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112-442: They are unscrupulous working-class people who blame society for their sufferings. Early in the novel, they own an inn and cheat their customers. After they lose the inn in bankruptcy, they change their name to Jondrette and live by begging and petty thievery. They serve, alongside Javert , as one of the two arch-nemeses of the story's protagonist, Jean Valjean . While Javert represents the justice system that would punish Valjean,

224-422: A character in the 2024 novella Danny Coughlin's Bad Dream by Stephen King , is named for, and inspired by, Javert. Les Mis%C3%A9rables#Minor Les Misérables ( / l eɪ ˌ m ɪ z ə ˈ r ɑː b ( əl ), - b l ə / , French: [le mizeʁabl] ) is a French epic historical novel by Victor Hugo , first published in 1862, that is considered one of the greatest novels of

336-452: A destiny that is divine with human fatality; so long as the three problems of the age—the degradation of man by poverty, the ruin of women by starvation, and the dwarfing of childhood by physical and spiritual night—are not solved; so long as, in certain regions, social asphyxia shall be possible; in other words, and from a yet more extended point of view, so long as ignorance and misery remain on earth, books like this cannot be useless. Towards

448-515: A few pages. The novel as a whole is one of the longest ever written, with 655,478 words in the original French. Hugo explained his ambitions for the novel to his Italian publisher: I don't know whether it will be read by everyone, but it is meant for everyone. It addresses England as well as Spain, Italy as well as France, Germany as well as Ireland, the republics that harbour slaves as well as empires that have serfs. Social problems go beyond frontiers. Humankind's wounds, those huge sores that litter

560-497: A former convict. He sleeps on the street, angry and bitter. Digne's benevolent Bishop Myriel gives him shelter. At night, Valjean runs off with Myriel's silverware. When the police capture Valjean, Myriel pretends that he has given the silverware to Valjean and presses him to take two silver candlesticks as well, as if he had forgotten to take them. The police accept his explanation and leave. Myriel tells Valjean that his soul has been purchased for God and that he should use money from

672-437: A hero who was due any service that Marius could grant him. Marius, torn between his desire to aid Valjean and his sense of duty to the man who had once saved his father, does not signal the police. Valjean denies knowing M. Thénardier and states that they have never met. Valjean then tries to escape through a window, but he is restrained and tied up. M. Thénardier orders Valjean to write a letter to Cosette, telling her to return to

784-474: A hospital. Javert comes to see Valjean again. Javert admits that after being forced to free Fantine, he reported him as Valjean to the French authorities. He tells Valjean he realizes he was wrong because the authorities have identified someone else as the real Jean Valjean, have him in custody, and plan to try him the next day. Valjean is torn but decides to reveal himself to save the innocent man, whose real name

896-460: A large part of the text demands that it be read in the context of the "overarching structure" discussed above. Hugo draws his own personal conclusions, taking Waterloo to be a pivot point in history but definitely not a victory for the forces of reaction. Waterloo, by cutting short the demolition of European thrones by the sword, had no other effect than to cause the revolutionary work to be continued in another direction. The slashers have finished; it

1008-468: A murderer, producing the piece of Marius' jacket as proof. Marius realizes that it is a piece of his own jacket, and that that must mean that Valjean saved him from the battle and carried him through the sewers to safety. Marius pulls out his bloodied coat. He tells Thénardier he knows enough of his criminal past "to send you to the galleys", gives him 1500 francs, and orders him to leave and never return. Thénardier moves with Azelma to America, where he becomes

1120-432: A note lands in his lap. It says, "Move Out." He sees a figure running away in the dim light. He goes home, tells Cosette they will be staying at their other house on Rue de l'Homme-Armé, and restates that they will be moving to England. Marius tries to get permission from M. Gillenormand to marry Cosette. His grandfather seems stern and angry but has been longing for Marius's return. When tempers flare, he refuses to consent to

1232-409: A police officer. One of the strangers was a man who had stolen a loaf of bread, similar to Jean Valjean , being taken to the coach by a police officer. Nearby, two onlookers, a mother and daughter, had stopped to watch the thief. They became the inspiration for Fantine and Cosette . Hugo imagined the life of the man in jail and the mother and daughter taken away from each other. Valjean's character

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1344-463: A policeman and denounces him. They find on him a little round card pasted between two pieces of glass, and bearing on one side the arms of France, engraved, and with this motto: Supervision and vigilance, and on the other this note: "JAVERT, inspector of police, aged fifty-two," and the signature of the Prefect of Police of that day, M. Gisquet. The revolutionaries imprison him. When Valjean appears at

1456-570: A present of an expensive new doll, which, after some hesitation, she happily accepts. Éponine and Azelma are envious. Madame Thénardier is furious with Valjean, while her husband makes light of Valjean's behavior, caring only that he pays for his food and lodging. The next morning, Valjean informs the Thénardiers that he wants to take Cosette with him. Madame Thénardier immediately accepts while Thénardier pretends to love Cosette and be concerned for her welfare, reluctant to give her up. Valjean pays

1568-486: A prostitute from arrest for assault. He used a short part of his dialogue with the police when recounting Valjean's rescue of Fantine in the novel. On 22 February 1846, when he had begun work on the novel, Hugo witnessed the arrest of a bread thief while a duchess and her child watched the scene pitilessly from their coach. He spent several vacations in Montreuil-sur-Mer . During the 1832 revolt, Hugo walked

1680-470: A regular fee. The Thénardiers treat Cosette quite poorly, dressing her in rags, selling her clothes for 60 francs in the streets of Paris , forcing her to work, and beating her often. Fantine is eventually reduced to working as a prostitute in order to earn enough money to meet the Thenardiers' demands, as M. Thénardier extorts more money from Fantine by claiming that Cosette is ill. The Thénardiers spend

1792-533: A sailor caught in the ship's rigging. Spectators call for his release. Valjean fakes his death by allowing himself to fall into the ocean. Authorities report him dead and his body lost. Valjean arrives at Montfermeil on Christmas Eve. He finds Cosette fetching water in the woods alone and walks with her to the inn. He orders a meal and observes how the Thénardiers abuse her while pampering their own daughters, Éponine and Azelma , who mistreat Cosette for playing with their doll. Valjean leaves and returns to give Cosette

1904-502: A sergeant named Thénardier who saved his life at Waterloo —in reality, Thénardier was looting corpses and only saved Pontmercy's life by accident; he had called himself a sergeant under Napoleon to avoid exposing himself as a robber. At the Luxembourg Garden , Marius falls in love with the now grown and beautiful Cosette. The Thénardiers have also moved to Paris and now live in poverty after losing their inn. They live under

2016-464: A setting contrary to the popular notion that the book is set in the 1789 French Revolution ) following the death of Lamarque , a popular general known for his sympathy towards the working class. Lamarque was a victim of a major cholera epidemic that had ravaged the city, particularly its poor neighborhoods, arousing suspicion that the government had been poisoning wells. The Friends of the ABC are joined by

2128-727: A sheet of paper "The cognes (police) are here" to prove her literacy. Marius grabs the paper and throws it in through the wall crack. M. Thénardier reads it and thinks Éponine threw it inside as a warning. The Thénardiers and Patron-Minette try to escape, but Javert arrives and arrests them all (except Gavroche, who is not present, and Montparnasse , who escapes). Valjean escapes through the window undetected. Mme. Thénardier dies in prison and Éponine and Azelma are released. Gavroche, not involved with his family's crimes, encounters purely by chance his two younger brothers, who are unaware of their identities. He briefly takes care of them, but they soon leave him in search of their missing foster mother. It

2240-738: A sheet of paper. Marius pities her and gives her some money. After Éponine leaves, Marius observes the "Jondrettes" in their apartment through a crack in the wall. Éponine comes in and announces that a philanthropist and his daughter are arriving to visit them. In order to look poorer, Thénardier puts out the fire and breaks a chair. He also orders Azelma to punch out a window pane, which she does, resulting in cutting her hand (as Thénardier had hoped). The philanthropist and his daughter—actually Valjean and Cosette—enter. Marius immediately recognizes Cosette. After seeing them, Valjean promises to return with rent money for them. After he and Cosette leave, Marius asks Éponine to retrieve her address for him. Éponine, who

2352-405: A simple murderer, Thénardier offers Valjean his key to the sewer grating in exchange for the contents of Marius' pockets. He then searches Valjean and Marius' pockets. Believing Marius to be a corpse, he tears off part of Marius' coat in order to blackmail Valjean with it later. Thénardier finds only 30 francs, reluctantly takes the money, and lets Valjean out. Thénardier and his child Azelma are in

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2464-636: A slave trader. The Thénardiers are featured in the musical based on Hugo's novel . They own an inn in the town of Montfermeil, where they have been entrusted with the care of Cosette, Fantine's daughter. However, the Thénardiers treat Cosette as a servant whilst pampering their own daughter Éponine. They welcome all customers to their inn, but whilst they appear to look friendly and welcoming, they secretly con their customers with watered-down wine, sausages made with horse kidney or cat liver , and extra fees for ridiculous things such as lice, looking in their mirrors, and keeping their windows closed. ( "Master of

2576-399: A soldier comes up to shoot him. However, a man covers the muzzle of the soldier's gun with his hand. The soldier fires, fatally wounding the man while missing Marius. Meanwhile, the soldiers are closing in. Marius climbs to the top of the barricade, holding a torch in one hand, and a powder keg in the other, and threatens to the soldiers that he will blow up the barricade. After confirming this,

2688-445: A son called Gavroche . They run an inn in the town of Montfermeil . The Thénardiers are both described as being very ugly; Monsieur Thénardier is "a skinny little runt, pale, angular, bony, rickety, who looked sick but was as fit as a fiddle" and Madame Thénardier is "tall, blond, ruddy, barrel-like, brawny, boxy, huge, and agile". Fantine , a struggling single mother, arranges for her daughter Cosette to stay with them, if she pays

2800-593: A street urchin who might have been Gavroche. He also informed himself by personal inspection of the Paris Conciergerie in 1846 and Waterloo in 1861, by gathering information on some industries, and on working-class people's wages and living standards. He asked his mistresses, Léonie d'Aunet and Juliette Drouet , to tell him about life in convents. He also slipped personal anecdotes into the plot. For instance, Marius and Cosette's wedding night (Part V, Book 6, Chapter 1) takes place on 16 February 1833, which

2912-467: A thousand crowns, but Valjean and Cosette leave. Thénardier regrets that he did not bring his gun and turns back towards home. Valjean and Cosette flee to Paris. Valjean rents new lodgings at the Gorbeau House, where he and Cosette live happily. However, Javert discovers Valjean's lodgings there a few months later. Valjean takes Cosette, and they try to escape from Javert. They soon find shelter in

3024-444: A thousand crowns, but Valjean ignores him and departs with Cosette. M. Thénardier expresses regret that he did not bring his gun, and turns back to the inn. The inn, which is forced to close down after Cosette is taken, is called "The Sergeant at Waterloo", because of a peculiar adventure that M. Thénardier had following the famous battle . While looting the corpses shortly after the fighting had ceased, M. Thénardier accidentally saved

3136-405: A window but is subdued and tied up. Thénardier orders Valjean to pay him 200,000 francs. He also orders Valjean to write a letter to Cosette to return to the apartment, saying they will keep her with them until he delivers the money. After Valjean writes the letter and informs Thénardier of his address, Thénardier sends out Mme. Thénardier to get Cosette. Mme. Thénardier comes back alone and announces

3248-474: Is Champmathieu. He travels to attend the trial and there reveals his true identity. Valjean returns to Montreuil to see Fantine, followed by Javert, who confronts him in her hospital room. After Javert grabs Valjean, Valjean asks for three days to bring Cosette to Fantine, but Javert refuses. Fantine discovers that Cosette is not at the hospital and fretfully asks where she is. Javert orders her to be quiet and then reveals to her Valjean's real identity. Weakened by

3360-474: Is also the date when Hugo and his lifelong mistress Juliette Drouet made love for the first time. A template for Hugo's novel was Les Mystères de Paris ( The Mysteries of Paris ), a serial novel of similar length that enjoyed great success on its appearance in 1842–43, by Eugène Sue . Les mystères , like Les Misérables , views contemporary Paris from the point of view of the downtrodden and criminal underclasses who had been little represented in novels up to

3472-442: Is apprehended, he will be returned to the galleys for life as a repeat offender. Six years pass, and Valjean, using the alias Monsieur Madeleine, has become a wealthy factory owner and is appointed mayor of Montreuil-sur-Mer . Walking down the street, he sees a man named Fauchelevent pinned under the wheels of a cart. When no one volunteers to lift the cart, even for pay, he decides to rescue Fauchelevent himself. He crawls underneath

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3584-488: Is considered a bass-baritone or baritone role. He wears a standard costume designed to look like a mid-19th century French policeman. He was portrayed by Roger Allam in the Original London Production and Terrence Mann in the original Broadway cast of Les Misérables. Ethan Freeman was notable for highlighting Javert's inner pain and his more emotional connection to Valjean. Philip Quast played

3696-620: Is honorable. I have failed in my duty; I ought to be punished; I must be turned out." He condemns himself at length—"if I were not severe towards myself, all the justice that I have done would become injustice"—and begs to be dismissed. Madeleine/Valjean travels to the court in Arras, discloses his identity, and saves Champmathieu. He returns to Montreuil-sur-Mer, where Javert arrests him the next morning at Fantine's hospital bedside. Valjean asks for three days to bring Fantine's daughter Cosette to her, but Javert denies his request. Valjean escapes from

3808-457: Is in love with Marius herself, reluctantly agrees. The Thénardiers have also recognized Valjean and Cosette, and vow their revenge. Thénardier enlists the aid of Patron-Minette , a well-known and feared gang of murderers and robbers. Marius overhears Thénardier's plan and goes to Javert to report the crime. Javert gives Marius two pistols and instructs him to fire one into the air if things get dangerous. Marius returns home and waits for Javert and

3920-445: 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. Vidocq also inspired Hugo's " Claude Gueux " and Le Dernier jour d'un condamné ( The Last Day of a Condemned Man ). In 1828, Vidocq, already pardoned, saved one of

4032-429: Is observed by a tall figure, which is revealed to be Javert. Valjean repeats that he is ready to surrender, but he asks for Javert's help in delivering the wounded boy to safety. They travel to Valjean's house, and Javert says that he will wait for Valjean to come back downstairs. However, when Valjean looks out of the window, Javert is gone. Javert wanders the streets in emotional turmoil: his mind simply cannot reconcile

4144-511: Is really Valjean and whom several former convicts have already identified as Valjean. Unsure, Javert goes to Arras to see Champmathieu and satisfies himself that this is the real Valjean. He returns and visits Madeleine and asks him to dismiss him from the police because he "has failed in respect, and in the gravest manner, towards a magistrate" by suspecting Madeleine. He tells Madeleine: "You will say that I might have handed in my resignation, but that does not suffice. Handing in one's resignation

4256-440: Is unknown what happened to the two after that. Éponine is sent by Babet to investigate Valjean's house, but since she knows that Cosette, who now lives with Valjean, is the beloved of her former neighbor Marius (for whom she harbors some affection), sends back a biscuit to Babet (which is code for "not worth the trouble"). She leads Marius to Valjean's house so that he may be with his beloved. M. Thénardier and Patron-Minette, with

4368-485: Is without vices, but upon occasion will take a pinch of snuff . His life is one "of privations, isolation, self-denial, and chastity—never any amusement". Javert has been described as a legalist: His "moral foundation... is built strictly on legalism"; he is "one of the most tragic legalists in Western literature" and "the consummate legalist". Born in a prison (his mother a fortune-teller and his father serving in

4480-478: The June Rebellion , in which he is first spared by Valjean and, later, spares him arrest, Javert experiences a deep torment caused by the compromise of his previous worldview. Where previously he has "never in his life known anything but one straight line", Jean Valjean's behavior compels him to see two: "both equally straight", and "contradictory." The profound confusion caused by this—by the realization that

4592-658: The Mardi Gras parade. When he sees Marius and Cosette's wedding party pass by, he recognizes Valjean as both the man who had ruined him and the man he had met in the sewer, and orders Azelma to follow him and find out where he lives. Thénardier visits Marius dressed in a rented statesman's suit and identifying himself as "M. Thénard", but Marius eventually recognizes him. Thénardier attempts to blackmail Marius with what he knows about Valjean's past, but he inadvertently corrects Marius' misunderstandings about Valjean and reveals Valjean's good deeds. He then tries to expose Valjean for

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4704-594: The Thénardiers , a corrupt innkeeper and his selfish, cruel wife. Fantine is unaware that they are abusing her daughter and using her as forced labor for their inn and continues to try to meet their growing, extortionate, and fictitious demands. She is later fired from her job at Jean Valjean's factory because of the discovery of her daughter, who was born out of wedlock. Meanwhile, the Thénardiers' monetary demands continue to grow. In desperation, Fantine sells her hair and two front teeth and resorts to prostitution to pay

4816-660: 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 bohemian race to which he belong[s]" and a personal foundation of "rectitude, order, and honesty." So devoted is he to this choice that, Hugo writes, "[h]e would have arrested his own father if he escaped from prison and turned in his own mother for breaking parole. And he would have done it with that sort of interior satisfaction that springs from virtue." Following his encounters with Jean Valjean during

4928-454: 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. Examining the nature of law and grace, the novel elaborates upon the history of France , the architecture and urban design of Paris, politics, moral philosophy , antimonarchism , justice, religion, and

5040-536: The 19th century. Les Misérables has been popularized through numerous adaptations for film, television, and the stage, including a musical . In the English-speaking world, the novel is usually referred to by its original French title. However, several alternatives have been used, including The Miserables , The Wretched , The Miserable Ones , The Poor Ones , The Wretched Poor , The Victims , and The Dispossessed . Beginning in 1815 and culminating in

5152-463: The Corinth restaurant. Later that evening, Marius returns to Valjean and Cosette's house on Rue Plumet but finds it no longer occupied. He then hears a voice telling him that his friends are waiting for him at the barricade. Distraught to find Cosette gone, he heeds the voice and goes. When Marius arrives at the barricade, the revolution has already started. When he stoops down to pick up a powder keg,

5264-474: The House" ). One night after sending Cosette out to draw water from the well, she returns to them in the company of Valjean. Valjean tells them of Fantine's death and initially requests to take Cosette with him, but the Thénardiers attempt to con Valjean, falsely claiming they love Cosette as if she was their own daughter, have had to purchase expensive medicine to treat her for frequent illness, and are worried about

5376-560: The Jondrettes through a crack in the wall, recognizes Cosette as the girl he met in the Luxembourg Garden . After their visit, M. Jondrette arranges with Valjean to meet again, but after recognizing Valjean, he plots to rob him upon his arrival with the aid of the street gang Patron-Minette . Marius learns of M. Jondrette's plan to rob Valjean, and goes to the police. At the police station, an inspector named Javert instructs Marius to stand lookout with two pistols, and to fire as soon as

5488-526: The Petit-Picpus convent with the help of Fauchelevent, the man Valjean once rescued from being crushed under a cart and who has become the convent's gardener. Valjean also becomes a gardener, and Cosette becomes a student at the convent school. Eight years later, the Friends of the ABC , led by Enjolras , are preparing an act of anti- Orléanist civil unrest (i.e., the Paris uprising on 5–6 June 1832 ,

5600-411: The Thénardiers 1,500 francs, and he and Cosette leave the inn. Thénardier, hoping to swindle more out of Valjean, runs after them, holding the 1,500 francs, and tells Valjean he wants Cosette back. He informs Valjean that he cannot release Cosette without a note from the child's mother. Valjean hands Thénardier Fantine's letter authorizing the bearer to take Cosette. Thénardier then demands that Valjean pay

5712-577: The Thénardiers and Patron-Minette (except Claquesous , who escapes during his transportation to prison, and Montparnasse , who stops to run off with Éponine instead of joining in on the robbery). Valjean manages to escape the scene before Javert sees him. After Éponine's release from prison, she finds Marius at "the Field of the Lark" and sadly tells him that she found Cosette's address. She leads him to Valjean and Cosette's house on Rue Plumet, and Marius watches

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5824-461: The Thénardiers plan to wait underground, in the hope that they will pick up lots of wealth and riches from the dead students after the battle is over ("One Day More"). After the barricade falls, Thénardier is in the Parisian sewers robbing the corpses of the rebels ("Dog Eats Dog"). Here he crosses a man carrying what he believes to be an unknown corpse (actually the unconscious Marius, wounded from

5936-450: The Thénardiers represent the lawless subculture of society that would exploit him. The novel portrays them as shameless and abusive figures; some adaptations transform them into buffoonish characters, though sometimes still criminals, to provide comic relief from the generally more serious tone of the story. When Hugo introduces the Thénardiers, they have two daughters named Éponine and Azelma , whom they spoil and pamper as children, and

6048-545: The Thénardiers. Fantine is slowly dying from an unspecified disease. A dandy named Bamatabois harasses Fantine in the street, and she reacts by striking him. Javert arrests Fantine. She begs to be released so that she can provide for her daughter, but Javert sentences her to six months in prison. Valjean (Mayor Madeleine) intervenes and orders Javert to release her. Javert resists, but Valjean prevails. Valjean, feeling responsible because his factory turned her away, promises Fantine that he will bring Cosette to her. He takes her to

6160-463: The address is a fake. It is during this time that Valjean manages to free himself. Thénardier decides to kill Valjean. While he and Patron-Minette are about to do so, Marius remembers the scrap of paper that Éponine wrote on earlier. He throws it into the Thénardiers' apartment through the wall crack. Thénardier reads it and thinks Éponine threw it inside. He, Mme. Thénardier, and Patron-Minette try to escape, only to be stopped by Javert. He arrests all

6272-461: The aid of Gavroche, manage to escape from jail and attempt to rob Valjean's house. However, Éponine wards them off by threatening to scream. The next day, Éponine tries to tear Cosette and Marius apart by sending Valjean a warning to "move out," and later telling Marius that his friends invited him to fight with them at the barricade at the Rue de la Chanvrerie, intending for both her and Marius to perish in

6384-492: The apartment in a rush and announces that a philanthropist and his daughter are arriving any minute to visit them. In order to look poorer, M. Jondrette puts out their fire and breaks a chair. He then orders Azelma to punch out a window pane. Although hesitant, she does so, resulting in cutting her hand. M. Jondrette is pleased, for he had hoped for that result. The philanthropist and his daughter then come into their apartment; they turn out to be Valjean and Cosette. Marius, observing

6496-536: The apartment, where they will keep her as a hostage until Valjean delivers 200,000 francs to him. After Valjean writes the letter and gives his address, M. Thénardier sends out Mme. Thénardier to get Cosette. However, Mme. Thénardier comes back alone, and announces the address Valjean has given is a false address. During her absence, Valjean manages to free himself. M. Thénardier decides with Patron-Minette that they have no choice but to kill Valjean. Marius remembers that Éponine had come into his apartment earlier and wrote on

6608-522: The barricade with the intent of finding Marius , the beloved of his adopted daughter, he and Javert recognize one another. Valjean requests, as reward for protecting the barricade from soldiers and national guardsmen, that he be allowed to execute Javert. Enjolras, the leader of the insurrection, acquiesces, and Valjean leads Javert away from the barricade and into a side street. There, instead of killing Javert, Valjean cuts his bonds and implores him to run and save himself. He also gives Javert his address, in

6720-480: The barricades). When the man collapses, Thénardier steals a ring from Marius' body, and then departs upon realizing that the collapsed man is Jean Valjean. The Thénardiers appear at the wedding of Marius and Cosette, posing as the Baron and Baroness de Thénard. Marius sees through their disguise and orders them to leave, but they refuse to do so until they have properly extorted him. They attempt to blackmail Marius with

6832-503: The cart, manages to lift it, and frees him. The town's police inspector, Inspector Javert , who was an adjutant guard at the Bagne of Toulon during Valjean's incarceration, becomes suspicious of the mayor after witnessing this remarkable feat of strength. He has known only one other man, a convict named Jean Valjean, who could accomplish it. Years earlier in Paris, a grisette named Fantine

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6944-645: The character in the 10th Anniversary Concert in 1995. He has also been played by notable broadway actor Norm Lewis in the 2010 25th anniversary concert . Russell Crowe played the policeman in the 2012 movie of Les Misérables . Other people who have played the character include Bradley Jaden , Michael Ball , Earl Carpenter , Clive Carter , Robert Cuccioli , Anthony Crivello , Hadley Fraser , Shuler Hensley , Brian Stokes Mitchell , Geoffrey Rush , Will Swenson , Hayden Tee , David Thaxton , Chuck Wagner , and Robert Westenberg . Inspector Franklin Jalbert,

7056-576: The character of Valjean. In the novel, Hugo describes Javert as "a marble informer, Brutus in Vidocq". Javert first becomes familiar with the convict Jean Valjean as an assistant guard in the Bagne of Toulon . Years later, in 1823, the fugitive Valjean is living under the name Monsieur Madeleine and serving as the mayor of a small town identified as Montreuil-sur-Mer , where he is a successful manufacturer. Javert arrives in 1820 to serve as an inspector with

7168-530: The child Petit Gervais. Hugo writes that Javert is composed of two "simple" sentiments, which are "respect for authority" and "hatred of rebellion." In Javert's eyes, "murder, robbery, all crimes, are only forms of rebellion." He also "(envelops) in a blind and profound faith everyone who had a function in the state, from the prime minister to the rural policeman." Reflective thought is "an uncommon thing for him, and singularly painful" because thought inevitably contains "a certain amount of internal rebellion." He

7280-414: The city jail, is later recaptured and returned to the galleys, and escapes a few months later, though the authorities think he has drowned. Javert is recruited to be an inspector in the capital. Javert is informed of Valjean's presumed death (which the latter had feigned during his last escape) not long after it happens. Early in the year 1824, Javert hears of an alleged kidnapping: a foster child taken from

7392-519: The couple that kept her. When he hears that this is supposed to have taken place in Montfermeil (Valjean was captured just as he was trying to get there), he visits the Thénardiers. Thénardier, however, does not want to become involved with the police, and tells Javert that the girl was fetched by her grandfather, and that he saw the man's passport. In March of the same year, Javert hears of a man nicknamed "the beggar who gives alms." Curious, he tracks

7504-403: The crime is committed to signal the police to come. Marius returns to his apartment and continues to observe the Jondrettes. M. Jondrette sends Éponine and Azelma outside as look-outs. When Valjean returns with rent money, M. Jondrette and Patron-Minette ambush him and he reveals his real identity: M. Thénardier. Marius, hearing this, recognizes him as the man his father had mentioned in his will as

7616-441: The dark and muck of the sewer, does not recognise him. Thénardier assumes that Valjean is a robber who had just killed a well-to-do young man, and he offers to let Valjean out of the sewer if Valjean splits the loot found on Marius' person in half. Valjean pays him, and Thénardier opens for him a sewer grate with a stolen government-issued key. Valjean's joy at finally being out of the sewer does not last long. Valjean notices that he

7728-452: The departure of prisoners from the Bagne of Toulon in one of his early stories, Le Dernier Jour d'un Condamné . He went to Toulon to visit the Bagne in 1839 and took extensive notes, though he did not start writing the book until 1845. On one of the pages of his notes about the prison, he wrote in large block letters a possible name for his hero: "JEAN TRÉJEAN". When the book was finally written, Tréjean became Valjean. In 1841, Hugo saved

7840-480: The disgraced son of the baron, Marius Pontmercy, at an apartment building named Gorbeau House nine years after the closing of the inn. In the nine years following the inn's closing, the Thénardier family had assumed the name Jondrette. In addition, they had had two more sons, whom they essentially sold to Magnon so that she could pass them off as the children supported by Marius' grandfather M. Gillenormand for

7952-463: The end of the novel, Hugo explains the work's overarching structure: The book which the reader has before him at this moment is, from one end to the other, in its entirety and details ... a progress from evil to good, from injustice to justice, from falsehood to truth, from night to day, from appetite to conscience, from corruption to life; from bestiality to duty, from hell to heaven, from nothingness to God. The starting point: matter, destination:

8064-453: The gang. Unbeknownst to Javert, the venerable elderly gentleman whom the Thénardiers and Patron-Minette intend to extort is Jean Valjean. When Marius overhears the plans for capturing Valjean, he informs the police of the imminent crime, and is introduced to inspector Javert, who gives him two pistols to fire a signal for when he and his team should enter the building. Javert does not have the opportunity to recognize Valjean upon saving him from

8176-403: The gang; however, Valjean recognizes Javert almost immediately and makes a quick escape out the window of the attic where the confrontation was taking place. During the 1832 June Rebellion , Javert, working undercover to gather information about the revolutionaries, joins a group of them at the barricade they have erected in the rue de la Chanvrerie. Gavroche , a street urchin, recognizes him as

8288-402: The gates of Valjean's house on Rue Plumet, when Éponine intercepts them and tries to force them to leave in order to protect Marius. Thénardier refuses to listen and orders Éponine to leave. Éponine is forced to scream in order to get them to leave. Thénardier threatens her but is forced to run, and he and his gang escape via the sewers. Afterwards, whilst the students plan to build the barricades,

8400-467: The gates, threatens to scream and awaken the whole neighbourhood if the thieves do not leave. Hearing this, they reluctantly retire. Meanwhile, Cosette informs Marius that she and Valjean will be leaving for England in a week, which greatly troubles the pair. The next day, Valjean is sitting in the Champ de Mars . He is feeling troubled about seeing Thénardier in the neighbourhood several times. Unexpectedly,

8512-422: The house for a few days. He and Cosette then finally meet and declare their love for one another. Thénardier, Patron-Minette, and Brujon manage to escape from prison with the aid of Gavroche (a rare case of Gavroche helping his family in their criminal activities). One night, during one of Marius's visits with Cosette, the six men attempt to raid Valjean and Cosette's house. However, Éponine, who has been sitting by

8624-414: The image he had carried through the years of Valjean as a brutal ex-convict with his acts of kindness on the barricades. Now, Javert can be justified neither in letting Valjean go nor in arresting him. For the first time in his life, Javert is faced with the situation where he cannot act lawfully without acting immorally , and vice versa. Javert is unable to find a solution to this dilemma, and horrified at

8736-441: The information that Valjean is a murderer, offering the stolen ring as evidence. Their plan backfires when Marius recognizes the ring as his own, realizing that Valjean must have rescued him after the barricades fell. He hits Thénardier and throws him the rest of his money before leading Cosette away, leaving the Thénardiers to enjoy the feast and gloat over their survival, despite their children's deaths ("Beggars At The Feast"). This

8848-621: The inn and returns a moment later with a beautiful new doll, which he offers to Cosette. At first Cosette is unsure if the doll really is for her and is reluctant to take it, but then joyfully accepts it. Mme. Thénardier is furious but M. Thénardier tells her that Valjean can do as he wishes as long as he pays them. On Christmas Day , Valjean informs the Thénardiers that he wants to take Cosette away with him. Mme. Thénardier immediately agrees, but M. Thénardier feigns affection for Cosette and reluctance to give her up. Valjean pays them 1,500 francs, settling all of Fantine's debts, and he and Cosette leave

8960-432: The inn. M. Thénardier tries to swindle more money out of Valjean. He runs after them and tells Valjean that he has changed his mind and wants Cosette back. He claims that Cosette's mother gave her into their care and that he cannot release Cosette without a note from her mother. Valjean hands him a letter signed by Fantine authorizing him to take charge of Cosette. M. Thénardier orders Valjean to either give back Cosette or pay

9072-452: The law is not infallible, that he himself is not irreproachable, and that there exists a superior force (identified by Hugo with God) to what he has known—plunges him into such a despair that he commits suicide. The character of Javert is loosely based on Eugène François Vidocq , a criminal and adventurer who became a police official (though Vidocq wrote that he never arrested anyone who stole out of need). Hugo also drew on Vidocq's life for

9184-407: The life of a Colonel, The Baron Pontmercy . Not wanting to be caught as a looter, Thénardier claimed himself to be a sergeant of Napoleon's army. The tale as told by Thénardier eventually transformed into one of him rescuing a General during the heat of battle under a hail of grapeshot, as it grew more elaborate with each telling. In a bizarre coincidence, the Thénardier family ends up living next to

9296-534: The local police. Javert suspects Madeleine's true identity and becomes convinced of it when he watches Madeleine demonstrate extraordinary strength by lifting a loaded cart off of a man trapped beneath it. Madeleine also antagonizes Javert by dismissing his attempt to arrest Fantine , a prostitute detained for having a violent row with a street idler. Javert decides to denounce Valjean as an ex-convict, but learns from Parisian authorities that they have already arrested someone who calls himself Champmathieu whom they believe

9408-545: The man to the Gorbeau House tenement, and recognizes Jean Valjean. When Valjean attempts to escape with Cosette, Javert chases them into what seems to him a dead end. Valjean evades capture by climbing over the stone wall of a convent and pulling Cosette up over the wall on a rope. In 1832, Javert chances to meet Valjean again while leading a squad of policemen in the capture of a gang which had been terrorizing Paris for years: Patron-Minette . The Thénardiers, who have lost their inn, now live at Gorbeau House and are associated with

9520-404: The marriage, telling Marius to make Cosette his mistress instead. Insulted, Marius leaves. The following day, the students revolt and erect barricades in the narrow streets of Paris. Gavroche spots Javert and informs Enjolras that he is a spy. When Enjolras confronts Javert about this, he admits his identity and his orders to spy on the students. Enjolras and the other students tie him to a pole in

9632-471: The money Fantine sends them on their daughters. After Fantine's death, Jean Valjean arrives in Montfermeil on Christmas Eve . He finds Cosette all alone fetching a pail of water for the Thénardiers in a dark forest and accompanies her back to the inn. After arranging lodgings at the inn for the night, he observes how the Thénardiers abuse her and how Éponine and Azelma mimic their parents' behavior and complain when Cosette plays with their doll. Valjean leaves

9744-411: The musical, the Thénardiers appear in the following songs: Since the original publication of Les Misérables in 1862, the characters of the Thénardiers have been presented in many adaptations of the novel in various media, including books , films , musicals , plays , and games . Javert Police inspector Javert ( French pronunciation: [ʒavɛʁ] ), no first name given in

9856-424: The original publication of Les Misérables in 1862, the character of Javert has appeared in a large number of adaptations in numerous types of media based on the novel, including books , films , musicals , plays , games , and web-comics. In the stage musical of the same name , Javert is a central character. His character, and his role in the plot, is largely unchanged and he remains the primary antagonist. His

9968-573: The passing Valjean and Cosette to give them money. With the help of robbers Brujon, Babet, Montparnasse, and Claquesous, they surround Valjean and rip open his shirt, revealing the brand on his chest. Éponine notices the police arriving and warns them, but they are captured by Javert and his constables. Thénardier tells Javert about Valjean and the brand on his chest and that he is the one who Javert should really arrest, and Javert releases them. The Thénardiers then try to rob Valjean again ("The Attack on Rue Plumet"). Thénardier and his gang of robbers reach

10080-457: The plot, nor even a subplot, a method Hugo used in such other works as The Hunchback of Notre-Dame and Toilers of the Sea . One biographer noted, "The digressions of genius are easily pardoned". The topics Hugo addresses include cloistered religious orders , the construction of the Paris sewers , argot , and the street urchins of Paris. The one about convents he titles "Parenthesis" to alert

10192-494: The police to arrive. Thénardier sends Éponine and Azelma outside to look out for the police. When Valjean returns with rent money, Thénardier, with Patron-Minette, ambushes him, revealing his true identity. Marius recognizes Thénardier as the man who saved his father's life at Waterloo and is caught in a dilemma. He tries to find a way to save Valjean while not betraying Thénardier. Valjean denies knowing Thénardier and tells him that they have never met. Valjean tries to escape through

10304-467: The poor of the Cour des miracles , including the Thénardiers' eldest son, Gavroche , who is a street urchin . One of the students, Marius Pontmercy , has become alienated from his family (especially his royalist grandfather, M. Gillenormand) because of his Bonapartist views. After the death of his father, Colonel Georges Pontmercy, Marius discovers a note from him instructing his son to provide help to

10416-474: The reader to its irrelevance to the storyline. Hugo devotes another 19 chapters (Volume II, Book I) to an account—and meditation on the place in history—of the Battle of Waterloo , the battlefield of which Hugo visited in 1861 and where he finished writing the novel. It opens volume 2 with such a change of subject as to seem the beginning of an entirely different work. The fact that this "digression" occupies such

10528-412: The rebellion of 1832 so that she will not have to share him with Cosette. Both Éponine and Gavroche are killed at Rue de la Chanvrerie, despite Marius' efforts to protect the Thénardier family. Marius himself is wounded in the battle, and Valjean attempts to save him by taking him through the sewers into safety. In the sewers, Valjean encounters Thénardier, who is hiding from Javert. Thinking Valjean to be

10640-430: The sake of procuring child support. Magnon had accused M. Gillenormand of fathering the two children, which he denied, although he agreed to support them as long as Magnon did not bring him any more children to support. The Thénardiers' eldest son, Gavroche, was left to the streets, where he became a gamin. The Jondrettes support themselves by sending letters begging for money to well-known philanthropists. Éponine comes in

10752-446: The severity of her illness, she falls back in shock and dies. Valjean goes to Fantine, speaks to her in an inaudible whisper, kisses her hand, and then leaves with Javert. Later, Fantine's body is unceremoniously thrown into a public grave. Valjean escapes, is recaptured, and is sentenced to death. The king commutes his sentence to penal servitude for life. While imprisoned in the Bagne of Toulon , Valjean, at great personal risk, rescues

10864-406: The silver candlesticks to make an honest man of himself. Valjean broods over Myriel's words. When opportunity presents itself, purely out of habit, he steals a 40- sou coin from 12-year-old Petit Gervais and chases the boy away. He quickly repents and panics, searching the city for Gervais. At the same time, his theft is reported to the authorities. Valjean hides as they search for him because if he

10976-440: The soul. The hydra at the beginning, the angel at the end. The novel contains various subplots, but the main thread is the story of ex-convict Jean Valjean , who becomes a force for good in the world but cannot escape his criminal past. The novel is divided into 5 volumes, each divided into several books and subdivided into chapters, for a total of 48 books and 365 chapters. Each chapter is relatively short, commonly no longer than

11088-465: The source novel, is a fictional character and a main antagonist of Victor Hugo 's 1862 novel Les Misérables . He was presumably born in 1780 and died on June 7, 1832. First a prison guard, and then a police inspector, his character is defined by his legalist tendencies, authoritarian worldview, and lack of empathy for criminals of all forms. In the novel, he persecutes the protagonist Jean Valjean after his violation of parole and theft from

11200-507: The straightforward recitation of events, his voice and control of the storyline unconstrained by time and sequence. The novel opens with a statement about the bishop of Digne in 1815 and immediately shifts: "Although these details in no way essentially concern that which we have to tell..." Only after 14 chapters does Hugo pick up the opening thread again, "In the early days of the month of October, 1815...", to introduce Jean Valjean. An incident Hugo witnessed in 1829 involved three strangers and

11312-463: The streets of Paris, saw the barricades blocking his way at points, and had to take shelter from gunfire. He participated more directly in the 1848 Paris insurrection , helping to smash barricades and suppress both the popular revolt and its monarchist allies. Victor Hugo drew his inspiration from everything he heard and saw, writing it down in his diary. In December 1846, he witnessed an altercation between an old woman scavenging through rubbish and

11424-484: The sudden realization that Valjean was simultaneously a criminal and a good person — a conundrum which reveals deep flaws in his ethical system, and suggests to him the existence of a superior moral system. He feels that the only possible resolution for himself is in death, and—after leaving for the prefect of police a brief letter addressing lapses in the Conciergerie — he drowns himself in the river Seine . Since

11536-410: The surname Jondrette at the Gorbeau House (coincidentally, the same building Valjean and Cosette briefly lived in after leaving the Thénardiers' inn). Marius lives there as well, next door to the Thénardiers. Éponine, now ragged and emaciated, visits Marius at his apartment to beg for money. To impress him, she tries to prove her literacy by reading aloud from a book and by writing "The Cops Are Here" on

11648-523: The time and features the interventions of detectives and the indifference of aristocrats. Although socially progressive in tone, it is more sensationalist than Les Misérables and does not have the same breadth of moral vision. In 1815 Digne , the peasant Jean Valjean , just released from 19 years' imprisonment in the Bagne of Toulon —five for stealing bread for his starving sister and her family and fourteen more for numerous escape attempts—is turned away by innkeepers because his yellow passport marks him as

11760-473: The treacherous people she may encounter in the outside world ("The Thénardier Waltz of Treachery"). In the end, Valjean offers 1500 francs to take Cosette, and, delighted with the money, the Thénardiers hand her over without question. Nine years later, they are living in the slums of Paris, having lost their inn. One day, they hatch a plan to rob Valjean, who they have learned is now also living in Paris ("The Robbery"). They disguise themselves as beggars and beg

11872-403: The types and nature of romantic and familial love. Upton Sinclair described the novel as "one of the half-dozen greatest novels of the world" and remarked that Hugo set forth the purpose of Les Misérables in the preface: So long as there shall exist, by reason of law and custom, a social condemnation, which, in the face of civilization, artificially creates hells on earth, and complicates

11984-424: The unlikely case that he survives the uprising. Valjean then fires a shot into the air and returns to the barricade, where he tells everyone that the policeman is dead. As the army storms the barricade, Valjean manages to grab the badly wounded Marius and dives into a sewer, where he wanders with Marius on his shoulders, despairing of finding an exit. A stroke of luck brings him face to face with Thénardier , who, in

12096-507: The workers in his paper factory by lifting a heavy cart on his shoulders as Valjean does. Hugo's description of Valjean rescuing a sailor on the Orion draws almost word for word on a Baron La Roncière's letter describing such an incident. Hugo used Bienvenu de Miollis (1753–1843), the Bishop of Digne during the time in which Valjean encounters Myriel, as the model for Myriel. Hugo had used

12208-456: The world, do not stop at the blue and red lines drawn on maps. Wherever men go in ignorance or despair, wherever women sell themselves for bread, wherever children lack a book to learn from or a warm hearth, Les Misérables knocks at the door and says: "open up, I am here for you". More than a quarter of the novel—by one count 955 of 2,783 pages—is devoted to essays that argue a moral point or display Hugo's encyclopedic knowledge but do not advance

12320-432: Was altered in the film adaptation , where the Thénardiers are thrown out of the party after their extortion attempt fails. Along with Javert, they do not appear in the show's finale, presumably due to their villainous roles, as well as the fact that they are among the few characters to survive the entire play. The Thénardiers are usually played by a high baritone (Thénardier) and a mezzo-soprano (Madame Thénardier). In

12432-490: Was the turn of the thinkers. The century that Waterloo was intended to arrest has pursued its march. That sinister victory was vanquished by liberty. One critic has called this "the spiritual gateway" to the novel, as its chance encounter of Thénardier and Colonel Pontmercy foreshadows so many of the novel's encounters "blending chance and necessity", a "confrontation of heroism and villainy". Even when not turning to other subjects outside his narrative, Hugo sometimes interrupts

12544-410: Was very much in love with Félix Tholomyès. His friends, Listolier, Fameuil, and Blachevelle, were also paired with Fantine's friends Dahlia, Zéphine, and Favourite. The men abandon the women, treating their relationships as youthful amusements. Fantine must draw on her own resources to care for her and Tholomyès's daughter, Cosette . When Fantine arrives at Montfermeil , she leaves Cosette in the care of

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