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Chapters
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Chapters
Chapters at a glance
Les Miserables has 24 chapters.
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Chapters24 items
An Upright Man
This opening section introduces Bishop Myriel of Digne, a man who has quietly reshaped his life around generosity. He gives away nearly all his income to the poor, moves out of th…
The Fall
Jean Valjean is released from nineteen years in the galleys and immediately discovers that freedom on paper means very little.
In the Year 1817
Hugo pauses the main plot to sketch Parisian society in 1817, the year a group of young students and their girlfriends share a carefree outing.
To Entrust Is Sometimes to Abandon
Fantine, now a young mother with a baby daughter named Cosette, is trying to return to her hometown to find work. She cannot bring Cosette without losing any chance of employment,…
The Descent
This chapter follows Fantine's life in Montreuil-sur-Mer, where she has found work in a factory run by a man known as Père Madeleine, who is in fact Jean Valjean living under a fa…
Javert
This section introduces Javert, the police inspector assigned to Montreuil-sur-Mer, and establishes him as the ideological opposite of Valjean.
The Champmathieu Affair
A man named Champmathieu has been arrested and identified as Jean Valjean by former convicts who knew Valjean in prison.
Counter-Stroke
Valjean goes to Arras, reveals himself in court, and saves Champmathieu. The immediate consequence is that his cover is blown.
The Year 1821
This short section steps back from the main plot to give historical and social context. Hugo focuses on Paris in 1821, sketching the political atmosphere after Napoleon's fall and…
Patron-Minette
Hugo introduces Patron-Minette, a criminal gang operating in Paris. The chapter is partly a sociological essay on the criminal underworld and partly a setup for the Thénardier plo…
The House in the Rue Plumet
Valjean and Cosette have settled into a quiet, hidden life in a garden house on the Rue Plumet. Cosette is growing up and beginning to notice the world beyond their walls.
The Friends of the ABC
Hugo introduces the student revolutionary group called the Friends of the ABC, centered on the charismatic Enjolras. Marius is loosely connected to this circle.
Marius
This section traces Marius Pontmercy's backstory in detail. He grows up under his royalist grandfather Gillenormand, knowing almost nothing about his father, the Napoleonic office…
The Idyll of the Rue Plumet and the Epic of the Rue Saint-Denis
Two storylines run in parallel here. Marius and Cosette fall in love in the garden of the Rue Plumet, meeting secretly while Valjean remains unaware.
The War Between Four Walls
The barricade goes up in the Rue de la Chanvrerie and the students make their stand. Valjean arrives to protect Marius.
Javert Derailed
Javert has spent his entire life believing that law and morality are the same thing. When Valjean spares his life at the barricade, that belief collapses.
The Last Drop in the Chalice
This short chapter covers the final hours of the barricade. The surviving rebels, including Enjolras, make their last stand.
Jean Valjean's Confession
Valjean tells Marius the truth about his past: the prison sentence, the years as a fugitive, the stolen identity. He does this not because he is forced to but because he believes…
The Sewers of Paris
This chapter follows Valjean carrying the wounded Marius through the Paris sewer system after the barricade falls. Hugo spends considerable time describing the sewers themselves:…
Javert's End
Javert returns to the bridge after letting Valjean go. He cannot file a report that makes sense, cannot arrest Valjean without feeling like a traitor to the mercy shown to him, an…
The Grandson and the Grandfather
Marius finally tells his grandfather, Monsieur Gillenormand, that he wants to marry Cosette. The old man, who has been quietly devastated by Marius's long absence and near-death,…
The White Night
Marius and Cosette's wedding takes place, and it is a night of joy for nearly everyone present. Valjean, however, spends it in anguish.
The Last Page
Valjean tells Marius the truth about who he is. Marius, shaped by his own class assumptions and by Thénardier's later poisonous insinuations, begins to pull Cosette away from Valj…
Supreme Shadow, Supreme Dawn
Marius learns from Thénardier that Valjean was the man who carried him through the sewers and saved his life at the barricade.
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