Showing posts with label resources to understanding Les Mis. Show all posts
Showing posts with label resources to understanding Les Mis. Show all posts

Thursday, June 4, 2015

Even More Obscure Names :S

Combeferre is speechifying at the barricade (page 1179), and he says some really cool things, but I've always skipped over it because I was intimidated by the names. So, here's some clarification on the names, and at the bottom are his quotes.
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Harmodius and Aristogeiton: They became known as the Tyrannicides after they killed the Peisistratid tyrant Hipparchus, and were the preeminent symbol of democracy to ancient Athenians.

Brutus: He was a politician of the late Roman Republic. He was a leading conspirator against Julius Caesar.

Chereas: Another conspirator, who killed Caius

Stephanus: Possibly, one of the first converts to Christianity through Paul

Cromwell: Oliver Cromwell was an English military and political leader and later Lord Protector of the Commonwealth of England, Scotland and Ireland.

Charlotte Corday: A lady during the French Revolution who was guillotined after assassinating a Jacobin leader.

Sand: I'm not certain which "Sand" he's referring to. It may be the French female novelist who wrote under the name of "George Sand."

Georgics: Is a poem in four books, likely published in 29 BC. It is the second major work by the Latin poet Virgil, following his Eclogues and preceding the Aeneid.

Raux: Pierre Paul Émile Raux was a French physician,bacteriologist and immunologist. Roux was one of the closest collaborators of Louis Pasteur (1822–1895), a co-founder of thePasteur Institute, and responsible for the Institute's production of the anti-diphtheria serum, the first effective therapy for this disease.

Cournand: André Frédéric Cournand was a French physician and physiologist. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1956

Delille: A French poet

Malfilatre: Another French poet

Caesar: A Roman general and political leader. Very influential on history. Here's a source about him.

Cicero: Marcus Tullius Cicero was a Roman philosopher, politician, lawyer, orator, political theorist, consul and constitutionalist. Especially critical of Caesar. Later assassinated

Zoilus: Zoilus or Zoilos was a Greek grammarian, Cynic philosopher, and literary critic from Amphipolis in East Macedonia, then known as Thrace. He took the name Homeromastix later in life.

Homer: Homer is best known as the author of the Iliad and the Odyssey. He was believed by the ancient Greeks to have been the first and greatest of the epic poets.

Maevius: Bavius and Maevius were two poets in the age of Augustus Caesar, whose names became synonymous with bad verse and malicious criticism of superior writers.

Virgil: Publius Vergilius Maro, usually called Virgil or Vergil in English, was an ancient Roman poet of the Augustan period. Best known work is the Aenied.

Vise: Jean Donneau de Visé was a French journalist, royal historian, playwright and publicist. He was founder of the literary, arts and society gazette. A known rival to Moliere

Moliere: Jean-Baptiste Poquelin, known by his stage name Molière, was a French playwright and actor who is considered to be one of the greatest masters of comedy in Western literature

Pope: Alexander Pope was an 18th-century English poet. He is best known for his satirical verse, as well as for his translation of Homer. Famous for his use of the heroic couplet, he is the second-most frequently quoted writer in The Oxford Dictionary of Quotations, after Shakespeare.

Shakespeare: William Shakespeare was an English poet, playwright, and actor, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. (see here for a website with adapted plays)
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(on murder) "Harmodius ..., Brutus, ...--after the deed, all of them had their moment of anguish. Our hearts are so flucuating, and human life is such a mystery that, even in civic murder... the remorse of having struck a man surpasses the joy of having served the human race.' ...

(on critics) "'Caesar,' said Combeferre, 'fell justly. Cicero was sever on Caesar, and he was right. That severity is not diatribe.'" (see definitions) "'When ... Pope insults Shakespeare... it's an old law of envy and hatred at work; genius attracts insult, great men are always barked at more or less.'"

Friday, May 29, 2015

Some Random Names :)

After Marius discovers the love his father had for him, he become immersed in studying the Revolution.
"He had seen... shining stars-- Mirabeau, Vergniaud, Saint-Just, Robespierre, Camille Desmoulins, Danton..." (pg 631)

Mirabeau: Honoré-Gabriel Riqueti, comte de Mirabeau, (born March 9, 1749, Bignon, nearNemours, France—died April 2, 1791, Paris), French politician and orator, one of the greatest figures in the National Assembly that governed France during the early phases of the French Revolution. A moderate and an advocate of constitutional monarchy, he died before the Revolution reached its radical climax.

Vergniaud: Pierre-Victurnien Vergniaud, (born May 31, 1753, Limoges, France—died Oct. 31, 1793, Paris), eloquent spokesman for the moderate Girondin faction during theFrench Revolution.
... Although he was a capable lawyer, he was so indolent that he refused to take cases unless he was in need of money.
Vergniaud greeted the outbreak of the Revolution with enthusiasm. In 1790 he attracted widespread attention by pleading the case of a soldier who had been involved in a riot against a landlord. Elected to the administration of the Girondedépartement (1790), he looked on with approval as the revolutionary National Assembly in Paris abolished France’s feudal institutions and restricted the hitherto absolute powers of King Louis XVI. Vergniaud took a seat with the other Girondindeputies in the Legislative Assembly, which succeeded the National Assembly on Oct. 1, 1791, and he spoke with eloquence in favour of war with Austria. After war was declared (April 20, 1792), he exposed Louis XVI’s counterrevolutionary intrigues and suggested (July 3) that the King should be deposed. Nevertheless, unlike their Jacobin rivals, Vergniaud and the other Girondins were unwilling to form ties with the disenfranchised lower classes. Faced with the threat of popular insurrection in Paris, Vergniaud attempted secretly to come to terms with the King in late July. The populace of Paris rose against Louis on August 10, and Vergniaud, as president of the Assembly, was forced to propose the suspension of the King and the summoning of a National Convention.
In the Convention, which met on Sept. 20, 1792, Vergniaud avoided attacking the Montagnards (as the Jacobin deputies were called) until they revealed (Jan. 3, 1793) his previous negotiations with the King. During the trial of Louis XVI, Vergniaud at first sought to save the monarch’s life, but he finally joined the majority in voting (January 1793) for the death sentence. On June 2, 1793, Parisian insurgents, in alliance with the Montagnards, forced the convention to place Vergniaud and 28 other Girondin leaders under house arrest. Vergniaud continued to defy his opponents but made no attempt to escape from Paris. Imprisoned on July 26, he was condemned by the Revolutionary Tribunal on October 30 and guillotined the following day.

Saint-Just: Louis de Saint-Just, in full Louis-Antoine-Léon de Saint-Just (born August 25, 1767, Decize, France—died July 28, 1794, Paris), controversial ideologue of theFrench Revolution, one of the most zealous advocates of the Reign of Terror (1793–94), who was arrested and guillotined in the Thermidorian Reaction.

Robespierre: Maximilien Robespierre was a leader of the French Revolution during the Reign of Terror. He was part of the radical group known as the Jacobins. There are many biographies and references to him. Here's a link to one.

Camille Desmoulins: Camille Desmoulins, in full Lucie-Simplice-Camille-Benoist Desmoulins (born March 2, 1760, Guise, France—died April 5, 1794, Paris), one of the most influential journalists and pamphleteers of the French Revolution.
...After the outbreak of the Revolution in 1789, he suddenly emerged as an effective crowd orator, urging a Parisian crowd to take up arms (July 12, 1789). The ensuing popular insurrection in Paris was climaxed with the storming of the Bastille on July 14. ...(he wrote many pamphlets and started a newspaper)... After Louis XVI’s abortive flight from Paris in June 1791, Desmoulins intensified his campaign for the deposition of the king and the establishment of a republic. The assembly retaliated by ordering his arrest on July 22, 1791, but he went into hiding until he was granted amnesty in September.
Meanwhile, Desmoulins had formed close working relations with Georges Danton... he was made secretary-general under Danton in the Ministry of Justice. ... (He started a feud with another party and attacked them through his newspaper. He also criticized the Committee in his newspaper that led to it being burned)...
Robespierre had the leading Hébertists (Desmoulins' enemies) guillotined on March 24, and on the night of March 29–30 he acquiesced to the arrest of Desmoulins, Danton, and their friends. Charged with complicity in a “foreign plot,” the Dantonists were guillotined on April 5.

Danton: Georges Danton, in full Georges-Jacques Danton (born October 26, 1759, Arcis-sur-Aube, France—died April 5, 1794, Paris), French Revolutionary leader and orator, often credited as the chief force in the overthrow of the monarchy and the establishment of the First French Republic (September 21, 1792). He later became the first president of the Committee of Public Safety, but his increasing moderation and eventual opposition to the Reign of Terror led to his own death at the guillotine

Fauchlevent

Fauchlevent is one of those minor characters that is so important he's even in the musical :). He is the man who talked meanly and disrespectfully about Jean Valjean when he was the mayor, but when he was trapped under a cart Jean Valjean risked his life and discovery to save him.
After Fauchlevent recovers he is lame (you know what I mean, he foot doesn't work very well). Jean Valjean helps him to find work in a convent.

Jean Valjean is ultimately rewarded for this service. When he is running from Javert with Cosette, he ends up in that same convent. Fauchlevent repays his service by ensuring that he can stay at the convent-- one of the safest places he could hide from Javert.

So Jean Valjean assumes the role of Fauchlevent's brother and stays at the convent, which is where Cosette grows up. The nuns nicknamed Fauchlevent "Fauvent" which is a name Jean Valjean uses when he leaves the convent.

"...Father Fauchelevent was an old man who had been an egoist all his life, and who, towards the end of his days, halt, infirm, with no interest left to him in the world, found it sweet to be grateful, and perceiving a generous action to be performed, flung himself upon it like a man, who at the moment when he is dying, should find close to his hand a glass of good wine which he had never tasted, and should swallow it with avidity. ...We have just called him a poor peasant of Picardy. That description is just, but incomplete. ... He was a peasant, but he had been a notary, which added trickery to his cunning, and penetration to his ingenuousness. Having, through various causes, failed in his business, he had descended to the calling of a carter and a laborer. But, in spite of oaths and lashings, which horses seem to require, something of the notary had lingered in him. He had some natural wit; he talked good grammar; he conversed, which is a rare thing in a village; and the other peasants said of him: "He talks almost like a gentleman with a hat." Fauchelevent belonged, in fact, to that species, which the impertinent and flippant vocabulary of the last century qualified as demi-bourgeois, demi-lout, and which the metaphors showered by the chateau upon the thatched cottage ticketed in the pigeon-hole of the plebeian: rather rustic, rather citified; pepper and salt. Fauchelevent, though sorely tried and harshly used by fate, worn out, a sort of poor, threadbare old soul, was, nevertheless, an impulsive man, and extremely spontaneous in his actions; a precious quality which prevents one from ever being wicked. His defects and his vices, for he had some, were all superficial; in short, his physiognomy was of the kind which succeeds with an observer. His aged face had none of those disagreeable wrinkles at the top of the forehead, which signify malice or stupidity."

Discussion Questions

I've put up a page for discussion questions that I've pondered as I've read the book and wanted to share.
They aren't quizzing you on what you've read, if you've read the book good for you! They're questions that make you think if you let them.

Here are a few:
"Faith is a necessity to man. Woe to him who believes in nothing." (pg 521) Why is faith necessary? What would your life be like if you had no faith in anything? How has faith strengthened you?

"For now, Cosette laughed."Even her face had, in some measure, changed. The gloomy cast had disappeared. Laughter is sunshine; it chases winter from the human face." (pg 569) Have you noticed this with others, or with yourself? Try to go for a week smiling at yourself every chance you get. How does it make you feel?

Sunday, May 25, 2014

Biographies on Napoleon Bonaparte

Hello!
Since there are already so many resources about NB, I'll just put a few on here for you to browse through.
http://europeanhistory.about.com/od/bonapartenapoleon/a/bionapoleon.htm
https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/history/1600s-1800s/napoleon-bonaparte/v/french-revolution--part-4----the-rise-of-napoleon-bonaparte
http://www.biographyonline.net/military/napoleon.html

Here are a few interesting tidbits relating directly to Les Mis.
There are a few parts where they stress the fact that if you say "Bonaparte" you support Napoleon, but if you say "Buonaparte" you're degrading him. The reason is this-- Napoleon was born in corsica (by Italy) and Buonaparte is his original name. However, when the family moved to France, they 'french-ized' their name, making it Bonaparte. So whenever someone says "Buonaparte" they're denying Napoleon's French-ness.

So there's a bit on Napoleon. You can decide for yourself if you agree with his reasonings and ambitions like Marius and Jean Valjean, or if you think that even good people make mistakes.

Les Miserables and the Many Other French Revolutions; presented by Khan Academy


I watched this video, and it helped me understand the setting for Les Mis so much better!
Enjoy :)

French Currency in the 1800s!

Don't quote me on this, because I'm rounding a bunch, and pulling from differenct sources, but these are about the equivalents:

1 Louis=1 Napoleon=1 Crown (the rulers just changed the name :))
1 Napoleon=20 francs
1 livre=1 franc
10 decimes=1 franc
100 centimes= 1 franc
25 sous=1 franc

One Louis back then was equivalent to $4 back then; nowdays, it'd be around $78 Talk about inflation!