
Where in Paris did Les Mis take place? Victor Hugo’s book Les Misérables is set in France between the years 1815 and 1832. The events of the story take place in many parts of the country, notably in the capital city of Paris but also in places like Montreuil-sur-Mer, Arras, Digne, and Toulon.
What is the plot of Les Miserables?
The story follows former prisoner Jean Valjean (Hugh Jackman), who, after being released from the watchful eye of police officer Javert (Russell Crowe), is unable to find work because of his status as an ex-convict. He eventually steals from a local church, but when apprehended, the priest claims that Valjean was given the valuables.
What is the story behind Les Miserables?
What Is The Story Behind Les Miserables? A French peasant, Jean Valjean, is released from prison in 1815 after serving 19 years for stealing a loaf of bread for his sister’s starving child, and Les Misérables takes place in early 19th-century France during the French Revolution.
Where did the story happened in Les Miserables?
Victor Hugo ’s book Les Misérables is set in France between the years 1815 and 1832. The events of the story take place in many parts of the country, notably in the capital city of Paris but also in places like Montreuil-sur-Mer, Arras, Digne, and Toulon.
Where can I watch Les Miserables online?
Here’s how you can use ExpressVPN to watch Les Miserables on Netflix US:
- You’ll need to start by subscribing to ExpressVPN and since they offer 3 months for free, you should hurry up.
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Where did the story take place in Les Misérables?
Les Misérables is set in multiple locations in Paris and Montreuil-sur-Mer, often featuring places populated by the impoverished and downtrodden. Like some other notable authors of the era, such as Honoré de Balzac and Stendhal, Victor Hugo employs realist elements to tackle complex issues in urban French society.
What is the historical setting of Les Misérables?
But the 1789 revolution is not the backdrop for Les Misérables. Instead, Hugo's novel and the musical take place during the Bourbon Restoration (1815-1830) and the very beginning of the July Monarchy (1830-1848).
Where did Victor Hugo live in Paris?
Place de VosgesSituated in the prestigious Place de Vosges in the heart of the Marais district, the Maison de Victor Hugo invites visitors into the private home of the famous French writer, who lived on the second floor of the mansion from 1832 to 1848 and wrote some of his major works there, including a large part of 'Les Misérables ...
Was Les Mis filmed in Paris?
The story of French peasant, Jean Valjean, is set in Paris, but the 2012 film starring Hugh Jackman, Russell Crowe, Anne Hathaway and Eddie Redmayne was largely shot in England, with locations including places such as Kettering, Somerset, Bath and Northamptonshire.
Who is Jean Valjean based on?
Eugène François VidocqValjean's character is loosely based on the life of Eugène François Vidocq, an ex-convict who became a successful businessman widely noted for his social engagement and philanthropy. Vidocq helped Hugo with his research for Claude Gueux and Le Dernier jour d'un condamné (The Last Day of a Condemned Man).
Why is there an elephant in Les Misérables?
The Bastille Elephant It was commissioned by the Emperor Napoleon to commemorate the site of the now demolished Bastille (and his own military victories) who originally planned it to be built of bronze, melted down from captured enemy cannons.
Where Did Blair stay in Paris?
In The Treasure of Serena Madre, Eleanor announces she and Cyrus are moving to Paris permanently. After this, Blair moves back into the penthouse.
Where did Jean Valjean live in Paris?
After their close escape from Javert in a dead-end alley, Jean Valjean and Cosette end up in the convent of Petit-Picpus, where they live for several years in quiet safety and contemplation. Yet unlike so many of Victor Hugo's other Les Misérables locations, the convent of the Petit-Picpus did not exist.
What neighborhood was Emily in Paris?
Place de l'Estrapade Also known as Maison Moreau, the apartment block where Emily and Gabriel reside is a charming building located in the Latin Quarter, in the fifth arrondissement of Paris.
Why did they sell teeth in Les Mis?
You'll still be able to bite.” Many desperate peasants in this time period would succumb to the same trap as Fantine, selling their teeth to make dentures for the wealthy French aristocrats who had rotted their own teeth with decadent sugary diets. Perhaps worse, denture teeth were sometimes taken from the dead.
Did they actually film Monte Carlo in Paris?
Monte Carlo was shot in Budapest, Hungary; Dunakeszi, Hungary; Paris, France; Harghita, Romania; and Monte Carlo, Monaco. It began filming in Harghita on May 5, 2010, and wrapped on July 7, 2010. It is the first film to use the film studio, Raleigh Studios Budapest.
Where was the dry dock scene in Les Misérables filmed?
Portsmouth Historic DockyardPortsmouth Historic Dockyard, with HMS Victory, and Portsmouth Naval Base were both used as locations in the film. Image caption, One of the base's dry docks was filled with water to film convicts pulling a battered ship out of the water.
Which arrondissement did Victor Hugo live in?
On February 26 1882, Hugo's 80th birthday, 600,000 Parisians packed into the Avenue d'Eylau (in the 16th arrondissement), cheered in turn by Hugo from his two-storey home at no. 130, today a block of flats.
Where was Hugo filmed in Paris?
Hugo was primarily shot at Shepperton, where the vast sets included a reconstruction of a glass-enclosed studio used by Méliès and originally built outside Paris in 1897. The set for Montparnasse station was 150ft long, 119ft wide and 41ft high.
Where did Victor Hugo lived?
ParisBesançonGuernseyJerseyVictor Hugo/Places lived
On which street in Paris did Victor Hugo live in the last years of his life?
Avenue d'EylauIn 1878 Hugo was stricken by cerebral congestion, but he lived on for some years in the Avenue d'Eylau, renamed Avenue Victor-Hugo on his 80th birthday. In 1885, two years after the death of his faithful companion Juliette, Hugo died and was given a national funeral.
Where does Marius Pontmercy marry Cosette?
In the movie, Marius Pontmercy comes back to marry Cosette in the Pontmercy estate. As per the story, it is Marius’ family place. When actually it is the home of the Duke of Buccleuch in Northamptonshire.
Where was the movie "When Javert Let Go of Valjean" filmed?
When Javert let go of Valjean, it is River Avon in the city Bath, Somerset. A late shooting had to be done for the stunt scenes of Javert’s suicide in Somerset. For the dying scene of Jean Valjean, the Chapel of Winchester College was filmed.
Where is the entrance to St Mary the Virgin?
The entrance where Valjean faints is known as St Mary the Virgin. The place is located in Ewelme, a village in South Oxfordshire. Later, in a blue-ceilinged Chapel, Jean Valjean decides to change his life. This is St Sepulchre’s Chapel located in Little Venice, London. The church occurs during location filming in many other movies.
Where is the movie Paris set?
Scenes of Paris are set in the Old Royal Naval College, a world heritage site in Greenwich, London. This location has been filmed in a wide range of movies. ‘Thor: The Dark World’, ‘ Fast And Furious: Hobbs & Shaw ,’ ‘The Mummy Returns,’ ‘ Pirates Of The Caribbean: On Stranger Tides,’ are the names of just some of the movies filmed here.
How long did Valjean and Cosette stay in the abbey?
Fifteen years pass peacefully for Valjean and Cosette as they hide in an abbey. During this time, King Louis dies and King Charles X takes over briefly. The new king is soon exiled in 1830 during the July Revolution, also known as the Second French Revolution.
What is the historical background of Les Miserables?
The Historical Background to 'Les Miserables'. Les Miserables, one of the most popular musicals of all time, is based on a novel of the same name by French author Victor Hugo. Published in 1862, the book referenced what were already historic events. Les Miserables tells the fictional story of Jean Valjean, a man who has unjustly been condemned ...
Why did people see the banishment of the young?
People viewed his banishment as a sign to come together and overthrow their oppressive government. This provides a striking contrast to the events in Les Miserables, in which the young rebels erroneously believe that the masses will rise up to join their cause.
What did Maximilien de Robespierre believe?
He believed that swift and brutal justice would produce virtue among France's citizens —a belief shared by the Les Miz character of Inspector Javert.
How many prisoners were in the Bastille?
This act launched the French Revolution. At the time of the siege, the Bastille maintained only seven prisoners. However, the old fortress held an abundance of gunpowder, making it both a strategic as well as a politically symbolic target. The prison's governor was ultimately captured and killed.
What happened to the mayor of Paris?
His head and the heads of other guards were skewered onto pikes and paraded through the streets. The mayor of Paris was assassinated by the end of the day . While the revolutionaries barricaded themselves in streets and buildings, King Louis XVI and his military leaders decided to back off to appease the masses.
What was the French Revolution?
The French Revolution: Storming the Bastille. According to "The DK History of the World," the revolution began in 1789 and was "a deep-rooted revolt by many classes against the whole order of society.". The impoverished were infuriated by their economic hardships, food shortages, and the callous attitudes of the upper classes.
Where is the blue ceilinged Gothic chapel in which Valjean resolves to take this opportunity to turn his life around?
The blue-ceilinged Gothic chapel in which Valjean resolves to take this opportunity to turn his life around, is St Sepulchre’s Chapel in the crypt of St Mary Magdalene, Rowington Close, in Little Venice, London W2. The exterior of church is prominently featured in 1949 British classic The Blue Lamp.
Where was Valjean's factory filmed?
Valjean’s factory was created in the dockyard’s Tarring Yarn House, and the confrontation between Valjean and Javert – where he almost recognises his old nemesis – was filmed in the cockloft of the ropery.
What is the name of the mansion that Ralph Montagu built?
It’s fitting that the mansion represents a ‘French’ estate. It’s the work of Ralph Montagu, the 1st Duke of Montagu , a former English ambassador to France, and a passionate builder and patron of the arts. Boughton represents his dream of bringing French beauty and style to the English landscape and, in fact, has been dubbed the ‘English Versailles’.
What is Chatham's role in Sherlock Holmes?
Chatham has previously been seen as the ‘London docks’ and ‘Pentonville Prison’ in Guy Ritchie ’s Sherlock Holmes, as 'Hiroshima' in Mr Holmes with Ian McKellen as the ageing sleuth, as the laundry in Suffragette and even as the port of ‘Giza’ in the 1999 version of The Mummy.
What movie has the church in the crypt?
The exterior of church is prominently featured in 1949 British classic The Blue Lamp. It’s also the church to which Mia Farrow follows Elizabeth Taylor at the beginning of Joseph Losey ’s 1968 Secret Ceremony, and features in Fernando Meirelles ’ 2005 adaptation of John Le Carré ’s The Constant Gardener. The crypt itself has also been used in a number of films, including 2008’s The Oxford Murders, with Elijah Wood and John Hurt, and 2008 sci-fi Franklyn, with Ryan Phillippe and Eva Green.
How long did the elephant statue last?
The real thing lasted only 33 years (the intended bronze version never got built), and its spot in the Place de la Bastille is now occupied by the Colonne de Juillet (July Column).
What is the South Coast Dockyard?
The working dock, normally used to repair vessels, was not just filled with water, but kitted out with rain and wave machines. If you want to visit, the south coast dockyard, which boasts 800 years of British naval history, is also home to Lord Nelson ’s legendary warship HMS Victory and the Mary Rose exhibition.
What is the Jondrette Lair?
The Jondrette lair was, if the reader recalls what we have said of the Gorbeau building, admirably chosen to serve as the theatre of a violent and somber deed, and as the envelope for a crime. It was the most retired chamber in the most isolated house on the most deserted boulevard in Paris.
What does the gamin mean in Paris?
The gamin expresses Paris, and Paris expresses the world. For Paris is a total. Paris is the ceiling of the human race. The whole of this prodigious city is a foreshortening of dead manners and living manners. He who sees Paris thinks he sees the bottom of all history with heaven and constellations in the intervals.
Why did Jean Valjean start a new life in Paris?
Jean Valjean is able to start a new life in Paris with Cosette because of the opportunities for concealment that the city affords. —Paris is a dynamic, changing city whose very identity varies with the changing identities of its inhabitants.
Who is the escaped convict in Paris?
As an escaped convict, Jean Valjean is one of these characters, but the group of renegades that Thenardier employs to try to snare Valjean are also experts in Paris’s mysteries—as is Gavroche, the young son Thenardier abandons, for whom Paris is a playground to be explored.
Was Paris a city of wide open boulevards?
Paris in the period of Les Misérables was not the city of wide-open boulevards that tourists know today. Before the 1850s, it was a largely medieval city of unknown alleys, an old, dank sewer system, and ancient walls and fortresses.
What is the conflict in Valjean?
major conflict Valjean struggles to transform himself from a thief into an honest man; over the years he struggles to stay a step ahead of the zealous police officer Javert and tries to raise his adopted daughter, Cosette.
What is the narrator's point of view?
Indepth Facts: narrator An anonymous narrator. point of view The story is told from the perspective of an omniscient narrator who frequently addresses us. The narrator not only knows what the characters are thinking at all times but also has a detailed grasp of contemporary politics and society.
What are the themes of the French Revolution?
themes The importance of love and compassion; social injustice in nineteenth-century France; the long-term effects of the French Revolution on French society
What is Victor Hugo's genre?
author Victor Hugo. type of work Novel. genre Epic novel; historical novel. language French. time and place written 1845–1862; Paris and the Channel Islands (English possessions off the coast of France) date of first publication 1862. publisher Pagnerre (Paris)
Why was Liberty leading the people removed from view?
The government, which had come to power in a revolution, distanced itself from its own revolutionary past, famously removing from view Delacroix's painting Liberty Leading the People, which had been commissioned to commemorate the events of 1830. According to Albert Boime, "after the uprising at the funeral of Lamarque in June 1832, it was never again openly displayed for fear of setting a bad example".
How many members were in the Society of the Rights of Man?
The " Society of the Rights of Man " was one of the most instrumental. It was organized like an army, divided into sections of twenty members each (to evade the law that forbade the association of more than twenty persons), with a president and vice president for each section.
What was the Canut Revolt?
In France's second city, Lyon, a workers' uprising known as the Canut revolt, caused by economic hardships, had occurred in December 1831. Troops were sent in after members of the local National Guard defected to the rebels.
Why did the Republicans use the trials?
Republicans used the trials to build support for their cause. Several rebels delivered republican speeches at their trial, including Charles Jeanne, one of the working-class leaders, who proudly defended his actions. He was convicted and imprisoned, and became a republican martyr. : 62 A pamphlet published in 1836 compared the last stand of the republicans to the heroic resistance of the 300 Spartans at the Battle of Thermopylae: : 14
What year did Hugo write Les Miserables?
The novel begins in 1815, the year of Napoleon Bonaparte 's final defeat and climaxes with the battles of the 1832 June Rebellion. An outspoken republican activist, Hugo unquestionably favored the revolutionaries, although in Les Miserables he wrote about Louis-Philippe in sympathetic terms, as well as criticising him.
What happened to Victor Hugo in 1832?
On 5 June 1832, young Victor Hugo was writing a play in the Tuileries Gardens when he heard the sound of gun fire from the direction of Les Halles. The park-keeper had to unlock the gate of the deserted gardens to let Hugo out. Instead of hurrying home, he followed the sounds through the empty streets, unaware that half of Paris had already fallen to the revolutionaries. All about Les Halles were barricades. Hugo headed north up rue Montmartre, then turned right onto Passage du Saumon (currently called Passage Ben-Aïad), at last turning before rue du Bout du Monde (currently called rue Saint-Sauveur). When he was halfway down the alley, the grilles at either end were slammed shut. Hugo was surrounded by barricades and found shelter between some columns in the street, where all the shops were shuttered. For a quarter of an hour, bullets flew both ways.
What were the main problems of the Rebellion?
Leading up to the rebellion, there were significant economic problems, particularly acute in the period from 1827 to 1832. Harvest failures, food shortages, and increases in the cost of living created discontent throughout the classes.

Overview
Plot
The story begins in 1815 in Digne, as the peasant Jean Valjean, just released from 19 years' imprisonment in the Bagne of Toulon—five for stealing bread for his starving sister and her family and fourteen more for numerous escape attempts—is turned away by innkeepers because his yellow passport marks him as a former convict. He sleeps on the street, angry and bitter.
Novel form
Upton Sinclair described the novel as "one of the half-dozen greatest novels of the world", and remarked that Hugo set forth the purpose of Les Misérables in the Preface:
So long as there shall exist, by reason of law and custom, a social condemnation, which, in the face of civilization, artificially creates hells on earth, and complicates a destiny that is divine with human fatality; so long as the three problems of the age—the degradation of man by poverty, th…
Hugo's sources
An incident Hugo witnessed in 1829 involved three strangers and a police officer. One of the strangers was a man who had stolen a loaf of bread, similar to Jean Valjean. The officer was taking him to the coach. The thief also saw the mother and daughter playing with each other which would be an inspiration for Fantine and Cosette. Hugo imagined the life of the man in jail and the mother a…
Characters
• Jean Valjean (also known as Monsieur Madeleine, Ultime Fauchelevent, Monsieur Leblanc, and Urbain Fabre) – The protagonist of the novel. Convicted for stealing a loaf of bread to feed his sister's seven starving children and sent to prison for five years, he is paroled from prison nineteen years later (after four unsuccessful escape attempts added twelve years and fighting back during the second escape attempt added two extra years). Rejected by society for being a former convi…
Contemporary reception
The appearance of the novel was a highly anticipated event as Victor Hugo was considered one of France's foremost poets in the middle of the nineteenth century. The New York Times announced its forthcoming publication as early as April 1860. Hugo forbade his publishers from summarizing his story and refused to authorize the publication of excerpts in advance of publication. He instructed them to build on his earlier success and suggested this approach: "What Victor H. did …
English translations
• Charles E. Wilbour. New York: Carleton Publishing Company, June 1862. The first English translation. The first volume was available for purchase in New York beginning 7 June 1862. Also New York and London: George Routledge and Sons, 1879.
• Lascelles Wraxall. London: Hurst and Blackett, October 1862. The first British translation.
Adaptations
Since its original publication, Les Misérables has been the subject of a large number of adaptations in numerous types of media, such as books, films, musicals, plays and games.
Notable examples of these adaptations include:
• The 1934 film, 4½-hour French version directed by Raymond Bernard and starring Harry Baur, Charles Vanel, Florelle, Josseline Gaël and Jean Servais.
The French Revolution: Storming The Bastille
- The plotline of ‘Les Misérables’ is mainly set in France. The filming, however, took place majorly in England, and just a couple of scenes were filmed in France. Places that evoke the French setting of the 19th century were selected as the final locations. On the larger locations, filming was possible only on holidays.
After The Revolution: The Reign of Terror
What Happened Next: The Rule of Napoleon
The Historical Setting of 'Les Miserables'
The July Monarchy
- Things got messy. The French Revolution started out bloody, and it didn't take long for things to become utterly gruesome. King Louis XVI and Marie Antoinettewere dethroned in 1792 (despite his many attempts to offer reform to French citizens). In 1793 they, along with many other members of the nobility, were executed. During the next seven years, the nation underwent a seri…
The June Rebellion
- While the new republic struggled through what could euphemistically be called growing pains, a young general named Napoleon Bonaparte ravaged Italy, Egypt, and other countries. When he and his forces returned to Paris, he and other leaders staged a coup, and Napoleon became First Consul of France. From 1804 until 1814 he bore the title of Emperor of France. After losing in th…
The End of The Uprising
- Les Miserablestimeframe is one of economic strife, famine, and disease. Despite all of the revolutions and changing political parties, the lower classes still have little voice in society. The story reveals their harsh life, as exemplified by the tragedy of Fantine, a young woman who is fired from her factory job after it is discovered that she bore a child (Cosette) out of wedlock. After lo…