Jean Valjean
Encyclopedia
Jean Valjean is the protagonist
of Victor Hugo
's 1862 novel Les Misérables
. Hugo depicts the character's nineteen year-long struggle with the law for stealing bread so he could feed his sister's children (5 years for the theft, 12 years for four attempted escapes and 2 years for fighting back during one escape attempt) during a time of economic depression
. Valjean, along with his nemesis, Police Inspector Javert
, who relentlessly pursues Valjean, have become archetypal characters in literary culture.
As a parolee, Valjean is branded an outcast and his passport (his identification card) is yellow colored—identifying him to all as a former offender, much like Hester Prynne
in The Scarlet Letter
. The Bishop Myriel
of Digne, from whom he stole valuable silverware, tells the police that he has given the treasure to Valjean. Out of this encounter, Valjean becomes a repentant, honorable, dignified man; he is kind to all he encounters, a devoted substitute father to a girl who loses her mother, and a benefactor to those in need. Though a known criminal and a parolee, Valjean yet grows morally to represent the best traits of humanity. Valjean occupies a place on the wrong side of the law, but the right side of human virtues and ethics.
His antithesis, Javert
, a dedicated and capable police officer, occupies a place of honor in society. The relationship of Valjean and Javert is a binary opposition between law and love. Javert pursues Valjean with the same white-hot vengeance as Captain Ahab
does Moby-Dick
, seeing only as the convict he once was, rather than the benefactor of humanity he has become. The novel describes the developing struggle of Valjean to hide from Javert, and that of Javert to uncover the location of and arrest Valjean.
Valjean was born sometime in 1769 (most likely before October) in the small town of Faverolles, Aisne
, the son of Jean Valjean and Jeanne Valjean, née Mathieu. Both parents die when he is still a child; the father falls from a tree, the mother dies of a milk fever
, and his older sister Jeanne raises him. He becomes a pruner, like his father before him. Jeanne is married to an unnamed man, who dies in 1794, with whom she has seven children, all born between 1786 and 1793.
In winter 1795, when resources become scarce, Valjean steals a loaf of bread from a local baker, Maubert Isabeau. He is caught and imprisoned for five years in the Bagne of Toulon
, the Toulon prison, and assigned the number 24601. He attempts to escape four times, in 1800 (shortly before he was due to be released anyway), 1802, 1806 and 1809, each time his sentence is lengthened by three years; he also receives an extra two years for once resisting recapture during his second escape. Finally, after nineteen years in prison, he is released, but must, by law, carry a yellow passport that announces his imprisonment. Furthermore, he is ordered to report to Pontarlier
, since ex-convicts were not allowed to choose their residence themselves.
During the fourth year of his captivity, he learns what has happened to his sister. At the time, she was living in Paris, working in at a printer's shop and had only her youngest child, a son, with her who attended the school next door. They were quite poor. Nothing is ever heard about the other six children.
When Valjean is back in the world, he is turned away by every inn due to his yellow passport; if he manages to find work, he is paid only half the normal wages.
Up to this point, his story is told in a flashback. The novel introduces him as a strange man, arriving one October evening in Digne. Without explanations, the novel follows him as he searches a place to stay for the night and is turned away. At last, he is taken in by Bishop Myriel
, a kind-hearted old clergyman, in the town of Digne. The bishop trusts Valjean, feeds him supper, and gives him a bed for the night.
During the night, he awakens and steals the bishop's silverware and silver plates, and runs off. He is arrested and brought back to the bishop. However, the Bishop admonishes Valjean (in front of the police) for forgetting to also take the silver candlesticks that he'd given Valjean, reminding Valjean of his "promise" to use the silver to become an honest man, claiming to have bought Valjean's soul with it, withdrawing it from evil and giving it to God. Despite the Bishop's words, we later find that the police mark the event down in Valjean's permanent record.
Bewildered and not really understanding what the bishop is talking about, Jean Valjean heads instead back out into the nearby mountains and meets a young foreign traveling worker named Petit Gervais. There are two perspectives on this encounter. From one perspective, Valjean, still a man of criminal mind, places his foot on a coin that Petit Gervais drops, then refuses to return it to the boy, despite Gervais' protests. When the boy flees the scene and Valjean comes to his senses, remembering what the bishop had done for him, he is horribly ashamed of what he has done and searches for the boy in vain. Another interpretation of this scene is that Valjean was not aware that he had moved his foot over the coin, and snarled at Petit Gervais for annoying him. Either way, he was unresponsive to the boy's pleas and keeping the 40-sous piece and shaking his stick at the boy makes the event an armed robbery -- enough to return him to prison for life if the police ever find him again.
The novel now centers around Fantine
, mentioning Valjean only in book five again. Jean Valjean enters the town of Montreuil-sur-Mer
in late 1815 and saves the two children of the town's police chief from a fire. In gratitude, the police chief doesn't have any interest in asking Valjean for papers or investigating his past. With a few simple changes, Valjean revolutionizes the town's traditional black bead and bracelet production and gains a fortune, which he spends mostly for the town's good, paying for the maintenance (including required staff) of hospital beds, orphanages and schools. He is appointed mayor for his deeds twice, refusing the first time (until an old woman asks him if he's afraid of the good he could do as mayor). He is also notified that the king wishes to present him with the Croix d’honneur, but declines.
Valjean later saved an old man named Fauchelevent from death, but the event had dire consequences. Fauchelevent had fallen beneath his wagon just as it started settling into the mire and his horse broke its thighs. Javert, who was at the scene and had sent for a jack, told Valjean that he'd known a very strong man, back when Javert had worked as the guard for a prison chain gang, who had climbed under a wagon like that one and raised it on his back. Valjean offered to pay anyone who could raise the wagon but when nobody wanted to risk their life climbing under the wagon and the wagon started settling faster than the jack would get there, he jumped down into the mud and lifted the wagon off Fauchelevent. Since Fauchelevent had earlier lost his business and now had a broken kneecap, Valjean arranged a job at a convent for Fauchelevent. Jean valjean also bought the broken cart and horse as an excuse to give Father Fauchelevent money.
Later, Javert arrested Fantine, who had become a prostitute, when he saw her spit and try to hit a bourgeois named Bamatabois, who had taunted Fantine and thrown snow down her dress while she walked back and forth trying to get business. Valjean had seen the whole thing and knew that Bamatabois should have been the one arrested and ordered Fantine free. Javert knew only what he'd seen and was furious with Valjean for interfering with police work. When Valjean orders Javert to leave in front of Javert's squad, Javert leaves and denounces "Madeleine" to the prefect of police at Paris, saying that he suspects Madeleine is Valjean. Javert is told that he must be incorrect because the "real" Jean Valjean (who is in reality Champmathieu) had just been found.
Valjean takes Fantine to the local hospital (which is on the side of the mayor's house) and has her cared for. He learns of Cosette, Fantine's daughter, and tries to pay off the Thénardiers
(who are abusing Cosette).
Javert then apologizes to "M. Madeleine", and tells him that the "real" Jean Valjean has been found and is to be tried the next day. Javert also asks that he be dismissed
in disgrace by Valjean from his job for acting out of revenge incorrectly, saying that since he had been hard on others he could not be less harsh on himself but after Valjean repeatedly refuses, Javert says he will continue acting as police chief until a replacement can be found.
It is only here that the novel finally reveals Madeleine to be Valjean, a fact which was heavily foreshadowed
before.
That night, Valjean has a terrific struggle within himself, but finally decides to go to the trial and reveal his identity in order to free Champmathieu (for, if he gave himself up, who would care for Fantine or rescue Cosette?). After giving his evidence and proving that he is the real Jean Valjean, nobody wants to arrest him, so Valjean says that they know where to find him and he returns to Montreuil-sur-Mer. The judge at the trial, although quite impressed with M. Madeleine's work and reputation, is shocked that Valjean, while mentioning a date that another convict had tattoed on himself (in order to prove that M. Madeleine was actually Jean Valjean) called Napoleon Bonaparte
"the Emperor" instead of "Bonaparte" and orders Valjean arrested for the 40-sous theft. Javert comes to arrest him the next day while Valjean is in Fantine's room. Valjean asks for three days to get Cosette from Montfermeil and give her to Fantine before he is arrested and Javert refuses, saying that it would be too easy for Valjean to escape. Fantine (who'd been told by the doctors that Valjean, who'd been at the trial, had been getting her daughter) was shocked to find that her daughter was not there already and that her savior was being arrested, and died of shock (her body had been greatly weakened by her poor living conditions and long illness, probably tuberculosis
).
Valjean allows Javert to arrest him, but quickly escapes. It is hinted that Valjean escaped with the help of a file hidden in a coin, an item he is later proved to possess. Valjean returns to his house to pack his clothes and hides behind the door when Javert comes looking for him. One of the hospital nuns, who had a reputation for never having told a lie in her life, twice lied to Javert that there was nobody there but her. Javert believed her and left, giving Valjean an opportunity to escape the town.
(on his way to get Fantine's eight-year-old daughter, Cosette
, who he had promised to rescue). In July 1823, he was condemned to death for the 40-sous theft and the escape from the jail in Montreuil-sur-Mer, as the prosecutor claims that Valjean was part of a gang of street robbers and the latter refuses to defend himself. His sentence was graciously reduced by the king to only life in prison instead of death. Before he was captured, Jean Valjean had already traveled near to Montfermeil and buried all the money he'd saved as M. Madeleine -- a chapter tells of a worker in Montfermeil
, a former Toulon convict, who claims having seen, according to a local fairy tale, the devil burying his treasure in the forest. No further explanation is ever given as to why, having buried his money near Montfermeil, Valjean had traveled back to Paris and then attempted to travel back to Montfermeil.
Valjean was assigned a new number of 9430, but escapes from a sailing vessel after only a few months' imprisonment, on the 16.11.1823, by apparently falling into the sea after a daring rescue of a sailor who had gotten stuck in a dangerous situation up in the ship's rigging. Thereafter he is officially presumed dead.
Valjean goes to Montfermeil, where he meets Cosette alone in the forest on Christmas Eve
1823. He accompanies her back to the inn; and watches that evening as the Thénardiers
mistreat her very badly. He sees the Thénardiers' daughters Éponine
and Azelma acting unkindly to her as well, tattling on her to their mother when she tries to play with their temporarily abandoned doll. After seeing this, Valjean briefly leaves the inn and returns with a beautiful new doll to give to Cosette, which she happily accepts. This makes Mme. Thénardier furious with Valjean, affronted that he would do such a thing for Cosette instead of her own daughters. M. Thénardier tells her that Valjean can do as he wishes as long as he pays them. That evening, Mme. Thénardier insists that Cosette will be turned out onto the street the next day.
The next morning, Christmas Day, Valjean offers to take Cosette with him. Mme. Thénardier immediately accepts, but M. Thénardier haggles for a compensation and gets 1500 francs in the end. Valjean takes Cosette with him. Only now does the book confirm that the mysterious man Cosette met is actually Jean Valjean. M. Thénardier is soon overcome with grief at having sold Cosette too cheaply and runs after them. When M. Thénardier demands more money, Valjean gives him the note Fantine signed before she died, saying that the bearer of the note was authorized to take Cosette. M. Thénardier tries to continue following Valjean, but is soon frightened back to the inn.
Valjean takes Cosette to Paris
, where they live in No. 50-52 Boulevard de l'Hôpital
, in the so-called "Gorbeau House." They cannot live calmly for long -- in Spring 1824, Javert (who'd been promoted to the police in Paris) finds the house. He'd heard of a "kidnapping" from Montfermeil, remembered Valjean's request of three days, and had also heard of a man poorly dressed who gave money to other poor people, the "beggar who gives alms", who had a granddaughter with him, who (so rumors said) said that she came from Montfermeil. Javert goes undercover, discovers that it is Jean Valjean, and makes plans to arrest him.
Valjean recognizes Cosette and they just walk out of the house and leave. They barely manage to get away from Javert, who allowed Valjean to leave the house, believing that Valjean would take him to meet other criminals. Valjean managed to steal a rope from a streetlamp, climb a wall to a convent and pull Cosette up after him. They then climbed down a shed roof into a garden. it turned out that this was the convent where Fauchelevent worked, who wanted to return the favor and save Valjean's life this time. After almost burying Valjean alive in a scheme to get him out of the convent so that he could openly walk back into the convent, Fauchelevent was able to bring in his "brother" Ultimas (fr. Ultime) Fauchelevent (the real name of Fauchelevent's deceased brother). Cosette was admitted to the convent school.
notices on his daily walks in the Jardin du Luxembourg
. He ignores them at first, but later he and Cosette fall in love. Marius stalks the two until Valjean is alerted that someone is stalking them and moves from his house in Rue de l'Ouest (today Rue d'Assas
).
They meet again by pure luck, six months later: Valjean is known for his generosity. As "the generous man from the St-Étienne-church", Thénardier, Marius' neighbour, asks for charity. He recognises Valjean and decides to build a trap for him. Marius, overhearing the plans, denounces the plot to the police, unfortunately meeting Javert. Valjean walks right into the trap and attempts to escape Thénardier once he realises this. Thénardier forces Valjean to write a letter to Cosette, instructing her to come with the bearer. Valjean, however, gives Thénardier a false name and address and manages to free himself of the ropes tying him with the help of a file concealed in a coin, which is found afterwards. He berates the gang for thinking that they could force him to tell something he does not want to tell and burns his own left forearm with the poker Thénardier had used to threaten him before surrendering to the gang. It is at that moment that Javert enters the scene. Valjean manages to escape before the latter recognizes him.
Valjean does not know that Cosette returns Marius' love and does not understand why Cosette seems less attached to "her grandfather" than before. He is happy to see that the brand wound he got during the attack makes her worry and care for him more. During one of their walks, they witness the passing of a chain gang being taken from Paris south. The event leaves a profound impression on Cosette and makes Valjean even more determined to stop his daughter from learning about his past.
Marius, through Éponine, finds Cosette, stalks her house, leaves his daily love journal for her to find then one evening leaps over the gate and surprises her in the garden. They begin meeting every evening to gaze into each other's eyes. But it is also Éponine, jealous, who throws Valjean an anonymous note, telling him to move. Valjean, feeling threatened since the incident with Thénardier and since he believes there has been a man hiding in his garden, decides to move to England. He takes Cosette to the house in the Rue de l'Homme-Armé. This takes places during the first days of June 1832.
It is only there that he learns of Cosette's love for Marius when a young boy (Gavroche
) delivers a letter from Marius to Cosette, which mentions that Marius is at the barricade and will die as he promised her, since she left without a forwarding address. Valjean has another long inward struggle, at first feeling relief about Marius' certain death, then guilt about his former feeling. He joins the rebellion without an actual decision about his following actions.
, the barricade's leader, wishes to thank Valjean and offers him anything he wants. Valjean asks that he be allowed to kill Javert, who had been captured as a spy. The request is granted and Valjean takes Javert "out back". Instead of executing him, Valjean sets Javert free. Javert warns Valjean that that should Valjean allow him to go free instead of killing him, that he will still be bound to arrest Valjean. Valjean agrees and gives Javert his address. Sometime after Valjean releases Javert, the fighters on the barricades are all killed with the exception of Marius, whom Valjean carries to safety through miles of Parisian sewers and quicksand. Valjean finds the sewer exit to the Grand-Caillou, but it's locked. M. Thénardier is there and has the key. He offers to give the key to Valjean in return for "halves", believing that Valjean had killed Marius for his money. Valjean gives the few sous he has to M. Thénardier and unlocks the sewer gate only to run into Javert, who'd gone back on duty after his release and had been chasing M. Thénardier. Valjean requests that Javert help him carry Marius to safety and Javert summons his carriage to carry them back. Valjean then asks that he be allowed to return home to say goodbye to Cosette and Javert agrees, saying that he will wait out front. As he walks up the stairs, Valjean looks out the window and notices that Javert is gone. Faced with the choice of turning in a man who'd done only good acts for years and had saved Javert's life, or of letting a known criminal go free, Javert ended up "requesting of God" that he, as he'd asked M. Madeleine so many years before, be "dismissed in disgrace" -- he committed suicide.
After recovering from his severe injuries, Marius receives permission from his grandfather to marry Cosette and they wed on 16 February 1833. The day after the wedding, Valjean reveals to Marius that he is, in fact, Jean Valjean and an ex-convict from Toulon. After this, Valjean's previously habitual visits to Cosette at Marius' grandfather's house (No. 6, rue des filles-du-calvaire) become shorter and shorter, until he suddenly ceases to visit. M. Thénardier, who claims that Marius’ father-in-law is a murderer and shows him several Moniteur
articles “proving” this, pays Marius a visit. Marius sees through M. Thénardier's disguise and, in an attempt to show Marius something that he doesn't already know, M. Thénardier shows newspaper clippings proving that M. Madeleine and Jean Valjean are the same person, and that Javert committed suicide. Marius is then told that Valjean was the man who had "assassinated" one of Marius' relatives, carrying the body through the sewers on 6 June. Realizing that M. Thénardier had seen Valjean saving him, Marius finishes with M. Thénardier and hurries with Cosette to Valjean's flat on the Rue de L'Homme Armé. Unfortunately, they are too late and see that Valjean is dying. Before he dies, though, Valjean makes peace with Marius, with whom he had had uneasy relations, and tells Cosette the name of her mother, Fantine. Happy, he finally dies.
, an ex-convict who became a successful businessman widely noted for his social engagement and philanthropy. Valjean's incredible strength in general is based on Vidocq's, who helped Hugo with his research for Claude Gueux
and Le Dernier jour d'un condamné (The Last Day of a Condemned Man). The accident of the cart, in particular, is based on an event in Vidocq's life: In 1828, he saved one of the workers in his paper factory by lifting a heavy cart on his shoulders. Hugo only added the fact that Valjean betrayed his real identity with the act (Vidocq had already been pardoned at the time).
Valjean saving the sailor on the Orion is based on a real event not witnessed by Hugo himself. Hugo reproduced a friend's letter describing the incident nearly word for word, changing the end however by letting Valjean escape afterwards. Other incidents in the novel which have been linked to Hugo's own life include:
The convict's number, 24601, may stand for the date Hugo was conceived (24 June 1801); in addition, the 24th of June is St. John's (Jean's) Day.
Jean Valjean is born the same year as Napoleon Bonaparte, and his imprisonment equals the years of Napoleon's rise to power and the Napoleonic wars
(1796-1815).
The revolt of the university students is based on the 1832 June Rebellion.
In Act 2, The First Attack, Valjean shoots a sniper who is attempting to kill Enjolras. This directly contradicts the story of the novel, which explicitly states that Valjean is the only person at the barricades who does not directly fight. In the book, he only shoots at soldiers's helmets, although his earlier shots to get a mattress down which had been hung up in front of some windows makes it clear that he is an excellent shot.
Valjean and Cosette do not take refuge from Javert in a convent, as they do in the novel, and Valjean never stays at the Gorbeau house. Instead, Thenardier attacks him in the streets with his street gang.
On Parole: After leaving the prison, Valjean dreams of a bright future, but swears not to forget those nineteen years in prison. He finds work at a farm, but gets paid only half the wages. An inn also refuses to take him in. Valjean has to realise that he will remain an outcast. Only the bishop of Digne takes him in, but Valjean repays his kindness by stealing his silver.
Valjean Arrested, Valjean Forgiven: He does not get far after the theft. Two constables bring him back to the bishop, who lies by saying he had given Valjean the silver as a gift, and then gives him two silver candlesticks. After the constables leave, the bishop tells Valjean that he has now bought Valjean's soul and given it to God.
What Have I Done? (Valjean's Soliloquy): Valjean's first large solo. Valjean is confused by the bishop's actions, claiming that there was only one way for Valjean to go ever since he was first condemned for stealing a loaf of bread. Nevertheless, the bishop's trust in him makes him decide to find another way. At the end of the song, he rips up his yellow passport.
At The End Of The Day: Eight years later. In a factory in Montreuil-sur-Mer
, a fight breaks loose and the owner of the factory and mayor of the city comes to stop it. It is up to the spectator to recognise that Valjean is the mayor.
Fantine's Arrest: After Javert has arrested Fantine for assaulting a man, the mayor orders him to let Fantine go. Fantine does not believe in the mayor's sudden kindness, claiming that it was him who allowed the foreman to send her away from the factory and causing her misery. Valjean realises what has happened and decides to care for Fantine. She is taken to a hospital.
The Runaway Cart: Directly afterwards, a runaway cart crashes and traps a man underneath. As the people around hesitate to help, Valjean slips under the cart and lifts it on his back. Javert, who witnesses the scene, feels reminded of a man he knew years ago, a convict who had the same strength as the mayor. However, this man has just been arrested and awaits his trial.
Who Am I?: After Javert has left, Valjean soliloquizes about the course of action he should take. He first rejoices at the thought of not having to worry about being arrested, but then realises that he cannot have an innocent man being condemned in his place, reasoning that God has once given him strength and will do so again. At the trial, he reveals his true identity and proves it by showing the convict brand on his chest.
Come To Me (Fantine's Death): Fantine is very ill and hallucinating. Valjean returns from the trial and promises to take care for her child, just before she dies.
The Confrontation: Javert arrives to arrest Valjean, triumphing. Valjean begs him to grant him three days' time to fetch Fantine's child, promising to return, at which Javert scoffs. As Javert makes his beliefs about criminals clear, that a man who has fallen once can never redeem himself, Valjean reminds Javert of his strength, claiming that he would not hesitate to kill Javert. After renewing his promise to Fantine, he knocks Javert out and flees.
The Bargain/The Waltz of Treachery: In the forest at a well, Valjean has met the badly-treated Cosette, Fantine's child. He follows her to the Thénardiers' inn, where he announces that he promised to Fantine to take care of her child. The Thénardiers' start to haggle for a price, claiming that Cosette cost them so much money and even faking worry about Valjean probably having bad intentions with the child. Valjean ends up giving them 1500 francs and takes Cosette with him.
The Robbery/Javert's Intervention : Nine years later in Paris. Valjean arrives to fall into a trap set up by Thénardier, who in the following brawl gets a look at the convict brand on Valjean's chest. As Javert arrives, Valjean manages to escape with Cosette, before Javert recognises him.
In My Life: At their house in the Rue Plumet, Cosette sings about Marius. Valjean enters and Cosette starts to ask him questions about the past which he refuses to answer.
Attack On Rue Plumet: Valjean arrives after the departure of Marius and Thénardier's gang, since he heard Éponine scream. Cosette claims that is had been her since she saw shadows moving in the street. Valjean believes that Javert has found him again and decides that it is no longer safe to stay in France. He announces to Cosette that they shall go to England.
One Day More: Valjean gets the first few lines in the song, singing about his hopes to live in peace at last, once he is in England. During the rest of the song, he and Cosette pack a suitcase.
At The Barricade (Upon These Stones): At the barricade, Marius has given Éponine a letter, which she delivers to Valjean, who promises to pass it to Cosette. He reads it however and so discovers Cosette's love for Marius.
Night Of Anguish (Sometimes known as Valjean At The Barricades): Valjean arrives in an army uniform. The students point out to him that he seems to old to fight, but Valjean insists on staying. The students show him Javert, bound to a chair, and warn him that if he should be another spy, he too will not live.
The First Attack: During the first attack, Valjean shows his superior shooting skills by shooting a sniper who had just missed Enjolras. This is a direct contradiction of the book, where it is emphasised that he did not kill anybody. As Enjolras thanks him, Valjean asks Javert's life as a reward, so Enjolras allows him to shoot Javert. However, Valjean cuts Javert's bonds and tells him to go. Javert encourages him to go through with it, telling him that he believes that Valjean will forever stay a thief and that he, Javert, will continue to hunt him. Valjean tells him that he is wrong and finishes by giving his address in case that he should get out alive. He unloads his rifle into the air after Javert leaves.
Drink With Me (silent): Though Valjean does not sing in this song, it is important, because it allows him to find out who Marius is as the latter sings about his love for Cosette.
Bring Him Home: During the night, Valjean prays to God and asks him to save Marius, even if that would mean his, Valjean's, death. This is probably the most famous of Valjean's solos, but it contradicts the book most strongly. In the book, Valjean came to the barricades without a real decision what to do if he should find Marius and actually harbours such hate against him that he seems to wish for his death.
The Second Attack (Death Of Gavroche): During the second attack, the rebels run out of ammunition. Marius proposes to get some from the dead bodies on the other side of the barricade, but Enjolras holds him back. Valjean offers to go, but Gavroche is faster. He climbs over the barricade where he gets shot and killed.
The Final Battle (silent): After the shooting dies down, Valjean wakes from unconsciousness to find Marius badly wounded and barely alive. He searches for an escape route and finds a manhole down to the sewers where he takes Marius just before Javert arrives.
The Sewers/Dog Eats Dog: Valjean arrives with an unconscious Marius just as Thénardier is about to rob a corpse. Valjean loses consciousness and Thénardier proceeds to rob Marius, taking a ring and his watch. Just as he turns to Valjean, he wakes. Thénardier recognises him and runs. Valjean takes Marius again and carries him through the sewers until they arrive at an outlet by the Seine
. But Javert is already waiting. Valjean begs again for an hour to bring Marius to a hospital, promising to come quietly afterwards. This time Javert agrees and Valjean leaves.
Every Day/A Heart Full Of Love (Reprise): Valjean arrives in the middle of a love scene between Cosette and Marius and decides not to stand in the way of their happiness.
Valjean's Confession: A very happy Marius asks Valjean to come and live with them, but Valjean decides that first, there is something Marius needs to know. He tells his life story in short (only about being an ex-convict and a parole violator) and says that he has to leave. Marius asks him to stay, saying that Cosette will not believe any reason for her father's disappearance. Valjean makes Marius promise never to tell Cosette about this, a word which Marius gives only reluctantly.
Valjean's Death/Finale/Do You Hear The People Sing? (Reprise): At the time of the wedding, a strongly aged Valjean prays for Cosette and Marius. The arrival of Fantine's ghost marks his near death, which gets postponed by the arrival of Cosette and Marius, who has just learned the identity of his saviour. Valjean hands Cosette his written confession and dies in her arms. Éponine's ghost then joins him and Fantine, then all the students and rebels who died at the barricade return as ghosts for the finale.
Emanue; DelCore
Protagonist
A protagonist is the main character of a literary, theatrical, cinematic, or musical narrative, around whom the events of the narrative's plot revolve and with whom the audience is intended to most identify...
of Victor Hugo
Victor Hugo
Victor-Marie Hugo was a Frenchpoet, playwright, novelist, essayist, visual artist, statesman, human rights activist and exponent of the Romantic movement in France....
's 1862 novel Les Misérables
Les Misérables
Les Misérables , translated variously from the French as The Miserable Ones, The Wretched, The Poor Ones, The Wretched Poor, or The Victims), is an 1862 French novel by author Victor Hugo and is widely considered one of the greatest novels of the nineteenth century...
. Hugo depicts the character's nineteen year-long struggle with the law for stealing bread so he could feed his sister's children (5 years for the theft, 12 years for four attempted escapes and 2 years for fighting back during one escape attempt) during a time of economic depression
Depression (economics)
In economics, a depression is a sustained, long-term downturn in economic activity in one or more economies. It is a more severe downturn than a recession, which is seen by some economists as part of the modern business cycle....
. Valjean, along with his nemesis, Police Inspector Javert
Javert
Javert is a fictional character from the novel Les Misérables by Victor Hugo. He is a prison guard, and later policeman, who devotes his life to the law. He is always referred to just simply as "Javert" or "Inspector Javert" by the narrator and other characters throughout the novel; his first name...
, who relentlessly pursues Valjean, have become archetypal characters in literary culture.
As a parolee, Valjean is branded an outcast and his passport (his identification card) is yellow colored—identifying him to all as a former offender, much like Hester Prynne
Hester Prynne
Hester Prynne, the young protagonist of Nathaniel Hawthorne's novel The Scarlet Letter, is a woman condemned by her Puritan neighbors. The character has been called "among the first and most important female protagonists in American literature."...
in The Scarlet Letter
The Scarlet Letter
The Scarlet Letter is an 1850 romantic work of fiction in a historical setting, written by Nathaniel Hawthorne. It is considered to be his magnum opus. Set in 17th-century Puritan Boston during the years 1642 to 1649, it tells the story of Hester Prynne, who conceives a daughter through an...
. The Bishop Myriel
Bishop Myriel
Bishop Charles-François-Bienvenu Myriel, referred to as Bishop Myriel or Monseigneur Bienvenu , is a fictional character in Victor Hugo's Les Misérables. Myriel is the Bishop of Digne...
of Digne, from whom he stole valuable silverware, tells the police that he has given the treasure to Valjean. Out of this encounter, Valjean becomes a repentant, honorable, dignified man; he is kind to all he encounters, a devoted substitute father to a girl who loses her mother, and a benefactor to those in need. Though a known criminal and a parolee, Valjean yet grows morally to represent the best traits of humanity. Valjean occupies a place on the wrong side of the law, but the right side of human virtues and ethics.
His antithesis, Javert
Javert
Javert is a fictional character from the novel Les Misérables by Victor Hugo. He is a prison guard, and later policeman, who devotes his life to the law. He is always referred to just simply as "Javert" or "Inspector Javert" by the narrator and other characters throughout the novel; his first name...
, a dedicated and capable police officer, occupies a place of honor in society. The relationship of Valjean and Javert is a binary opposition between law and love. Javert pursues Valjean with the same white-hot vengeance as Captain Ahab
Captain Ahab
Captain Ahab may refer to:* Ahab , the captain of the Pequod in Herman Melville's 1851 novel Moby-Dick* Captain Ahab , a Los Angeles based pop/electronic band...
does Moby-Dick
Moby-Dick
Moby-Dick; or, The Whale, was written by American author Herman Melville and first published in 1851. It is considered by some to be a Great American Novel and a treasure of world literature. The story tells the adventures of wandering sailor Ishmael, and his voyage on the whaleship Pequod,...
, seeing only as the convict he once was, rather than the benefactor of humanity he has become. The novel describes the developing struggle of Valjean to hide from Javert, and that of Javert to uncover the location of and arrest Valjean.
Part One: Fantine
Even though Jean Valjean is unarguably the novel's main protagonist, he is only introduced in the second book of Part One.Valjean was born sometime in 1769 (most likely before October) in the small town of Faverolles, Aisne
Faverolles, Aisne
Faverolles is a commune in the Aisne department in Picardy in northern France. It is arguably only notable for having been chosen as the birthplace of Victor Hugo's protagonist Jean Valjean....
, the son of Jean Valjean and Jeanne Valjean, née Mathieu. Both parents die when he is still a child; the father falls from a tree, the mother dies of a milk fever
Milk fever
Milk fever, post-parturient hypocalcemia, or parturient paresis is a disease, usually of dairy cows, characterized by reduced blood calcium levels....
, and his older sister Jeanne raises him. He becomes a pruner, like his father before him. Jeanne is married to an unnamed man, who dies in 1794, with whom she has seven children, all born between 1786 and 1793.
In winter 1795, when resources become scarce, Valjean steals a loaf of bread from a local baker, Maubert Isabeau. He is caught and imprisoned for five years in the Bagne of Toulon
Bagne of Toulon
The Bagne of Toulon was the notorious prison in Toulon, France, made famous as the place of imprisonment of Jean Valjean, the hero of Les Misérables, the novel by Victor Hugo...
, the Toulon prison, and assigned the number 24601. He attempts to escape four times, in 1800 (shortly before he was due to be released anyway), 1802, 1806 and 1809, each time his sentence is lengthened by three years; he also receives an extra two years for once resisting recapture during his second escape. Finally, after nineteen years in prison, he is released, but must, by law, carry a yellow passport that announces his imprisonment. Furthermore, he is ordered to report to Pontarlier
Pontarlier
Pontarlier is a commune and one of the two sub-prefectures of the Doubs department in the Franche-Comté region in eastern France.-History:...
, since ex-convicts were not allowed to choose their residence themselves.
During the fourth year of his captivity, he learns what has happened to his sister. At the time, she was living in Paris, working in at a printer's shop and had only her youngest child, a son, with her who attended the school next door. They were quite poor. Nothing is ever heard about the other six children.
When Valjean is back in the world, he is turned away by every inn due to his yellow passport; if he manages to find work, he is paid only half the normal wages.
Up to this point, his story is told in a flashback. The novel introduces him as a strange man, arriving one October evening in Digne. Without explanations, the novel follows him as he searches a place to stay for the night and is turned away. At last, he is taken in by Bishop Myriel
Bishop Myriel
Bishop Charles-François-Bienvenu Myriel, referred to as Bishop Myriel or Monseigneur Bienvenu , is a fictional character in Victor Hugo's Les Misérables. Myriel is the Bishop of Digne...
, a kind-hearted old clergyman, in the town of Digne. The bishop trusts Valjean, feeds him supper, and gives him a bed for the night.
During the night, he awakens and steals the bishop's silverware and silver plates, and runs off. He is arrested and brought back to the bishop. However, the Bishop admonishes Valjean (in front of the police) for forgetting to also take the silver candlesticks that he'd given Valjean, reminding Valjean of his "promise" to use the silver to become an honest man, claiming to have bought Valjean's soul with it, withdrawing it from evil and giving it to God. Despite the Bishop's words, we later find that the police mark the event down in Valjean's permanent record.
Bewildered and not really understanding what the bishop is talking about, Jean Valjean heads instead back out into the nearby mountains and meets a young foreign traveling worker named Petit Gervais. There are two perspectives on this encounter. From one perspective, Valjean, still a man of criminal mind, places his foot on a coin that Petit Gervais drops, then refuses to return it to the boy, despite Gervais' protests. When the boy flees the scene and Valjean comes to his senses, remembering what the bishop had done for him, he is horribly ashamed of what he has done and searches for the boy in vain. Another interpretation of this scene is that Valjean was not aware that he had moved his foot over the coin, and snarled at Petit Gervais for annoying him. Either way, he was unresponsive to the boy's pleas and keeping the 40-sous piece and shaking his stick at the boy makes the event an armed robbery -- enough to return him to prison for life if the police ever find him again.
The novel now centers around Fantine
Fantine
Fantine is a character in Victor Hugo's 1862 novel Les Misérables.- Backstory :"Fantine was one of those beings which are brought forth from the heart of the people... She was called Fantine because she had never been known by any other name...""All four were ravishingly beautiful. As to Fantine,...
, mentioning Valjean only in book five again. Jean Valjean enters the town of Montreuil-sur-Mer
Montreuil-sur-Mer
Montreuil or Montreuil-sur-Mer is a sub-prefecture in the Pas-de-Calais department in northern France. It is located on the Canche river, not far from Étaples...
in late 1815 and saves the two children of the town's police chief from a fire. In gratitude, the police chief doesn't have any interest in asking Valjean for papers or investigating his past. With a few simple changes, Valjean revolutionizes the town's traditional black bead and bracelet production and gains a fortune, which he spends mostly for the town's good, paying for the maintenance (including required staff) of hospital beds, orphanages and schools. He is appointed mayor for his deeds twice, refusing the first time (until an old woman asks him if he's afraid of the good he could do as mayor). He is also notified that the king wishes to present him with the Croix d’honneur, but declines.
Valjean later saved an old man named Fauchelevent from death, but the event had dire consequences. Fauchelevent had fallen beneath his wagon just as it started settling into the mire and his horse broke its thighs. Javert, who was at the scene and had sent for a jack, told Valjean that he'd known a very strong man, back when Javert had worked as the guard for a prison chain gang, who had climbed under a wagon like that one and raised it on his back. Valjean offered to pay anyone who could raise the wagon but when nobody wanted to risk their life climbing under the wagon and the wagon started settling faster than the jack would get there, he jumped down into the mud and lifted the wagon off Fauchelevent. Since Fauchelevent had earlier lost his business and now had a broken kneecap, Valjean arranged a job at a convent for Fauchelevent. Jean valjean also bought the broken cart and horse as an excuse to give Father Fauchelevent money.
Later, Javert arrested Fantine, who had become a prostitute, when he saw her spit and try to hit a bourgeois named Bamatabois, who had taunted Fantine and thrown snow down her dress while she walked back and forth trying to get business. Valjean had seen the whole thing and knew that Bamatabois should have been the one arrested and ordered Fantine free. Javert knew only what he'd seen and was furious with Valjean for interfering with police work. When Valjean orders Javert to leave in front of Javert's squad, Javert leaves and denounces "Madeleine" to the prefect of police at Paris, saying that he suspects Madeleine is Valjean. Javert is told that he must be incorrect because the "real" Jean Valjean (who is in reality Champmathieu) had just been found.
Valjean takes Fantine to the local hospital (which is on the side of the mayor's house) and has her cared for. He learns of Cosette, Fantine's daughter, and tries to pay off the Thénardiers
Thénardiers
The Thénardiers, commonly known as Thénardier and Madame Thénardier , are two of the primary villains in Victor Hugo's novel Les Misérables and the stage musical of the same name...
(who are abusing Cosette).
Javert then apologizes to "M. Madeleine", and tells him that the "real" Jean Valjean has been found and is to be tried the next day. Javert also asks that he be dismissed
Termination of employment
-Involuntary termination:Involuntary termination is the employee's departure at the hands of the employer. There are two basic types of involuntary termination, known often as being "fired" and "laid off." To be fired, as opposed to being laid off, is generally thought of to be the employee's...
in disgrace by Valjean from his job for acting out of revenge incorrectly, saying that since he had been hard on others he could not be less harsh on himself but after Valjean repeatedly refuses, Javert says he will continue acting as police chief until a replacement can be found.
It is only here that the novel finally reveals Madeleine to be Valjean, a fact which was heavily foreshadowed
Foreshadowing
Foreshadowing or adumbrating is a literary device in which an author indistinctly suggests certain plot developments that might come later in the story.-Repetitive designation and Chekhov's gun:...
before.
That night, Valjean has a terrific struggle within himself, but finally decides to go to the trial and reveal his identity in order to free Champmathieu (for, if he gave himself up, who would care for Fantine or rescue Cosette?). After giving his evidence and proving that he is the real Jean Valjean, nobody wants to arrest him, so Valjean says that they know where to find him and he returns to Montreuil-sur-Mer. The judge at the trial, although quite impressed with M. Madeleine's work and reputation, is shocked that Valjean, while mentioning a date that another convict had tattoed on himself (in order to prove that M. Madeleine was actually Jean Valjean) called Napoleon Bonaparte
Napoleon I
Napoleon Bonaparte was a French military and political leader during the latter stages of the French Revolution.As Napoleon I, he was Emperor of the French from 1804 to 1815...
"the Emperor" instead of "Bonaparte" and orders Valjean arrested for the 40-sous theft. Javert comes to arrest him the next day while Valjean is in Fantine's room. Valjean asks for three days to get Cosette from Montfermeil and give her to Fantine before he is arrested and Javert refuses, saying that it would be too easy for Valjean to escape. Fantine (who'd been told by the doctors that Valjean, who'd been at the trial, had been getting her daughter) was shocked to find that her daughter was not there already and that her savior was being arrested, and died of shock (her body had been greatly weakened by her poor living conditions and long illness, probably tuberculosis
Tuberculosis
Tuberculosis, MTB, or TB is a common, and in many cases lethal, infectious disease caused by various strains of mycobacteria, usually Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Tuberculosis usually attacks the lungs but can also affect other parts of the body...
).
Valjean allows Javert to arrest him, but quickly escapes. It is hinted that Valjean escaped with the help of a file hidden in a coin, an item he is later proved to possess. Valjean returns to his house to pack his clothes and hides behind the door when Javert comes looking for him. One of the hospital nuns, who had a reputation for never having told a lie in her life, twice lied to Javert that there was nobody there but her. Javert believed her and left, giving Valjean an opportunity to escape the town.
Part Two: Cosette
A short chapter, mainly consisting of two newspaper articles, informs the reader, that Jean Valjean has been re-arrested while getting into the stagecoach to MontfermeilMontfermeil
Montfermeil is a commune in the eastern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the center of Paris.Montfermeil is famous as the location of Thénardier's inn in Les Misérables. It has made the headlines due to troubles in its social estate called "les...
(on his way to get Fantine's eight-year-old daughter, Cosette
Cosette
Euphrasie "Cosette" Fauchelevant is a fictional character in the novel Les Misérables by Victor Hugo.- Cosette in the novel :...
, who he had promised to rescue). In July 1823, he was condemned to death for the 40-sous theft and the escape from the jail in Montreuil-sur-Mer, as the prosecutor claims that Valjean was part of a gang of street robbers and the latter refuses to defend himself. His sentence was graciously reduced by the king to only life in prison instead of death. Before he was captured, Jean Valjean had already traveled near to Montfermeil and buried all the money he'd saved as M. Madeleine -- a chapter tells of a worker in Montfermeil
Montfermeil
Montfermeil is a commune in the eastern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the center of Paris.Montfermeil is famous as the location of Thénardier's inn in Les Misérables. It has made the headlines due to troubles in its social estate called "les...
, a former Toulon convict, who claims having seen, according to a local fairy tale, the devil burying his treasure in the forest. No further explanation is ever given as to why, having buried his money near Montfermeil, Valjean had traveled back to Paris and then attempted to travel back to Montfermeil.
Valjean was assigned a new number of 9430, but escapes from a sailing vessel after only a few months' imprisonment, on the 16.11.1823, by apparently falling into the sea after a daring rescue of a sailor who had gotten stuck in a dangerous situation up in the ship's rigging. Thereafter he is officially presumed dead.
Valjean goes to Montfermeil, where he meets Cosette alone in the forest on Christmas Eve
Christmas Eve
Christmas Eve refers to the evening or entire day preceding Christmas Day, a widely celebrated festival commemorating the birth of Jesus of Nazareth that takes place on December 25...
1823. He accompanies her back to the inn; and watches that evening as the Thénardiers
Thénardiers
The Thénardiers, commonly known as Thénardier and Madame Thénardier , are two of the primary villains in Victor Hugo's novel Les Misérables and the stage musical of the same name...
mistreat her very badly. He sees the Thénardiers' daughters Éponine
Éponine
Éponine Thénardier is a fictional character in the 1862 novelLes Misérables by Victor Hugo.- Éponine in the novel :As children, Éponine and her younger sister Azelma are described as pretty, well-dressed, charming and a delight to see. They are pampered and spoiled by their parents the Thénardiers...
and Azelma acting unkindly to her as well, tattling on her to their mother when she tries to play with their temporarily abandoned doll. After seeing this, Valjean briefly leaves the inn and returns with a beautiful new doll to give to Cosette, which she happily accepts. This makes Mme. Thénardier furious with Valjean, affronted that he would do such a thing for Cosette instead of her own daughters. M. Thénardier tells her that Valjean can do as he wishes as long as he pays them. That evening, Mme. Thénardier insists that Cosette will be turned out onto the street the next day.
The next morning, Christmas Day, Valjean offers to take Cosette with him. Mme. Thénardier immediately accepts, but M. Thénardier haggles for a compensation and gets 1500 francs in the end. Valjean takes Cosette with him. Only now does the book confirm that the mysterious man Cosette met is actually Jean Valjean. M. Thénardier is soon overcome with grief at having sold Cosette too cheaply and runs after them. When M. Thénardier demands more money, Valjean gives him the note Fantine signed before she died, saying that the bearer of the note was authorized to take Cosette. M. Thénardier tries to continue following Valjean, but is soon frightened back to the inn.
Valjean takes Cosette to Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
, where they live in No. 50-52 Boulevard de l'Hôpital
Boulevard de l'Hôpital
The boulevard de l'Hôpital is a tree-lined boulevard of Paris's 13th arrondissement, which also briefly borders on the 5th arrondissement.It runs a distance of 1,395 meters, from the Place Valhubert at the pont d'Austerlitz, by the gare d'Austerlitz, rising in a gentle slope towards its end at the...
, in the so-called "Gorbeau House." They cannot live calmly for long -- in Spring 1824, Javert (who'd been promoted to the police in Paris) finds the house. He'd heard of a "kidnapping" from Montfermeil, remembered Valjean's request of three days, and had also heard of a man poorly dressed who gave money to other poor people, the "beggar who gives alms", who had a granddaughter with him, who (so rumors said) said that she came from Montfermeil. Javert goes undercover, discovers that it is Jean Valjean, and makes plans to arrest him.
Valjean recognizes Cosette and they just walk out of the house and leave. They barely manage to get away from Javert, who allowed Valjean to leave the house, believing that Valjean would take him to meet other criminals. Valjean managed to steal a rope from a streetlamp, climb a wall to a convent and pull Cosette up after him. They then climbed down a shed roof into a garden. it turned out that this was the convent where Fauchelevent worked, who wanted to return the favor and save Valjean's life this time. After almost burying Valjean alive in a scheme to get him out of the convent so that he could openly walk back into the convent, Fauchelevent was able to bring in his "brother" Ultimas (fr. Ultime) Fauchelevent (the real name of Fauchelevent's deceased brother). Cosette was admitted to the convent school.
Part Three: Marius
During this whole part, Valjean's and Cosette's appearance is unnamed. They are only described as a father and daughter, whom Marius PontmercyMarius Pontmercy
Marius Pontmercy is a principal fictional character in Victor Hugo’s 1862 novel Les Misérables. He is young, intense, and in love with Cosette. He fights at the barricades with Enjolras and the Friends of the ABC when %C3%89ponine tricks him into going to the barricade and he resolves to die...
notices on his daily walks in the Jardin du Luxembourg
Jardin du Luxembourg
The Jardin du Luxembourg, or the Luxembourg Gardens, is the second largest public park in Paris The Jardin du Luxembourg, or the Luxembourg Gardens, is the second largest public park in Paris The Jardin du Luxembourg, or the Luxembourg Gardens, is the second largest public park in Paris (224,500 m²...
. He ignores them at first, but later he and Cosette fall in love. Marius stalks the two until Valjean is alerted that someone is stalking them and moves from his house in Rue de l'Ouest (today Rue d'Assas
Rue d'Assas
Rue d'Assas is a street in the 6th arrondissement of Paris, named after Nicolas-Louis d'Assas.-Features:* Musée Edouard Branly * Musée "Bible et Terre Sainte" * Main campus of Pantheon-Assas Paris II University...
).
They meet again by pure luck, six months later: Valjean is known for his generosity. As "the generous man from the St-Étienne-church", Thénardier, Marius' neighbour, asks for charity. He recognises Valjean and decides to build a trap for him. Marius, overhearing the plans, denounces the plot to the police, unfortunately meeting Javert. Valjean walks right into the trap and attempts to escape Thénardier once he realises this. Thénardier forces Valjean to write a letter to Cosette, instructing her to come with the bearer. Valjean, however, gives Thénardier a false name and address and manages to free himself of the ropes tying him with the help of a file concealed in a coin, which is found afterwards. He berates the gang for thinking that they could force him to tell something he does not want to tell and burns his own left forearm with the poker Thénardier had used to threaten him before surrendering to the gang. It is at that moment that Javert enters the scene. Valjean manages to escape before the latter recognizes him.
Part Four: Saint-Denis
Only now do we learn about Valjean's and Cosette's life during the last years: They lived in the convent until Fauchelevent's death. and left in 1829; Cosette is fourteen years old. Valjean buys three houses (so that he will always have somewhere to flee to) in Rue de l'Ouest (today Rue D'Assas), Rue Plumet (today Rue Oudinot) and No. 7 Rue de l'Homme-Armé (today 40, rue des Archives), mostly living in Rue Plumet.Valjean does not know that Cosette returns Marius' love and does not understand why Cosette seems less attached to "her grandfather" than before. He is happy to see that the brand wound he got during the attack makes her worry and care for him more. During one of their walks, they witness the passing of a chain gang being taken from Paris south. The event leaves a profound impression on Cosette and makes Valjean even more determined to stop his daughter from learning about his past.
Marius, through Éponine, finds Cosette, stalks her house, leaves his daily love journal for her to find then one evening leaps over the gate and surprises her in the garden. They begin meeting every evening to gaze into each other's eyes. But it is also Éponine, jealous, who throws Valjean an anonymous note, telling him to move. Valjean, feeling threatened since the incident with Thénardier and since he believes there has been a man hiding in his garden, decides to move to England. He takes Cosette to the house in the Rue de l'Homme-Armé. This takes places during the first days of June 1832.
It is only there that he learns of Cosette's love for Marius when a young boy (Gavroche
Gavroche
Gavroche is a fictional character from the novel Les Misérables by Victor Hugo.-Gavroche in the novel:Gavroche is the eldest son of M. and Mme Thénardier. He has two sisters, Éponine and Azelma, and two unnamed younger brothers. He is also technically unnamed; the reader is told he chooses the...
) delivers a letter from Marius to Cosette, which mentions that Marius is at the barricade and will die as he promised her, since she left without a forwarding address. Valjean has another long inward struggle, at first feeling relief about Marius' certain death, then guilt about his former feeling. He joins the rebellion without an actual decision about his following actions.
Part Five: Jean Valjean
Valjean does his part in the insurrection and proves to be an excellent shot. EnjolrasEnjolras
Enjolras is the charismatic leader of the Friends of the ABC in the 1862 novel Les Misérables by Victor Hugo.- The Friends of the ABC :...
, the barricade's leader, wishes to thank Valjean and offers him anything he wants. Valjean asks that he be allowed to kill Javert, who had been captured as a spy. The request is granted and Valjean takes Javert "out back". Instead of executing him, Valjean sets Javert free. Javert warns Valjean that that should Valjean allow him to go free instead of killing him, that he will still be bound to arrest Valjean. Valjean agrees and gives Javert his address. Sometime after Valjean releases Javert, the fighters on the barricades are all killed with the exception of Marius, whom Valjean carries to safety through miles of Parisian sewers and quicksand. Valjean finds the sewer exit to the Grand-Caillou, but it's locked. M. Thénardier is there and has the key. He offers to give the key to Valjean in return for "halves", believing that Valjean had killed Marius for his money. Valjean gives the few sous he has to M. Thénardier and unlocks the sewer gate only to run into Javert, who'd gone back on duty after his release and had been chasing M. Thénardier. Valjean requests that Javert help him carry Marius to safety and Javert summons his carriage to carry them back. Valjean then asks that he be allowed to return home to say goodbye to Cosette and Javert agrees, saying that he will wait out front. As he walks up the stairs, Valjean looks out the window and notices that Javert is gone. Faced with the choice of turning in a man who'd done only good acts for years and had saved Javert's life, or of letting a known criminal go free, Javert ended up "requesting of God" that he, as he'd asked M. Madeleine so many years before, be "dismissed in disgrace" -- he committed suicide.
After recovering from his severe injuries, Marius receives permission from his grandfather to marry Cosette and they wed on 16 February 1833. The day after the wedding, Valjean reveals to Marius that he is, in fact, Jean Valjean and an ex-convict from Toulon. After this, Valjean's previously habitual visits to Cosette at Marius' grandfather's house (No. 6, rue des filles-du-calvaire) become shorter and shorter, until he suddenly ceases to visit. M. Thénardier, who claims that Marius’ father-in-law is a murderer and shows him several Moniteur
Le Moniteur Universel
Le Moniteur Universel was a French newspaper founded in Paris on November 24, 1789 under the title Gazette Nationale ou Le Moniteur Universal by Charles-Joseph Panckoucke, and which ceased publication on June 30, 1901...
articles “proving” this, pays Marius a visit. Marius sees through M. Thénardier's disguise and, in an attempt to show Marius something that he doesn't already know, M. Thénardier shows newspaper clippings proving that M. Madeleine and Jean Valjean are the same person, and that Javert committed suicide. Marius is then told that Valjean was the man who had "assassinated" one of Marius' relatives, carrying the body through the sewers on 6 June. Realizing that M. Thénardier had seen Valjean saving him, Marius finishes with M. Thénardier and hurries with Cosette to Valjean's flat on the Rue de L'Homme Armé. Unfortunately, they are too late and see that Valjean is dying. Before he dies, though, Valjean makes peace with Marius, with whom he had had uneasy relations, and tells Cosette the name of her mother, Fantine. Happy, he finally dies.
Historical backgrounds
Valjean's character is loosely based on the life of Eugène François VidocqEugène François Vidocq
Eugène François Vidocq was a French criminal and criminalist whose life story inspired several writers, including Victor Hugo and Honoré de Balzac...
, an ex-convict who became a successful businessman widely noted for his social engagement and philanthropy. Valjean's incredible strength in general is based on Vidocq's, who helped Hugo with his research for Claude Gueux
Claude Gueux
Claude Gueux was a short story written by Victor Hugo in 1834. It is considered an early example of "true crime" fiction, and contains Hugo's early thoughts on societal injustice which thirty years later he would flesh out in his novel Les Misérables...
and Le Dernier jour d'un condamné (The Last Day of a Condemned Man). The accident of the cart, in particular, is based on an event in Vidocq's life: In 1828, he saved one of the workers in his paper factory by lifting a heavy cart on his shoulders. Hugo only added the fact that Valjean betrayed his real identity with the act (Vidocq had already been pardoned at the time).
Valjean saving the sailor on the Orion is based on a real event not witnessed by Hugo himself. Hugo reproduced a friend's letter describing the incident nearly word for word, changing the end however by letting Valjean escape afterwards. Other incidents in the novel which have been linked to Hugo's own life include:
- In 1841, Hugo saved a prostitute from arrest for assault. He would let Valjean perform the same deed, even using a short part of the dialogue between himself and the constables.
- The 22nd of February, 1846, Victor HugoVictor HugoVictor-Marie Hugo was a Frenchpoet, playwright, novelist, essayist, visual artist, statesman, human rights activist and exponent of the Romantic movement in France....
witnessed the arrest of a bread thief. A Duchess and her child were also watching the scene pitilessly from their coach. While this cannot be considered as the inspiration for Les Misérables (Hugo had started the novel years previously), the note in his diary makes clear that the scene impressed him. - Hugo himself joined the revolutionaries against Napoleon III on the barricades in December 1851. There he refused any weapons but tended to the wounded.
The convict's number, 24601, may stand for the date Hugo was conceived (24 June 1801); in addition, the 24th of June is St. John's (Jean's) Day.
Jean Valjean is born the same year as Napoleon Bonaparte, and his imprisonment equals the years of Napoleon's rise to power and the Napoleonic wars
Napoleonic Wars
The Napoleonic Wars were a series of wars declared against Napoleon's French Empire by opposing coalitions that ran from 1803 to 1815. As a continuation of the wars sparked by the French Revolution of 1789, they revolutionised European armies and played out on an unprecedented scale, mainly due to...
(1796-1815).
The revolt of the university students is based on the 1832 June Rebellion.
Differences in Valjean's character
Valjean's assumed name, Father Madeleine, is not used in the musical version, where he is only called Monsieur le maire (Mr. Mayor). In the musical, Valjean is not arrested a second time and given a new prisoner number.In Act 2, The First Attack, Valjean shoots a sniper who is attempting to kill Enjolras. This directly contradicts the story of the novel, which explicitly states that Valjean is the only person at the barricades who does not directly fight. In the book, he only shoots at soldiers's helmets, although his earlier shots to get a mattress down which had been hung up in front of some windows makes it clear that he is an excellent shot.
Valjean and Cosette do not take refuge from Javert in a convent, as they do in the novel, and Valjean never stays at the Gorbeau house. Instead, Thenardier attacks him in the streets with his street gang.
Songs
Overture/Work Song: In the musical's first song, Valjean is called from a chain gang of prisoners to be released. Javert hands him his yellow passport and when Valjean says that he only stole a loaf of bread and spent nineteen years in prison for this, Javert reminds him that fourteen years were for having "tried to run." Javert calls Valjean only by his number, 24601, Valjean insists on being called by his real name.On Parole: After leaving the prison, Valjean dreams of a bright future, but swears not to forget those nineteen years in prison. He finds work at a farm, but gets paid only half the wages. An inn also refuses to take him in. Valjean has to realise that he will remain an outcast. Only the bishop of Digne takes him in, but Valjean repays his kindness by stealing his silver.
Valjean Arrested, Valjean Forgiven: He does not get far after the theft. Two constables bring him back to the bishop, who lies by saying he had given Valjean the silver as a gift, and then gives him two silver candlesticks. After the constables leave, the bishop tells Valjean that he has now bought Valjean's soul and given it to God.
What Have I Done? (Valjean's Soliloquy): Valjean's first large solo. Valjean is confused by the bishop's actions, claiming that there was only one way for Valjean to go ever since he was first condemned for stealing a loaf of bread. Nevertheless, the bishop's trust in him makes him decide to find another way. At the end of the song, he rips up his yellow passport.
At The End Of The Day: Eight years later. In a factory in Montreuil-sur-Mer
Montreuil-sur-Mer
Montreuil or Montreuil-sur-Mer is a sub-prefecture in the Pas-de-Calais department in northern France. It is located on the Canche river, not far from Étaples...
, a fight breaks loose and the owner of the factory and mayor of the city comes to stop it. It is up to the spectator to recognise that Valjean is the mayor.
Fantine's Arrest: After Javert has arrested Fantine for assaulting a man, the mayor orders him to let Fantine go. Fantine does not believe in the mayor's sudden kindness, claiming that it was him who allowed the foreman to send her away from the factory and causing her misery. Valjean realises what has happened and decides to care for Fantine. She is taken to a hospital.
The Runaway Cart: Directly afterwards, a runaway cart crashes and traps a man underneath. As the people around hesitate to help, Valjean slips under the cart and lifts it on his back. Javert, who witnesses the scene, feels reminded of a man he knew years ago, a convict who had the same strength as the mayor. However, this man has just been arrested and awaits his trial.
Who Am I?: After Javert has left, Valjean soliloquizes about the course of action he should take. He first rejoices at the thought of not having to worry about being arrested, but then realises that he cannot have an innocent man being condemned in his place, reasoning that God has once given him strength and will do so again. At the trial, he reveals his true identity and proves it by showing the convict brand on his chest.
Come To Me (Fantine's Death): Fantine is very ill and hallucinating. Valjean returns from the trial and promises to take care for her child, just before she dies.
The Confrontation: Javert arrives to arrest Valjean, triumphing. Valjean begs him to grant him three days' time to fetch Fantine's child, promising to return, at which Javert scoffs. As Javert makes his beliefs about criminals clear, that a man who has fallen once can never redeem himself, Valjean reminds Javert of his strength, claiming that he would not hesitate to kill Javert. After renewing his promise to Fantine, he knocks Javert out and flees.
The Bargain/The Waltz of Treachery: In the forest at a well, Valjean has met the badly-treated Cosette, Fantine's child. He follows her to the Thénardiers' inn, where he announces that he promised to Fantine to take care of her child. The Thénardiers' start to haggle for a price, claiming that Cosette cost them so much money and even faking worry about Valjean probably having bad intentions with the child. Valjean ends up giving them 1500 francs and takes Cosette with him.
The Robbery/Javert's Intervention : Nine years later in Paris. Valjean arrives to fall into a trap set up by Thénardier, who in the following brawl gets a look at the convict brand on Valjean's chest. As Javert arrives, Valjean manages to escape with Cosette, before Javert recognises him.
In My Life: At their house in the Rue Plumet, Cosette sings about Marius. Valjean enters and Cosette starts to ask him questions about the past which he refuses to answer.
Attack On Rue Plumet: Valjean arrives after the departure of Marius and Thénardier's gang, since he heard Éponine scream. Cosette claims that is had been her since she saw shadows moving in the street. Valjean believes that Javert has found him again and decides that it is no longer safe to stay in France. He announces to Cosette that they shall go to England.
One Day More: Valjean gets the first few lines in the song, singing about his hopes to live in peace at last, once he is in England. During the rest of the song, he and Cosette pack a suitcase.
At The Barricade (Upon These Stones): At the barricade, Marius has given Éponine a letter, which she delivers to Valjean, who promises to pass it to Cosette. He reads it however and so discovers Cosette's love for Marius.
Night Of Anguish (Sometimes known as Valjean At The Barricades): Valjean arrives in an army uniform. The students point out to him that he seems to old to fight, but Valjean insists on staying. The students show him Javert, bound to a chair, and warn him that if he should be another spy, he too will not live.
The First Attack: During the first attack, Valjean shows his superior shooting skills by shooting a sniper who had just missed Enjolras. This is a direct contradiction of the book, where it is emphasised that he did not kill anybody. As Enjolras thanks him, Valjean asks Javert's life as a reward, so Enjolras allows him to shoot Javert. However, Valjean cuts Javert's bonds and tells him to go. Javert encourages him to go through with it, telling him that he believes that Valjean will forever stay a thief and that he, Javert, will continue to hunt him. Valjean tells him that he is wrong and finishes by giving his address in case that he should get out alive. He unloads his rifle into the air after Javert leaves.
Drink With Me (silent): Though Valjean does not sing in this song, it is important, because it allows him to find out who Marius is as the latter sings about his love for Cosette.
Bring Him Home: During the night, Valjean prays to God and asks him to save Marius, even if that would mean his, Valjean's, death. This is probably the most famous of Valjean's solos, but it contradicts the book most strongly. In the book, Valjean came to the barricades without a real decision what to do if he should find Marius and actually harbours such hate against him that he seems to wish for his death.
The Second Attack (Death Of Gavroche): During the second attack, the rebels run out of ammunition. Marius proposes to get some from the dead bodies on the other side of the barricade, but Enjolras holds him back. Valjean offers to go, but Gavroche is faster. He climbs over the barricade where he gets shot and killed.
The Final Battle (silent): After the shooting dies down, Valjean wakes from unconsciousness to find Marius badly wounded and barely alive. He searches for an escape route and finds a manhole down to the sewers where he takes Marius just before Javert arrives.
The Sewers/Dog Eats Dog: Valjean arrives with an unconscious Marius just as Thénardier is about to rob a corpse. Valjean loses consciousness and Thénardier proceeds to rob Marius, taking a ring and his watch. Just as he turns to Valjean, he wakes. Thénardier recognises him and runs. Valjean takes Marius again and carries him through the sewers until they arrive at an outlet by the Seine
Seine
The Seine is a -long river and an important commercial waterway within the Paris Basin in the north of France. It rises at Saint-Seine near Dijon in northeastern France in the Langres plateau, flowing through Paris and into the English Channel at Le Havre . It is navigable by ocean-going vessels...
. But Javert is already waiting. Valjean begs again for an hour to bring Marius to a hospital, promising to come quietly afterwards. This time Javert agrees and Valjean leaves.
Every Day/A Heart Full Of Love (Reprise): Valjean arrives in the middle of a love scene between Cosette and Marius and decides not to stand in the way of their happiness.
Valjean's Confession: A very happy Marius asks Valjean to come and live with them, but Valjean decides that first, there is something Marius needs to know. He tells his life story in short (only about being an ex-convict and a parole violator) and says that he has to leave. Marius asks him to stay, saying that Cosette will not believe any reason for her father's disappearance. Valjean makes Marius promise never to tell Cosette about this, a word which Marius gives only reluctantly.
Valjean's Death/Finale/Do You Hear The People Sing? (Reprise): At the time of the wedding, a strongly aged Valjean prays for Cosette and Marius. The arrival of Fantine's ghost marks his near death, which gets postponed by the arrival of Cosette and Marius, who has just learned the identity of his saviour. Valjean hands Cosette his written confession and dies in her arms. Éponine's ghost then joins him and Fantine, then all the students and rebels who died at the barricade return as ghosts for the finale.
Musical
- Maurice Barrier, 1980 Original French Cast
- Colm WilkinsonColm WilkinsonColm Wilkinson is an Irish tenor, best known for originating the role of Jean Valjean in Les Misérables and for playing the title role in The Phantom of the Opera .Due to his association with these musicals, he reprised the role of...
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, Toronto 1998 Return Production, Ireland Return Production 1998-1999, Shanghai Production 2002 - Takeshi KagaTakeshi Kagais a well-known stage and movie actor in Japan who is probably best known internationally for his portrayal of Chairman Kaga in the Japanese television show Iron Chef produced by Fuji TV. His real name is .-Biography:...
, 1987 Japanese Production - Michael BurgessMichael Burgess (singer)Michael Burgess is a popular Canadian actor and singer .Burgess is best known for his portrayal of Jean Valjean in the Toronto production of Les Misérables. He appeared as one of the 17 Jean Valjeans at the end of the Les Miserables 10th Anniversary Concert...
, 1989 Original Canadian Cast - Robert MarienRobert MarienRobert Marien, born May 5, 1956, is a Québécois actor, singer, and songwriter who has performed in the musical Les Misérables in Montreal, Paris, New York and London. He has also appeared in numerous films.-External links:...
, 1991 Paris Revival Cast - Pedro Ruy-Blas, 1992 Original Spanish Cast
- Fred Inkley, 1995, 1998-1999 Imperial Theatre, 3rd National Tour
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, (replaced Gemignani) 2006 Broadway Revival, 2007-2008 West End - Gino QuilicoGino QuilicoGino Quilico, OC is a Canadian lyric baritone of Italian descent and the son of Canadian baritone Louis Quilico and Lina Pizzolongo.-Early life:...
, 2008 Québec City Production - J. Mark McVey, 2008 Hollywood Bowl Concert
- John Owen-JonesJohn Owen-JonesJohn Owen-Jones is a British musical theatre actor, best known for his portrayals of Jean Valjean in Alain Boublil & Claude-Michel Schönberg's Les Misérables and of The Phantom in Andrew Lloyd-Webber's The Phantom of the Opera. He most recently appeared as Valjean on the 25th Anniversary Tour of...
, 1998-2001 London Production, June 2005-2007 and 25th Anniversary Tour - Flemming Enevold, Det Ny TeaterDet Ny TheaterDet Ny Teater is an established theatre in Copenhagen, Denmark, first opened in 1908. It is based in a building which spans a passage between Vesterbrogade and Gammel Kongevej in Copenhagen's theatre district on the border between Vesterbro and Frederiksberg....
, Denmark, 2009 - Alfie BoeAlfie BoeAlfred Giovanni Roncalli Boe, known professionally initially as Alf or Alfred Boe and now as Alfie Boe, , is an English tenor.-Background:...
, 25th Anniversary Concert 2010, Current West End Production 2011 - J. Mark McVey, Current 25 Anniversary US Tour 2011
- Hans Peter Janssens Antwerp, London 2000-2003.
- Gerónimo Rauch, Current Spanish 25th Anniversary Production Cast
- Ramin KarimlooRamin KarimlooRamin Karimloo is an Iranian-born Canadian musical theatre actor, recognized chiefly for his work in London's West End. He has played the leading male roles in both of the West End’s longest running musicals; the Phantom in The Phantom of the Opera and Jean Valjean in Les Misérables, as of 29th...
West End Production 2011-2012
Film and television
- Maurice CostelloMaurice CostelloMaurice Costello was a prominent vaudeville actor of the late 1890s and early 1900s, who later played a principal role in early American films, as both a leading man, supporting player and a director....
, 1909 AdaptationLes Misérables (1909 film)Les Misérables is a silent film based on the novel of the same name by Victor Hugo.-Cast:* William V. Ranous – Javert* Maurice Costello – Jean Valjean* Hazel Neason* Marc McDermott... - Henry Krauss, 1913 Adaptation
- William FarnumWilliam FarnumWilliam Farnum was a major movie actor. One of three brothers, Farnum grew up in a family of actors. He made his acting debut at the age of ten in Richmond, Virginia in a production of Julius Caesar, with Edwin Booth playing the title character...
, 1917 Adaptation - Gabriel GabrioGabriel GabrioGabriel Gabrio was a French stage and film actor whose career began in cinema in the silent film era of the 1920s and spanned more than two decades...
, 1925 AdaptationLes Misérables (1925 film)Les Misérables is a French silent film based on the novel of the same name by Victor Hugo.-Cast:* Gabriel Gabrio as Jean Valjean* Paul Jorge as Monseigneur Myriel* Sandra Milowanoff as Fantine & Cosette* Andrée Rolane as Cosette... - Nobuo Asaoka, 1929 Adaptation, 1931 Adaptation
- Harry BaurHarry BaurHarry Baur was a French actor. Baur was Jewish and tortured to death by the Gestapo during World War II....
, 1934 AdaptationLes Misérables (1934 film)Les Misérables is a 1934 film adaptation of Victor Hugo's novel of the same name. It was written and directed by Raymond Bernard and stars Harry Baur as Jean Valjean and Charles Vanel as Javert... - Fredric MarchFredric MarchFredric March was an American stage and film actor. He won the Academy Award for Best Actor in 1932 for Dr. Jekyll and Mr...
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, 1948 AdaptaionLes Misérables (1948 film)Les Misérables is a 1948 Italian drama film directed by Riccardo Freda. It is based on the Victor Hugo novel of the same name.-Cast:* Gino Cervi – Jean Valjean* Valentina Cortese – Fantina / Cosetta* Hans Hinrich – Javert... - Michael RennieMichael RennieMichael Rennie was an English film, television, and stage actor, perhaps best known for his starring role as the space visitor Klaatu in the 1951 classic science fiction film The Day the Earth Stood Still. However, he appeared in over 50 other films since 1936, many with Jean Simmons and other...
, 1952 AdaptationLes Misérables (1952 film)Les Misérables is a 1952 American film adapted from the novel Les Misérables by Victor Hugo. It was directed by Lewis Milestone, and featured Michael Rennie as Jean Valjean, Robert Newton as Javert, Sylvia Sidney as Fantine, Debra Paget as Cosette, Edmund Gwenn as the bishop, Cameron Mitchell as... - Sohrab ModiSohrab ModiSohrab Modi was an Indian Parsi stage and film actor, director and producer. His films include Khoon Ka Khoon , a version of Shakespeare's Hamlet, Sikandar, Pukar, Prithvi Vallabh, Jhansi ki Rani, Mirza Ghalib, and Nausherwan-e-dil . His films always carried a message of strong commitment to...
, 1955 Adaptation - Jean GabinJean Gabin-Biography:Born Jean-Alexis Moncorgé in Paris, he grew up in the village of Mériel in the Seine-et-Oise département, about 22 mi north of Paris. The son of cabaret entertainers, he attended the Lycée Janson de Sailly...
, 1958 AdaptationLes Misérables (1958 film)Les Misérables is a film version of the Victor Hugo novel released in France on March 12, 1958. Written by Michel Audiard and René Barjavel, the film was directed by Jean-Paul Le Chanois... - Jean ChevrierJean ChevrierJean Chevrier was a French film actor. He appeared in 50 films between 1936 and 1972. He was married to actress Marie Bell.-Selected filmography:* Je l'ai été trois fois * The Long Teeth...
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, 1972 Adaptation - Sergio Bustamante, 1973 Adaptation
- Richard JordanRichard JordanRichard Jordan was an American stage, screen and film actor. A long-time member of the New York Shakespeare Festival, he performed in many Off Broadway and Broadway plays...
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, 1982 AdaptationLes Misérables (1982 film)Les Misérables is a 1982 French drama film directed by Robert Hossein. It is one of the numerous screen adaptation of the novel of the same name by Victor Hugo.-Plot summary:... - Jean-Paul BelmondoJean-Paul BelmondoJean-Paul Belmondo is a French actor initially associated with the New Wave of the 1960s.-Career:Born in Neuilly-sur-Seine, Hauts-de-Seine, west of Paris, Belmondo did not perform well in school, but developed a passion for boxing and football."Did you box professionally very long?" "Not very long...
, 1995 AdaptationLes Misérables (1995 film)Les Misérables is a 1995 film written and directed by Claude Lelouch. Set in France during World War II, it concerns a poor and illiterate man Henri Fortin who is introduced to Victor Hugo's classic novel Les Misérables and begins to see parallels between it and his own life.-Plot:The film starts... - Liam NeesonLiam NeesonLiam John Neeson, OBE is an Irish actor who has been nominated for an Oscar, a BAFTA and three Golden Globe Awards.He has starred in a number of notable roles including Oskar Schindler in Schindler's List, Michael Collins in Michael Collins, Peyton Westlake in Darkman, Jean Valjean in Les...
, 1998 AdaptationLes Misérables (1998 film)Les Misérables is a 1998 film adaptation of Victor Hugo's 1862 novel of the same name, directed by Bille August. It stars Liam Neeson, Geoffrey Rush, Uma Thurman, and Claire Danes.... - Gérard DepardieuGérard DepardieuGérard Xavier Marcel Depardieu is a French actor and filmmaker. He is a Chevalier of the Légion d'honneur, Chevalier of the Ordre national du Mérite and has twice won the César Award for Best Actor...
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, 2012/2013 Adaptation of the musical
External links
- Jean Valjean at the Internet Movie DatabaseInternet Movie DatabaseInternet Movie Database is an online database of information related to movies, television shows, actors, production crew personnel, video games and fictional characters featured in visual entertainment media. It is one of the most popular online entertainment destinations, with over 100 million...
- Search for Jean Valjean at the Internet Broadway DatabaseInternet Broadway DatabaseThe Internet Broadway Database is an online database of Broadway theatre productions and their personnel. It is operated by the Research Department of The Broadway League, a trade association for the North American commercial theatre community....
Emanue; DelCore