Victor Hugo1802-1885
• 1802 born to a high-ranking
officer in Napoleon’s army
• Statesman, human right
campaigner, supporter of
republicanism
• 1848 Revolution, French
Second Republic, Louis
Napoleon (Napoleon III) as
President
• 1851 Napoleon III as emperor,
Hugo in exile
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Victor Hugo 1802-1885
• Worked on Les Mierable during exile
• 1870 the Third Republic, Hugo returned to
France
• 1881 France celebrated Hugo’s 80th
birthday
• 1885 Hugo passed away, the country
mourned
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Accomplishment
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“the greatest French poet”
Novelist, playwright, essayist
Proponent for Romanticism
Passion, imagination, eloquence, plot
1831 Notre-Dame de Paris
1845 began to work on Les Miserables
1861 the publication of Les Miserable, a
runaway success
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Introduction
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Introduction
• 法國大文豪─雨果，他目賭當時代的黑暗和
腐敗，創作出了當代諷喻文學作品─Les
Miserables，藉由主角Jean Valjean在世態
炎涼下經歷種種的不平。一個被認定為十
萬不赦的大惡人，卻在逃亡過程中表現出
種種的善念，幫助了貧窮可憐的妓女
Fantine、及孤苦無依的孤女Cosette，這和
代表正義的探長Javert形成強烈的對比。
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Historical
Background
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18-19 Century France
• French Revolution (1789-1799): a period of
political and social changes, violent turmoil,
mass executions and repression
• The First Republic (1792-1804)
• The First French Empire (1804-1814 Emperor
Napoleon)
• The restoration of the Bourbon Monarchy(1820)
• The Second Republic (1848 Revolution, Louis
Napoleon)
• The French Empire (1851 Napoleon III)
• The Third Republic (1870)
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Inspiration for Les Miserables
During the 17 years of formation, Hugo incorporated many personal
experiences into his masterpiece.
• Hugo’s friend, Priest Miollis
A convict had just been released from jail. When
asking for an overnight stay on his trip home, he
was turned down because of his criminal past.
Bishop Miollis kindly offered him much help and
care. Hugo heard of many of Miollis’ good deeds.
Miollis  the bishop
The ex-convict  Jean Valjean
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Inspiration for Les Miserables
During the 17 years of formation, Hugo incorporated many personal
experiences into his masterpiece.
• One snowy day, on his way home, Hugo witnessed
an event. A young man followed a young lady
stealthily. Suddenly, the man tucked a big clump of
snow into behind her neck. She turned angrily and
fought with him. The police arrested the girl and
sentenced her 6 months in jail. Hugo defended the
girl by telling what he saw. Irritated by the police’s
cold-shoulder attitudes, Hugo identified himself. The
police’s attitude changed immediately and released
the girl. The lady  Fantine
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Inspiration for Les Miserables
During the 17 years of formation, Hugo incorporated many personal
experiences into his masterpiece.
• Hugo projected himself in the story as Marius, who
also has a father serving in military.
• Hugo  Marius
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Inspiration
During the 17 years of formation, Hugo incorporated many personal
experiences into his masterpiece.
• 1848 Revolution stopped Hugo’s writing until 1859.
During the exile, Hugo traveled to a battle field in
Brussel, where Napoleon once fought with the
British army. Hugo was so impressed with the war
that he described in details the Battle of Waterloo in
part II《COSETTE》.
• June 30, 1869, Les Miserables was accomplished
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2. The
Characters
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Jean Valjean
• An ex-convict
• 19 years of imprisonment for
stealing food for his starving family
• A changed man, a wealthy factory
owner, a mayor
• Chased by Javert, haunted by his
criminal past
"What have I done? Sweet Jesus what
have I done? Become a thief in the
night, become a dog on the run!"
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Javert
• an inspector
• A believer of justice and law
• Even when he was captured by
the revolution army and Vajean
saved him, he stick to his belief of
justice and vowed to capture
Vajean.
"The world is inside out, the world is
upside down!" "My heart is stone and
still it trembles...... the world I have know
is lost in shadows."
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Fantine
• Mother of Cosette
• Lost her job as a factory
worker and worked as a
prostitute to raise her
daughter
"But the tigers come at night, with their
voices soft as thunder. As they tear you
hope apart. As they turn your dreams to
shame!"
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Cosette
• Fantine’s daughter,
an orphan
• Valjean promised
Fantine to raise her
as his own daugher
• Fell in love with
Marius
"How strange the feeling that
my life's begun at last! This
change, can people really fall
in love so fast?!"
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The Thenardiers – the innkeeper
"Kidney of a horse, liver of a cat,
filling up the sasuages with this and
that."
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Marius, a student
Eponine, Thenardier’s daughter
"Life without
Cosette means
nothing at all! Will
you weep Cosette,
should Marius fall?
Would you weep,
Cosette, for me?"
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Gavroche, a street boy
"This is my school
my high society
here in the slums of
St. Michele. We live
on crumbs and
humble piety tough
on the teeth but
what the Hell!"
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4. Themes
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Themes/Motifs
1. The importance of love,
compassion and mercy
2. Social injustice in nineteenthcentury France
3. The long-term effects of the
French Revolution on French
society
4. The plight of the orphan
5. The true definition of “Justice”
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3. The Musical
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Look down, Look down
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Jean Valjean
is nothing now.
Another story
must begin!
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At the end of the Day
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I dreamed a dream
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Who am I?
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There is a castle
on a cloud
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Master of the House
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I didn't see you there, forgive me
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One day more!
At the end of the day you're another day older
And that's all you can say for the life of the poor
It's a struggle. It's a war
And there's nothing that anyone's giving
One more day standing about
What is it for?
One day less to be living!
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Reference
• http://www.lesmis.com/index.htm
圖片皆引用自此站
• http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/lesmis/
小說的介紹，大綱和分析
• http://home.kimo.com.tw/jrchyn/les/
介紹音樂劇
• http://www.lib.ntnu.edu.tw/Art/hugo/hugo-story.htm
• http://www.mtholyoke.edu/courses/rschwart/hist255/bohem/tmizbook
.html
• http://www.answers.com/topic/les-mis-rables-musical
• http://members.aol.com/REELMACK/LesMisClub1.html
• http://www.londonnet.co.uk/ln/out/ent/theatre.html
線上下載電子原文
• http://www.musical-cat.com/world/index.php?lan=bg5&name=lemiz
音樂劇的世界
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