· July 26, by Essay Writer. Love is one of the fundamental principles of humanity. It is what ties humans together as a people, and is vital to society. As such, it has influenced the world in countless ways, just one of which being through literature. Les Misèrables tells the tale of Jean Valjean, a convicted criminal who must escape his past and reclaim his humanity in a world gripped by poverty Les Miserables tells a story of a corrupt society an its inability for good or evil to prevail. It teaches that an individual can overcome these miseries and live in peace with the corrupt world around him Essays and criticism on Victor Hugo's Les Misérables - Critical Essays. Search this site Go Ask a Question Join Sign in. Study Guides What is the significance of the title Les Miserables?
Les Miserables Essays | GradeSaver
The first sixty pages of Les Misérables is dedicated to describing the personality, actions, sayings, and values of Bishop Myriel, a character who does not appear in any other part of the book. Why do you think the author chose to do this? Though Bishop Myriel does not appear in any other part of this book, he is a model for moral behavior. A major theme of Les Misérables is the moral journey of the soul from selfishness and darkness to compassion and light.
Bishop Myriel's life story offers an example of this journey, which is detailed in the first sixty pages of the book: he was born wealthy and powerful, but lost everything he had after the French Revolution, and became devoted to helping the poor. Though the biography of Bishop Myriel is long, it is not dull and it is not filler material. Many of the episodes described Myriel's interaction with the bandits of rural France, his compassion towards a condemned criminal, and so on offer engaging examples of how to live a good life in a less-than-perfect world.
Much of the book is dedicated to describing the plight of the poor in 19th century France. Victor Hugo distinguishes between a few different types of impoverished people.
Identify a few of these different types, then compare and contrast them. There are at least three different types of impoverished people in Les Misérables : the pitiful poor, the purified poor, and the wicked poor. The pitiful poor are those who are les miserables essays beaten down by unjust and undeserved poverty that they cannot even defend themselves from cruelty of suffering; poverty has stripped everything away from them.
Monsieur Mabeuf les miserables essays Fantine are two examples of this type of poor. Another type is the purified poor. For this type, les miserables essays, poverty has resulted in an improvement on the character, les miserables essays, removing all excess and deepening their compassion for their fellow humanity.
Marius and Gavroche are two examples of this type. The third, the wicked poor, are pushed into depravity and cruelty to other human beings; they reason that because no compassion was les miserables essays to them, les miserables essays, they have no reason to have les miserables essays towards others.
Thénardier is an example of the les miserables essays poor. Each of these types has a moral lesson: the pitiful poor inspire our compassion; the purified poor invite our imitation; and the wicked poor demand sanctions.
In each case, Hugo endeavors so inspire a sense of action. Many impoverished characters in Les Misérables les miserables essays in different ways. How does the gender of each character influence the difficulties they must overcome? Because she is poor and a woman, Fantine is eventually forced to resort to prostitution, which Hugo describes as one of the greatest of all forms of suffering, les miserables essays.
In her situation, a man might have been able to sell his labor, but her only option is to sell her sexuality. Fantine's death is directly influenced by her work in prostitution. On the other hand, Jean Valjean endures the difficulties of masculinity. He is originally sentenced to prison for stealing a loaf of bread - this is the only way he can be a provider to his sister's children. What is Hugo's perspective on justice? How is it similar to and different from the legal definition of justice?
Are there characters that embody these differing ideas of what justice means? Hugo emphasizes a justice that is dependent on mercy. His les miserables essays is an ex-convict who goes on to commit identity fraud after his imprisonment ends. Another novelist with a different idea of justice might have made a villain out of Jean Valjean, but for Hugo, Valjean's journey toward compassion and righteousness is a hero's journey.
Valjean does have respect for laws, but he also sees how they fail - particularly among the poor. Javert embodies a different idea of justice. Javert is rigid in his adherence to the law, and when he is confronted with a situation that cannot be neatly resolved within the existing justice system, he kills himself, les miserables essays. Les Misérables is well known for its large cast of characters.
Who is your favorite character, and why? How does Hugo develop this character's personality in the narrative? Enjolras is my favorite character. When he is introduced along with the rest of the ABC Society, he is described as the leader, but the reasons for this are not fully clear until the last stand on the barricade. Enjolras is simultaneously a compassionate idealist and fierce zealot, and these qualities are vividly illustrated in the way that he treats one of his men who murders an innocent civilian.
With a grand speech explaining that the revolution must bring in a world of new and fairer values, he executes this man. But Enjolras does not rejoice in death. At another point, he shoots an officer in the French army and weeps that he must kill his brother. Enjolras' reactions to these complicated situations reveal a complex character. Though Les Misérables is strongly informed by its historical context, it also contains timeless themes.
What is one incident, character, or idea that remains particularly pertinent today? One idea that remains relevant today is that of the good man who becomes a victim of an unjust legal system.
Especially in light of high levels of incarceration and les miserables essays violence, it is not always clear that every judicial decision is actually just, or that the justice system actually creates justice. In some cases, poor people seem to be penalized unfairly. In the book, Jean Valjean was originally imprisoned for stealing a tiny les miserables essays of food to feed his sister's children, les miserables essays he faced enormous barriers to rejoining society after his release.
We can imagine Jean Valjeans in our own society, and ask what happens to prisoners after they are released, and what forces push them into recidivism i. committing more crimes. Do you think Javert is justified in going to such lengths to pursue Jean Valjean? Why or why not? I think he is justified in pursuing Valjean. The reader knows what a moral and righteous character Valjean is, but Javert does not have the same perspective; all he knows is that an ex-convict has gained a position of great social power in Montfermeil.
Valjean is remarkable for his incredible strength and his high intelligence, les miserables essays, two characteristics that would make a particularly dangerous criminal, if Valjean decided to pursue that life. Les Misérables contains many cases of people discovering someone's hidden identity.
Describe one such episode, and explain its significance in the narrative. One revelation of hidden identity comes when Javert discerns Valjean's true identity when he saves Fauchelevent from the overturned carriage.
Valjean is posing as Monsieur Madeleine at the time, but Javert still suspects that he is the vanished ex-convict. Valjean's choice to save Fauchelevent les miserables essays the use of his incredible and very easily recognizable physical strength despite the fact that it will allow Javert to identify him more easily is a mark of Valjean's moral progress: he is willing to sacrifice himself to save others, les miserables essays.
In this instance of sudden recognition, it is a particular quality that reveals the hidden person; in other places in the novel, there is less explanation about how and why people are recognized, les miserables essays. Why do you think Les miserables essays chose to write about the unsuccessful uprising of rather than other, more successful insurrections? Successful insurrections could include the uprising that removed the Bourbon kings from power or the French Revolution itself.
What themes in the narrative does this focus support? I think Hugo focused on this uprising to emphasize its courageous yet tragic nature. The men on the barricade knew that they were going to die, and in the end they knew that little political change would come out of it.
In this way, Hugo can use the event as a way to highlight the struggles of the poor and their dreams for the future. The revolution remains unfinished and full of promise, rather than a difficult or dreary reality, les miserables essays. Hugo likes to focus on the small events in history; les miserables essays he makes mention of Waterloo and the Restoration, he spends much of his time focusing on the lives on individual characters.
The uprising of was a similarly small event; it had enormous impact in the lives of individuals but relatively little impact on history, though it did lay the groundwork for the later uprising that removed Louis-Philippe from power. Éponine is perhaps one of les miserables essays most memorable characters in the novel. Do you think her actions are primarily selfish or selfless?
I think her actions are selfish - but they are still admirable, les miserables essays. It was very selfish of her to put off sending Marius' final letter to Cosette, and to entice Marius to a death on the barricades. She seized this chance to have Marius all to herself and to push him away from Cosette; this is the very definition of selfish.
However, les miserables essays, in the end she rejected these actions and sacrificed her life to save Marius. But this may also be selfish - she was so in love with Marius that she did not want to live in a world without him, and she may have been thinking more about herself than him when she put her hand in front of the gun.
Despite her selfish actions, les miserables essays, Éponine remains one of the most complex and likable characters in the book. The Question and Answer section for Les Miserables is a great resource to ask questions, find answers, les miserables essays, and discuss the novel. Support your answer with textual evidence. Valjean repays his host's hospitality by stealing his silverware.
When the police bring him back, the bishop protects his errant guest by pretending that the silverware is a gift.
What are the results of this protest of Marius? For Jean Valjean? How does the Bishop respond to what Valjean says? Support your answers with textual evidence. To-morrow morning, before you set out, les miserables essays, you shall drink a cup of warm milk from our cows. Les Miserables study guide contains a biography of Victor Hugo, literature essays, a complete e-text, quiz questions, major themes, characters, and a full summary and analysis, les miserables essays.
Les Miserables essays are academic essays for citation. These papers were written primarily by students and provide critical analysis of Les Miserables by Victor Hugo. Les miserables essays me. Forgot your password? Buy Study Guide. I'm sorry, what "protest" are you referring to? Hardly had he pronounced these words full of
Honest Trailers - Les Miserables
, time: 4:13FREE les miserables Essay
Essays for Les Miserables. Les Miserables essays are academic essays for citation. These papers were written primarily by students and provide critical analysis of Les Miserables by Victor Hugo. Jean Valjean: An Angel in Hell; Javert: The Righteous Villain; Romanticism in Les MiserablesEstimated Reading Time: 9 mins Les Miserables tells a story of a corrupt society an its inability for good or evil to prevail. It teaches that an individual can overcome these miseries and live in peace with the corrupt world around him Les Miserables Essay The book Les Miserables, By Victor Hugo, is the story of the transformation of the man named Jean Valjean from evil to good. The book begins when Valjean has just been released from prison after nineteen years of doing time, and is wandering the streets of France, his mind filled with evil, hateful thoughts
No comments:
Post a Comment