Historical Authenticity in Les Mis

It seems a good time to turn my attention to how Hugo conveys a sense of historical authenticity in Les Miserables. Hugo skilfully weaves the lives of his characters around historical events and uses a number of techniques to convey historical authenticity.

Locations are an extremely important part of the book, particularly as many of the locations had subsequently disappeared by the time Hugo was writing. The Bastille Elephant acting as a home for Gavroche and his brothers is a vivid example of the way that location is used. It works to ‘anchor’ the narrative by referencing a real place that would have been instantly recognisable, and also on a symbolic level representing the defeat of Napoleon and the poverty of the city.  

Image taken from Wikipedia

Hugo links events in the lives of the characters around historical dates, for example, the presence of Pontmercy and Thenardier at Waterloo. The narrative steadily progresses up to the events of the Revolution itself. Both the Revolution and the Battle of Waterloo are dealt with in retrospective essays where Hugo deals with the consequences and his theory that there was a kind of destiny to both events. Although it doesn’t seem to make sense that he has gone so far back when first reading the book, the Battle of Waterloo and the defeat of Napoleon are relevant to the events in that they have lead to the amount of poverty and lack of justice there is for the ‘Miserables’ of the story and for the Revolution itself. 

Book 11 begins with Gavroche, who acts as a powerful symbol within the book as he is probably one of the most wretched characters in his youth and homelessness. Yet he never succumbs to being made helpless and despite his poverty and the way that he has been brought up (by the despicable Thernadiers), he is also shown to be a moral character - although he will engage in dubious activities to feed himself he will generously give a purse of money to Mabeuf and take care of two homeless lost boys (without realising that they are his own brothers). Here, he enthusiastically arms himself ready for the Revolution (albeit with a broken cavalry pistol he has ‘borrowed’). He lost his two brothers twelve weeks ago having sent them out one day when he was occupied elsewhere. He is concerned about them, but not over-worried. He joins with the ABC Society, along with Mabeuf, who is a bit confused but supportive of the Revolution. More people join and Courfeyrac encounters Eponine, who has disguised herself as a boy and is trying to find Marius. They all head towards the barricade. 

In Book 12 Hugo describes the Rue de la Chanvrerie barricade using the same style as he has described the events of 5^th June 1832 and the Battle of Waterloo. The book is entitled ‘Corinth’ and the first chapter is entitles ‘The History of Corinth from its Foundation’. This is a pun on the fact that far from being about the Classical Greek world, this is about a tavern which Hugo has cleverly chosen to set the site for both his narrative and for a new barricade. It is clever as this is a real location, both the street and the tavern itself, but has subsequently disappeared in 1847 (by the time the book is published in 1862). The tavern is used as a location for a meeting place for the ABC Society. 

Two members of the Society are at the tavern already. Laigle de Meux and Joly dine there with Grantaire who makes a speech about God’ role in the Revolution, that there is somehow little sense in man’s affairs, which makes revolutions necessary. They also discuss Marius’s love life. Gavroche gives them a message from Enjorlas telling them to join him and the ABC Society at the barricade, but they decide to stay in the tavern drinking instead. Hugo sets the scene: ‘The room was dark, with dense clouds smothering the daylight. There was no one in the tavern or in the street, everyone having gone off to witness the happenings.’ (p925). 

 

The ABC Society turns up brandishing weapons and decides to build a barricade near the tavern with bits of the tavern. Hugo adds authenticity here by talking of newspaper accounts: ‘The newspapers of the day, which reported the “almost unassailable” barricade in the Rue de la Chanvrerie reached the level of the second storey, were in error.’ (p933). There is also an air of nobility and romance created by Hugo reporting that ‘these gallant young me, brothers in this supreme moment in their lives’ (p935) recited love poems while they were waiting. It is evident that Hugo agrees with the aims of the Revolution by the way he depicts it, as well as the imagery of the fairy light on the small barricade and the torch on the larger one, a symbol of hope of fifty men waiting for sixty thousand. 

In the meantime, Gavroche recognises Javert and the revolutionaries tie him up. In his certainty that he is in the right he has no fear that he will be shot afterwards, despite the threat from Enjorlas. Hugo builds tension by talking of a ‘tragic picture’ and ‘epic and savage horror’ at the beginning of the next chapter (p939). It relates how Le Cabuc joins the revolutionaries in the tavern, an unrecognised apparent drunkard who wants to shoot from a house at the Rue Saint-Denis, but is refused entry and shoots one of the occupants. Enjorlas steps in a shoots Le Cabuc, making a speech that as revolutionaries they must be above moral suspicion. Again, to add authenticity, Hugo talks of a police report of 1832 that he has seen in 1848 that reveals that ‘Le Cabuc’ was a police informer called Clasquesous: ‘His life had been lived in shadow, his end was total darkness.’ (p942). The chapter ends with Eponine joining them.  

In conclusion, I think that in writing Les Miserables Hugo aimed not for complete historical accuracy, but to give an overall sense of the period and to make the reader connect to the events depicted. Sometimes this is by invoking an emotional response in the way he depicts characters such as Fantine, Valjean and Gavroche but sometimes it is by using real events, locations and fictional newspaper reports to make the reader feel that what he is writing is authentic.