Enjoy Les Misérables. But please get the history straight. | The Book Haven
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Enjoy Les Misérables. But please get the history straight.
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A marvelous little church with a story to tell. (Photo: Nichole Robertson)
It’s Christmas Eve.  The world awaits in joyful expectation the coming of… Les Misérables in a theater near you.
Evocations of the 16th century (Photo: Nichole Robertson)
But please, do me a big favor, in the spirit of the season.  Please don’t say this film is about the French Revolution.  Many of us have repeatedly corrected the media, Huffington Post included, for this oft-repeated gaffe.  No surprise, perhaps, since even Director Tom Hooper seems a little dim about French history.
So let me help everyone sort this out.  The French Revolution began with the storming of the Bastille in 1789.  The principal events of Les Misérables take place in 1832. Different century. The July Revolution two years earlier had put the Orléanist monarchy on the throne, under the popular “Citizen King” Louis-Philippe.  Popular for awhile, that is.  Despite his unpretentious manners and a character that Les Miz author Victor Hugo commended as “good” and “admirable,” the income gap widened and the conditions of the working class deteriorated.  By the spring of 1832, a deadly cholera epidemic had exacerbated a severe economic crisis.
His death pulled the trigger.
In the early morning hours of June 5, crowds of workers, students, and others gathered in the streets of Paris.  The immediate trigger was the death of General Jean Maximilien Lamarque, who had been a friend to the poor and downtrodden.  The crowd had hoped to accompany Lamarque’s hearse before it took the general home to his native district in the southwest of France.  Those mourning and those with a political agenda merged into a mob that numbered in the tens of thousands – some witnesses claimed it eventually grew to 100,000.
The 30-year-old Victor Hugo was nearby, in the Tuileries Gardens, writing a play.  Then he heard gunfire from the direction of Les Halles.  Instead of going home to safety, he followed the sounds of gunfire through the deserted streets. He was unaware that the mob had taken half of Paris, and the barricades were everywhere in Les Halles.  According to Wikipedia, Hugo headed north up the Rue Montmartre, then turned right onto the Passage du Saumon, finally turning before the Rue du Bout du Monde (if this street still exists, it has a different name now): “Halfway down the alley, the grilles at either end were slammed shut. Hugo was surrounded by barricades and flung himself against a wall, as all the shops and stores had been closed for some time. He found shelter between some columns. For a quarter of an hour, bullets flew both ways.”  Three decades later, he would write about the unforgettable experience in Les Misérables.
I had hoped to visit some of the route during my recent visit to France.  Alas, my trip was too brief, and I couldn’t quite figure out what had happened, and where, on my Paris map.  I had to make the journey vicariously, later, through Mark Traugott‘s The Insurgent Barricade (University of California Press).
No wonder I was confused.  Traugott’s map of the insurrection shows that Lamarque’s funerary procession made a wide arc around the city’s right bank.  The insurrection affected both sides of the Seine, but the flash points were here, on the right bank.
Dragoons had been under orders to refrain from the use of deadly force, but when a shot rang out from somewhere, the crowd began to throw stones at the military.  The cry “To the barricades!” resounded through the streets. But what, exactly, did that mean?
According to Traugott:
“Insurgents began uprooting the saplings planted to replace the larger trees cut down during the July Days. They also scavenged planks and beams from nearby construction sites and improvised tools for prying up paving stones. These classic raw materials were natural choices because they added mass, helped knit the structure together, and were usually found in abundance right at the site of the barricade construction. Between 5 p.m., when the first sporadic gunfire was exchanged, and 6:30, when pitched battles were initially reported, dozens of barricades had been completed on both the right and left side of the Seine. Individual structures took as little as fifteen minutes to erect.
“Even as the first barricades were going up, a frantic search for arms began. Some rebels had to be content with sabers, staffs, or scythes, but rifles were the weapons of choice, and bands of insurgents boldly seized them from small patrols of soldiers encountered in the streets.  Others joined in pillaging the premises of Lepage frères, the largest of several Paris gunsmiths whose establishments were looted.”
Why, you may ask, have I chosen to illustrate this post about a doomed revolt with the elegant photos of Nichole Robertson over at Little Brown Pen ?
This little gem of a 16th-century church is Église Saint-Merri.  The insurgents staged a desperate last stand in and around this church, at the heart of the district where the fiercest fighting took place.
Empty chairs at empty tables. (Photo: Nichole Robertson)
The insurgents pleaded for help, but no help came. The citizens of Paris were not as quick to join the revolution as they were to join the unruly funeral procession.  In the theatrical production of  Les Miz, the army officer warns the insurgents via a loud-bailer:
You at the barricade listen to this!
No one is coming to help you to fight
You’re on your own
You have no friends
Give up your guns – or die!
And it was true.  According to Traugott, “The casualty toll among the insurgents, mounting as high as 800 dead and wounded, was particularly heavy because the people of Paris withheld their support, leaving most of the committed insurgents of June 1832 to pay for their rebellion with their lives.”
If nothing else, please remember is that the whole point of the French Revolution is that the revolutionaries  won.  Remember the beheading of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette, Robespierre et al.?  This was different. In 1832, writes Traugott, “The last guns were silenced a barely twenty-four hours after hostilities had begun.”
Gustave Brion’s illustration for the novel in 1865
Postscript on 27 July, 2013:  Comments are continuing to trickle in for this post.  Today, Reader Karen wrote to ask: “Have enjoyed reading all the comments, but am still searching for an answer to the elephant in the movie.  Did that actually occur?  Was there an elephant structure in the area during that period?   If so – why?  Will it help if I actually finish reading the novel?”
I couldn’t resist the educational opportunity.  From Wikipedia :
The Elephant of the Bastille was a monument in Paris which existed between 1813 and 1846. Originally conceived in 1808 by Napoleon, the colossal statue was intended to be created out of bronze and placed in the Place de la Bastille, but only a plaster full-scale model was built. At 24 m (78 ft) in height the model itself became a recognisable construction and was immortalised by Victor Hugo in his novel Les Misérables (1862) in which it is used as a shelter by the street urchin Gavroche. …
The elephant itself was described negatively by Victor Hugo in Les Misérables; little other account of contemporary public perception is available.
It was falling into ruins; every season the plaster which detached itself from its sides formed hideous wounds upon it. “The aediles,” as the expression ran in elegant dialect, had forgotten it ever since 1814. There it stood in its corner, melancholy, sick, crumbling, surrounded by a rotten palisade, soiled continually by drunken coachmen; cracks meandered athwart its belly, a lath projected from its tail, tall grass flourished between its legs; and, as the level of the place had been rising all around it for a space of thirty years, by that slow and continuous movement which insensibly elevates the soil of large towns, it stood in a hollow, and it looked as though the ground were giving way beneath it. It was unclean, despised, repulsive, and superb, ugly in the eyes of the bourgeois, melancholy in the eyes of the thinker.   —Victor Hugo, Les Misérables, 1862
thanks for this I was just explaining to my son that while it was a revolution oui, it was not THE revolution …. if you want a good movie about that A&E version of the Scarlett Pimpernel is fun
Michelle
January 5th, 2013 at 7:21 am
Frankly i thought that the movie was pretty clear that it did not involve the French Revolution.  First, of course, there’s the date issues.  Then, there’s the lack of a guillotine (surely most of us recall reading A Tale of Two Cities in high school?)  At one point early on, the viewer is also told that the king is “back on the throne again”.  Since Marie and her spouse (the king) were beheaded during the French Revolution, this would have to be a new king thereby suggesting a different uprising.  But maybe I’ve just read too much French history.
January 18th, 2013 at 8:02 am
So THE French Revolution was won and this one lost. The difference? More at the top end get to join in with the suffering when it’s won but little difference for the rest. Same as it ever was. Sorry getting a bit philosophical here but I was bit unsure of the exact setting and this has helped nicely. What happened next? When did they get a welfare state going?
Shaz
January 19th, 2013 at 6:49 am
Thanks for that information as I too was confused after seeing Les Mis the movie too – having not read the book or knowing little about the French Revolution (expecially not the dates) except of guillotines and “let them eat bread “quote by Marie Antoinette.
January 21st, 2013 at 10:50 am
Very enlightening…I am almost fluent in French, and know a few things about the French Revolution, etc. but upon seeing Les Miserables, I was a bit confused…I guess it’s been too long since I cracked a history book.  Thanks for the explanation of what was going on and when in this great movie.  I’ve seen it twice already and loved it even more the second time.
Andrea Worth
January 22nd, 2013 at 6:11 am
Merci cent fois.  As other people have said, we didn’t know exactly what led people to the barricades.  I was a French major, like the othe woman who wrote, but it could be confusing.  As we were leaving the theater, one fellow said “I knew it would be sad because it was about the Revolution”.  He obviously didn’t read the information as the movie started.  Encore, merci.
Sue Howard
January 26th, 2013 at 4:02 pm
Thanks for all the clarification.  I hate to admit that I never liked History in school, so had no idea of what happened when, to whom, by whom, and why…..  I had no idea if this was based on any kind of actual fact; I only knew of the buzz that it supposedly had something to do, loosely, with the French Revolution.  Even my son knew more than I did, & said he thought the F.R. was much earlier!  I still have love this production, having seen it 4 times on stage here in Seattle, & now the movie.  Even tho I had to admit my ignorance, I do appreciate this helpful, concise explanation  of what actually happened!  Thanks & Kudos!
January 29th, 2013 at 9:49 am
I, too, was unsure of the role each of the characters in the movie played, or the purpose of the rebellion.  I think, at the beginning of the movie, it  would have been helpful  if a short narrative of the historical background of the rebellion could have been included.  As in a classroom, if a teacher gives a short overview of a topic that’s  being introduced to the students for the first time, it perks-up their interest and makes for a better lesson for the day.  Nevertheless, I enjoyed the movie and  plan to see it again (with far better understanding this time!).
February 4th, 2013 at 7:46 am
A postscript:
> According to Wikipedia, Hugo headed north up the Rue Montmartre, then turned right onto the Passage du Saumon, finally turning before the Rue du Bout du Monde (if this street still exists, it has a different name now)
I finally took a squint at my 1789 map of Paris and compared it with the modern map. Rue du Bout du Monde still exists but is now Rue Leopold-Bellan. It’s part of the pedestrians-only area of old, narrow streets north of Saint-Eustache and runs east-west between Rue Montmartre and Rue Montorgeuil. Passage du Saumon, which looks like a tiny alley on the 1789 map, running south of and parallel to Rue du Bout du Monde, doesn’t seem to exist any more; or, if it does, may be the present-day Rue Bachaumont.
Thank you, Susanne!  Aren’t maps wonderful? Can you send us a jpeg?
Rachel Mathews Age 11
February 18th, 2013 at 2:50 pm
Lana, someone who has a Cockney accent would of course sing with a Cockney accent. What other kind of accent would he sing with? I find it much more interesting that in the 1950 non-musical version of Les Miz Gavroch does NOT have an accent. Also, thank you Cynthia , for I did not know that Eponine was Gavroch’s sister; or did I simply misunderstand you? And if they ARE siblings, how come Eponine has a normal English accent? And why do any ofthem have English accents in the first place? They’re in FRANCE, after all! And not only do they have English accents, but their characteristics and behaviors are British as well.  In spite of my confusion I am still very excited to see the traveling Broadway musical of Les Miz this summer in Sacramento! If anyone could explain to me so that I will notbe so confused, it would b e gladly appreciated.
February 18th, 2013 at 3:01 pm
Hello Rachel. Yes, in the book, Gavroche and Eponine are siblings. Samantha Barks doesn’t have a “normal English accent,” if there is such a thing. She has a different kind of accent – more North Country. She grew up on the Isle of Man.
Most people don’t sing with any accents at all. Gavroche’s role obviously plays on his urchin-ness by retaining Cockney usages, diction, etc.
What kind of accent would you expect them to have? Would an American accent be better?  Why? An American accent would certainly sound odd to the British!
French people don’t have accents when they’re speaking in French. They sound normal to each other. It would be strange and affected if they all put on French accents!
Pat Hughes
March 23rd, 2013 at 3:50 pm
The revolutionaries didn’t win so much as the bourgeoisie in the French Revolution. The latter compromised with the authorities to keep out the very just claims of egalite. The bourgeoisie used the situation in order to leverage their own position,and ,thus,sold the people out! And, just because the insurgents lost in 1832 doesn’t mean that they were naive,nor wrongheaded. The effects of having little or no work,no bread, and suffering the greatest from the cholera outbreak, may  have made it seem more *imperative* to them than to their so-called” betters*!!
“If nothing else, please remember is that the whole point of the French Revolution is that the revolutionaries  won.  Remember the beheading of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette, Robespierre et al.?  This was different. In 1832, writes Traugott, “The last guns were silenced a barely twenty-four hours after hostilities had begun.–Cynthia Haven “
Joe Spieldenner
Thank you so much for this!
Lee
May 27th, 2013 at 2:24 pm
Just a thought on the accent of Gavroche. I think your thought on the artistic use of cockney to indicate his urchin street cred is probably right. But, in my view, it also links to the Atrful Dodger in Oliver! in conveying the class of the boy. As a Brit I found the absence of US accents quite refreshing!
Deoxy
May 29th, 2013 at 1:09 pm
Ah, now it makes sense – I had always thought the events described in the musical must have been precursors tot eh French Revolution, but in the movie, it’s got the dates… which are, as you mentioned, WELL after that, not before.  Thank you for clearing that up for me.
Marilyn
June 11th, 2013 at 3:16 pm
I was disappointed in the Innkeeper and his wife in the movie. The stage productions I saw had much more interesting characters for the greedy, underhanded, but comic Thénardier couple.  Monsieur Thénardier, the movie character, was colorless and added nothing to the film.
In the book, Victor Hugo added so much geography, that it became tiresome if you are not acquainted with those  areas in France.  I read that he had written the story, and then went back to add the geographic portions.
Now that I’ve seen a lot more of France in the last couple years, I’ll have to reread some of those sections, Marilyn.
Kay
July 23rd, 2013 at 6:51 am
So interesting to read this… I was at Les Mis at the Muny here in St. Louis  Sunday night – great production by the way, but was confused about the  history. The lady next to me said it was the French Revolution but I knew that date wise that was not correct.  The music was great but it was sometimes hard to follow what was happening in the story.  There were parts they left out … maybe for time’s sake; it was nearly 3  hours long as it was.   Thanks for clearing up some points.
Karen
July 27th, 2013 at 7:22 pm
Have enjoyed reading all the comments, but am still searching for an answer to the elephant in the movie.  Did that actually occur?  Was there an elephant structure in the area during that period?   If so – why?  Will it help if I actually finish reading the novel?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elephant_of_the_Bastille
The Elephant of the Bastille was a monument in Paris which existed between 1813 and 1846. Originally conceived in 1808 by Napoleon, the colossal statue was intended to be created out of bronze and placed in the Place de la Bastille, but only a plaster full-scale model was built. At 24 m (78 ft) in height the model itself became a recognisable construction and was immortalised by Victor Hugo in his novel Les Misérables (1862) in which it is used as a shelter by the street urchin Gavroche. …
The elephant itself was described negatively by Victor Hugo in Les Misérables; little other account of contemporary public perception is available. “It was falling into ruins; every season the plaster which detached itself from its sides formed hideous wounds upon it. “The aediles,” as the expression ran in elegant dialect, had forgotten it ever since 1814. There it stood in its corner, melancholy, sick, crumbling, surrounded by a rotten palisade, soiled continually by drunken coachmen; cracks meandered athwart its belly, a lath projected from its tail, tall grass flourished between its legs; and, as the level of the place had been rising all around it for a space of thirty years, by that slow and continuous movement which insensibly elevates the soil of large towns, it stood in a hollow, and it looked as though the ground were giving way beneath it. It was unclean, despised, repulsive, and superb, ugly in the eyes of the bourgeois, melancholy in the eyes of the thinker.” — Victor Hugo, Les Misérables, 1862
In April 2012 a smaller replica of the elephant was built in Greenwich as part of the set of the 2012 film version of the musical Les Misérables.
[…] information about the history around Les […]
Karen
September 5th, 2013 at 5:34 pm
People have to pay closer attention to the lyrics it seems. Gavroche states that they got rid of the king….and it was replaced by worse. Of course-most people don’t know the history of their own country so knowing the difference between the French Revolution and Madame Guilottine and the Insurection of 1832 is a bit too much!!! Most importantly-while based on real events-we all need to remember that this is a musical and a whole lot of poetic license was used(just as in “Sound of Music” and “King & I”-based on real events, but not history!!!!). Still one of my favorite musicals and I loved the book
Kissycassandra
September 8th, 2013 at 10:56 pm
The elephant also appears in the musical Moulin Rouge. Clearly historic license was used because the scenes which prominantly feature the structure supposedly take place in 1899. Also, the elephant is practically bedazzled! I can understand why filmakers would want to use it or take liberties with it. It’s such an great visual oddity.
Laura Wachowski
September 10th, 2013 at 7:54 pm
This was a very useful article, thank you.  The movie was my very first exposure to Les Mis.  I agree, the opening scroll told us it was post-Revolution, as did some dialogue and lyrics.  Maybe people were still out in the lobby buying popcorn?
[…] information about the history around Les […]
Donna
November 14th, 2013 at 1:36 pm
Thanks for this explanation. I saw the play years ago and hated it, because I did not know the plot and the singing was difficult to understand. I knew I must have missed something, because everyone I knew was ga-ga over it. So when the movie came out I watched it, and fell in love! Later I got to see a live community theater production, which was excellent, and then another which was superb! Now I have the sound track blasting in my car all the time, and the tunes rotate through my head day and night! I can’t wait for it to come back to the San Diego Civic Theatre, where I first saw it.
I was stunned to learn that Victor Hugo had actually been there at the time of the revolution! Can’t wait to share my new knowledge with everyone. It adds such depth to the telling of the story.  Also, a couple of years ago I was in Paris and visited Montmartre, so had that connection to your explanation as well.
I did know that this was not the French Revolution, but I am glad to have more historical context from which to love this magnificent production.
Glad it was helpful, Donna.
Alice Reeds
November 19th, 2013 at 1:52 pm
Thank you for the clarification. I was aware of the time difference and the timeline, but it was nice to have it all in type in a consistent manner. I showed this to a friend when she was unwilling to believe me that Les Mis was not set during the Revolution, and she said that it was very informative. If I may ask, do you know if any of the characters (specifically the Amis) in Les Mis were based on living people?
Susan Sherrell
November 29th, 2013 at 7:38 am
Thanks for article and discussion. Read book over 20 years ago eventually saw musical twice numerous films now this film of the musical. Always loved it Nd knew it wasn’t the French revolution . But I always felt confused about what revolution it WAS about – why had I heard so
Little about this one? What finally happened? You explain this plus give sources on how to find out more . I do appreciate this as gavrotte with his cockney accent is hard to understand as he reviews French history! A transcendent tale – and a sorrowful one about the costs of doomed revolutions.
Caro P
Thanks for the great info!  I was watching Les Mis, and Googled French Revolution, and the dates didn’t match- had to solve that mystery!
Baudrier
January 13th, 2014 at 1:05 pm
To get the history straight please have a look to both authors :
Bouchet (Thomas).- Les barricades des 5-6 juin 1832 In Histoire des mouvements sociaux en France de 1814 à nos jours ; ss la dir. de Michel Pigenet et Danielle Tartakowsky.- Paris : La Découverte, 2012, pp. 113-120. ISBN 978-2-7071-6985-3
Baudrier (Pierre).- Insurgés et forces de l’ordre en 1832. Alexandre Deschapelles et Robert Richard O’Reilly, Bulletin de l’Association d’Histoire et d’Archéologie du XXe arrondissement de Paris, Numéro 50, 4e trimestre 2011, pp. 7-27
P B
What a challenge! I may take you up on it, David.
Mullen Davenport
February 11th, 2014 at 6:27 am
I would sort of like to give this article to quite a few people in my life, including my history teachers! As a high school student and general theatre nut, it took very minimal reading up for me to discover that Les Mis was about the June Rebellion, as the French revolution as taught in all of my classes took place forty plus years before the events of Les Mis.
Either way, this was a wonderful article, and I’ll most certainly be sharing this with people.
[…] in case you’re still confused about the historical setting this article helps explain it pretty […]
Shirley
February 26th, 2014 at 10:07 am
Well this clears up a lot for me, I have yet to read the book but I have watched the movies and plays over and over again, and love the music and story. It kinda makes me feel better to know that after they all died for France that later there actually was the real French Revolution and they won. I know they are just fictional, but as as for the real people who died as well.
Enjoy Les Misérables. But please get the history straight. | The Book Haven
Sylvia Kerley
June 3rd, 2014 at 9:55 am
I wonder if my question is relevant to this site?
Many years ago, my husband took me to London to see Les Miserables.  I know there was a guillotine scene in it.  Music was playing and heads were being chopped off and thrown to the man with the basket; I had the distinct feeling (from the music) that this was going to turn into a game of football and commented on this to my husband.  It did.
Recently, my son took is family to London to see Les Miserables.  Guess what, no guillotine scene.  He says I must have imagined it which makes me jump up and down with irritation.
Please, please someone, tell me that there was such a scene and that they have since removed it from the performance.
June 4th, 2014 at 6:23 pm
To my knowledge, no one was guillotined after the 1832 uprising. It was an uprising that was squashed in the streets. I have never heard of any production of “Les Miserables” that includes a guillotine. It seems highly unlikely, because I don’t know where a director would inject such a scene. Or why. Could you be confusing it with “Tale of Two Cities”?  Poulenc’s “Dialogue of the Carmelites”?
Sylvia Kerley
June 5th, 2014 at 1:39 am
Good morning Cynthia.  I don’t think Tale of Two Cities was a musical?
Never mind, I shall just have to agree with my son, that I am imagining this very clear memory!!!  Thanks for replying.
Nope. A novel. I thought it might have a onstage version – it was made into several movies. And Poulenc’s work is of course an opera, which is kind of a musical.
william oakes
June 15th, 2014 at 10:18 pm
actually, the incident of 1832 was precipitated when a section of bonaparte’s elephant trunk collapsed, fell and crushed the mistress of a popular maison close of the time. “a bas l’elephant blanche!” was the battlecry used.  hugo himself stood briefly upon a barricade, to observe, and then retired to a tavern to get drunk.  beware of the revisionist historian, and never more so than when he is a hollywood producer!  as, gladiator; commodus was real (who did enter the arena to pursue lions with a bow, and occasionally slew actual gladiators, as amusements, and no doubt closely defended by his pretorians), as was aurelius; however, they had absolutely nothing to do with another in history; also, never was there a general maximus.  even historians find it difficult to write history (montaigne, not being one, was often incorrect); hollywood scriptwriters simply run amok.
Rob Bass
June 16th, 2014 at 8:29 am
RE: Kerley/Haven and Les Mis, A Tale of Two Cities and guillotines. I, too, am unaware of a guillotine ever being in the musical Les Mis. A Tale of Two Cities has been made into three (that I know of) musicals. One, with book, music and lyrics by Jill Santoriello, and a guillotine, ran on Broadway from Sep 18 – Nov 9, 2008. It never played in London. The novel is also a musical by David Pomeranz, Stephen David Horwich and David Soames that ran in London in 2012 and features a guillotine. And there is a 1968 version titled Two Cities, The Spectacular New Musical, written by Jeff Wayne. A guillotine is in the musical The Scarlet Pimpernel with music by Frank Wildhorn and book and lyrics by Nan Knighton. It ran on Broadway at various times and in various versions known as SP 1.0, SP 2.0, SP 3.0 and SP 4.0 from 1997 – 2000. It has played in the UK, but I don’t know if specifically in London.
Rand
Congratulations, Linda! You made the 100th post! You’ll get a special mention in the post here: http://stanford.io/1vfLvqP
patty goodman
September 29th, 2014 at 4:48 pm
Hi Cynthia,  Am I number 101?  My 15 yr. old daughter convinced me to watch the movie and since then I have been listening to the music and I think the story is incredible.  As far as the historical context, are the events that occur in the story historically correct?  eg. The way that the prisoners were treated, the way that Fontine (sp?) was treated after she was fired?  I’m going to read the book now.  And probably see the show on Broadway.  Thanks for all of your interest and information.
September 29th, 2014 at 7:28 pm
Linda was technically #100, but only for a few minutes. She had an earlier comment that wound up in a spam filter, so when that posted, she was #98 and #101. I believe Humble Moi was #100, but what fun is that? I don’t wish to give myself a prize – too much like the Dodo’s Caucus-Race. So we gave Linda a cyber-bottle of champagne here: http://stanford.io/1vfLvqP . That makes you #102.
The story is incredible – I have a post on the influence of Hugo’s book on Mario Vargas Llosa here: http://stanford.io/1hyOt4R . The Industrial Revolution was a pretty nasty time to live. Charles Dickens describes parallel stories in England, Hans Christian Anderson in Denmark. Some people complained at the time the publication of Hugo’s masterpiece that things weren’t so bad, but it largely meant it wasn’t so bad for them.
John Clifford
October 14th, 2014 at 5:11 pm
Hi Cynthia – I am a huge fan of Les Mis – book, film, stage, musical anything !! Here in Melbourne, Australia there is an exhibition at our State Library that has as its centrepiece the original manuscript (the first ever time it has left Europe) – I felt like I was looking on a holy relic !! I have been to France several times (going again in 6 months) and I find it remarkable that a country lauded for its fashion, wine, cheese, champagne, gourmet foods and overall quality of life can also be the host of so much bloodshed and rebellion between 1789 & 1870 in particular. Then again Austria produced both Mozart and Hitler – the best and worst of humanity !! Your thoughts ?
Deb
October 26th, 2014 at 11:22 am
You might look at the conflation of the French Revolution and the Paris Uprising as part and parcel of the same revolutionary tendencies in late 18th early 19th century Europe. For another way to look at this, a comparison/contrast with the American Revolution and the War of 1812 is interesting.
Rob
October 28th, 2014 at 2:33 pm
This is one of the greatest literary works of all time. I have read the book, seen the play (many many times), and watched the movie. Getting ready to start the book all over again. These characters have beome well known to me. Thank you for the history lesson it is much appreciated. If I had only one book (outside the Bible) to take with me through the rest of my life it would be Victor Hugo’s Les Miserables.
bob
January 1st, 2015 at 4:15 am
“The principal events of Les Misérables take place in 1832. ”
It is only after book ten of the fourth volume do we get to June 5th 1832. That’s right, all 264, or about, other chapters reference the French revolution or a time prior to 1932. This blog gives an illiterate account of Victor Hugo’s intent.
“M. Myriel was the son of a councillor of the Parliament of Aix; hence he belonged to the nobility of the bar.”
Why did he join the priesthood? What were his motives or convictions? Would he had done so had there not been a revolution of 1789?
“It was said that his father, destining him to be the heir of his own post, had married him at a very early age, eighteen or twenty, in accordance with a custom which is rather widely prevalent in parliamentary families.”
“Citizen King” Louis-Philippe put them back in serfdom/slavery. August 10, 1792 revolt was for the abolition of the monarchy.
“By the spring of 1832, a deadly cholera epidemic had exacerbated a severe economic crisis.” This statement should read, …a severe economic crisis had exacerbated a deadly cholera epidemic. Why was there an economic crisis? Who won the revolution? Who controlled the finances?
You lose credibility by referencing Wikipedia instead of the author’s writing. And “According to Traugott:”
“The elephant itself was described negatively by Victor Hugo in Les Misérables; little other account of contemporary public perception is available.” Why don’t you read that chapter of his writings? Are you trying to translate this from French and don’t read French? Read it in English.
Stanford must be a community college in California.
Thank you for responding to my post and allowing it to remain and even more so my impertinence, please, forgive me.
A quote from volume V and from chapter XX of Les Miserables.
“However that may be, even when fallen, above all when fallen, these men, who at every point of the universe, with their eyes fixed on France, are striving for the grand work with the inflexible logic of the ideal, are august; they give their life a free offering to progress; they accomplish the will of providence; they perform a religious act. At the appointed hour, with as much disinterestedness as an actor who answers to his cue, in obedience to the divine stage-manager, they enter the tomb. And this hopeless combat, this stoical disappearance they accept in order to bring about the supreme and universal consequences, the magnificent and irresistibly human movement begun on the 14th of July, 1789; these soldiers are priests. The French revolution is an act of God.
Moreover, there are, and it is proper to add this distinction to the distinctions already pointed out in another chapter,—there are accepted revolutions, revolutions which are called revolutions; there are refused revolutions, which are called riots.”
Thanks for this, Bob. It’s a stunning paragraph. It’s a side of Hugo I tend to overlook – the side of him that made a god of “progress” and applied such beautiful language to such bloody ends. Vendée.
Sarah
January 28th, 2015 at 1:57 am
Great article, thouroughly enjoyed it and has very useful information for my A2 English coursework. However, a downside to the article is the constant mis-spelling of ‘Les Mis’, I understand completely that that is how it sounds but it is really off putting constantly correcting it in my head as I read. ‘Les Mis’ is short for ‘Les Misérables’ not Les Mizerables. As a fluent french speaker and fan of ‘Les Mis’ it really made me dislike your article despite the great content.
I hope you understand my annoyance.
February 28th, 2015 at 8:40 pm
European revolutionary history is full of long and twisted tales so I am pleased that you started this great conversation and nice to see how long it has been running and that I found it today! This is not a digression, but I am a fan of Irish history, particularly the rather brief revolution led by the Young Irelanders in 1848.  They looked to America’s revolution (same antagonist) as well as revolutions/rebellions throughout their own history for inspiration.  But I always found their connection to revolutionary France to be fascinating.  The current Irish tricolor flag was brought back from France in the 1840’s by one of the Young Irelanders as a gift from France, after a delegation was sent there to learn about France’s revolutionary successes.  So without further research and forgetting my childhood history lessons, I was thinking they must be talking about the “French Revolution”, even if well after the fact.  But as was pointed out earlier in this conversation, France, like Ireland suffered centuries of revolt/rebellion.  And in 1848 (according to Wikipedia – which I love by the way – under the tag “Revolutions of 1848”), apparently over 50 countries, predominantly in Europe, were in revolt.  So I can see why people are confused.  I just finished a book called the Year of the French which is set in Ireland in 1798 (six years after the “official” French Revolution started).  The Irish at that time also wanted the French to come over and help liberate the country from England.  So 1000 French soldiers landed in the more remote west of Ireland and along with a raggle-taggle Irish peasant army were handily defeated by the British army.  The French were officially at war with Britain at the time (6 years after the start of the “revolution”) but Napoleon appears to have had little interest in a full assault of the British in Ireland.  So thank you for helping me connect some dots and hopefully encouraging more people to take a broader view of what was happening during that time.  (SU CC class of ’87)
Interesting history. Thanks for checking in, Patrick!
Jackie
April 11th, 2015 at 2:23 pm
I was perusing the internet looking for current productions of Les Mis, when I came across your blog on Google. Wow! I am FINALLY finishing the unabridged English translation of Les Mis since starting the 1400+ page venture about 10 years ago! Hugo’s writing makes my brain hurt (I’m a high school math teacher for goodness sake!), but I am so in love with the story. Hugo’s lengthy political and social opinions throughout the book would make me put it down for awhile! But I’ve seen the play so many times, it was never hard to pick up where I left off. I finally recently began googling French history of the times, mainly so I could have a better feeling for where Hugo’s head was at the time. Your blog has provided even more clarity; thank you.
Gavroche and Eponine had more siblings who were cast out in the street. Boy, nothing funny about the Thenardiers in the original novel. So despicable, my heart hurt for their children.
June 23rd, 2015 at 7:54 am
Alexandra, Jean Valjean stole the loaf of bread in 1796, give or take a few months. He is released from prison in 1815, when the story begins in Digne. The conflict in which Marius takes part is the 1832 revolution, not the 1789 one. You can tell, because the very brief revolution was snuffed out. The revolutionaries didn’t win. But yes, Victor Hugo wrote it years after the events. It was published in 1862.
Em
June 29th, 2015 at 5:07 am
I enjoyed reading this site very much. Have been to Paris recently and found most sites. You and other readers may be interested in a small book (unfortunately not yet translated into English) called “Á cinq heures nous serons tous morts!” – sur la barricade Saint-Merry, 5-6 juin 1832. It’s been edited by Thomas Bouchet (collection Généalogies -Vendémiairie Éditions, Paris). It contains, amongst essays and maps the letter Charles Jeanne, the leader at the Saint-Merry barricades wrote to his sister during his imprisonment. He details what happens at that barricade during those two days.
June 29th, 2015 at 12:11 pm
An absolute wonderful story,which beautifully illustrates the events of the period. Why the assumption that it was set during the earlier revolution arose I have no idea. I first saw a stage production of it performed by an amateur youth ensemble (the oldest in the cast was 18), at Whitley Bay playhouse in the north of England and I am not ashamed to admit I bawled my eyes out for the last 20 minutes or so, and was still emotive long after leaving the theatre. Well done the authors of this site for educating Joe Public.
Julie K
September 7th, 2015 at 9:41 am
Very interesting post!
I haven’t seen the 2012 movie, but I’ve read the novel and seen the Broadway show. I was just watching the Sesame Street (!) parody of Les Miz on youtube, which included a statue of an elephant (well, a statue of Snuffleupagus), and since I don’t think the statue was in the stage show, I was wondering at first if the creator of the Sesame Street video had actually read the novel, until it occurred to me, as you confirm, that the elephant might appear in the movie.
Thanks, Julie. I’ve seen the stage production several times, and though it was several years ago, I’m pretty sure that “The Elephant of the Bastille” figures prominently in the set design.
Stella
February 1st, 2016 at 7:52 pm
I am thoroughly alarmed by the amount of Wikipedia citations in this article, regardless that it is not meant as an academic paper, but merely a blog post. Because Stanford’s name is on this blog and plenty of laymen and/or nonacademics are coming here for correct information, it is the responsibility of the blog author to 1) fact check Wikipedia sources and use original sources (as opposed to couching information in “according to”), and 2) provide an example of responsible research. A blog with Stanford’s name on it that cites Wikipedia implies that Wikipedia is reliable and/or valid, which we know it is not, else Wikipedia citations would be allowed in schools and universities wouldn’t “talk trash” about other universities by claiming said university cites Wikipedia. I understand Wikipedia is progressing in it’s veracity; however, it is not quite up to academic par. I know the tedium of running to ground sources instead of slapping on the “qtd in,” but there is a reason it has to be done. Students are not allowed to cite Wikipedia and neither are we. http://ftw.usatoday.com/2014/11/espn-college-gameday-signs-harvard-yalo
February 1st, 2016 at 8:09 pm
I appreciate your concern, Stella, though “alarm” would seem to be overstated. In my original post, there is only one sentence from Wikipedia – and that describes the Hugo’s panicky movements in an obscure cul-de-sac during the day of the revolution. I could not follow these on a modern map, because the streets have changed. Traugott’s book did not have any maps this detailed, either, as I recall – in any case, I repeatedly asked for permission to republish the maps the book did have, to no avail. A second occasion was for a quick postscript to the original post, in answer to a reader’s question about the famous Elephant. The information is very general, and most of the citation is from Hugo’s masterpiece.
This is not, as you suggest, meant to be an academic paper. This is one of hundreds of blogs on the Stanford website.
Mark Evans
A great book on the French Revolution with detailed anecdotal stories from a diary (think Samuel Pepys) is “Dancing To The Precipice”. Check it out.
Ernesto Rivas
April 26th, 2016 at 1:58 pm
This is terrific! I just started reading Les Misérables and was not quite sure about the historical context. Your article sets things straight for me so thank you very much. I found your article by a Google search “Is Les Misérables true.” Bravo! E
james lortz
July 3rd, 2016 at 10:38 am
Great info!  And great handling of the masses.  I’m reminded of a quote from Peter Stone when he was writing the book to the musical “1776”: “God writes lousy theatre.” The actual events are always more interesting but don’t always lend themselves to a dramatic telling.  I appreciate all your efforts and am glad to have discovered your postings.  Thank you!