© Pearson Education Limited 2002

Penguin Readers Factsheets

Les Misérables

by Victor Hugo

Teacher’s Notes

As the story opens, Jean Valjean has just been released after
nineteen years in prison for trying to steal a loaf of bread. Nobody
will give him a bed or a meal. Except one good man – a bishop –
who takes Valjean into his home. Valjean repays him by stealing
his silver and running off into the night. When the police drag
Valjean back, the bishop says the silver was a gift and that Valjean
is free to go. ‘I’ve bought your soul from the Devil, and have given
it to God,’ he tells him. This one act of kindness changes Valjean
forever.

Valjean changes his name to Monsieur Madeleine and starts a

new business and a new life in a different town. He becomes a
successful and respected citizen, but then two people in the town
upset his life – a prostitute called Fantine and the local inspector of
police, Javert, who recognises him as Jean Valjean. After the
unhappy Fantine dies, Valjean adopts her young daughter,
Cosette, removing her from danger and unhappiness and moving
to Paris with the young girl. As he looks at Cosette’s sleeping face,
he understands what love is for the first time. The action moves to
Paris where the plot follows Jean and Cosette through their difficult
and complicated lives against a dynamic background of social
revolution. Throughout the story, Javert continues to try and put
Valjean in prison.

Victor Hugo’s life (1802–1885) spanned most of the nineteenth
century. His talent for writing became clear when he was still young
and during his life he produced a flood of words – poetry, plays,
novels, journalism and essays. He was deeply interested in politics
and thought that writing could influence the course of events. A
romantic and a liberal, he believed in the importance of the
individual. He campaigned for social justice and for everyone’s
right to vote and to have a free education.

Hugo did vast amounts of research for Les Misérables, and put

a lot of factual detail into it. The original novel is over 1200 pages
long. What readers enjoy more, though, is his poetic vision and the
atmosphere of daily life among both poor and rich. Over the years,
some critics have said that Hugo needed a good editor: although
he constructed his novels beautifully, he could never leave anything
out. This adaptation retains the important parts of the narrative, the
key characters and the atmosphere of Hugo’s original.

The action of this novel begins in 1815, the year that Napoleon and
his empire were defeated. This was a time of political turmoil in
France, and huge social change throughout Europe, as much of
the population moved away from the countryside and into the
towns to work in the new industries. Between 1800 and 1825, the
population of Paris doubled to over one million. The speed of this
change caused terrible social problems and misery. Victor Hugo
wrote about this misery, showing how both wealth and poverty can
destroy lives.

Paris was much more revolutionary than the rest of France in

the nineteenth century. Towards the end of Les Misérables, most of
the characters get involved in the popular uprising against Louis-
Philippe in Paris. Barricades made of beds, café chairs and
building materials were put up across the narrow streets in run-
down areas of the city. The rebels hid behind these barricades and
shot at the king’s soldiers as they tried to regain control of the
capital. The government decided they had to do something about
these barricades. In the 1850s Napoleon III employed an architect
– Baron Haussmann – to knock down old Paris and build the wide
boulevards we know today. This was partly to make Paris a fine,
modern city, but also to make it more difficult for rebel fighters to
put up barricades and resist government forces in the future.

Hugo’s novels look into the darkest corners of human activity for

goodness, but the message of Les Misérables is fairly pessimistic.
Both natural and official justice fail the hero of the story, Jean
Valjean, proving how cruelly law and society can treat honest
people. Valjean attempts to live a good and honourable life, but his
high moral values do not bring him rewards until the end of his life.
For most of the story he is forced to live the life of a criminal, always
on the watch for the police. The real criminal, Thénardier, escapes
to America with a small fortune. Inspector Javert represents official
justice. He is not interested in anything outside the bare facts of a
case and never takes account of human suffering. His kind of
justice upholds the harsh social system.

To enjoy this kind of epic literature, we often have to suspend

our disbelief. There is a great deal of coincidence in Hugo’s story.
The central characters bump into each other many times by
chance and the reader may sometimes get the impression that only
a few people inhabit the great city of Paris. The characters often
disguise themselves, too, and go unrecognised even by people
who know them well. As readers, we have to accept that these
things have to happen to carry the story along.

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Summary

About Victor Hugo

Background and themes

© Pearson Education Limited 2002

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Published and distributed by Pearson Education
Factsheet written by Jane Rollason
Factsheet series developed by Louise James

The following teacher-led activities cover the same sections of text
as the exercises at the back of the reader, and supplement those
exercises. Further supplementary exercises, covering shorter
sections of the book, can be found on the photocopiable Student’s
Activities pages of this Factsheet. These are primarily for use with
class readers, but with the exception of pair/groupwork questions,
can also be used by students working alone in a self-access centre.

ACTIVITIES BEFORE READING THE BOOK

Read the extract at the beginning of the introduction on page v
aloud to the class. Discuss the attitude of the innkeeper. Students
work in pairs and continue the conversation between the two
men. Jean Valjean tries to persuade the innkeeper to let him stay.
Pairs can act out their conversations for the class.

ACTIVITIES AFTER READING A SECTION

Chapters 1–3

Students work in groups. Each group chooses a short scene from
this opening section, for example the arrival of Valjean at the
Bishop’s house, the boy and his silver coin, the deal between
Fantine and Mme Thénardier, the unmasking of Jean Valjean in
court. They cast the characters, work out a short dialogue and
rehearse. Each group performs their scene for the class.

Chapters 4–6

Students work in pairs. Ask them to write a few sentences
describing the way these characters behave in this section of
the story: Mme Thénardier in Chapter 4, Inspector Javert in
Chapter 5, Marius in Chapter 6. Compare descriptions with the
whole class.

Chapters 7–8

Éponine has lost some of her teeth, just like Cosette’s mother,
Fantine. Compare what we know about Éponine’s life with what
we know about Cosette’s life. Do this as a whole class activity,
eliciting comparisons and writing them on the board. Encourage
students to use their imaginations and write up details that are
probably true as well as those actually mentioned in the book.

Chapters 9–12

Fighting on the barricades became a tradition in Paris in the
nineteenth century. The narrow streets were easy to block off and
provided easy escape routes for anti-government rebels.

Students work in groups. They plan to build a barricade in a

small street which has two cafés, a grocery shop, and a cheap
clothes shop. What will they build it with? How will they defend it?
As a whole-class activity groups present their ideas to the rest of
the class.

Chapters13–15

The evil Thénardier gets away with a fortune. Fantine dies just
when she achieves happiness. Valjean enjoys only a few
moments of comfort at the end of his life. His honesty during his
life denied him material happiness. It seems that dishonesty is
rewarded and honesty is punished. What is Hugo’s moral
message here? Students discuss these ideas in groups and try to
answer this question. Compare answers with the whole class.

ACTIVITIES AFTER READING THE BOOK

Les Misérables was made into a successful musical in 1986.
Students work in pairs or groups and discuss how to put this story
on the live stage. Which scenes would present the most difficult
problems and how would they get round them? Who would they
like to put in the major roles? Finish with a whole class
discussion.

It will be useful for your students to know the following new words. They
are practised in the ‘Before You Read’ sections of exercises at the back of
the book. (Definitions are based on those in the Longman Active Study
Dictionary.)

Teacher’s Notes

Penguin Readers Factsheets

Communicative activities

Chapters 1–3

barber (n) a man whose job is to cut
men’s hair

casual (adj) relaxed and not worried
about things

doll (n) a toy that looks like a small
child or person

franc (n) a French coin

gaze (v) to look at someone or
something for a long time

misery (n) when someone is very
unhappy

murmur (v) to speak softly and quietly

prostitute (n) someone who has sex to
earn money

shiver (v) to shake slightly because
you are cold or frightened

sigh (v) to breathe out heavily,
especially when you are bored or tired

Chapters 4–6

concierge (n) the French word for a
caretaker; used in English

hug (n) the action of putting your arms
round someone in a friendly or loving
way

mattress (n) the soft part of a bed that
you lie on

slam (n) the action of closing
something noisily

stockings (n) very thin clothing that fits
over a woman’s foot and leg

stove (n) a piece of kitchen equipment
that you cook on

Chapters 7–8

despair (n) a feeling of being very
unhappy and without hope

solitude (n) when you are alone

Chapters 9–12

aristocracy (n) the people in the
highest social class who traditionally
have a lot of land, money and power

barricade (n) something temporary that
is built across a road to stop people
going through

blot (n) a mark on a paper made by a
spot of ink falling on it

cannon (n) a large gun on wheels

coffin (n) the box in which a dead
person is buried

stronghold (n) an area that is strongly
defended

Chapters 13–15

feast (n) a large meal for a lot of
people to celebrate a special occasion

grille (n) a frame of metal bars across
a door or window

guardian (n) someone who is legally
responsible for someone else’s child

obliged (adj) to feel that you must do
something

sewer (n) a pipe under the ground that
carries away waste material: the
sewers under cities like Paris are big
enough for people to walk through

wig (n) artificial hair that you wear on
your head

Glossary

© Pearson Education Limited 2002

Student’s activities

Students can do these exercises alone or with one or more other
students. Pair/group activities are marked.

ACTIVITIES BEFORE READING THE BOOK

Use the information in the introduction on pages vi and vii about
Victor Hugo to make a chart of the events of his life. Write the
date on the left and a short note about what happened on the
right. Use these dates or choose your own:

1802, 1817, 1823, 1831, 1843, 1851, 1862, 1870, 1885, 1986

ACTIVITIES WHILE READING THE BOOK

Chapter 1

Answer these questions.

(a) What has Jean Valjean been sleeping on for nineteen years?
(b) What had the bishop’s palace become many years before?

(c) Why can’t Jean Valjean sleep in the bed the bishop gives

him?

(d) What was Jean Valjean’s job before he was arrested for

stealing a loaf of bread?

(e) Why does he feel ‘a kind of terror’ when he sees the bishop’s

gentle, sleeping face?

( f ) What does the bishop buy with his silver knives and

candlesticks?

(g) What job does Petit-Gervais do?
(h) Why does Jean Valjean try to find Petit-Gervais?

Chapter 2

1 How much ...

(a) money does M. Thénardier demand from Fantine to take

Cosette?

(b) does that leave Fantine with?
(c) does M. Thénardier get for Cosette’s silk dresses in

Paris?

(d) does he increase Cosette’s monthly payments by after

the first year?

(e) does Fantine get for her hair?
( f ) does Fantine get for her teeth?

2 Describe Fantine’s feelings after she says goodbye to her

daughter and travels to Montreuil. Talk to another student.

Chapter 3

1 What are the reactions of these characters to these events in

the story?

(a) Fantine, when she is arrested.
(b) Fantine, when she first sees M. Madeleine at the police

station.

(c) Javert, when M. Madeleine forces him to let Fantine go.
(d) Thénardier, when he first receives 300 francs from M.

Madeleine.

2 Why does M. Madeleine go to Arras and confess that he is

Jean Valjean?

3 How do you think Victor Hugo wants us to feel when we read

about Fantine’s short life?

Chapter 4

1 Put these events in the right order.

(a) A big man with white hair carries Cosette’s bucket.
(b) Cosette stares at a beautiful doll on one of the stalls.
(c) Mme Thénardier demands the bread and then the coin.
(d) Mme Thénardier gives Cosette a coin to buy bread.
(e) Cossette runs down the hill into the frightening darkness.
( f ) The coin drops into the stream.
(g) The stranger pretends to find the coin on the floor.

2 Work with other students. Imagine the conversation in the inn

after Jean Valjean and Cosette leave. What do the
Thénardiers and their other customers say about this
stranger?

Chapter 5

1 Answer the questions.

(a) How does Cosette change Valjean’s attitude to life?
(b) Why does the beggar outside the church seem to be

nothing like Javert on the second evening?

2 There seem to be several soldiers following Valjean and

Cosette through the narrow streets. They don’t catch them,
however. Imagine Javert is talking to the soldiers after they
lose Valjean. What do they say? Talk to another student.

Chapter 6

1 What is similar about Cosette’s and Marius’s early lives?

2 Work with another student. You are two gossips sitting on a

bench in Luxembourg Gardens. Imagine you observe the
behaviour of Marius, the old gentleman and the young girl
each day. Talk about them.

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Penguin Readers Factsheets

Les Misérables

by Victor Hugo

© Pearson Education Limited 2002

Penguin Readers Factsheets

Student’s activities

Chapter 7

1 Answer the questions.

(a) Why does the thin girl from next door come to see

Marius?

(b) Why does Marius suddenly feel guilty about his

neighbours?

(c) Why does the father tell them to put out the fire and

break a window when he hears that the old man is
coming?

(d) Why does Marius get down to the street too late to follow

the old man and his daughter?

(e) How long is it since Jean Valjean took Cosette from the

Thénardiers?

2 Write out Thénardier’s plan to capture Valjean in note form.

Start like this:

We send the concierge out on some excuse. We make sure
Marius next door is out. ...

3 What do you think has happened to the Jondrettes since

we last met them as the Thénardiers in Montfermeil in
Chapter 4? Why are they so poor? Talk to another student.
Write down some ideas.

Chapter 8

Marius experiences all the following emotions in this chapter. Put
them in the right order and say what makes him feel each one.

(a) misery
(b) wild excitement

(c) deep unhappiness

(d) nervous tension
(e) happiness

( f ) anxiety

Chapter 9

1 What kind of life do you think M. Gillenormand wants for his

grandson? Write a description.

2 There is tension in Paris. Something is about to happen on

the streets. Have you ever been in a political situation like
this, where everyone is excited and nervous? Talk to another
student.

Chapter 10

1 Answer the questions.

(a) Why did the ordinary people hate Charles X?
(b) How did Louis Philippe lose the support of the ordinary

people?

(c) Why did the people use the funeral of General Lamarque

to make a public protest?

(d) What incident started the fighting?

2 Imagine you are the young boy, Gavroche. You are with

Enjolras and his friends in the rue de Chanvrerie from the
beginning. Write a description of

(a) how you build the barricade.
(b) the battle with the soldiers.

Chapter 11

How do you react to Jean Valjean’s behaviour in this chapter? Do
you understand his feelings or do you think he is too selfish? Talk
to another student.

Chapter 12

1 Inspector Javert makes his way back to the police chief’s

office. He makes a report about what has happened to him.
Write his report.

2 The rebels know they have no chance against the soldiers.

Why do you think they fight to the death?

Chapter 13

1 All of these characters are involved in saving Marius’s life?

How?

(a) Jean Valjean
(b) Thénardier
(c) Inspector Javert
(d) M. Gillenormand

2 If you were filming the scene in the sewers of Paris, what

background music would you choose? Talk to other students.
Compare your choices.

Chapter 14

Write questions for these answers.

(a) He does strange, unexpected things.
(b) His daughter’s hand in marriage.
(c) Thénardier and the man who rescued him from the battle.
(d) Because it would break her heart.

Chapter 15

Marius thinks he already knows all the facts about Jean Valjean’s
past when Thénardier comes to see him. Some of Marius’s facts
are correct and some are incorrect. Make two lists.

ACTIVITIES AFTER READING THE BOOK

1 In his own introduction to Les Misérables, Victor Hugo said,

‘As long as … poverty exists on Earth, books such as this will
always be needed.’ Do you think literature - or other art
forms, like cinema, theatre, music, paintings, photography -
can change the world? Can you think of any examples? Write
down some ideas.

2 Write a description of Thénardier’s character. Try to include

examples where he behaves with some humanity.

Le
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Published and distributed by Pearson Education
Factsheet written by Jane Rollason
Factsheet series developed by Louise James