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The story is set between 1815 and 1832, the years of Hugo's youth. ... The protagonist of Les Misérables, Jean Valjean, is also in exile from.
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Hugo - “I don’t know if it will be read by everyone, but it is meant for everyone. It
addresses England as well as Spain, Italy as well as France, Germany as well as Ireland, the republics that
harbour slaves as well as empires that have serfs. Social problems go beyond frontiers...”
Source 1: Background (timeline taken from http://lesmis.com/downloads/les-mis-study-guide-pt1.pdf )
French Revolution begins. ( monarchy )
First French Republic proclaimed.
The republican ‘Convention,’ ending in Robespierre’s terror.
Louis XVI executed. The ‘Chouans’ (royalist Breton insurgents) begin their full-scale civil war against the republican French government. Léopold-Sigisbert Hugo, an officer in the republican army, is posted to Britanny as part of the repressive peace-keeping force.
‘Le Directoire’, the first postrevolution Government (Directory).
Marriage in Paris of Sophie Trébuchet and Léopold-Sigisbert Hugo.
The ‘Consulat.’ Bonaparte takes Command (Bonaparte overthrows Directory and establishes The Consulate).
Birth of Victor-Marie Hugo.
Napoleon crowns himself at Notre Dame; French Empire ( dictatorship ) proclaimed. Sophie and her three children return to Paris, settling at 24 Rue de Chichy. General Lahorie, now retired and wanted by the police for plotting against Napoleon, lives at no.19.
Léopold Hugo promoted colonel and posted to Naples, where he makes a favourable impression on Napoleon’s younger brother Joseph.
Joseph Bonaparte is made King of Spain by Napoleon. Léopold Hugo follows the French King to Spain and gets a lucrative staff appointment.
Napoleon defeated at Waterloo; France becomes a monarchy once more under Louis XVIII. General Léopold Hugo mistakenly hopes that by rallying to Louis XVIII in extremis he will be able to stay in the army. He is retired on half-pay.
Reign of Louis XVIII.
Victor Hugo’s Ode to the Death of the Duc de Berri attracts the attention of the Court. Louis XVIII sends him 500 francs.
Victor Hugo marries childhood sweetheart Adéle Foucher.
Reign of Charles X.
Reign of King Louis Philippe.
Hugo meets Juliette Drouet. Funeral of General Lamarque – hero to workers and students – degenerates into riots, and the barricades described in Les Misérables.
Victor Hugo starts writing Les Misérables.
Reign of King Louis Philippe ends with uprising and Louis Napoleon becomes President of the Second French Republic
2 December: Louis Napoleon dissolves Parliament, is proclaimed President with full powers for ten years, ratified by a plebiscite. Victor Hugo leaves hastily for Brussels.
Louis Napoleon declares himself Emperor. Hugo urges the populace to rise against the monarch and flees the country to Belgium.
Emperor Napoleon III establishes cordial relations with Britain.
Victor Hugo completes Les Misérables.
Franco-Prussian war ends with disastrous battle of Sedan. Napoleon III forced to abdicate and flees France; replaced by a democratically elected government. October – Victor Hugo returns to Paris, is elected a member of parliament by the Parisiens.
Victor Hugo resigns from Parliament; following the death of his son, Charles, he goes to Brussels to settle the family inheritance.
April-May – Paris ‘Commune’ uprising, soon crushed, leads to appalling carnage and repression.
August – From Brussels, Hugo protests against the Belgian Government’s refusal to give fleeing ‘Communards’ status of political exiles. His Brussels home is stoned and he is declared persona non grata in Belgium, moving to Luxembourg, returning briefly to Paris, then to Guernsey to write Quatre-Vingt- Treize.
Victor Hugo settles permanently in Paris and is appointed Senator.
Death of Juliette Drouet.
Victor Hugo dies; State funeral attended by over three million people.
Source 3: The History/Issues in Les Miserables
Read the following excerpt (http://www.teachervision.fen.com/literature-guide/novels/62564.html)
The story is set between 1815 and 1832, the years of Hugo's youth. The descriptions of Paris, the
the world of men because of the desperate crime he committed in his youth. Liberated from prison, Valjean hides his identity and becomes a successful man, as charitable as he is rich and powerful. His altruism leads him to promise Fantine, a dying prostitute, that he will seek out her exploited young daughter Cosette after her death. The ensuing love between "father" and "daughter" (Cosette) is miraculous, redeeming Valjean and bestowing happiness on his otherwise grim life. To some extent, Hugo also was seeking redemption, having, for much of his youth, ignored the populist concerns of Republican France. He sacrificed his lifestyle in Paris
awakening.
The Revolution and Republic of France had failed to redress the unconscionable social conditions in which
time, denoted everyone from the poor to the outcasts and insurrectionists. In Hugo's lifetime, the schism between "haves" and "have-nots" was vast; an unbalanced economy made jobs scarce for those who earned their living by work. This was an era without a welfare system, unemployment benefits, or worker's compensation. The closest thing to a homeless shelter was prison, a macabre dungeon where inmates slept on bare planks and ate rancid food. To this place the disabled, insane, hungry, or desperate citizens of France eventually found their way. The one hope of the poor for relief was charity from those who were, if not indifferent to their plight, outright hostile to it.
crimes—in Jean Valjean's case, the theft of a loaf of bread—who are thereafter outcast from society. It is fairly common parlance today to suggest that prison creates more hardened criminals than it reforms, but the idea
the excellence of a State which persecuted convicts even after their release, and derided the notion that poverty and ignorance had anything to do with crime. Criminals were evil." Jean Valjean morally surpasses characters working on behalf of this excellent State. The poor and the disenfranchised understood Hugo's message, accepted the affirmation he gave them, and worshipped him as their spokesman. Workers pooled their money to buy the book not one of them could afford on their own. The struggling people of France had found an articulate illustration of the unjust forces arrayed against them.
Hugo's gift to the people simultaneously affirms that every citizen is important to the health of the nation and emphasizes how that fact gives each individual responsibility for the conditions we all share. Hugo sees the
but in that same sphere, a single gesture of kindness redeems the world; he shows us a civilization based on self-interest and profit, but in one generous act the possibilities of a better world become manifest; he portrays people who regard their neighbors with suspicion and contempt, but with one vow of love, humanity's faith is born anew. Les Misérables is one of history's greatest manifestos of hope for humankind
Source 4: Welfare Systems
FRENCH WELFARE SYSTEM UNITED STATES WELFARE SYSTEM
France has a generous array of maternity and unemployment benefits, paid for by taxes which are among the highest in Europe. The system places great emphasis on supporting the family, especially children. The French state subsidises thousands of part time nannies, or child-minders from public funds. The main payments are these: x $2,400 (£1,500) goes to each woman on the birth of her first child x From the second birth, the mothers monthly allowance goes up to $120 (£70) per child per month x The mother continues to receive her full salary for six months from the birth of her child x The mother's job is protected for up to three years. x When she returns to work, her children get free nursery or day care, up to the age of 6 http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/special_report/for_christmas/ _new_year/welfare/41052.stm
The United States has a different set of family programs. It is the only country whose main cash benefit is primarily for single mothers, who lose the benefit and their health insurance if they work full time. U.S. family benefits usually are available only for the poorest families.
Source 5: http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/2010/0411/US-tax-bite-smaller-than-other-nations
Chapter 2 THE ROOT OF THE MATTER There is such a thing as an uprising, and there is such a thing as insurrection; these are two separate phases of wrath; one is in the wrong, the other is in the right. In democratic states, the only ones which are founded on justice, it sometimes happens that the fraction usurps; then the whole rises and the necessary claim of its rights may proceed as far as resort to arms. In all questions which result from collective sovereignty, the war of the whole against the fraction is insurrection; the attack of the fraction against the whole is revolt…
Certainly, despotism remains despotism, even under the despot of genius. There is corruption under all illustrious tyrants, but the moral pest is still more hideous under infamous tyrants…
In the majority of cases, riot proceeds from a material fact; insurrection is always a moral phenomenon…
All armed protests, even the most legitimate, even that of the 10th of August, even that of July 14th, begin with the same troubles. Before the right gets set free, there is foam and tumult. In the beginning, the insurrection is a riot, just as a river is a torrent. Ordinarily it ends in that ocean: revolution…
However, insurrection, riot, and points of difference between the former and the latter,-- the bourgeois, properly speaking, knows nothing of such shades. In his mind, all is sedition, rebellion pure and simple… Then the bourgeois shouts: "Long live the people!" This explanation given, what does the movement of June, 1832, signify, so far as history is concerned? Is it a revolt? Is it an insurrection?
This movement of 1832 had, in its rapid outbreak and in its melancholy extinction, so much grandeur, that even those who see in it only an uprising, never refer to it otherwise than with respect. For them, it is like a relic of 1830…
We shall therefore bring to light, among the known and published peculiarities, things which have not heretofore been known, about facts over which have passed the forgetfulness of some, and the death of others. The majority of the actors in these gigantic scenes have disappeared; beginning with the very next day they held their peace; but of what we shall relate, we shall be able to say: "We have seen this." We alter a few names, for history relates and does not inform against, but the deed which we shall paint will be genuine. In accordance with the conditions of the book which we are now writing, we shall show only one side and one episode, and certainly, the least known at that, of the two days, the 5th and the 6th of June, 1832, but we shall do it in such wise that the reader may catch a glimpse, beneath the gloomy veil which we are about to lift, of the real form of this frightful public adventure.
Chapter 3 A BURIAL; AN OCCASION TO BE BORN AGAIN In the spring of 1832, although the cholera had been chilling all minds for the last three months and had cast over their agitation an indescribable and gloomy pacification, Paris had already long been ripe for commotion. As we have said, the great city resembles a piece of artillery; when it is loaded, it suffices for a spark to fall, and the shot is discharged. In June, 1832, the spark was the death of General Lamarque. Lamarque was a man of renown and of action. He had had in succession, under the Empire and under the Restoration, the sorts of bravery requisite for the two epochs, the bravery of the battle-field and the bravery of the tribune. He was as eloquent as he had been valiant; a sword was discernible in his speech. Like Foy, his predecessor, after upholding the command, he upheld liberty; he sat between the left and the extreme left, beloved of the people because he accepted the chances of the future, beloved of the populace because he had served the Emperor well; he was, in company with Comtes Gerard and Drouet, one of Napoleon's marshals in petto. The treaties of 1815 removed him as a personal offence. He hated Wellington with a downright hatred which pleased the multitude; and, for seventeen years, he majestically preserved the sadness of Waterloo, paying hardly any attention to intervening events. In his death agony, at his last hour, he clasped to his breast a sword which had been presented to him by the officers of the Hundred Days. Napoleon had died uttering the word army, Lamarque uttering the word country. His death, which was expected, was dreaded by the people as a loss, and by the government as an occasion. This death was an affliction. Like everything that is bitter, affliction may turn to revolt. This is what took place…
On the 5th of June, accordingly, a day of mingled rain and sun, General Lamarque's funeral procession traversed Paris with official military pomp, somewhat augmented through precaution. Two battalions, with draped drums and reversed arms, ten thousand National Guards, with their swords at their sides, escorted the coffin. The hearse was drawn by young men. The officers of the Invalides came immediately behind it, bearing laurel branches. Then came an innumerable, strange, agitated multitude, the sectionaries of the Friends of the People, the Law School, the Medical School, refugees of all nationalities, and Spanish, Italian, German, and Polish flags, tricolored horizontal banners, every possible sort of banner, children waving green boughs, stone-cutters and carpenters who were on strike at the moment, printers who were recognizable by their paper caps, marching two by two, three by three, uttering cries, nearly all of them brandishing sticks, some brandishing sabres, without order and yet with a single soul, now a tumultuous rout, again a column. Squads chose themselves leaders; a man armed with a pair of pistols in full view, seemed to pass the host in review, and the files separated before him. On the side alleys of the boulevards, in the branches of the trees, on balconies, in windows, on the roofs, swarmed the heads of men, women, and children; all eyes were filled with anxiety. An armed throng was passing, and a terrified throng looked on. The Government, on its side, was taking observations…
All at once, a man on horseback, clad in black, made his appearance in the middle of the group with a red flag, others say, with a pike surmounted with a red liberty-cap… This red flag raised a storm, and disappeared in the midst of it.
Source 7: Iran and Twitter
Wednesday, Jun. 17, 2009 Iran Protests: Twitter, the Medium of the Movement By Lev Grossman
The U.S. State Department doesn't usually take an interest in the maintenance schedules of dotcom start-ups. But over the weekend, officials there reached out to Twitter and asked them to delay a network upgrade that was scheduled for Monday night. The reason? To protect the interests of Iranians using the service to protest the presidential election that took place on June 12. Twitter moved the upgrade to 2 p.m. P.T. Tuesday afternoon — or 1:30 a.m. Tehran time…. After the election in Iran, cries of protest from supporters of opposition candidate Mir-Hossein Mousavi arose in all possible media, but the loudest cries were heard in a medium that didn't even exist the last time Iran had an election…So what exactly makes Twitter the medium of the moment? It's free, highly mobile, very personal and very quick…This makes Twitter practically ideal for a mass protest movement, both very easy for the average citizen to use and very hard for any central authority to control…On June 13, when protests started to escalate, and the Iranian government moved to suppress dissent both on- and off-line, the Twitterverse exploded with tweets from people who weren't having it, both in English and in Farsi…As is so often the case in the media world, Twitter's strengths are also its weaknesses. The vast body of information about current events in Iran that circulates on Twitter is chaotic, subjective and totally unverifiable… Twitter isn't a magic bullet against dictators. As tempting as it is to think of the service as a purely anarchic weapon of the masses, too distributed to be stoppable, it is theoretically feasible for a government to shut it down… It's quite possible that the government finds Twitter useful as a way of monitoring protesters, gathering data on them and even tracking them down. There are also signs that the Iranian government may be infiltrating the Twitter network itself, manipulating it to its own advantage…Twitter didn't start the protests in Iran, nor did it make them possible. But there's no question that it has emboldened the protesters, reinforced their conviction that they are not alone and engaged populations outside Iran in an emotional, immediate way that was never possible before. President Ahmadinejad — who happened to visit Russia on Tuesday — now finds himself in a court of world opinion where even Khrushchev never had to stand trial. Totalitarian governments rule by brute force, and because they control the consensus worldview of those they rule. Tyranny, in other words, is a monologue. But as long as Twitter is up and running, there's no such thing.
http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1905125,00.html
Source 8: Greece
Greece faces 48-hour strike over austerity cuts
By Karolina Tagaris
updated 11/6/2012 3:02:01 AM ET ATHENS (Reuters) - Greek workers begin a 48-hour strike on Tuesday to protest against a new round of austerity cuts that unions say will devastate the poor and drive a failing economy to collapse. The walkout, called by Greece's two biggest labor organizations, is the third major strike in two months against a package of spending cuts and reforms that Prime Minister Antonis Samaras's government is trying to push through parliament to unlock aid. Athens needs parliamentary approval for the package - which includes slashing pensions by as much as a quarter for some and scrapping holiday bonuses - to ensure its European Union and International Monetary Fund lenders release more than 31 billion euros ($40 billion) of aid, much of it aimed at shoring up banks. The government has implored Greeks to endure the cuts in a bid to avoid national bankruptcy and insists they will be the last round of pain. But few are impressed in a nation where over a quarter are jobless while poverty and suicide levels soar... SENDING A MESSAGE "We are striking on Tuesday and Wednesday to send a message to the government - these measures must not pass!" said Nikos Kioutsoukis, general secretary of the GSEE private sector union that called the strike along with the ADEDY public sector union…Transport is expected to be severely disrupted across the country as trains, buses and the subway come to a halt. Many flights have been cancelled, ships will remain tied up at ports and taxi drivers plan to stay off the streets. Schools, banks and local government offices will be shut, while hospitals are expected to work on emergency staffing. Police were beefing up security for midday rallies in Athens that often culminate in a small-scale rioting and clashes with hooded protesters, but officials said violence was more likely during the parliamentary vote on Wednesday. Greece has gone through several rounds of austerity that has helped shrink its economy by a fifth since the debt crisis exploded but failed to bring its finances back in order. The country's public debt is seen at a whopping 189 percent of gross domestic product next year and Athens is expected to be widely off track from targets under its latest bailout agreed with the troika of the IMF, the European Commission and the European Central Bank. Anger has given away to a sense of resignation for many Greeks, who warn the latest cuts could tear a beleaguered society apart…"They are fooling themselves if they think a social explosion here would not lead to domino effects in Europe." Source: http://www.nbcnews.com/id/49705991/ns/business-stocks_and_economy/t/greece-faces--hour- strike-over-austerity-cuts/
Source 11: Lafayette in America and France
http://www.ushistory.org/Valleyforge/served/lafayette.html
Marie Joseph Paul Yves Roche Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette was born in 1757… Lafayette's real introduction to America came at a dinner on August 8, 1775, when the young Marquis came into contact with the Duke of Gloucester who spoke with sympathy of the struggle going on in the colonies. With thoughts of the "romantic" American cause, glory and excitement, Lafayette made plans to travel to America…When Lafayette learned of the struggle of the Americans in their endeavor to secure their independence he resolved to come to the colonies to aid them in their efforts as a volunteer. He also persuaded several French officers to come with him… Later in the summer he met General Washington and a friendship developed between the two men which lasted as long as Washington lived. He was not even 20 years old! During Lafayette's life he never forgot the great American. Lafayette was a member of Washington's staff and during the Battle of the Brandywine, Lafayette participated in the closing part of the battle when he was wounded. Later in the autumn he rejoined the American forces since he had recovered from his wound… Consequently he applied to Congress in Philadelphia for a furlough to return home. On October 21, Congress granted him permission to return to his native land and stated: "that he shall return at such time as shall be most convenient to him." When Lafayette arrived in France he went at once to the palace at Versailles to see his wife and family. Since Lafayette had left France against the king's will, he knew he was under a cloud and could not come to the court until he was forgiven by the king. His father-in-law went to see Maurepas, the minister, who informed him that Lafayette must undergo a period of exile before he could return to court. Later Lafayette was exiled to the Hotel de Noailles for a period of eight days, and he was not permitted to go about, and no one was permitted to see him except his family. He was always honored by the queen and she made it a point to see him in the palace grounds before he went into exile. She congratulated him on his fine record in the American war. Once it became known that Lafayette was exiled, the king soon discovered that the sentence was considered unjust and Lafayettes' praises were heard on all sides. Nevertheless, many important people did come to see him during his period of exile. When his term of exile was completed he was summoned by the King who received him very graciously, congratulated him very warmly on his service for the United States. The early situation was soon forgotten and Lafayette stood very high in court affairs. Shortly after his return home the Congress of the United States presented him with a sword which was an honor appreciated by the King and his government… On July 26, 1789 he was named the commander of the National Guard — saving the royal family from a Paris mob in October. A year later he was promoted to Lieutenant General, but resigned on October 8th. In 1792, when war was declared with Austria, he took command of the army, but was later replaced during the rise of the Jacobin influence and he fled to Belgium. He was taken by the Austrians, who turned him over to the Prussians who held him prisoner until 1797. He was eventually freed by Napoleon, returning to France in 1800… To the end of his life Lafayette held firm for representative government in his country. The great general died in
http://www.lafayette.edu/about/?p=11934&wpmp_switcher=mobile
…As principal author of the “Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen” (1789), he helped propel the French Revolution. In the final decade of his life, he took part in France’s 1830 revolution and also voiced support for revolutions in Greece, Poland, Italy, and South America. An ardent supporter of emancipation and a member of anti-slavery societies in France and America, Lafayette also lobbied for the restoration of civil rights to French Protestants and was instrumental in ensuring that religious freedom be granted to Protestants, Jews, and other non-Catholics. A friend to Native Americans, he also endorsed the views of leading women writers and reformers of his day…
Source 12: Lafayette in France
Source 13: 2013 News Article
Les misérables: Despite welfare state and wine,
unhappiness reigns in France
Scott Barber | 13/03/26 12:00 AM ET Source: http://news.nationalpost.com/2013/03/26/les-miserables-despite-welfare-state-and-wine-unhappiness-reigns-in-france/
Universal Pictures / The Associated PressAnne Hathaway in a scene from Les Misérables. A new study has found the French are far less happy than their standard of living would predict, and blames psychological and cultural issues — such as the school system — for the phenomenon.
France has good wine, a great culture, a 35-hour work week and a miserable population.
A study by the Paris School of Economics shows that despite having all the things needed for a good life, the
French are among the unhappiest people on the planet.
“It has now become common knowledge that the French are much less happy and optimistic than their standard
of living would predict,” says The French Unhappiness Puzzle: The Cultural Dimension of Happiness by
researcher Claudia Senik.
She suggests that French schools and the loss of prestige in the world may have contributed to the country’s
unhappiness.
Despite free access to health care, hospitals, public school and universities, dissatisfaction is so prevalent in France
it ranked worse than Iraq and Afghanistan in a survey of expectations for 2012, according to a WIN-Gallup poll.
Ms. Senik analyzed a number of European polls and surveys to determine “differences in self-described happiness
across countries of similar affluence.” Among her findings:
x The French unhappiness is mirrored “by a low level of trust in the market and in other people”; x “French natives … are less satisfied with the state of the economy in the country, with the state of democracy, with the state of the education system”; x The proportion of people agreeing that “for most people life is getting better” is particularly low in France.
One study asked participants to use an emotive scale (from happiness and enjoyment, to stress and anger) to
answer questions like: “Did you smile a lot yesterday?”
“It turns out that France ranks first in terms of negative affects and last in terms of positive affects!” Ms. Senik
wrote. “This is driven by the particularly high number of French respondents reporting feelings of anger and
worry and the low frequency of feelings of enjoyment and happiness.”
Student Worksheet: Les Miserables Name: _______________________________
Part 1 Questions:
Form of Government Years of Government
Definition
What event occurred in 1832 which was witnessed by Hugo and depicted in Les Miserables (Source 1)?
Using Source 3, describe the conditions in France during this time.
Part 2 Questions:
Welfare System in France Welfare System in United States
Look at Source 5. How is the French tax system compared with the United States tax system? Remember, in Economics, there is “NO SUCH THING AS A FREE LUNCH.”
Source 3 states, “a single gesture of kindness redeems the world; he shows us a civilization based on self-interest and profit.” In the Wealth of Nations, Adam Smith said, “it is not from the benevolence of the butcher, the brewer, or the baker that we expect our dinner, but from their regard to their own interest.” What was the main idea that Smith was conveying?
Read the following lyrics (funeral scene). What message are they conveying?
Describe items used during the barricade.
What happens to Marius during the barricade?
Who saves his life?
Describe the last scene when Cosette and Marius talk with Valjean for the last time (dying).
What was your favorite song/part of the movie and why?
Do you hear the people sing? Singing a song of angry men? It is the music of a people Who will not be slaves again! When the beating of your heart Echoes the beating of the drums There is a life about to start When tomorrow comes!
Will you join in our crusade? Who will be strong and stand with me? Beyond the barricade Is there a world you long to see? Then join in the fight That will give you the right to be free! (chorus)
Will you give all you can give So that our banner may advance Some will fall and some will live Will you stand up and take your chance? The blood of the martyrs Will water the meadows of France!
Chapter 1 Questions:
Identify FIVE elements of a revolt.
Describe THREE effects of a revolt on a town/city.
Hugo writes, “Revolt is a sort of waterspout in the social atmosphere which forms suddenly in certain conditions of temperature.” Read Source 7. Explain how this example supports Hugo’s statement. Analysis must be at least FIVE sentences (chart).
Read the paragraph, in Chapter 1, that begins with “All the revolts closes the shops…” Read Source 8. Explain how this example supports Hugo’s statement. Analysis must be at least FIVE sentences (chart).
