Marius wanders the streets in despair after leaving his grandfather's house. He adopts the name Monsieur Madeleine, and becomes a successful factory owner. The porter, one of the few who has retained a love for Valjean, is now rewarded for this loyalty by being present and able to assist Valjean in his escape. On leaving the convent, the archbishop mentioned it with approval, and in a whisper to M. de Latil, Monsieur's confessor, afterwards Archbishop of Reims and Cardinal. Love and Redemption. Moreover, no one guards a secret like a child. Les Miserables Introduction + Context. Jondrette once again takes on his theatrical persona, taking advantage of what he sees as the inevitability of his triumph to listen to himself prattle on and await the entrance of the Patron-Minette men. Our, LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in. The plates of his books have been sold to a pawnbroker. Jean Valjean was, in fact, regularly installed; he had his belled knee-cap; henceforth he was official. The vocal mother said to the prioress in a low voice. This direct interaction invites his generosity. They simply enjoy the plenitude of existence. The next day, Marius sees Eponine again. Angry at himself for his inept behavior and at Marius for his obtuseness, he vehemently refuses him permission to marry. Even outnumbered seven to one, Leblanc nearly manages to escape, a testament to the remarkable strength developed in the galleys, which he’s employed before to more benign uses. Cosette and Marius meet one another in Cosette's garden whenever they can, but you can stop clutching your pearls: they love each other so much that neither of them ever thinks about sex. Justice and Injustice. Though Jondrette is apparently looking for the philanthropist’s generosity to bring him out of his misery, getting the funds out of him now becomes Jondrette’s one obsession, such that he’ll make the hovel look even more wretched, with a sobbing young daughter to boot, just to ensure greater generosity. They chat for a bit and Mr. Gillenormand gets a kick out of living vicariously through his grandson's love affair. The whole of this adventure increased the importance of good, old Fauchelevent; he won a triple success; in the eyes of Jean Valjean, whom he had saved and sheltered; in those of grave-digger Gribier, who said to himself: "He spared me that fine"; with the convent, which, being enabled, thanks to him, to retain the coffin of Mother Crucifixion under the altar, eluded Cæsar and satisfied God. While Eponine stands guard outside, Cosette gives Marius a piece of news that is the equivalent of a death sentence. Removing #book# Copyright © 1999 - 2020 GradeSaver LLC. This is a position in which, interestingly, loyalty plays little part. Once again, ugliness and misery are linked in the novel, as it is suggested that misery has done its best to wipe away any last remnant of beauty. Les Misérables Summary. Fear is mute. “Leblanc” can clearly tell that something’s wrong, but immediately Jondrette switches registers: from a swindling attempt to wring money from him, to delivering a dramatic revelation from the past. The eldest Thénardier daughter, Éponine, has fallen in love with him. Marius believes himself to be in a position of power, given that he holds several pistols and knows Javert to be just outside, but the reader realizes that there is a greater danger. The book begins in 1815, following Napoleon's defeat by the British at Waterloo. Les Miserables Introduction + Context. Check out our revolutionary side-by-side summary and analysis. Find a summary of this and each chapter of Les Misérables! Given the stranger’s behavior when he took Cosette away in Montfermeil, Thenardier is confident that he can extract a high sum from him—a goal that he equates in importance with recovering his pride and taking revenge on the man. Les Misérables Summary. Teach your students to analyze literature like LitCharts does. At the beginning of Part Three, the lives of most of the characters of Les Misérables were single threads scattered all over Paris and its nearby villages. Teach your students to analyze literature like LitCharts does. Marius will fling himself into it because he has lost the only thing in life he cares about; M. Mabeuf because he simply cannot afford to go on living; and even among the Friends of the A.B.C., the emotions are not entirely political. Now, even if Marius is unable to fully grasp how the Jondrettes know the father and daughter or why they feel so hostile towards them, he is now certain about what the Jondrettes are planning—or at least that they’re planning nothing good. But Mr. Gillenormand was hoping that Marius was coming back to grovel and beg for money. He then tells Valjean, "you belong no longer to evil, but to good. To persuade..., to inform...to entertain... Hugo's purpose for writing, Les Miserables, was to inform.... to expose social injustice and the effects of ignorance and poverty. The worthy fruit-seller had plied her with a hundred questions, without obtaining any other reply than a melancholy and unvarying gaze. In choosing suffering, he may be showing those around him that he doesn’t fear pain or death, but rather wants to escape for other reasons—most likely having to do with his mandate to love and protect Cosette. Her firmness alarms the thieves, who reluctantly abandon their project and scatter in the night. Thenardier believes he’s outsmarted Leblanc, taking advantage of what he knows to be the man’s love for Cosette in order to get what he wants. Marius is deeply offended by this suggestion and leaves indignantly. Valjean promises Fantine that he will take care of her daughter Cosette, but this task is interrupted when Valjean hears that a man named Champmathieu has been mistakenly identified as him, and faces life imprisonment as a recidivist convict. It is your soul I am buying for you. What did Jean Valjean sacrifice for Marius? She had neither eaten nor slept. The narrator portrays Javert as a complex symbol of authority. Knowing Valjean as we do, we are less surprised than Marius at Valjean’s eagerness to change disguises and attempt to conceal his past once more. Javert, for Fantine, is the antithesis to Madeleine’s mercy. Again, Valjean feels fewer moral scruples than Sister Simplice in lying to Cosette in the interest of preserving Fantine’s health and happiness. He seizes a gravely injured Marius and disappears down the sewers. The narrator thus suggests that, even as his crimes continue to haunt him, Valjean can still justifiably gain from his past. Volume 4, Book 1. His act of paying the Jondrettes’ rent had been the first intimation that Marius, though self-absorbed, was ultimately charitable and generous at heart. The 40-sou piece and candlesticks are again reminders of the past life Valjean had believed he had shaken off. Marius recovers from his wounds and, with the blessing of Gillenormand and Valjean, marries Cosette. As for the convent, its gratitude to Fauchelevent was very great. Uh-huh. GradeSaver, 20 November 2015 Web. Like the superintendent at Fantine’s workhouse, this priest believes he is acting for good, and so the narrator again shows how justice can be warped even by those who are well-intentioned. His only recourse is to refuse identification with the past. By using our site, you acknowledge that you have read and understand our. ", The vocal mothers added: "He is a brother of Father Fauvent.". (Well, his name is Myriel; his title is Bishop.) An hour later, in the darkness of night, two men and a child presented themselves at No. Thenardier has shrewdly picked up on Leblanc’s strategy, familiar as he is with the ruses necessary to escape the police—another example of the complexity of crime and ethics, since Thenardier and Valjean do still have some things in common. Love and Redemption. Again guilt and responsibility grow complex here, as both Valjean and Javert have in a way caused Fantine’s death. The sudden realization that their separation may be permanent has cut him to the heart. It’s not entirely clear whether Jondrette is more interested in exposing “Leblanc’s” identity, getting money out of him, or taking revenge on him for the past—or a combination of all three.