Analysis Of Les Misérables By Victor Hugo

One of the most important keys to understanding the novel Les Misérables is the knowledge that Victor Hugo wrote it in exile from France in the 1850s and 60s. Hugo’s exile was due to him publically declaring Napoleon III, the emperor, as a traitor to France. Hugo himself was very involved in France’s government in the Second Republic, the government brought by the Revolution of 1848. During Louis Philippe’s reign, Hugo became disillusioned of the corruption of the constitutional monarchy. Louis Philippe sought out the absolutist rule of the old regime of France, and widened the income gap between the working class and bourgeoisie which brought civil unrest and opposition to the throne. This income inequality and social injustice caused by constitutional monarchy was one of Hugo’s major critiques in Les Misérables. Victor Hugo’s opinions and beliefs about the monarchy were clearly reflected his novel, especially with the characters. Hugo saw the corruption of the government and the toils of the poor abundant in 19th century France and those realizations are what influenced his novel.

Louis Philippe came into power after Charles X. Originally a very popular leader, Louis soon became hated for seeking a government more like a monarchy than a republic. Louis Philippe’s rule gave the wealthy bourgeoisie more power and gave less power to the working citizens of France. Overall, France’s government at the time paid no attention to the needs of the country as a whole, and especially the poverty of France’s working class. The Revolution of 1848 in France led to the end of Louis Philippe’s reign and the beginning of Napoleon III’s, whose title became Emperor of France. It was during this time period that Hugo was exiled to Guernsey, wher...

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So long as the three problems of the age – the degradation of man by poverty, the ruin of woman by starvation, and the dwarfing of childhood by physical and spiritual night – are not solved; so long as, in certain regions, social asphyxia shall be possible… so long as ignorance and misery remain on earth, books like this cannot be useless. (Hugo xi)

Hugo believed that his book would remain useful so long as people were miserable and humans still suffered; but he hoped, maybe in the future, a better future, what Les Misérables strives for would become useless. Hugo believed in a better future for France’s government, a better future for France, and a better future for the rights of citizens then and now. His idealist, romantic hope could be seen as a goal to achieve; but for society today, will purely remain fiction.