Book Second
We're leaving the Bishop as we found him: magnanimous, pure, kind, and perhaps a little more understanding than he was before.
1815- The same year Book One began. We're introduced to a few more characters--more renown than the Bishop, perhaps, but no more important. Theory: the Bishop sets the standard of integrity for every character in Les Mis and the reader would not understand Hugo's interpretation of virtue without him (and along with that, every character's internal deliberation of "What is right?", "What is wrong?", "Should I just end it all?", etc.).
Enough about me, though (for now). It's time to dive in, and meet a character that some might call integral.
Chapter One: The Evening of a Day of Walking
The Proclamation of the Gulf Juan is a proclamation that Napoleon wrote shortly after escaping his exile on the Island of Elba. He knew he needed to rouse an army if he wanted France, and so tried to rally the soldiers by representing them as liberators of France by telling them to cast off the white colors of the royal family and instead return to the revolutionary tricolor cockade..."Victory shall march in double quick time."
A dauphin is the eldest son of a King of France--an heir apparent.
General Bertrand was a French general with close ties to Napoleon. It can be assumed that the owner of the Three Dauphins was pro-Napoleon's return.
A public house is a tavern--traditionally, the term signified someone's house has been opened to the public (ever wondered what the term "pub" came from?).
"Tsomaraude" translates to rascally marauder.
Chapter Two: Prudence Counselled to Wisdom
Notable Quotes:
"Come in," said the Bishop.
Chapter Three: The Heroism of Passive Obedience
Toulon to Pontarlier is about 608 km, or 378 miles. If I had to take a gander, I would say a week's worth of walking. Pontarlier is where Valjean is supposed to report for his parole.
We meet Jean Valjean at the ripe, tender age of 46.
Definitions that elude me:
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Ignominy: public shame or disgrace
Chapter Four: Details concerning the Cheese-Diaries of Pontarlier
Nothing to say for this chapter, and nothing to say for Chapter Five. Except, maybe, aren't you glad you now know the details concerning the cheese-diaries of Pontarlier?
Chapter Six: Jean Valjean
Valjean is from Brie. Yes, that Brie. Not completely related, but I recently discovered that you may, in fact, eat the outside of the cheese. #WasteNoBrie
No earthly idea what "Higrendles" is, or means, or represents.
Claude Gueux is a short, true crime-esque story written by Victor Hugo in 1834. Gueux, the titular character, steals bread and firewood for his mistress and child (after, of course, receiving no help from society). Spoiler alert: the book ends with his head and body separate. TL;DR: relationship between education and criminal punishment = proportional, 19th century French society = bad.
Here's a link to read it: https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Claude_Gueux
Notable quotes:
"...in the sombre march of the human race."
"English statistics prove the fact that four thefts out of five in London have hunger for their immediate cause."
Definitions that elude me:
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Sobriquet: a person's nickname
Chapter Seven: The Interior of Despair
Notable quotes:
"It is necessary that society should look at these things, because it is itself which creates them."
"Whether it was not outrageous for society to treat thus precisely those of its members who were the least well endowed in the division of goods made by chance, and consequently the most deserving of consideration."
Definitions that elude me:
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expiation: the act of making amends or reparation for guilt or wrongdoing; atonement
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Inexorable: impossible to stop or prevent
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Phantasmagoria: a sequence of real or imaginary images like those seen in a dream
Chapter Eight: Billows and Shadows
Notable quotes:
"The sea is the inexorable social night into which the penal laws fling their condemned. The sea is the immensity of wretchedness. The soul, going down stream in this gulf, may become a corpse. Who shall resuscitate it?"
Chapter Nine: New Troubles
Notable quotes:
"Liberation is not deliverance. One gets free from the galleys, but not from the sentence."
Chapter Ten: The Man Aroused
Not much to say here...
Chapter Eleven: What He Does
Definitions that elude me:
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Prie-dieu: a piece of furniture for use during prayer, consisting of a kneeling surface and a narrow upright front with a rest for the elbows or for books
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Ineffable: too great or extreme to be expressed or described in words
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August: respected and impressive
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Imperious: assuming power or authority without justification; arrogant and domineering
Chapter Twelve: The Bishop Works
For your betterment, Cochlearie des Guillons:
"Monseigneur" is a title or form of addressed used for a prince, cardinal, archbishop, or bishop. In other words… a much higher "rank" than a cure.
Chapter Thirteen: Little Gervais
< Table of Contents < Volume 1 < Book First
A Savoyard is a native of the region of Savoy. Their impoverished circumstances sometimes led to them becoming street performers. This drawing is "Standing Savoyarde with a Marmot Box" by Antoine Watteau, and was published in 1715 (just a century before our time)--just so you can get a little glimpse of what the kid may have looked like (just imagine a male, instead of female, and maybe take off around fifty years).
A hurdy-gurdy is a stringed instrument that makes sound through a hand crank-turned wheel that rubs against strings, similar to a violin bow.
A marmot box holds a marmot, which is used for street entertainment.
From the research of an amateur, forty sous seems to equal about two francs. Note to self to do some more research about how much two francs could buy in 1815.
And before you ask, yes my political opinions have been revealed in the notable quotes section, because this is a very political book, and I tend to be a slightly political person.
