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convicted in his stead, a "terrible voice" tells him: "Destroy these candlesticks! Annihilate this souvenir! Forget the Bishop! Forget everything! Destroy this
Champmathieu, do! ... Yes, it is well arranged thus. Ah, wretch!" The voice then warns that one person, presumably Champmathieu, will curse him if he follows that advice. The voice is not identified, but the passage implies that it is the recently deceased Myriel as it concludes with Valjean asking who is there:
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sacrifice of his life, his bishop can perform an equally effective exchange. In divesting himself of his silver, Myriel invests in
Valjean. All he demands of the recipient is that he prove worthy of the promise that he could not have made in his prison of sin, but that he will have made following his liberation. Sublime fiction opens the way, as in Simplice's case, to a higher truth.
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silver in
Valjean's knapsack, and Bienvenu tells the police that he had given them to Valjean as a gift so they will not arrest him again. Valjean is surprised of Bienvenu's graciousness, and later sees the error in his ways. He chastises Valjean for not taking the silver candlesticks as well. After the police leave, Bienvenu tells Valjean to use the silver to become an honest man.
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The novel’s first fourteen chapters are an account of the life and practices of Myriel. He was born into a noble family: "the whole of the first portion of his life had been devoted to the world and to gallantry." His wife died while they were living in Italy as exiles from the French
Revolution. The
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Was he, in the midst of these distractions, these affections which absorbed his life, suddenly smitten with one of those mysterious and terrible blows which sometimes overwhelm, by striking to his heart, a man whom public catastrophes would not shake, by striking at his existence and his fortune? No
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could be used as a hospital and keeps only a tenth of his salary for himself, spending the rest on alms. He once accompanied a condemned man to the scaffold, after the village priest refused to do so. Hugo devotes one chapter to a transformative episode for Myriel, in which the Bishop visits an old
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Forget not, never forget that you have promised me to use this silver to become an honest man. ... Jean
Valjean, my brother: you belong no longer to evil, but to good. It is your soul that I am buying for you. I withdraw it from dark thoughts and from the spirit of perdition, and I give it to
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All the after-struggle is secondary to the great event of the beginning, which is the salvation of Jean
Valjean, not from the law or the prejudices of society, but from the power of evil. Javert is an accident, though a striking one; the real matter is much higher; it is the work of Bishop Myriel,
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Just before
Valjean's death, when a female porter asks if he wants a priest, he replies "I have one," and points upward. The narrator adds: "It is probable that the Bishop was indeed a witness of this death-agony." The silver candlesticks, Myriel's gift to Valjean, are mentioned several times near
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shows up at his door, asking a place to stay the night. Bienvenu graciously accepts him, feeds him, and gives him a bed. Valjean takes most of
Bienvenu's silver and runs off in the night. The police capture Valjean and take him back to face Bienvenu. The police inform Bienvenu they have found the
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Myriel is referenced several times later in the novel. In 1821, Valjean, while serving as a mayor under the name
Monsieur Madeleine, learns from a local newspaper of Myriel's death at 82, and wears mourning attire for some time. Not long after, as Valjean contemplates allowing Champmathieu to be
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There are men who toil at extracting gold; he toiled at the extraction of pity. Universal misery was his mine. The sadness which reigned everywhere was but an excuse for unfailing kindness. Love each other; he declared this to be complete, desired nothing further, and that was the whole of his
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By his theft, Jean
Valjean shows that he is still chained to hatred and anger; by his generosity, Myriel operates a spiritual purchase (achète) that substitutes "goodwill, gentleness, and peace"—in other words, "God"—for this satanic mentality. While Christ alone can redeem (rachète) with the
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The Catholic writer Theresa Malcolm says that after Valjean leaves, "Monseigneur Myriel never again appears in the story, but he is the soul of the novel, he who sowed love where there was hatred, light where there was darkness."
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I cannot put the future into the past. My novel takes place in 1815. For the rest, this Catholic priest, this pure and lofty figure of true priesthood, offers the most savage satire on the priesthood today.
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Kathryn M. Grossman describes Myriel's work in transforming the lives of the poor as a moral "investment". His "fraternal demeanor thus corresponds to an economy marketing in souls." She continues:
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son Charles objected to presenting Myriel as "a prototype of perfection and intelligence", suggesting instead someone from "a liberal, modern profession, like a doctor". The novelist replied:
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revolutionary on his deathbed. They discuss the politics and morality of revolution, and Myriel comes to marvel at his "spiritual radicalism", asking his blessing as he dies.
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not of the penal code. It is the redemption of a soul; it is the struggle, first of the dominating sin with the dim risings of a better life
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There was some one; but the person who was there was of those whom the human eye cannot see. He placed the candlesticks on the chimney-piece.
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In support of the Bishop's gracious posture and commission toward's Jean Valjean, Hugo goes on to quote this powerful line in the epilogue:
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in 1862, the character of Bishop Myriel has been in a large number of adaptations in numerous types of media based on the novel, such as
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are shown in the embrace of God and welcome Valjean into life after death. As well, the 2012 film has Myriel played by
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as written by Victor Hugo in 1862. 1992 Modern Library Edition copyright Random House Inc.
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Figuring Transcendence in Les Miserables: Hugo's Romantic Sublime
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the novel's end, and Valjean dies in the glow of their candles.
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Les Misérables: Highlights from the Motion Picture Soundtrack
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348:Writing in
259:The actual
240:Victor Hugo
202:Nationality
93:Ken Caswell
60:Victor Hugo
1265:Categories
858:Characters
536:References
441:See also:
423:Bret Harte
322:One night
153:Occupation
56:Created by
1194:On My Own
1094:Gnana Oli
1030:2012 film
901:Grantaire
464:2012 film
425:parodied
354:in 1885,
318:doctrine.
121:Full name
35:character
1208:Suddenly
906:Gavroche
896:Enjolras
726:: 23–24.
409:musicals
192:Religion
129:Nickname
1233:Fantine
1225:Related
1025:musical
891:Éponine
881:Cosette
876:Fantine
806:at the
797:at the
765:at the
468:Fantine
451:In the
429:in his
50:, 1862.
1097:(1972)
1089:(1972)
1081:(1955)
1078:Kundan
1073:(1950)
1065:(1950)
886:Marius
871:Javert
724:XLVIII
678:Hugo,
593:
478:Quotes
303:bishop
250:Bishop
205:French
184:Spouse
161:Family
148:Bishop
137:Gender
1042:Manga
1037:Radio
417:games
413:plays
405:films
401:books
254:Digne
218:Death
145:Title
1155:2019
1150:2010
1145:1995
1004:2012
999:1998
994:1995
989:1982
984:1978
979:1958
974:1952
969:1948
964:1935
959:1934
954:1925
949:1917
944:1909
591:ISBN
589:–4.
487:God!
445:and
415:and
213:1739
210:Born
140:Male
848:by
499:In
252:of
234:or
1267::
722:.
718:.
587:63
419:.
411:,
407:,
403:,
1210:"
1206:"
1203:"
1199:"
1196:"
1192:"
1189:"
1185:"
1182:"
1178:"
836:e
829:t
822:v
599:.
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