In a foreign land, during the period of emigration from the Bonapartist republic, during the heyday of his creative powers, he created the greatest late romantic painting by Victor Hugo - "Les Miserables". By this, the writer summed up a significant part of his author's path. This work and in modern world is his most famous creation.

Design

Even in his youth, the writer had the idea of ​​\ u200b \ u200bthe novel, describing the life of the lower class, the injustice and prejudices of society. Hugo asked one of his friends to collect information about the life and life of convicts. Most likely, interest in the convicts was awakened by the story of a fugitive convict who became a colonel, who was later arrested in the capital of France.

The city prefect told Hugo about a relative, the bishop, who welcomed the freed convict in his house. After being reborn under the influence of a clergyman, he, in turn, became a military orderly, who later died at Waterloo. In the twenty-third chapter of Les Miserables, Victor Hugo placed the story of a convict who, from his first days in freedom, faced cruelty, prejudice and hostility from those around him. In many ways, this story resembled the story of the main character of the work. And so, when the author had already imagined the outlines of the novel and wrote a preface to it, he was distracted by the theater. But all the same, the idea of ​​the book did not leave Hugo and continued to mature in his head, enriched with new impressions and great interest in social issues and problems. In some works of that time, you can find the outlines of the future novel "Les Miserables".

History of writing a historical novel

The writer is so passionate about his work that he even tries to "lengthen" his working day at the expense of lunch postponed to the evening. But such persistent work was interrupted first by the events of the revolution, and then by the coup. As a result, Victor Hugo finishes writing the book "Les Miserables" in a foreign land, in the capital of Belgium.

Edition of the work

In comparison with the final text, the first edition contained much fewer digressions and episodes. It consisted of four parts.

Fifteen years after starting work on the book, definitively titled Les Miserables by Hugo, he decided to rework the novel and give complete freedom to his lyrical prose. Due to such copyright deviations, the work has increased in volume. There are also branches from the main plot line.

While in Brussels, the writer in two weeks in the novel created chapters that described a secret republican society with an idealized image of a priest of the revolution, as well as the battle of Waterloo.

It can be said about the final edition of the book that the author's democratic views had deepened significantly by that time.

The idea of ​​the novel and the truth of the principles

Victor Hugo's novel Les Miserables is historical, since it is precisely such a scale, according to the author, that is necessary to raise questions of human existence.

The main idea of ​​the design is moral progress as the main component of social transformations. This is what pervades the entire mature work of the writer.

We observe how the main character of Victor Hugo ("Les Miserables") is morally improved. That is why the author called his work “the epic of the soul”.

Social problems and the romantic idea of ​​the struggle between good and evil are transferred to the ethical plane. According to the writer, there are two justice in life: one is the highest humanity based on the laws of the Christian religion (bishop), and the other is determined by the laws of jurisprudence (inspector).

But, despite this, the novel, which was written by Victor Hugo (Les Miserables), no matter how many volumes it contains (the work consists of three volumes), is covered with an aura of the romantic struggle between good and evil, mercy and life-giving love. This is precisely the core of the entire novel.

The novel "Les Miserables". Historical meaning

The historical significance of this work is that here the writer takes under the protection of a persecuted and oppressed people and an outcast, suffering person, and also denounces the hypocrisy, cruelty, lies and soullessness of the bourgeois world.

That is why it is impossible to remain indifferent while reading one of the best works written by Victor Hugo - Les Miserables. Reviews about him were also left by the great Russian classics. In particular, Tolstoy, who is a great Russian humanist, called this book the best French novel. And Dostoevsky reread the work, taking advantage of a two-day arrest for violating the conditions of censorship.

The images of the heroes of the book are integral parts of the world cultural heritage... Interest in them has not subsided to this day. It is impossible to remain indifferent to the problems raised in his book by Victor Marie Hugo. "Les Miserables" and now experience more and more new publications and film adaptations, the last of which was released about three years back. Famous Hollywood actors took part in the musical film.

foreign classics

Review of Hugo's book Les Miserables

Hugo is the luminary of the first magnitude in the starry sky of world literature. He was especially close to the Russian reader. Why? It's hard to say for sure. In any case, not only because of the realism. Balzac, Flaubert, Maupassant are more realistic than Hugo. But Russia loved Hugo with a special love. Probably because of pity or even anguish so close to the heart of every Russian person? They are felt even in the very title of the novel - Les Miserables. Dostoevsky generally valued this artistic epic above all his novels, above Crime and Punishment, for sure - he wrote about this directly. Some of the heroes of Hugo's novel seem to be taken from Russian reality or have merged so much with our worldview that they seem to have been written with a Russian pen. Such are Jean Valjean and Gavroche, in part - Cosette.

"Les Miserables" is a multivolume and multifaceted fictional panorama of the life of all strata of French society in the first half of the 19th century. Here is a cascade of real or imaginary events, and the interweaving of genres and even styles, high standard romanticism or naturalism is often seen, and the calm and dignified current of the author's thought constantly slides towards the detective story. Hugo devotes entire sections (called books) of his grandiose creation to battle scenes, in particular, the Battle of Waterloo, a description of the barricade battles in Paris and even the history of the city sewage system, where the heroes of the novel wander after the defeat of the uprising.

It is believed that Hugo spent more than thirty years of his creative life on the creation of Les Miserables, although the novel was written intermittently - sometimes drunkenly, so to speak, and non-stop, sometimes with prolonged pauses. The programmatic preface was revised and rewritten several times, to which the writer attached fundamental importance. The result was just one paragraph of a lapidary text, which formulated the philosophical credo of the French classic:

As long as by the force of laws and morals there will be a social curse, which, in the midst of the flourishing of civilization, artificially creates hell and aggravates the fate depending on God with a fatal human predestination; until the three main problems of our century are resolved - the belittling of the man due to his belonging to the class of the proletariat, the fall of the woman due to hunger, the withering of the child due to the darkness of ignorance; as long as in some strata of society there will be social suffocation; in other words, and from an even broader point of view - as long as need and ignorance reign on earth, books like this will, perhaps, not be useless.

Moreover, Hugo generally naively believed that books like Les Miserables were capable of rebuilding society. He considered social evil and inequality to be the causes of all human troubles. The situation can be corrected by improving morality. And for this, one should listen and adopt what all the great prophets, thinkers, and writers have always called for. In short: be like Jean Valjean, and society will quickly get rid of the ulcers and vices that have struck him.

Indeed, the protagonist of the novel (who, by the way, had a prototype) was conceived and written from the very beginning not only as some real person, plunged into the whirlpool of real historical events, but also as a moral model - the bearer of “boundless philanthropy”. We must pay tribute to the talent of the master - the writer succeeded in both. It was not possible only to solve the set super task - to eliminate injustice and inequality, as well as in the old days tore apart and still tore apart society. Of course, social acuity is the enduring value of the novel. And yet his main "capital" is an unforgettable gallery of heroes.

The story of Jean Valjean fully meets the criteria that turn this image into the category of "eternal". A former convict, sentenced to two decades for stealing bread for his nephews dying of hunger, he almost ended up in hard labor again, but was saved by a righteous bishop: he fenced off Jean Valjean, who encroached on silver candelabra, in front of the gendarmes who arrested him. This act ultimately struck the former convict so much that it led to his moral degeneration. And Jean Valjean himself turns into a righteous and ascetic: until the end of his days he renders disinterested help to all who need it. It has become an unfading symbol of eternal striving forward towards truth and higher ideals. Many paid attention to the fact that in the perception of the Russian reader, the main character of Les Miserables generally acquired a kind of merged name Jean-Valjean (this image has become so close to everyone).

The antipode and "evil genius" of the protagonist of "Les Miserables" is the police inspector Javert, this, according to Hugo, "a savage in the service of civilization, a strange combination of a Roman, a Spartan, a monk and a corporal, incapable of lying a spy and a blameless detective." Throughout most of the novel, one person follows the other. The end is known: Jean Valjean releases Javert, who was sentenced to death by the insurgents. A little later, Javert also releases the victim, hunted down at the exit from the underground cesspool, but cannot stand the insoluble contradiction between duty and conscience and commits suicide.

Unforgettable scenes popular uprising Parisians in June 1832. Several books of the novel are dedicated to them. The author's unique style can be judged even by several expressive phrases, with the help of which he conveys the state of irreconcilable rage of the opposing sides:

Suddenly, the drum beat the attack. The storm broke out like a hurricane. On the eve, in the darkness of the night, the enemy crawled to the barricade silently, like a boa constrictor. "..." The roar of a cannon was heard, and the army rushed to the attack. “…” Both sides were burning with the same determination. Courage reached the point of wild recklessness and was aggravated by some kind of fierce heroism, sacrificing primarily the life of the hero himself. "..." The troops tried to end the battle, the rebels - to continue it. To prolong the agony in the prime of youth and health is no longer fearless, but madness. For each participant in this battle, the hour of death lasted endlessly. The whole street was covered with corpses.

Hugo reaches the highest tragedy when describing the death of the heroes of barricade battles. The scene of the death of Gavroche, whose very name has long become a household name, has become a textbook. Having volunteered to collect cartridges from the dead soldiers under fire, the little Parisian hero himself dies in front of the rebels:

It seemed that this was not a child, not a person, but some kind of little magician. Some kind of fabulous dwarf, invulnerable in battle. Bullets chased after him, but he was quicker than them. He seemed to have started a terrible game of hide and seek with death; whenever a snub-nosed ghost approached him, the boy met him with a snap on the nose. But one bullet, more accurate or more treacherous than the others, eventually caught up with this o-wisp. Everyone saw Gavroche stagger and then fall to the ground. Everyone on the barricade screamed with one voice; but in this pygmy there was Antaeus; to touch the pavement for a gamen is the same as for a giant to touch the ground; before Gavroche had time to fall, he rose again. He was sitting on the ground, a trickle of blood trickling down his face. “…” The second bullet of the same shooter ended [his life] forever. This time he fell face down on the pavement and did not move any more. This childish and great soul flew away.

What is the secret of the great and unfading French novel, which André Maurois called “one of the great creations human mind", And Théophile Gaultier -" a product of the elements. " After all, the critics who have been scolding the "Les Miserables" for over a century and a half are formally right: the structure of the grandiose epic cannot be recognized as flawless and logically consistent; there are too many lengths, philosophical and non-philosophical reasoning, unjustified deviations from the general line of development of the plot. And yet "Les Miserables" have read, continue to read and will always read, sincerely worried about the fate of his heroes, rejoicing and despairing with them, igniting hatred against social injustice and the vile guise of the oppressors. Why is that? It's not hard to guess! Because Hugo has invested in his great creation! part of your own heart - its beating and is transmitted to everyone who falls to this source of fiery feelings!

Victor Hugo (1802-1885)

Victor Hugo went down in literary history as a democrat and humanist, a champion of good and justice, a defender of the oppressed.

His worldwide fame is based on his novels, but Hugo is first of all a poet - the first poet in France, who knows no equal in the scale of creativity, his civic intensity, virtuoso skill, richness of poetic vocabulary and an endless variety of plots, feelings, moods.

Hugo's work is distinguished by a rare artistic unity.

He remained a poet in everything, no matter what he wrote: both in drama, permeated with passionate lyricism, and in novels, on each page of which his excited voice is heard, and in correspondence, speeches, journalism, critical works, where the entire arsenal of romantic imagery sparkles, all the fireworks of metaphors and hyperbole inherent in his style and poetry.

On the other hand, the epic principle is present not only in his novels and great poems, but also in the lyrics, even the most personal, the most soulful.

"Preface" to the drama "Cromwell" (1827)

Manifesto of Romanticism

A broad theoretical foundation for the new romantic art.

- “No matter how big the cedar and the palm are, you cannot become great by eating only their juice”, - no matter how wonderful the art of ancient antiquity, new literature cannot limit itself to imitating him - this is one of the main thoughts of the "preface". Art, - said Hugo, - changes and develops along with the development of mankind, and since it reflects life, each era has its own art.

Hugo divided the history of mankind into 3 large eras: primitive, which in art corresponds to "Ode" (ie. lyric poetry), the ancient, which corresponds to the epic, and the new, which gave rise to the drama.

The greatest examples of the art of these three eras are the biblical legends, the poems of Homer and the works of Shakespeare.

Hugo declares Shakespeare to be the pinnacle of the art of the new era, by the word "drama" he understands not only the theatrical genre, but also art in general, reflecting the dramatic nature of the new era, the main features of which he seeks to define.

In contrast to classicism, which he considered obsolete and divorced from living life, with its aristocratic opposition of “noble” heroes to “ignoble”, “high” plots and genres “low,” Hugo demanded to expand the boundaries of art, freely combine the tragic and the comic in it, sublimely beautiful and basely ugly (grotesque), as it happens in life.

The beautiful is monotonous, he has one face; the ugly has a thousand of them. Therefore, the "characteristic" should be preferred to the beautiful.

An important feature of the new art, Hugo considered that it opened a wide road for the grotesque.

Another important feature is the antithesis in art, designed to reflect the contrasts of reality itself, primarily the opposition of flesh and spirit (here the influence of Chateaubriand), evil and good.

Hugo demanded that the drama adhere to historical plausibility - local flavor, as in historical novels, and attacked the unity of place and time - the indestructible canons of classicism, which seemed to him to be a stretch.

Written with brilliance and passion, full of daring thoughts and vivid images, the "Preface" to "Cromwell" made a huge impression on literary contemporaries.

It paved the way for the romantic drama that began to conquer the French scene on the eve of 1830.

The principles formulated by Hugo influenced in one way or another such works as "Henry II and His Court" (1829) by Alexandre Dumas, "Jacquerie" (1828) by Prosper Mérimée, dramas and translations from Shakespeare by Alfred de Vigny.

- The "preface" largely justified the aesthetics of the grassroots romantic genre - the tabloid melodrama that became widespread in the 1830s.

Dramaturgy:

- "Hernani" (Hernani, 1830).

- "Marion Delorme" (Marion Delorme, 1831).

- "The king is amused" (Le Roi s'amuse, 1832).

- "Ruy Blas" (Ruy Blas, 1838).

- "Ernani" became the subject of literary battles between representatives of the old and new art.

An ardent defender of everything new in drama was Théophile Gaultier, who enthusiastically accepted this romantic piece... These controversies remained in the history of literature under the name "Battle for Ernani".

- "Marion Delorme", banned in 1828, was staged at the theater "Port-Saint-Martin";

- "The king is amusing himself" - at the "Teatro France" in 1832; this play was also banned.

Social activity:

In 1841, Hugo was elected to the French Academy, in 1845 he received the title of peerage.

In 1848 he was elected to the National Assembly. Hugo was opposed to the coup d'état of 1851 and after the proclamation of Napoleon III emperor was in exile.

In 1870 he returned to France, and in 1876 he would have been elected senator

- "Notre Dame Cathedral" - the first historical novel by Hugo.

Main character Romana - Cathedral

Cathedral - a symbol of the Middle Ages, the beauty of architecture and the ugliness of religion

- "The book will kill the building"

The main sign of romanticism; exceptional circumstances

Aesthetics of hyperbole and contrasts

High and Low Conflict: Feudalism, Royal Despotism / People, Outlaws

The theme of the Conflict of love and hate, beauty and ugliness, as well as the problem of people "rejected by society", the emergence and loss of new ideas - all this still remains relevant, timeless ...

The main ideological and compositional core of the novel is the love of two heroes for the gypsy Esmeralda: the archdeacon Claude Frollo and the bell ringer of the cathedral Quasimodo. This love reveals two characters.
Claude Frollo's character evokes sympathy, pity. It should be said that this person's life did not work out from the very beginning: the dream was crushed by circumstances. The cathedral became his home, a place where the young man imprisoned his soul and passion. It so happened that feelings that, as it seemed to him, were buried in the past, captured him. He begins to fight his passion, but he loses.

As for Quasimodo, the character himself is somewhat reminiscent of Notre Dame Cathedral. Outwardly, this person is also ugly, unsightly. The soul of the child is hidden behind the external ugliness.

He makes extensive use of grotesque and contrast techniques in the novel. The depiction of characters is given on the principle of contrast, as well as appearance heroes: the ugliness of Quasimodo is set off by the beauty of Esmeralda, but, on the other hand, the ugly appearance of the bell ringer contrasts with his beautiful soul.

The main characters of the novel are closely related to each other, not only the central love theme, but also by his belonging to Notre Dame Cathedral: Claude Frollo is the archdeacon of the temple, Quasimodo is the bell ringer, Pierre Gringoire is a student of Claude Frollo, Esmeralda is a dancer performing on Cathedral Square, Phoebus de Chateauper is the fiancé of Fleur de Lys living de Gondalorier in a house overlooking the Cathedral.

At the level of human relationships, the characters intersect with each other through Esmeralda, whose artistic image is plot-forming for the whole novel. Everyone's attention is riveted to the beautiful gypsy woman in Notre Dame Cathedral: Parisian citizens enjoy admiring her dances and tricks with the snow-white goat Jali, the local rabble (thieves, prostitutes, imaginary beggars and cripples) reveres her no less than the Mother of God, poet Pierre Gringoire and the captain of the royal archers Phoebus have a physical attraction to her, the priest Claude Frollo - a passionate desire, Quasimodo - love.

Esmeralda herself - a pure, naive, virgin child - gives her heart to the outwardly beautiful, but inwardly ugly Phoebus. The love of the girl in the novel is born as a result of gratitude for salvation and freezes in a state of blind faith in her beloved. Esmeralda is blinded by love so much that she is ready to blame herself for Phoebus's coldness, who confessed under torture to the murder of the captain.

Young handsome man Phoebus de Chateauper- a noble person only in the company of ladies. Alone with Esmeralda - he is a deceitful seducer, in the company with Jehan Melnik (the younger brother of Claude Frollo) - a hefty foul language and a drinker. Phoebus himself is an ordinary Don Juan, brave in battle, but cowardly when it comes to his good name. The exact opposite of Phoebus in the novel is Pierre Gringoire... Despite the fact that his feelings for Esmeralda are devoid of any particular elevation, he finds the strength to recognize the girl as a sister rather than a wife, and over time, to love in her not so much a woman as a man.

The person in Esmeralda also sees the extremely terrible bell-ringer of Notre-Dame Cathedral. Unlike the rest of the heroes, he does not pay attention to the girl earlier than she takes care of him by giving pillory Quasimodo water. Only when he knows the kind soul of the gypsy woman, the hunched over freak begins to notice her physical beauty. External discrepancy between yourself and Esmeralda Quasimodo he experiences quite courageously: he loves the girl so much that he is ready to do everything for her - not to show herself, bring another man, protect her from the angry crowd.

Archdeacon Claude Frollo Is the most tragic character in the novel. The psychological component of Notre Dame Cathedral is associated with it. A perfectly educated, just, God-loving priest, having fallen in love, turns into a real Devil. He wants to win Esmeralda's love at any cost. Inside him, there is a constant struggle between good and evil. The archdeacon begs the gypsy woman for love, then he tries to take her by force, then he saves her from death, then he himself gives her into the hands of the executioner. Passion that does not find a way out eventually kills Claude himself.

"The writing of this book went from the inside out. The idea gave birth to characters, characters produced drama."

"This book from beginning to end. In general and in detail represents the movement from evil to good, from unjust to just, from false to true, from darkness to light, from greed to conscience, from decay to life, from bestial state to feeling debt, from hell to heaven, from nothingness to god "

- from the first preface to the novel.

Victor Marie Hugo

Year of creation
1862

In the photo - the manuscript and drawings by V. Hugo

He wrote this book for about 30 years with interruptions ..

The idea of ​​the novel from the life of the lower classes, victims of social injustice, arose in the writer at the beginning of his career.

Learning in 1823 that his friend Gaspard de Pope will be passing through Toulon, he asks him to collect information about the life of the convicts.

Hugo's interest in hard labor was probably aroused by the controversial story of a fugitive convict,

who became a colonel and was arrested in 1820 in Paris.

In 1828, former Prefect Miollis told Hugo about his brother, Monsignor Miollis, Bishop of Dinh,

who rendered hospitality to the freed convict Pierre Morein in 1806.

Spiritually reborn under the influence of the bishop, Morin became a military orderly and then died at Waterloo.

In 1829 Hugo placed in chapter XXIII " Of the last day sentenced to death "the story of a convict,

having served time and facing the first steps at large with the prejudice and hostility of others;

in many ways it was already reminiscent of the story of Jean Valjean.

By the beginning of 1830, Hugo began to imagine the outlines of the future novel and sketched the beginning of the introduction to it: "

To those who would ask if this story really happened, as they say, we would answer,

that it doesn't matter. If by chance this book contains a lesson or advice,

if the events about which it speaks, or the feelings caused by it, are not devoid of meaning, then it has achieved its goal ...

The important thing is not that the story is true, but that it is true ... "

In 1832, Hugo intended to begin work directly on the "history"

for in March of this year he entered into a contract with the publishers Goslin and Randuelle for the publication of the novel,

whose name was not indicated, although there is no doubt that it was about the future romance "Poverty" ("Les Miseres"),

the first version of "Les Miserables".

The theater distracted the writer from the novel, but the idea of ​​the book continued to mature in his soul, enriching itself with new impressions,

which life gave him, and Hugo's growing interest in social issues

(We can also find the outlines of the future novel in the 1834 story "Claude Gay", whose hero has a lot in common with Jean Valjean,

and in poems from the 30s and 40s associated with ideas of social compassion).

Finally, the resounding success of "Parisian Mysteries" by Eugene Sue (1842-1843) turned Hugo's thoughts to a novel about the life of the people,

although, of course, entering into a clear rivalry with Xu, Hugo was not thinking about a brisk novel-feuilleton, but about a social epic.

On November 17, 1845, Hugo began writing the novel he had dreamed of so much, which he called "Jean Trejean";

two years later the title changes to Poverty, and at this time Hugo is so engrossed in his work,

that he decides to have lunch only at nine o'clock for two months, "in order to lengthen his working day."

The events of the 1848 revolution interrupted this hard work, and Hugo returned to it in August 1851.

This was followed by another hiatus caused by the December 2 coup. Hugo finishes the last part already in Brussels.

The first edition of the novel was thus ready by 1852.

It consisted of four parts and contained a much smaller number of episodes and author's digressions,

than the final text. When, in 1860, Hugo decided to revise the book, finally titled Les Miserables in 1854,

he gave complete freedom to the lyrical beginning of his prose.

Branches from the main storyline also appeared in it.

In 1861, during a trip to Belgium, Hugo created a description of the battle at Waterloo in two weeks;

at the same time, new chapters are included in the novel, depicting the secret republican society "Friends of the Alphabet",

the ideal image of the "priest of the revolution" Anjolras is created.

Some new shades appeared in the characteristics of Marius, which reflected certain features

young Victor Hugo. The first edition of the book, which appeared in early 1862, sold out with lightning speed:

in two days the entire circulation was sold - seven thousand copies.

A new, second edition was immediately required, which came out two weeks later.

Hugo's poems from the period of the book's writing:

You have nothing to fight with? Okay! Hammer
Pick up or scrap!
There the pavement stone is split,
A gap has been cut through the wall.
And with a cry of rage and a cry
Hope, in great friendship, -
For France, for our Paris! -
In the last frenzied struggle,
Washing contempt from memory,
You will restore your order.

(. Translated by P. Antokolsky)

Prototypes

Jean Valjean- one of the prototypes of the hero was the convict Pierre Morin, who was sentenced to five years of hard labor in 1801

for a stolen piece of bread. Only one man, Bishop of the city of Digne, Monsignor de Miollis,

took a consistent part in his fate after his release, first giving shelter,

In addition to Morena, researchers also name among the prototypes J.V. the famous Francois Vidocq,

Chief of the Criminal Police of Paris, a former convict.

It was with Vidok that the cases of the salvation of Zh.V., described in the novel, occurred. old Fauchelevent from under the overturned wagon.

Gavroche- Joseph Bar. He lived and fought half a century before the hero Hugo climbed the barricade, in those great days,

when the French went into battle for freedom, equality and brotherhood, they stormed the Bastille,

fought a war with all aristocratic Europe, fought their own counter-revolution.

Thirteen-year-old drummer Joseph Bart has little in common with Gavroche.

But the writer often does not need to exactly match the facts of the life of the real prototype and his hero.

It was important for Hugo to draw a heroic character, to create a living literary character.

Joseph Bara was in this sense an excellent "sitter", from whom it was very convenient to paint the image of the young hero.

His feat could not help but excite, could not but inspire the artist.

And it is no coincidence that so many songs have been composed and so many poems written about this little brave man,

no wonder he was portrayed in their works by artists and sculptors.

Poets T. Rousseau, M.-J. Chenier, O. Barbier dedicated poems to him, artist Jean-Jose Veerts, sculptors David D "Angers,

Albert Lefebvre created monuments to him, and even Louis David, the world's first great painter who became a revolutionary,

of three paintings dedicated to figures French revolution, "martyrs of freedom" - Lepeletier and Marat, one dedicated to Joseph Bara.

Joseph Bara- a small citizen of the French Republic, he fought bravely in the ranks of the patriots.

In mid-October, the so-called Catholic and royal army of the Vendées was surrounded at Cholet.

There were fierce battles, the rebel troops stubbornly resisted.

The more hopeless their position was, the more fiercely they fought, using cunning and deceit.

During a skirmish in the forest, Joseph Bara was surrounded by a detachment of rebels.

Twenty rifle blows were directed at the young drummer. Twenty Vendéans awaited the order of their leader.

The boy could have been saved at the cost of shame. One had only to shout, as the enemies demanded, three words: "Long live the king!"

The young hero replied with an exclamation: "Long live the republic!" Twenty bullets pierced his body.

A few hours later, revolutionary troops broke into Cholet, the last stronghold of the rebels.

After the victory at the walls of Cholet, the commissars informed the Convention that many brave men had distinguished themselves in battles.

Drummer Joseph Bara was the first on the lists of the brave.

By that time, another one had become known in Paris. young hero - Agricole Viala.

He was almost the same age as Joseph Bara. And he was a little soldier too -

volunteered for a small detachment of the National Guard in his hometown of Avignon.

In the summer of 1993, the detachment took part in battles with counter-revolutionaries.

The Royalists, who had raised a mutiny in the south, marched on Avignon. They were blocked by the waters of the Durance River and a detachment of brave men.

The forces were too unequal to doubt the outcome of the battle.

There is only one way to prevent the rebels from moving forward: to cut the rope from the pontoon,

on which the enemies intended to cross the river. But even adults could not dare to do this -

the royalist battalions were within rifle range.

Suddenly everyone saw how a boy in the uniform of a national guard, grabbing an ax, rushed to the shore.

The soldiers froze. Agricole Viala ran to the water and struck the rope with all his might with an ax.

A hail of bullets rained down on him. Ignoring the volleys from the opposite side,

he continued to cut the rope furiously. A fatal blow threw him to the ground. "I'm dying for freedom!" -

were the last words of Agricola Vial. The enemies still crossed the Durance.

The boy was still alive. Angrily, they attacked the daredevil lying on the sand by the water's edge.

Several bayonets sank into the child's body, then he was thrown into the waves of the river.

Prototype Cosette was Jeanne Lanvin, world renowned Parisian designer

A kind of "continuation" of the novel "Les Miserables", was written by the journalist Francois Ceresa (Francois Ceresa) -

"Cosette, or the Time of Illusions"("Cosette ou le Temps des Illusions").

The publication of this novel even sparked a legal battle between the great-great-grandson of Victor Hugo, Pierre Hugo and François Cereza.

Screen adaptations

1. "Les Miserables", film, 1935, USA, dir. R. Boleslavsky, starring Frederic March.
2. "The Life of Jean Valjean", film, 1952, USA, dir. L. Milestone.
3. "Les Miserables", film, 1958, France-Italy, dir. J.P. Le Chanois, starring Jean Gabin.
4. "Les Miserables", film, 1978, USA. starring Richard Jordan.
5. "Les Miserables", film, 1982, France, dir. R. Hossein, starring Lino Ventura.
6. "Les Miserables", film, 1998, USA, dir. B. Ogest. , starring Liam Neeson.
7. Les Miserables, film, 2000, France, starring Gerard Depardieu.
8. "Cosette", cartoon, USSR, 1977
9. Les Miserables: Cosette, Animated Series Japan, 2007
10. Les Miserables, film, 2012, UK, starring Hugh Jackman.

What is the secret of the great and unfading French novel, which André Maurois called "one of the great creations of the human mind", and Théophile Gaultier - "a product of the elements."

After all, the critics, who have been scolding the "Les Miserables" for over a century and a half, are formally right:

the structure of the grandiose epic cannot be recognized as flawless and logically consistent;

there are too many lengths, philosophical and non-philosophical reasoning, unjustified deviations

from the general line of development of the plot. And yet "Les Miserables" read, continue to read

burning with hatred against social injustice and the vile guise of oppressors.

Why is that? It's not hard to guess!

Because Hugo put part of his own heart into his great creation -

its beating is transmitted to everyone who falls to this source of fiery feelings!

In the seventh decade of his life, Hugo is even more active, energetic and creates with even greater inspiration than in his youth. In the 60s, on Guernsey, he creates three wonderful novels: "Les Miserables", "Workers of the Sea" and "The Man Who Laughs" ... The novel Les Miserables, published in 1862, was conceived by the writer in his youth, in the distant days of romantic battles, and he finished it as a gray-bearded old man. In the richest literature XIX v. this novel occupies a special place as one of the few books that gives a broad picture of the revolution, where a struggling people appears on the stage. In a short introduction to Les Miserables, Hugo writes: "As long as the need and ignorance reign on earth, books like this may not be useless."

The social theme is intertwined in the novel with the moral theme. The herald of the Christian idea of ​​reconciliation and mercy is Bishop Myriel, a righteous man, a philanthropist, an act of kindness and forgiveness who opens the path to goodness and moral self-improvement for convict Jean Valjean. But already at the beginning of the novel, the author confronts Bishop Myriel with an old Jacobin revolutionary. A member of the Convention - a wise man and a philanthropist - also dreams of the happiness of mankind, of peace on earth, but indicates a different path to this - the path of struggle, revolution. Expanding the fate of his heroes, the writer denounces the social order that disfigures the fate and souls of people.

The protagonist Jean Valjean is a convict convicted of theft, which he committed from hunger.

“... Human society has done him only harm. He always saw only that angry face, which it calls its justice and reveals only to those whom it beats. People always approached him just to inflict pain. Any contact with them meant a blow to him. After he parted with his childhood, with his mother, with his sister, he never, never once heard an affectionate word, did not meet a friendly gaze. Moving from suffering to suffering, he gradually became convinced that life is a war and that in this war he belongs to the vanquished. His only weapon was hatred. He decided to hone this weapon in hard labor and take it with him when he leaves there. "

The spiritual rebirth of the convict is one of the main themes of Hugo's novel. Next to Jean Valjean stands the image of Fantine. “What exactly is the story of Fantine? This is the story of a society that buys a slave woman, writes Hugo.

- Who? Poverty. Hunger, cold, loneliness, abandonment, deprivation. A woeful deal. Soul for a piece of bread. Poverty offers, society accepts the offer ... "

And here is Cosette, daughter of Fantine. A child in rags. A pitiful creature that fell into the hands of small predators - the family of the thenardier innkeeper. “Injustice made her morose, and poverty ugly. There was nothing left of her, except for her beautiful large eyes, which were painful to look at, because, if they were smaller, it seemed that so much sadness could not fit in them. " Doom a child to suffer, to allow children to wither from hunger, cold and backbreaking work - this is for Hugo the heaviest weight in the bowl of accusation of the inhuman system. The fourth hero is Marius. In the story of this young man, Hugo put a lot of personal things; the same ideological quest, doubts - hard way from royalism to republican convictions,. which the author passed, his hero also passes. Hugo himself in the 30s did not participate in barricade battles, was not a militant republican. Marius goes to the barricades.

The painting of the Revolutionary Uprising becomes the pinnacle of the novel, its plot and ideological center. Here new heroes appear: Anjolras and Gavroche, who became a favorite of young and adult readers all over the world, a little ragamuffin, a cheerful and bold Parisian gamechest who heroically died for the revolution. And here, at the top of the novel, the idea of ​​the old Jacobin triumphs. Hugo praises the armed uprising, he justifies and exalts the revolution, overthrowing the unjust system.

But how to reconcile this with the path of Bishop Myriel? The author does not want to deviate from this task. The bearer of the idea of ​​mercy is now Jean Valjean, who is on the same side of the barricade as the Republicans, but does not fire a single shot, only cares about saving the defeated both. He releases his old enemy, the policeman Javert, a loyal servant of the monarchy, and rescues the republican Marius from death. The dispute between the two ideas remains unresolved for Hugo to the end. He recognized the revolution, but believes that violence is permissible in the days of revolutionary battles. Vivid scenes in the novel are interspersed with journalistic digressions, in which the author gives his own interpretation of events, develops his favorite ideas. Such, for example, is the chapter devoted to Hugo's reasoning about the difference between rebellion and insurrection. A peculiar fusion of romantic and realistic, intense, dramatically increasing action and lengthy sketch sketches is characteristic of the manner of Hugo the novelist.

Hugo saw how far life was from his dreams. Monarchists and clerics came to power. Louis Bonaparte, the nephew of Napoleon I, was elected president. At first, Hugo pinned his hopes on this "modest prince", but soon became convinced that the prince was not at all modest and was aiming at dictators. The constitution of the republic is being violated. French troops are sent to crush the revolution in Rome. Republican France joined the camp of the stranglers of popular movements. By this time, there are wonderful lines by Hugo, which could serve as an epigraph to the story of his life path:

Living - fighting! And only those are alive, Whose heart is devoted to a lofty dream, Who, having set a beautiful goal before themselves, To the heights of valor go a steep path. And, like their torch, they carry to the future Great love or sacred labor!

Hugo's prediction is coming true. On the night of December 2, 1851, a coup d'état took place in France. All government offices are seized by supporters of Louis Bonaparte. Victor Hugo becomes the head of the underground Resistance Committee and, together with a handful of deputies who remained at large, tries to organize a struggle, call the people to arms. But the paths to the people have not been found, the forces of resistance have not been gathered. The reaction is triumphant. Blood is pouring in the streets again. Massacre, corpses, repression. Hugo's life is in danger. He has to flee Paris.

We will meet with this feature in the following novels.

Hugo's novel "Les Miserables"

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