only to find himself face to face with Javert. The detective allows Valjean to take Marius to his grandfather and stop by to say goodbye to Cosette - this is not at all like the ruthless Javert. Great was Valjean's amazement when he realized that the policeman had let him go. Meanwhile, for Javert himself, the most tragic moment in his life comes: for the first time he broke the law and set the criminal free! Unable to resolve the contradiction between duty and compassion, Javert freezes on the bridge - and then a dull splash is heard.
Marius has been between life and death for a long time. In the end, youth wins. The young man finally meets Cosette, and their love blossoms. They receive the blessing of Jean Valjean and Mr. Gillenormand, who, to celebrate, completely forgave his grandson. On February 16, 1833 the wedding took place. Valjean confesses to Marius that he is an escaped convict. Young Pontmercy is horrified. Nothing should overshadow Cosette's happiness, so the criminal should gradually disappear from her life - after all, he is just a foster father. At first, Cosette is somewhat surprised, and then gets used to the increasingly rare visits of her former patron. Soon the old man stopped coming at all, and the girl forgot about him. And Jean Valjean began to wither and fade away: the gatekeeper invited a doctor to see him, but he just threw up his hands - this man, apparently, had lost the most dear thing to himself, and no medicine would help here. Marius believes that the convict deserves such treatment - undoubtedly, it was he who robbed Monsieur Madeleine and killed the defenseless Javert, who saved him from the bandits. And then the greedy Thenardier reveals all the secrets: Jean Valjean is not a thief or a murderer. Moreover: it was he who carried Marius out of the barricade. The young man generously pays the vile innkeeper - and not only for the truth about Valjean. Once upon a time, a scoundrel did a good deed by rummaging through the pockets of the wounded and dead - the man he saved was named Georges Pontmercy. Marius and Cosette go to Jean Valjean to beg for forgiveness. The old convict dies happy - his beloved children took his last breath. A young couple orders a touching epitaph for the grave of the sufferer.
Option 2
Charles-François Miriel is a bishop who lives in a small house and gives his salary to the poor. The residents respect him.
A poorly dressed wanderer comes to Digne. He needs a place to stay for the night, but no one wants to take him in. This man's name is Jean Valjean. He was in hard labor because he stole bread, preventing his sister’s children from starving to death. Finally, the traveler gets to the bishop. He listened to him, fed him, gave him shelter. An ex-criminal is haunted by the priest's silverware, which he takes and escapes.
The gendarmes bring him, but Mr. Miriel not only does not give him up, but even gives him two candlesticks, which he allegedly forgot. Jean is very shocked by this attitude. On the way, the man unknowingly took a coin from the child. When the boy began to cry, the convict realized what he had done and began to sob.
The town of Montreal welcomes an unknown man who has become rich making jet. Together with Mr. Madeleine, the whole city blossomed. He is asked to become mayor. People revered him, only the policeman Javert treated him with caution.
One day Javert informs the mayor about the trial of the criminal Jean Valjean, who, after his release, stole money from the boy. At the trial, the accused does not recognize himself as Valjean. A man in the hall said that it was he - Jean Valjean. Everyone was shocked by the news: the mayor of Montreal is a former prisoner.
The court decided to send him to the galleys. There, Jean saves a sailor who fell from the yard, and he himself throws himself down. All the newspapers wrote about his death. Nevertheless, he appears in the town of Montfermeil. While mayor, Monsieur treated unfairly a woman who gave birth to a child out of wedlock. Dying, she asks to take care of her daughter. It was given to the Thenardier innkeepers. They hurt the girl. Jean takes Cosette and raises her. They settled on the outskirts of Paris. Agent Javert finds him here too. Escaping, Valjean ends up in the monastery where they settled.
Mr. Gillenormand lives with his grandson Marius Pontmercy. The young man runs away from home. A young man meets an old man and a girl. He falls in love with her, but is shy to approach her. His adoptive father noticed his interest in his companion, so he moved out of the apartment and stopped visiting the garden. Marius thinks he has lost the stranger. One day a guy meets an elderly man at the Jondrette neighbors. The young man understood: they wanted to rob the old man, which he reported to the police. The young man sees how the innkeeper Thenardier, who lived under the name Jondrette, encroaches on Valjean's money. Javert bursts in, and Jean is forced to flee.
Marius finds Cosette and confesses his love to her. It turns out that his feelings are mutual. An uprising breaks out. The guy, Jean and many other republicans are on the barricades. They get Javert, Jean lets him go. The young man is seriously wounded.
A former convict saves a young man by descending together into a sewer hatch. Rising, they encounter Javert. The inspector lets them go. This is a difficult decision for him, so he jumps from the bridge.
Marius recovered, the young people got married. Having learned about Jean's past, the guy wants him to disappear from Cosette's life. The father agrees and visits her less and less. They stopped seeing each other completely. Because of his experiences, Jean began to fade. The young man thinks that he deserved it, since he robbed Madeleine and killed Javert. However, the Thenardiers were told the truth for a reward and that Jean had carried out the wounded Marius. A married couple goes to an old man to ask for forgiveness. Jean Valjeanumer happy near the children.
Summary of Hugo's Les Miserables
Drawing by E. Bayard
In 1815, the bishop of the city of Digne was Charles-François Miriel, nicknamed the Desired One - Bienvenue - for his good deeds. This unusual man in his youth had many love affairs and led a social life - however, the Revolution changed everything. Mr. Miriel went to Italy, from where he returned as a priest. At the whim of Napoleon, the old parish priest occupies the episcopal throne. He begins his pastoral activity by giving up the beautiful building of the episcopal palace to a local hospital, and he himself moves into a cramped small house. He distributes his considerable salary entirely to the poor. Both rich and poor knock on the bishop's door: some come for alms, others bring it. This holy man is universally respected - he is given the gift of healing and forgiveness.
In early October 1815, a dusty traveler entered Digne - a stocky, dense man in the prime of his life. His beggarly clothes and gloomy weathered face make a repulsive impression. First of all, he goes to the city hall, and then tries to settle down somewhere for the night. But he is driven from everywhere, although he is ready to pay in full coin. This man's name is Jean Valjean. He spent nineteen years in hard labor because he once stole a loaf of bread for the seven hungry children of his widowed sister. Embittered, he turned into a wild hunted beast - with his “yellow” passport there is no place for him in this world. Finally, some woman, taking pity on him, advises him to go to the bishop. After listening to the convict’s gloomy confession, Monseigneur Bienvenu orders him to be fed in the guest room. In the middle of the night, Jean Valjean wakes up: he is haunted by six silver cutlery - the only wealth of the bishop, kept in the master bedroom. Valjean tiptoes up to the bishop's bed, breaks into the silver cabinet and wants to smash the good shepherd's head with a massive candlestick, but some incomprehensible force holds him back. And he escapes through the window.
In the morning, the gendarmes bring the fugitive to the bishop - this suspicious man was detained with obviously stolen silver. Monseigneur can send Valjean to hard labor for life. Instead, Mr. Miriel brings out two silver candlesticks that yesterday’s guest allegedly forgot. The bishop's final advice is to use the gift to become an honest person. The shocked convict hastily leaves the city. A complex, painful work is taking place in his coarsened soul. At sunset, he mechanically takes a forty sou coin from a boy he meets. Only when the baby runs away crying bitterly does Valjean realize the meaning of his action: he sits heavily on the ground and cries bitterly - for the first time in nineteen years.
In 1818, the town of Montreal flourished, and it owes this to one person: three years ago, an unknown person settled here, who managed to improve the traditional local craft - the production of artificial jet. Uncle Madeleine not only became rich himself, but also helped many others make their fortunes. Until recently, unemployment was rampant in the city - now everyone has forgotten about need. Uncle Madeleine was distinguished by extraordinary modesty - neither the deputy seat nor the Order of the Legion of Honor attracted him at all. But in 1820 he had to become mayor: a simple old woman shamed him, saying that he was ashamed to back down if he had the opportunity to do a good deed. And Uncle Madeleine turned into Mister Madeleine. Everyone stood in awe of him, and only the police agent Javert looked at him with extreme suspicion. In the soul of this man there was room for only two feelings, taken to the extreme - respect for authority and hatred of rebellion. In his eyes, a judge could never make a mistake, and a criminal could never correct himself. He himself was blameless to the point of disgust. Surveillance was the meaning of his life.
One day, Javert repentantly informs the mayor that he must go to the neighboring city of Arras - there they will try the former convict Jean Valjean, who immediately after his release robbed the boy. Previously, Javert thought that Jean Valjean was hiding under the guise of Monsieur Madeleine - but this was a mistake. Having released Javert, the mayor falls into deep thought and then leaves the city. At the trial in Arras, the defendant stubbornly refuses to admit that he is Jean Valjean and claims that his name is Uncle Chanmathieu and there is no guilt behind him. The judge is preparing to pronounce a guilty verdict, but then an unknown man stands up and announces that he is Jean Valjean, and the defendant must be released. The news quickly spreads that the venerable mayor, Mr. Madeleine, turned out to be an escaped convict. Javert triumphs - he cleverly set a snare for the criminal.
The jury decided to exile Valjean to the galleys in Toulon for life. Once on the ship "Orion", he saves the life of a sailor who fell from the yard, and then throws himself into the sea from a dizzying height. A message appears in the Toulon newspapers that the convict Jean Valjean has drowned. However, after some time he appears in the town of Montfermeil. A vow brings him here. When he was mayor, he treated a woman who gave birth to an illegitimate child too harshly, and repented, remembering the merciful Bishop Miriel. Before her death, Fantine asks him to take care of her girl Cosette, whom she had to give to the Thénardier innkeepers. The Thenardiers embodied the cunning and malice that came together in marriage. Each of them tortured the girl in his own way: she was beaten and forced to work until she died - and the wife was to blame for this; she walked barefoot and in rags in winter - the reason for this was her husband. Having taken Cosette, Jean Valjean settles on the most remote outskirts of Paris. He taught the little girl to read and write and did not stop her from playing to her heart’s content - she became the meaning of life for a former convict who saved the money he earned from producing jet. But Inspector Javert does not give him peace here either. He organizes a night raid: Jean Valjean is saved by a miracle, unnoticed by jumping over a blank wall into the garden - it turned out to be a convent. Cosette is taken to a monastery boarding house, and her adoptive father becomes an assistant gardener.
The respectable bourgeois Mr. Gillenormand lives with his grandson, who has a different surname - the boy's name is Marius Pontmercy. Marius’s mother died, and he never saw his father: M. Gillenormand called his son-in-law the “Loire robber”, since the imperial troops were withdrawn to the Loire for disbandment. Georges Pontmercy achieved the rank of colonel and became a Knight of the Legion of Honor. He almost died at the Battle of Waterloo - he was carried off the battlefield by a marauder who was picking the pockets of the wounded and dead. Marius learns all this from the dying message of his father, who turns into a titanic figure for him. The former royalist becomes an ardent admirer of the emperor and begins to almost hate his grandfather. Marius leaves home with a scandal - he has to live in extreme poverty, almost in poverty, but he feels free and independent. During his daily walks through the Luxembourg Gardens, the young man notices a handsome old man, who is always accompanied by a girl of about fifteen. Marius passionately falls in love with a stranger, but his natural shyness prevents him from getting to know her. The old man, noticing Marius’s close attention to his companion, moves out of the apartment and stops appearing in the garden. The unfortunate young man thinks that he has lost his beloved forever. But one day he hears a familiar voice behind the wall - where the large Jondrette family lives. Looking through the crack, he sees an old man from the Luxembourg Gardens - he promises to bring money in the evening. Obviously, Jondrette has the opportunity to blackmail him: an interested Marius overhears how the scoundrel conspires with members of the “Cock Hour” gang - they want to set a trap for the old man to take everything from him. Marius notifies the police. Inspector Javert thanks him for his help and hands him pistols just in case. A terrible scene plays out before the young man's eyes - the innkeeper Thenardier, hiding under the name Jondrette, tracked down Jean Valjean. Marius is ready to intervene, but then the police, led by Javert, burst into the room. While the inspector is dealing with the bandits, Jean Valjean jumps out the window - only then does Javert realize that he has missed a much bigger game.
In 1832 Paris was in a state of unrest. Marius's friends are delirious with revolutionary ideas, but the young man is occupied with something else - he continues to persistently search for the girl from the Luxembourg Gardens. Finally, happiness smiled on him. With the help of one of Thénardier's daughters, the young man finds Cosette and confesses his love to her. It turned out that Cosette had also loved Marius for a long time. Jean Valjean suspects nothing. Most of all, the former convict is concerned that Thénardier is clearly watching their neighborhood. June 4th arrives. An uprising breaks out in the city - barricades are built everywhere. Marius cannot leave his comrades. Alarmed Cosette wants to send him a message, and Jean Valjean's eyes finally open: his baby has grown up and found love. Despair and jealousy choke the old convict, and he goes to the barricade, which is defended by the young republicans and Marius. They fall into the hands of a disguised Javert - the detective is grabbed, and Jean Valjean again meets his sworn enemy. He has every opportunity to deal with the person who caused him so much harm, but the noble convict prefers to free the policeman. Meanwhile, government troops are advancing: the defenders of the barricade are dying one after another - among them the nice boy Gavroche, a true Parisian tomboy. Marius's collarbone was shattered by a rifle shot - he finds himself in the complete power of Jean Valjean.
The old convict carries Marius from the battlefield on his shoulders. Punishers are prowling everywhere, and Valjean goes underground - into the terrible sewers. After much ordeal, he makes it to the surface only to find himself face to face with Javert. The detective allows Valjean to take Marius to his grandfather and stop by to say goodbye to Cosette - this is not at all like the ruthless Javert. Great was Valjean's amazement when he realized that the policeman had let him go. Meanwhile, for Javert himself, the most tragic moment in his life comes: for the first time he broke the law and set the criminal free! Unable to resolve the contradiction between duty and compassion, Javert freezes on the bridge - and then a dull splash is heard.
Marius has been between life and death for a long time. In the end, youth wins. The young man finally meets Cosette, and their love blossoms. They receive the blessing of Jean Valjean and Mr. Gillenormand, who, to celebrate, completely forgave his grandson. On February 16, 1833 the wedding took place. Valjean confesses to Marius that he is an escaped convict. Young Pontmercy is horrified. Nothing should overshadow Cosette's happiness, so the criminal should gradually disappear from her life - after all, he is just a foster father. At first, Cosette is somewhat surprised, and then gets used to the increasingly rare visits of her former patron. Soon the old man stopped coming at all, and the girl forgot about him. And Jean Valjean began to wither and fade away: the gatekeeper invited a doctor to see him, but he just threw up his hands - this man, apparently, had lost the most dear thing to himself, and no medicine would help here. Marius believes that the convict deserves such treatment - undoubtedly, it was he who robbed Monsieur Madeleine and killed the defenseless Javert, who saved him from the bandits. And then the greedy Thenardier reveals all the secrets: Jean Valjean is not a thief or a murderer. Moreover: it was he who carried Marius out of the barricade. The young man generously pays the vile innkeeper - and not only for the truth about Valjean. Once upon a time, a scoundrel did a good deed by rummaging through the pockets of the wounded and dead - the man he saved was named Georges Pontmercy. Marius and Cosette go to Jean Valjean to beg for forgiveness. The old convict dies happy - his beloved children took his last breath. A young couple orders a touching epitaph for the grave of the sufferer.
Retold
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. Thus begins the quiet family life of 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.
