The theme of "Les Misérables" is about the unremitting struggle between human beings and evil. Human beings are pure and kind in nature, and will move towards happiness together, but they have to go through a process of suffering.
The book intersperses the background of the French revolutionary turmoil at that time with the description of Napoleon's Battle of Waterloo, as well as many details of French society at that time, such as slang, sewers and convents.
"Les Misérables" uses Jean Valjean's various experiences after being released from prison throughout the book, which profoundly reflects the issues of the times. Hugo incorporated the history from Napoleon's defeat at Waterloo to the popular uprising against the July Monarchy into his work.
Reflects the social life and political conditions at that time. The work not only describes the unfortunate lives of the released prisoner Jean Valjean and the homeless woman Fantine, but also describes the tragic experience of Fantine's illegitimate daughter Cosette.
It also reveals the unfair fate of hard-working and kind-hearted working people in society at that time who were discriminated against and oppressed. Hugo also exposed the cruel and unfair laws and order at that time in his works.
It lashed out at the social system in which people could starve to death but go to jail for stealing bread, and condemned those citizens who were content with the status quo and hard-hearted for standing by and watching others in trouble. attitude of indifference.
Extended information:
Creative background:
The motivation for this novel comes from two facts: In 1801, a man named Pierre A poor farmer in Mo was sentenced to five years of hard labor for stealing a piece of bread because of hunger. After he was released from prison, he struggled to make a living with a yellow ID card.
The escape life of Hugo's own friend Victor when he was young. By 1828, Hugo began to collect information about Bishop Miollis and his family, and was planning to write a story about a released convict who was inspired by a saint-like bishop and abandoned evil and turned to good.
During 1829 and 1830, he also collected a large amount of information about the black glass manufacturing industry. This is how Jean Valjean went to Monteuil-on-the-Sea, under the pseudonym Mr. Madeleine.
The story of how he transformed from a convict into an entrepreneur, opened a factory and became successful. In addition, he also visited the prisons of Brest and Toulon and witnessed scenes similar to Fantine's humiliation on the streets.
Content introduction:
The protagonist of the novel, Jean Valjean, was sentenced for stealing a piece of bread. In addition to escaping from prison, he spent nineteen years in prison. After being released from prison, he was looked down upon everywhere and vowed to retaliate against society. At this time, the kind-hearted Bishop Miriam influenced him.
Jean Valjean took the pseudonym Madeira, set up a factory, became a millionaire, was charitable, and was elected mayor. During this period, he adopted poor Cosette as his adopted daughter and admitted his true identity to save an innocent person who looked exactly like him.
Falls into the hands of policeman Javert who is chasing him, but manages to escape. Many years later, he rescued Javert, who was so moved that he threw himself into a river. Cosette marries Marius, and Jean Valjean dies in Cosette's arms.
Introduction to the author:
On February 26, 1802, Victor Hugo was born into an officer family in Besan?on, France. Since middle school, Hugo has been fond of literary creation and developed a strong interest in literature, so he began to write poetry.
His literary activities began when he wrote articles for the magazine "Literary Conservatives". His first novel "Han Islam" was praised by the novelist Notier. The relationship with Notier prompted Hugo to turn to romanticism and gradually became the leader of the romantic group.
In 1819, Hugo, the poet Pooh and others founded the "Conservative Literary and Art Biweekly". Due to the influence of his family since childhood, most of Hugo's initial works were praising royalism and religion. In 1822, he published his first collection of poems, "Ode", and received an annuity from Louis XVIII.
Later, "New Collection of Odes" and "Ode and Long Songs" were published successively, making breakthroughs in content and form. During this period, he also published two novellas, "The Devil of Iceland" and "Burg Yalga".
In 1823, with the increasing rise of liberalism, Hugo's political attitude changed. He formed the "Second Literary Society" with the romantic literary youth Musset, Alexandre Dumas and others, and began to explicitly oppose pseudo-puppetry. Classicism.
In 1827, Hugo wrote a long preface to his play "Cromwell", which is the famous Romantic literary manifesto. In the preface, Hugo opposed the classical artistic viewpoint and put forward the romantic literary proposition.
Insist on expressing the plot not formulaically but concretely. In particular, he promoted the principle of contrast between the comic and the grotesque and the sublime and beautiful. This preface became a denunciation of classicism, an important manifesto of the Romantic movement, and a classic of Romantic literary theory.
Occupies an important position in the history of French literary criticism. In 1830, the "July Revolution" occurred in France, and the feudal restoration dynasty was overthrown. Hugo enthusiastically praised the revolution, praised those revolutionaries, and wrote poems to mourn the heroes who died in street fighting.
After the July Revolution, Hugo also took a further left-wing path in politics. In 1831, Hugo's novel "Notre-Dame de Paris" (Notre-Dame de Paris) came out. This novel is Hugo's most romantic novel.
By describing the tragedy of the kind-hearted Gypsy girl Esmeralda being tortured and persecuted under the feudal autocracy in the Middle Ages, the novel reflects the darkness of the autocratic society, the rampant reactionary church and the cruelty of the judicial system. Highlighting the anti-feudal theme.
The story has a complex plot and exaggerated characters. The whole work is written with rich colors. The plot is twists and turns, tense and vivid, unpredictable, dramatic and legendary, which fully embodies the characteristics of romantic novels. Features.
Hugo's works are also characterized by lengthyness. In his huge works, some are digressive, repetitive and useless. For example, "Les Misérables" was expected to write six volumes, but ended up writing ten volumes. Comprehensive consideration is also his characteristic.
In terms of language, adjectives are often surprising, or Hugo combines concrete adjectives with abstract nouns, or vice versa, or adjectives take on new meanings, but people are the creation of this meaning. By.
Nouns take on a new role, which detracts from that of verbs: abstract nouns serve to describe; in turn, ideas and concepts are expressed through the mediation of comparisons and concrete images. From this emerge new double words and unheard connections.
Such words become entangled as they form the basis of a writer's vocabulary and are used over and over again. Hugo's creative life lasted for sixty years. He was a prolific writer and a prolific poet.
His early creations were basically from a bourgeois humanitarian standpoint, sympathizing with the people's sufferings and hoping to resolve conflicts through social improvement. Later creations have certain elements of realism.
Baidu Encyclopedia-Les Miserables