Volume 4/ Books One-Nine: Summary

Volume 4/ Book One: Summary

This section features another digression from Hugo. This time, he focuses on the historical context surrounding the novel’s main plot. It discusses the 1830 July Revolution in France in the context of France’s defeat to England in the Battle of Waterloo (1815). Napoleon’s defeat in 1815 meant the reinstatement of monarchy in France for a period of 15 years, a period that is now referred to as the Restoration. Louis XVIII and Charles X were the two monarchs during this period. Though the kings had agreed to grant people the rights that had been earned through the 1789 Revolution, Charles X had attempted to revoke these rights in 1830, leading to the July Revolution of 1830.

Though Charles X is overthrown, the monarchy continues to survive with King Louis-Philippe ascending the throne. Though the new king is more liberal than his predecessors, radical French republicans, including Friends of the ABC, oppose the existence of the monarchy. At the same time, socialism also strikes roots in France and opposes the practice of being ruled by the wealthy class. There is widespread unrest among the poor and working classes, sparking fears of armed insurrection. In April 1832, the Faubourg Saint Antoine district in Paris becomes the center for militant revolutionaries.

Volume 4/ Book Two: Summary

Book Two returns to Marius’ story. Marius, having moved out of Gorbeau House, now lives with Courfeyrac. To honor his father’s request, Marius sends five francs to the imprisoned M. Thenardier on a weekly basis. Unable to locate Cosette or the old man, Marius plunges into depression. Having heard M. Thenardier call Cosette “the Lark,” Marius spends several hours daily in a park called Lark’s Meadow even though he doesn’t expect to see Cosette there. He also wonders if M. Leblanc might have been a criminal in the past, but is unable to say for sure. His financial situation also worsens, and he accepts money from Courfeyrac.

Meanwhile, Javert continues to wonder why the Thenardiers’ hostage had fled hastily. Though he is unaware that the hostage was Valjean, Javert resolves to find out details about the man. He decides to investigate the Patron-Minette in the hope of identifying the hostage.

Eponine’s love for Marius is unrequited. She assists the elderly M. Mabeuf water his garden from time to time, and finds out from him that Marius often spends his time in Lark’s Meadow. She finds Marius there and hands over Cosette’s address. Though she doesn’t tell Marius how she was able to locate Cosette’s address, readers are made aware that she had staked out Cosette’s house on behalf of an imprisoned member of Patron-Minette. She leads her to Cosette’s address, and Marius urges to not share the address with anyone else, especially her parents. When he gives her five francs in return for the favor, Eponine refuses to accept the money.

Volume 4/ Book Three: Summary

Book Three focuses mainly on Valjean and Cosette. The pair spends several years at Petit-Picpus, and Cosette manages to complete her education in the convent. Though Valjean relishes Cosette’s company, he feels it is his duty to let her lead a normal life beyond the confines of the convent. Accordingly, Valjean rents two apartments in the city and a house in Saint-Germain, a Parisian suburb. Notably, in Volume 3 Marius had followed Valjean and Cosette back to one of their apartments in the city. As ever, Valjean and Cosette lead simple lives shorn of luxuries and pretension and continue to go for walks in the Luxembourg garden.

Having been raised in the convent, Cosette struggles to deal with the onslaught of emotions she experiences as an adolescent. Valjean, an elderly bachelor with no experience of romance, is also unable to help her cope with these emotions. Cosette grows into a beautiful young woman and begins to develop strong feelings for Marius, the young man she frequently notices in Luxembourg. Valjean, however, is terrified of losing her and is deeply envious of Marius. He even stops taking her along on walks and relocates her to the house in Saint-Germain.

Unable to see Marius and not knowing how to share her feelings with Valjean, Cosette finds herself deeply troubled. Valjean, too, is saddened by Cosette’s struggles, and suggests that they go for a walk together in Luxembourg to cheer her up. Though Cosette is thrilled at the prospect of running into Marius, he is nowhere to be found. Saddened by Marius’ absence, Cosette tells Valjean the next day that she does not want to take a walk. Though Valjean and Cosette become emotionally distant after this incident, they are otherwise kind and loving toward one another.

Valjean and Cosette are both deeply troubled when they encounter a group of galley convicts being transported to another location. Valjean is assailed by thoughts of his past, and Cosette is horrified by the sight of the convicts. She inadvertently hurts Valjean when she says she would die instantly if one of the convicts ever approached her.

Volume 4/ Book Four: Summary

Valjean’s self-inflicted wound (he’d burned himself with a hot iron at the Thenardier household) is now badly infected, and Valjean becomes severely sick. Nonetheless, he doesn’t tell Cosette how he got the wound.

Meanwhile, M. Mabeuf is ravaged by poverty, but Gavroche lends him a timely helping hand. Gavroche also watches on as Montparnasse attempts to rob Valjean, who manages to overpower the criminal. Valjean then urges the criminal to mend his ways and offers him all the money in his purse. Gavroche picks Montparnasse’s pocket and leaves the money in a place easily accessible to Mabeuf. When Mabeuf’s housekeeper finds the money, she considers it a timely gift from the gods.

Volume 4/ Book Five: Summary

As Cosette gradually begins to forget about Marius, she finds herself having feelings for Theodule, an attractive young soldier who passes by her house quite frequently. Meanwhile, Valjean goes on a trip, but doesn’t share details of his journey with Cosette. With just their housekeeper Toussaint for company, Cosette is alarmed when she notices the figure of a man in their garden. She notices that the figure seems to be wearing a round hat. She informs Valjean of the incident when he returns, and Valjean keeps watch in the garden for three consecutive nights.

On the third night, Valjean notices what appears to be the shadow of the man with the round hat, but it turns out to be the distorted shadow of some object in the garden. He shows Cosette the shadow and assures her that it is not the shadow of a stalker.

One evening, Cosette finds a stone on a bench in their garden. Under the stone is a love letter from Marius. Cosette doesn’t tell Valjean, who’d been out when Cosette had found the stone, about the letter. She doesn’t seem interested in Theodule anymore, and she does not respond when he tries to flirt with her. The very next day, after making sure that Valjean has left the house, Cosette takes care to dress well and goes for a walk in the garden. Soon, Marius arrives and confesses his love for her. Cosette also admits to loving him, and the two hold hands and spend time together on the garden bench.

Volume 4/ Book Six: Summary

Book Six focuses on Gavroche, who has now become an altruistic gamin. When he runs into two starving, emaciated boys, he is unable to recognize that they are his own brothers. Nonetheless, he gives the boys some bread with his last coin. Later, when he runs into a freezing woman on the streets, he is happy to give her his shawl.

Gavroche takes the two young boys to his improvised shelter inside an elephant statue near the Bastille. Though the place is infested with rats, the three of them sleep in peace.

Gavroche is awoken early next morning by Montparnasse. He seeks Gavroche’s assistance to help several prisoners escape. M. Thenardier, who happens to be one of the prisoners, is left stranded when he is unable to reach the rope. Swiftly, Gavroche climbs several pipes and locates a longer rope to help the prisoners. Soon after their escape, the prisoners decided to rob Valjean’s house in Saint-Germain based on Eponine’s information.

Volume 4/ Book Seven: Summary

Book Seven features a digression about French street slang, which Hugo calls “the dialect of corruption.” Hugo argues that dialects hold clues to the psyche of its speakers and that these psyches can in turn reflect the state of society. Toward the end of Book Seven, he emphasizes that education has to be accessible to all classes of society in order to bring about social change.

Volume 4/ Book Eight: Summary

Marius and Cosette continue to meet in the garden every evening unbeknownst to anyone else. Having brought Cosette to Saint-Germain, Valjean sees no reason to worry about Marius. He is merely thrilled to see that Cosette is happy again. Meanwhile, M. Thenardier, along with the other escaped criminals, stake out Valjean’s house and await the perfect opportunity to attack and rob him. Out of her love for Marius, Eponine attempts to thwart her father’s plan. At the same time, Valjean realizes that their house is being watched and decides at once to move to England.

Cosette and Marius are deeply saddened by Valjean’s decision. Cosette urges Marius to move to England, but he has no money to relocate. Nonetheless, he decides to seek his grandfather’s permission to marry Cosette. M. Gillenormand is thrilled to see Marius and wishes to put their differences aside. However, he offends Marius by suggesting that he need not marry Cosette, that he could take her as a mistress instead. Marius tells M. Gillenormand that he has insulted Cosette and that will never see him again. M. Gillenormand is heartbroken to realize that he may never be able to reconcile with his grandson.

Volume 4/ Book Nine: Summary

Valjean is deeply concerned about the political unrest in Paris and by the fact that his house is being watched. He even receives an anonymous warning note that reads, “Move away from your house.”

Marius leaves his grandfather’s house in a terrible state. When he reaches his apartment, he learns that Courfeyrac and other members of the Friends of the ABC plan to attend a funeral for General Lamarque, a well-respected hero on the left. Marius is asked if he’d like to accompany them, but in his confused state, he is unable to understand their question.

He finds the pistols Javert had given him and kills time walking in the city until his usual meeting with Cosette, unaware that she and Valjean have left Paris. When she doesn’t arrive, Marius plunges into despair. Soon, he is informed by Eponine that his friends are already at the barricade and waiting for him. He rushes to join them for the funeral.

Analysis: Volume 4/ Books One to Nine

Valjean struggles to come to terms with Cosette’s adolescence. Cosette is the only person Valjean has ever loved, and since his adoration for her is paternal, Valjean is unable to understand Cosette’s feelings for Marius. They are both equally overwhelmed by the changes brought forth by Cosette’s adolescence. Even though they continue to grow apart as a result, Cosette and Valjean treat each other kindly and respectfully. Nonetheless, Valjean gradually realizes that he will have to be more selfless in his love for his daughter.

Eponine also exemplifies the concept of selfless love. She loves Marius without expecting anything in return, even though Marius is unable to realize as much. Her ability to love selflessly is especially noteworthy considering her troubled upbringing; though the Thenardiers treat their daughters better than their son, Gavroche, the household is nonetheless a debilitating environment for children. Marius, on the other hand, is more rigid in the way he loves Cosette. He seems unwilling to consider any possibility other than eventually uniting with Cosette. Eponine’s selflessness could be seen as a symbol of love’s redemptive power.

In M. Gillenormand’s suggestion that Marius take Cosette as his mistress, readers can witness an unmistakable parallel with Fantine’s situation. Fantine, after all, was abandoned by Tholomyes, an affluent university student from the same social milieu as the Gillenormands. Her abandonment makes Cosette an illegitimate child. M. Gillenormand’s suggestion shows it was common for affluent men in nineteenth-century France to take mistresses from lower social classes. This arrangement more often than not made women more prone to ostracism and marginalization, as Fantine’s situation shows. Marius seems extremely aware of the injustice inherent in such arrangements and shows commendable moral judgment by refraining from such practices.

On account of his stubborn, rigid love for Cosette, Marius is typically regarded as a prime example of the romantic lover. He is deeply passionate, idealistic, and incapable of imagining a life without his beloved. His courtship of Cosette and the suicidal depression he experiences when he realizes that Cosette may have relocated are also apt examples in this context. Nonetheless, it must be noted that his love for Cosette is true and spontaneous.