Les Mystères de Paris
Encyclopedia
The Mysteries of Paris is a novel
by Eugène Sue
which was published serial
ly in Journal des débats
from June 19, 1842 until October 15, 1843. Les Mystères de Paris singlehandedly increased the circulation of Journal des débats. It is an example of the "City mysteries
" genre.
There has been lots of talk on the origins of the French novel of the 19th century: Stendhal
, Balzac
, Dumas
, Gautier
, Sand
or Hugo
.
One often forgets Eugène Sue. Still, The Mysteries of Paris occupies a unique space in the birth of this literary genre: it entranced thousands of readers for more than a year (even illiterates who had episodes read to them) and was also a major work in the formation of a certain form of social consciousness. One often hears that the 1848 revolution was partly born in the pages of the Mysteries of Paris or, more appropriately, that the Mysteries of Paris helped create a climate which allowed the 1848 revolution to occur.
) but is disguised as a Parisian worker. Rodolphe can speak in argot
, is extremely strong and a good fighter. Yet he also shows great compassion for the lower classes, good judgment, and a brilliant mind. He can navigate all layers of society in order to understand their problems, and to understand how the different social classes are linked.
Rodolphe is accompanied by his friends Sir Walter Murph, an Englishman, and David, a gifted black doctor, formerly a slave.
The first figures they meet are Le Chourineur and La Goualeuse. Rodolphe saves La Goualeuse from Le Chourineur's brutality, and saves Le Chourineur from himself, knowing that the man still has some good in him. La Goualeuse is a prostitute, and Le Chourineur is a former butcher who has served 15 years in prison for murder. Both characters are grateful for Rodolphe's assistance, as are many other characters in the novel.
Other characters include:
Though Rodolphe is described as a flawless man, Sue otherwise depicts the Parisian nobility as deaf to the misfortunes of the common people and focused on meaningless intrigues. For this reason, some, such as Dumas, have considered the novel's ending a failure. Rodolphe goes back to Gérolstein to take on the role to which he was destined by birth, rather than staying in Paris to help the lower classes.
, starring Jean Marais
.
genre: The Mysteries of Pittsburgh
by Michael Chabon
, Les Mystères de Marseille by Émile Zola
, The Mysteries of London
by George W. M. Reynolds
, Les Mystères de Londres by Paul Féval, Les Mystères de Lyon (featuring the Nyctalope
) by Jean de La Hire
, I misteri di Napoli by Francesco Mastriani, the Mystères de Munich, Les Nouveaux Mystères de Paris (featuring Nestor Burma
) by Léo Malet
.
Novel
A novel is a book of long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century....
by Eugène Sue
Eugène Sue
Joseph Marie Eugène Sue was a French novelist.He was born in Paris, the son of a distinguished surgeon in Napoleon's army, and is said to have had the Empress Joséphine for godmother. Sue himself acted as surgeon both in the Spanish campaign undertaken by France in 1823 and at the Battle of Navarino...
which was published serial
Serial (literature)
In literature, a serial is a publishing format by which a single large work, most often a work of narrative fiction, is presented in contiguous installments—also known as numbers, parts, or fascicles—either issued as separate publications or appearing in sequential issues of a single periodical...
ly in Journal des débats
Journal des Débats
The Journal des débats was a French newspaper, published between 1789 and 1944 that changed title several times...
from June 19, 1842 until October 15, 1843. Les Mystères de Paris singlehandedly increased the circulation of Journal des débats. It is an example of the "City mysteries
City mysteries
City mysteries are a 19th century genre of popular novel, in which characters explore the secret underworlds of cities and reveal corruption and exploitation, depicting violence and deviant sexuality. They were popular in both Europe and the United States....
" genre.
There has been lots of talk on the origins of the French novel of the 19th century: Stendhal
Stendhal
Marie-Henri Beyle , better known by his pen name Stendhal, was a 19th-century French writer. Known for his acute analysis of his characters' psychology, he is considered one of the earliest and foremost practitioners of realism in his two novels Le Rouge et le Noir and La Chartreuse de Parme...
, Balzac
Honoré de Balzac
Honoré de Balzac was a French novelist and playwright. His magnum opus was a sequence of short stories and novels collectively entitled La Comédie humaine, which presents a panorama of French life in the years after the 1815 fall of Napoleon....
, Dumas
Alexandre Dumas, père
Alexandre Dumas, , born Dumas Davy de la Pailleterie was a French writer, best known for his historical novels of high adventure which have made him one of the most widely read French authors in the world...
, Gautier
Théophile Gautier
Pierre Jules Théophile Gautier was a French poet, dramatist, novelist, journalist, art critic and literary critic....
, Sand
George Sand
Amantine Lucile Aurore Dupin, later Baroness Dudevant , best known by her pseudonym George Sand , was a French novelist and memoirist.-Life:...
or 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....
.
One often forgets Eugène Sue. Still, The Mysteries of Paris occupies a unique space in the birth of this literary genre: it entranced thousands of readers for more than a year (even illiterates who had episodes read to them) and was also a major work in the formation of a certain form of social consciousness. One often hears that the 1848 revolution was partly born in the pages of the Mysteries of Paris or, more appropriately, that the Mysteries of Paris helped create a climate which allowed the 1848 revolution to occur.
Plot and characters
The hero of the novel is the mysterious and distinguished Rodolphe, who is really the Grand Duke of Gérolstein (a fictional countryFictional country
A fictional country is a country that is made up for fictional stories, and does not exist in real life, or one that people believe in without proof....
) but is disguised as a Parisian worker. Rodolphe can speak in argot
Argot
An Argot is a secret language used by various groups—including, but not limited to, thieves and other criminals—to prevent outsiders from understanding their conversations. The term argot is also used to refer to the informal specialized vocabulary from a particular field of study, hobby, job,...
, is extremely strong and a good fighter. Yet he also shows great compassion for the lower classes, good judgment, and a brilliant mind. He can navigate all layers of society in order to understand their problems, and to understand how the different social classes are linked.
Rodolphe is accompanied by his friends Sir Walter Murph, an Englishman, and David, a gifted black doctor, formerly a slave.
The first figures they meet are Le Chourineur and La Goualeuse. Rodolphe saves La Goualeuse from Le Chourineur's brutality, and saves Le Chourineur from himself, knowing that the man still has some good in him. La Goualeuse is a prostitute, and Le Chourineur is a former butcher who has served 15 years in prison for murder. Both characters are grateful for Rodolphe's assistance, as are many other characters in the novel.
Other characters include:
- Rigolette, a grisetteGrisette (French)The word grisette has referred to a French working-class woman from the late 17th century and remained in common use through the Belle Époque era, albeit with some modifications to its meaning. It derives from gris, , and refers to the cheap grey fabric of the dresses these women originally wore...
- The schoolmaster, brutal and dangerous, who hides a terrible secret
- Ferrand, a notary whose greed plunges families into poverty
- La Louve (The She-Wolf), a friend of Fleur-de-Marie at the women's prison of Saint-Lazare
- La Chouette (The Owl), an old woman with diabolical schemes
- Morel, a virtuous worker, and his family
- Polidori, an abbot with a dark past
- Cecily, a mulatto, David's ex-wife, beautiful but dangerous
- Countess McGregor, an ambitious woman
- Monsieur and Madame Pipelet, concierges
- Bras-Rouge (Red-Arm), an underworld boss
- Tortillard, his son, clever but with bad intentions
- Martial and his family
Though Rodolphe is described as a flawless man, Sue otherwise depicts the Parisian nobility as deaf to the misfortunes of the common people and focused on meaningless intrigues. For this reason, some, such as Dumas, have considered the novel's ending a failure. Rodolphe goes back to Gérolstein to take on the role to which he was destined by birth, rather than staying in Paris to help the lower classes.
Film adaptations
The novel was made into a feature film several times, most notably in 1962 as Les Mystères de Paris, a French film by André HunebelleAndré Hunebelle
André Hunebelle was a French director born September 1, 1896 in Meudon , died 27 November 1985 in Nice .Hunebelle was a former publisher of a French newspaper called La Fleché...
, starring Jean Marais
Jean Marais
-Biography:A native of Cherbourg, France, Marais starred in several movies directed by Jean Cocteau, for a time his lover, most famously Beauty and the Beast and Orphée ....
.
Legacy
Numerous novels inspired by Les Mystères de Paris were published all over the Western world, creating the City mysteriesCity mysteries
City mysteries are a 19th century genre of popular novel, in which characters explore the secret underworlds of cities and reveal corruption and exploitation, depicting violence and deviant sexuality. They were popular in both Europe and the United States....
genre: The Mysteries of Pittsburgh
The Mysteries of Pittsburgh
The Mysteries of Pittsburgh is a 1988 novel by American author Michael Chabon. The story is a coming-of-age tale set during the early 1980s in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania....
by Michael Chabon
Michael Chabon
Michael Chabon born May 24, 1963) is an American author and "one of the most celebrated writers of his generation", according to The Virginia Quarterly Review....
, Les Mystères de Marseille by Émile Zola
Émile Zola
Émile François Zola was a French writer, the most important exemplar of the literary school of naturalism and an important contributor to the development of theatrical naturalism...
, The Mysteries of London
The Mysteries of London
The Mysteries of London is a penny dreadful or city mysteries novel begun by George W. M. Reynolds in 1844. Reynolds wrote the first two series of this long-running narrative of life in the seedy underbelly of mid-nineteenth-century London. Thomas Miller wrote the third series and Edward L...
by George W. M. Reynolds
George W. M. Reynolds
George William MacArthur Reynolds was a British author and journalist.He was born in Sandwich, Kent, the son of Captain Sir George Reynolds, a flag officer in the Royal Navy. Reynolds was educated first at Dr. Nance's school in Ashford, Kent, and then passed on to the Royal Military College,...
, Les Mystères de Londres by Paul Féval, Les Mystères de Lyon (featuring the Nyctalope
Nyctalope
The Nyctalope is the name of a lesser-known fictional superhero who appears in a book series of novels written by French writer Jean de La Hire, a prolific author of popular adventure series, many of which include science fiction elements...
) by Jean de La Hire
Jean de la Hire
Jean de La Hire was a prolific French author of numerous popular adventure, science fiction and romance novels.Adolphe d'Espie was born on 28 January 1878 in Banyuls-sur-Mer, Pyrénées-Orientales...
, I misteri di Napoli by Francesco Mastriani, the Mystères de Munich, Les Nouveaux Mystères de Paris (featuring Nestor Burma
Nestor Burma
Nestor Burma is a fictional character created by French crime novelist Léo Malet. In the series of crime novels featuring him one can isolate a subset of novels each set in a different quarter of Paris which Malet dubbed the "New Mysteries of Paris", homaging the most famous feuilleton of the 19th...
) by Léo Malet
Léo Malet
-Biography:Leo Malet was born in Montpellier. He had little formal education and began work as a cabaret singer at "La Vache Enragee" in Montmartre, Paris in 1925....
.
External links
- EUGÈNE SUE The Mysteries of Paris by David L. Vineyard.