History Literature / LesMiserables

** Several illustrations, including the most famous one centering on Cosette (see above). Justified, considering that a lot of it (aptly titled "The Miserable Ones") focuses on 19th century France, which wasn't doing all that hot.

* BecauseYouWereNiceToMe:
** Valjean to the bishop, although it took two attempts.
** Georges Pontmercy and his son Marius to Thénardier.
** Eponine to Marius to a lesser degree. A large part of her attraction to him is his big heart and his gift to her family.
** The man trapped by the fallen cart, Fauchelevent, later saves Valjean (and Cosette) when he allows them into the convent, in repayment.

* BigFancyHouse: M. Myriel receives one when he became the Bishop of Digne. [[MessianicArchetype He has it turned into a hospital.]]

* BlackAndWhiteInsanity: Javert. Such an extreme case that when he's finally forced to challenge it, [[spoiler:he's driven to suicide.]]

* BreakTheCutie:
** Fantine.
** Cosette as a child. She gets better, though.
* BrokenBird:
** Fantine.
** Valjean after his release from prison.
* BuriedAlive: Happens to Valjean during the plot to sneak him into the convent.

* TheCaretaker: Valjean to Cosette (and a bit to all of humanity).

** Valjean also pulls this when he shuts down Thénardier's attempt to extort even more money from him in exchange for Cosette.

* BadassBookworm:
** Combeferre, who takes two pistols and a musket with him to the barricades.
** M. Mabeuf.
** Jean Valjean.

* RichKidTurnedSocialActivist: Les Amis de l'ABC are a group of privileged students who nonetheless empathize with Paris's poor and try to stage a rebellion in their name. Their leader, Enjolras, is specifically mentioned to be born to a wealthy family.

* HeroicBastard: Both Fantine and Cosette.

''Les Misérables'' (1862) is a sprawling epic by Creator/VictorHugo, the seeds of which can be found in some of his earlier, shorter works, such as his novel(la) ''[[Literature/TheLastDayOfACondemnedMan Le Dernier Jour d'un Condamné]]'', which also treats upon the subject of the penal system in France and includes a character that resembles what could later be called an AU-style Valjean. It was made into a very well-known [[Theatre/LesMiserables musical play]] that has run for nearly thirty years.

--> The only member of Les Amis other than Marius to get a first name is Jean Prouvaire. And not only does he get a first name, but a nickname too- 'Jehan'.
--> One Amis member goes by many names- Lesgle, Bossuet, Laigle, Legle, L'Aigle de Meaux- none are his first name.

* ForegoneConclusion: Anyone who knows about France's history will know that [[spoiler:the June Revolution will not succeed, since Louis is overthrown in 1848]].

* {{Foreshadowing}}: Javert has a small mental meltdown after Madeleine tells him to let Fantine go, because from his law obsessed perspective, it's simply not done, and when it is, resorts to just staring blankly into space for a few minutes. It's largely played for laughs, but it shows just ''how'' dependant his state of mind is on his worldview being intact, and [[spoiler: which is demonstrated once more when he commits suicide when his worldview is completely debunked by Jean Valjean saving his life.]]

* Foreshadowing: Javert has a small mental meltdown after Madeleine tells him to let Fantine go, because from his law obsessed perspective, it's simply not done, and when it is, resorts to just staring blankly into space for a few minutes. It's largely played for laughs, but it shows just ''how'' dependant his state of mind is on his worldview being intact, and [[spoiler: which is demonstrated once more when he commits suicide when his worldview is completely debunked by Jean Valjean saving his life.]]

[[quoteright:163:[[TheWoobie http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/lesmiz.jpg]]]]
[[caption-width-right:163:[[BilingualBonus La Woubette]]]]

For that, he was condemned to five years hard labor in a brutal, dehumanizing penal system that was par for the course at the time. Before his imprisonment, he was kind, of an even personality, and, in his own words, dull like a block of wood. Nineteen years in the galleys -- nineteen instead of five, for all of his escape attempts -- changed him completely, making him bitter, harsh, and incapable of relating to other human beings as friendly agents. The system at the time made it virtually impossible to be re-integrated into society; the only real way out was death, and the provisions of the law facilitated that: on one's [[RuleOfThree third offense]], the death penalty was automatically imposed. However, it was impossible for convicts to make an honest living, because no one would give them work. It was a dreadful double bind. This is the situation Valjean finds himself in when he is finally released. He is set on the fastlane to being sent back again when a meeting with an unconditionally kind man, who happens to be a bishop, changes him forever, for a second time, just as profoundly as his experiences in the bagne changed him.

* JaywalkingWillRuinYourLife

** A very early line mentions Mousqueton, Porthos' valet in ''Literature/TheThreeMsketeers''.

* ShoutOut: Hugo's mention of ''Claude Gueux'' and ''Literature/TheLastDayOfACondemnedMan'' is close to advertisement.

* {{Patronymic}}: Jean Valjean is named after his father who, also being named Jean, got the fake-surname Valjean as a contraction of Voilà Jean, a surname that used to also be called "Vlajean."

* DecompositeCharacter: Valjean and Javert had the same real life prototype: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eugène_François_Vidocq
Eugène François Vidocq.]]

* DecompositeCharacter: Valjean and Javert had the same real life prototype: Eugène François Vidocq.

* BadassGrandpa: Jean Valjean.

He breaks his parole and commits a minor theft out of habit, beginning the book-long chase with InspectorJavert as the pursuer. Over the course of the book, with the inspector always right behind him, Valjean: becomes mayor of a small seaside town due to the penchant for altruism he developed after his redemption; makes a fortune from his own ingenuity and innovation; does many philanthropic works, among them caring for a dying woman, one of his factory workers, and promising her to ensure the well-being of her daughter Cosette; reveals his identity in court to prevent the wrongful incarceration of another man who was mistaken for him; is captured and sent to the galleys, but escapes to keep his promise; adopts the waifish Cosette, and moves from town to town with his final stop as Paris, where he uses his superhuman powers of transcendental niceness to see to his adopted daughter's happiness and save everyone who needs saving.

You probably know the rest.