Les Misérables

Marius

Also known as Marius Pontmercy · Le Baron Marius Pontmercy · M. Marius · Baron Pontmercy

Cosette’s husband and Georges Pontmercy’s son. After learning from Thénardier that Jean Valjean carried him through the sewer, Marius recognizes Valjean’s sacrifice, hurries to him with Cosette, and begs his forgiveness. He is present with Cosette when Valjean dies.

Cosette

Also known as The young woman in the Luxembourg · Mademoiselle Lanoire · Ursule · the young lady · the beautiful lady · the Lark · Mademoiselle Fabre · M. Urbain Fabre’s daughter · Euphrasie · Mademoiselle Euphrasie Fauchelevent · Madame Pontmercy

Fantine’s daughter and Jean Valjean’s adopted child, now married to Marius. She returns with Marius to Valjean, embraces him, and remains beside him as he dies, learning her mother’s name and the truth about her fortune.

Jean Valjean

Also known as M. Fauchelevent · Jean Valjean · Monsieur Fauchelevent · Monsieur Tranchelevent · Fauchelevent · the very well-dressed gentleman with white hair · the unknown man who carried Marius through the sewers · the man who had saved Marius · the mysterious man · the old man in the first wedding carriage · the man who once carried Marius through the sewer · Monsieur Jean · M. Jean · M. Madeleine

Cosette’s adoptive father, who carried the wounded Marius through the sewer and saved him. Reunited with Cosette and Marius, he explains the source of Cosette’s fortune and dies with their forgiveness and love beside him.

Thénardier

Also known as Jondrette · Monsieur Thénardier · the father of Little Gavroche · the father · the inn-keeper of Montfermeil · Thénard · Jondrette the workman · Fabantou the comedian · Genflot the poet · Don Alvarès the Spaniard · Mistress Balizard

A scheming criminal who tells Marius that Jean Valjean carried a corpse through the sewer, but unwittingly proves that Valjean saved Marius. Marius pays him to leave for America; there Thénardier becomes a slave-dealer.

Azelma

Also known as the younger Thénardier girl

The younger daughter of the Thénardiers and Éponine’s sister. She accompanies her father to America under a false name.

The doctor of the quarter

Also known as the doctor

An unnamed local physician who attends Jean Valjean in his final hours. He tells Marius that it is too late to save him.

The portress of Jean Valjean’s lodging

Also known as the portress · the good woman

An unnamed woman who prepared Jean Valjean’s meals and called a doctor when he became ill. She watches from the doorway during his final reunion with Cosette and asks whether he wants a priest.

Basque

Also known as M. Gillenormand’s last valet · the old servant

M. Gillenormand’s servant. Marius calls for him to bring a carriage when he and Cosette hurry to Jean Valjean.

Fantine

Also known as the Blonde · little Fantine

Cosette’s mother, who died after enduring poverty and separation from her daughter. Jean Valjean tells Cosette her mother’s name and asks her to remember Fantine’s suffering and love.

Gavroche

Also known as Little Gavroche

The resourceful son of the Thénardiers and Éponine’s younger brother, killed at the barricade. Marius believes Gavroche delivered the letter that led Jean Valjean to the barricade.

The Bishop

Also known as M. Myriel · Monseigneur Bienvenu · Monseigneur Welcome · M. Welcome · the Bishop of D——

The compassionate Bishop of D—— who gave Jean Valjean the candlesticks. The narrator suggests that he is present, unseen, during Valjean’s death.

The doctor treating Cosette and Marius before their wedding

Also known as the doctor

An unnamed physician consulted about the wedding date; he says Marius can marry in February.

The linen-clad angel awaiting Jean Valjean

Also known as some immense angel

A personified angel the narrator imagines standing in the darkness with wings outspread, awaiting Jean Valjean’s soul.

Nicolette

Also known as the cook named Olympie

A cook in the Gillenormand household. She and Toussaint cannot get along, and Toussaint leaves; Nicolette later carries Cosette’s inquiry to Jean Valjean.

Toussaint

Also known as the elderly maid-servant

Jean Valjean’s elderly, stammering maid, who had lived with him and Cosette. After Cosette’s marriage she leaves because she and Nicolette cannot get along.

M. Gillenormand

Also known as M. Luc-Esprit Gillenormand · Father Gillenormand

Marius’s grandfather, who welcomes the newlyweds and gives them an exuberant wedding toast. He calls Jean Valjean an eccentric and is content that Valjean’s visits take place downstairs.

The narrator

Also known as the authorial narrator · the observer in the Passage du Saumon · the author of this book

The narrator examines Marius’s fear and prejudice toward Jean Valjean, then recounts Valjean’s final visits to Cosette, his decline, and Thénardier’s encounter with Marius.

Javert

Also known as Police Officer Javert · Inspector Javert · Monsieur Javert · the tall, gray-haired recruit · the man of the Rue des Billettes · the police-agent Javert

A police inspector who died by suicide after Jean Valjean spared him at the barricade. Thénardier presents a newspaper report confirming the suicide, correcting Marius’s mistaken belief that Valjean killed Javert.

Georges Pontmercy

Also known as Colonel Pontmercy · the brigand of the Loire · the colonel · Pontmercy

Marius’s deceased father, a decorated soldier who served the Republic and France. He was rescued at Waterloo by Thénardier and left Marius with the duty of repaying that debt; Marius now seeks to vindicate his memory.

The porter of Jean Valjean’s lodging

Also known as the husband

The husband of Jean Valjean’s portress. He says that a doctor cannot prevent Valjean from dying if he is destined to die.

The former employee of the Laffitte establishment

Also known as the cashier-clerk

An unnamed former employee whose information led Marius to believe Jean Valjean had stolen the fortune from M. Madeleine. Thénardier’s newspaper evidence shows that this information was mistaken.

Thénardier’s spouse

Also known as his spouse · Jondrette’s wife · the female Jondrette · Mother Jondrette · Madame Thénardier · the Thénardier woman · the female Thénardier

Thénardier’s unnamed wife and mother of their five children. Thénardier says he hopes to travel to America with her and their daughter.

The old family friends at the wedding

Also known as the invited guests

Unnamed longtime friends of the Gillenormand family who attend the wedding and greet Cosette as Madame la Baronne.

The man who keeps Jean Valjean’s lodging

Also known as the porter

An unnamed porter whose wife prepares Jean Valjean’s scant meals and summons the local doctor.

The young woman who is Thénardier’s daughter

Also known as Thénardier’s young lady

Thénardier’s unnamed daughter, whom he says he plans to take with himself and his wife to a village near Panama.

The Changer

Also known as the costumer

An ingenious, unnamed Jewish costumer in the Rue Beautreillis who rents disguises to criminals so they can temporarily pass as respectable people. Thénardier wears his threadbare statesman’s outfit, including green spectacles and false details.

Madame la Princesse Bagration

Also known as Madame Bagration

A princess whom Thénardier falsely claims to have met Marius at in society.

The Vicomte Dambray

Also known as M. Dambray

A peer of France whom Thénardier falsely claims to know and to have met Marius through.

Chateaubriand

Also known as M. de Chateaubriand

A writer whom Thénardier falsely claims to know and quotes as though they were friends.

Pitt

Also known as William Pitt

A statesman mentioned in the narrator’s description of the Changer’s ill-fitting rented statesman’s costume.

Castelcicala

A statesman mentioned in the narrator’s description of the Changer’s ill-fitting rented statesman’s costume.

The editor of the Moniteur

Also known as the newspaper

The newspaper that reports Javert’s suicide and recounts that an insurgent spared him at the Rue de la Chanvrerie barricade.

Théodule Gillenormand

Also known as Lieutenant Théodule · the officer of lancers · the handsome lieutenant · the Lancer · the cousin Théodule

M. Gillenormand’s grandnephew and Marius’s cousin, now a captain stationed at Chartres. He attends Marius and Cosette’s wedding, but Cosette does not recognize him.

The aunt

Also known as Aunt Gillenormand · Mademoiselle Gillenormand, the elder · Marius’s maternal aunt · Mademoiselle Gillenormand senior

M. Gillenormand’s unmarried elder daughter and Marius’s aunt. Cosette says she is at mass on the morning after the wedding.

The poor who bless the newlyweds

Also known as the poor

Unnamed poor people gathered at the newlyweds’ door who share their purses and bless Marius and Cosette.

The musicians at the wedding

Also known as the three violinists and the flutist

Three violinists and a flutist who softly play Haydn quartets during the wedding feast.

Haydn

A composer whose quartets the wedding musicians play.

The curé at the wedding

Also known as the priest at the wedding

An unnamed priest who conducts the religious marriage of Marius and Cosette.

Estelle

A woman named in M. Gillenormand’s wedding toast as an example of a beautiful beloved.

Nemorin

A man named in M. Gillenormand’s wedding toast as an example of a handsome lover.

Fortunatus

A legendary figure invoked by M. Gillenormand in a playful comparison for Marius taking the empty armchair beside Cosette.

Fortunata

A legendary woman invoked by M. Gillenormand in a playful comparison for Cosette beside Marius.

Adam

The biblical first man, whom M. Gillenormand jokes belongs to Eve’s kingdom.

Eve

The biblical first woman, whom M. Gillenormand invokes while praising women’s power over men.

Robespierre

A revolutionary leader whom M. Gillenormand jokingly says cannot hold his place against a woman.

Charlemagne

A ruler whose iron sceptre M. Gillenormand mentions in his comic account of the decline of royal power.

Louis XIV

Also known as the Sun King · Louis the Great

The king whose golden sceptre M. Gillenormand invokes in his comic account of the decline of royal power.

Henri IV

Also known as Henry IV

A king whose oath M. Gillenormand discusses while joking about the place of women in religion.

Daphnis

A literary shepherd invoked by M. Gillenormand as a model for the newlyweds’ love.

Chloe

Daphnis’s beloved, invoked by M. Gillenormand as a model for the newlyweds’ love.

Philemon

A figure in a classical story whom M. Gillenormand names as a model for enduring love.

Baucis

Philemon’s wife, whom M. Gillenormand names as a model for enduring love.

Cupid

The personified god of love, whom M. Gillenormand describes as ancient beyond Methusalem.

Methusalem

A biblical figure whom M. Gillenormand compares with Cupid to emphasize the age of love.

Jean Prouvaire

Also known as Jehan

A gentle, learned, and timid young poet in the Friends of the A B C. The narrator says the newlyweds’ union realizes Prouvaire’s verses.

Éponine

Also known as the tall Jondrette daughter · Jondrette’s eldest daughter · the elder Jondrette girl · the eldest girl · the tall Jondrette · the elder Thénardier girl · the young artisan who asks for Marius · the young man who followed the march · the child who summons Marius · the young man disappearing into the gloom · the girl who waters Mabeuf’s garden · the apparition · the spirit · the young workman in velvet trousers · the young workman

Thénardier’s elder daughter, secretly in love with Marius. She delivered Cosette’s letter and died at the barricade after taking a bullet meant for Marius.

M. Mabeuf

Also known as the old man in the band

A gentle, book-loving botanist and former churchwarden, now destitute. He was killed at the barricade; Marius remembers seeing him fall.

The physician in Marius’s audience

Also known as the doctor

An unnamed doctor who treats Marius’s serious wounds and guides his recovery. He later declares that the wedding may take place in February.

André Chénier

Also known as André Chenier

A poet whose execution during the Revolution is discussed by M. Gillenormand and Marius. Gillenormand quotes his poem “Jeune Malade” and struggles to describe his death.

The porter at Marius’s home

Also known as the porter

An unnamed porter at No. 6, Rue des Filles-du-Calvaire, who lets Javert and the others in and wakes Basque. He glimpsed Jean Valjean carrying Marius home and later describes the rescuer as a terrible-looking man.

The porter’s wife

Also known as the wife of the porter at Marius’s home

An unnamed woman to whom the porter says he recognizes Jean Valjean’s face when Valjean later arrives with Cosette.

The hackney-coach driver following the Seine pursuit

Also known as the driver · the coachman

An unnamed driver whose carriage carried Jean Valjean and the wounded Marius from the sewer to Marius’s home. He tells Marius’s investigators that a police agent had him wait by the Grand Sewer and then ordered him to drive the two men.

The police agent who tracks the thief along the Seine

Also known as the man in the buttoned-up coat · the watcher · the police-agent

An unnamed police agent who followed a ragged fugitive to a sewer grating and waited nearby. The coachman says this agent arrested Jean Valjean after he emerged carrying Marius, then led Valjean away; the police records contain no report of the arrest.

The sergeant of the National Guard post

Also known as the sergeant of the banlieue · the sergeant

An unnamed sergeant who investigated the noise Gavroche made near the Royal Printing Establishment. He is mentioned among the shadows of Marius’s memories of the barricade.

The examining magistrate at Arras

Also known as the examining judge

An unnamed judicial official who brought Champmathieu before the court for identification. The passage recalls the Champmathieu affair as the point after which Jean Valjean retrieved his savings from Laffitte.

M. Magimel

Also known as Magimel

A publisher for whom Marius worked. Marius’s savings and later poverty are part of the background to his recovery and marriage.

Boulatruelle

Also known as Sieur Boulatruelle · the old man in the garret

A road-mender and thief near Montfermeil who dreamed of buried treasure in the forest. He saw Jean Valjean digging there, and later inherited the pickaxe Valjean had hidden.

The two old men

Also known as Jean Valjean and M. Gillenormand

Jean Valjean and M. Gillenormand, who each work in their own way to make Cosette happy: Valjean secures her future and Gillenormand prepares the wedding.

The two lost children sheltered by Gavroche

Also known as the two lost children · the two boys

The Thénardiers’ two youngest sons, whom Gavroche took in. He left them asleep in his shelter while he helped his father escape.

Mother Hucheloup

Also known as the Widow Hucheloup · Mame Hucheloup

Father Hucheloup’s widow, who continues to run the Corinthe wine-shop. She is recalled among the figures Marius associates with the barricade.

The four escaped prisoners’ accomplices

Also known as the four men in the enclosure · Brujon, Babet, Montparnasse, and Gueulemer

Brujon, Babet, Montparnasse, and Gueulemer, who helped Thénardier escape from La Force. They later disappear from the record after the Gorbeau ambush trial collapses.

Panchaud

Also known as Printanier · Bigrenaille

A dangerous prowler of the barriers and member of Patron-Minette who took part in the Gorbeau ambush. He and Demi-Liard are the two subordinates convicted after the principal accused escape.

The bearded accomplice in the snow

Also known as the bearded man · Demi-Liard · Deux-Milliards

A member of Patron-Minette who planned crimes with Brujon. He is convicted with Panchaud and sentenced to ten years in the galleys.

The child born to the Thénardiers

Also known as the little boy · the brat

The Thénardiers’ unnamed son, a little over three years old in 1823. He is one of their children whose later fate is not stated here.

The old woman who owns the rag-picker’s basket

Also known as the rag-picker

An unnamed rag-picker whose well-preserved basket was discovered in the sewer.

Gueulemer

Also known as the man with the butcher’s pole-axe · Guelemer

A powerful member of Patron-Minette who took part in the Gorbeau ambush and helped Thénardier escape from prison.

Babet

Also known as the man with the cudgel

A leader of Patron-Minette who took part in the Gorbeau ambush and helped Thénardier escape from prison.

Brujon

Also known as the long-haired man of the Rue du Petit-Banquier

A cunning member of Patron-Minette who devised the Rue Plumet robbery and later helped Thénardier escape from La Force.

Montparnasse

A young criminal and leader of Patron-Minette who joined the attempted robbery at Rue Plumet and helped Thénardier escape from La Force.

Claquesous

Also known as Le Cabuc

A criminal who disappeared after the Gorbeau ambush case and escaped from prison. He is listed among the principal accused who could not be tried.

The clerk at La Force

Also known as the clerk’s office

An unnamed prison clerk who received Marius’s weekly five-franc payment for Thénardier.

The two men who carry the funeral hearse

Also known as the young men harnessed to the hearse

Unnamed young men who harnessed themselves to Lamarque’s hearse and dragged it across the Austerlitz bridge.

The man who carries Lafayette’s carriage

Also known as the young man harnessed to the hackney-coach

An unnamed young man who helped pull Lafayette’s hackney-coach along the Quai Morland.

The coachman of M. Leblanc’s fiacre

Also known as the driver

An unnamed driver who brought M. Leblanc and the young woman to the Gorbeau house. He is not the same person as the driver who later describes carrying Marius home.

The Fiacre driver

Also known as the coachman

An unnamed cab driver who refused to take Marius without forty sous in advance, leaving him unable to follow M. Leblanc’s carriage.

The man who fell from the diligence

Also known as the traveller

An unnamed traveller who arranged to be picked up by a diligence on the quay, as Favourite explains.

The person who passes the Vale of the Seine

Also known as the belated passer-by

An unnamed late passer-by who might have seen Javert leap into the Seine and mistaken him for a phantom.

M. Rousseau

Also known as Rousseau the Aquatic

The proprietor of the modest restaurant where Marius and Courfeyrac dined.

The coachman’s thin horses

Also known as the thin horses

The unnamed horses pulling the hackney-coach that carries Marius and Jean Valjean through Paris.

Javert’s agent

Also known as the sentinel at Rue Petit-Picpus · the police-agent

An unnamed police agent who watched the sewer exit when Jean Valjean emerged carrying Marius. He arrested Valjean but apparently made no report to the Prefecture.

Cosette’s two guardians

Also known as Jean Valjean and M. Gillenormand

Jean Valjean is appointed Cosette’s guardian under the name Fauchelevent, with M. Gillenormand as supervising guardian, so she can marry.

The man who asks whether the old cove bothers Azelma

Also known as the Spaniard with the enormous nose

An unnamed masker with a large nose and black moustache who recognizes Jean Valjean in the wedding procession and tells Azelma to find out where the wedding party goes.

Azelma in the maskers’ carriage

Also known as the gaunt fishwife · the fishwife

Azelma, disguised as a fishwife in the Shrove Tuesday procession. At another masker’s request, she agrees to follow the wedding party and learn where it lives.

The police officers who seize the girls

Also known as Javert’s men

Unnamed police officers who captured Azelma and searched for Éponine while watching the Gorbeau house.

The invited guest who notes the Shrove Tuesday traffic

Also known as one of the invited guests

An unnamed guest in the wedding procession who warns that the boulevard will be crowded with maskers.

The maskers who call the wedding sham

Also known as the two maskers

Two unnamed participants in a carriage-load of maskers who joke that their own wedding is the genuine one. They are among the masked revelers who exchange insults with the crowd.

The crowd insulting the maskers

Also known as the populace

Unnamed onlookers who jeer at the carriage-load of maskers and exchange insults with them.

The police sergeants maintaining the boulevard procession

Also known as the police sergeants

Unnamed officers who keep the two opposing lines of carriages moving along the boulevard.

Lord Seymour

Also known as Lord Seymour’s

A British nobleman whose noisy post-chaise passes through the Shrove Tuesday traffic and draws a nickname from the crowd.

The carriages of the peers of France and ambassadors

Also known as the peers and ambassadors

Unnamed titled passengers whose heraldic carriages travel freely through the middle of the boulevard procession.

The maskers in the carriage-load

Also known as the carriage-load of maskers

A noisy crowd of masked men and women who ride in an overloaded carriage during the Shrove Tuesday procession.

The hired masker who is afraid to leave the carriage

Also known as Azelma

Azelma, hired by the Prefecture to appear as a fishwife in the masked procession. She fears arrest if she leaves the carriage, but agrees to follow the wedding party afterward.

André Chénier’s executioners

Also known as the giants of ’93 · the great revolutionary geniuses

Unnamed revolutionary leaders whom M. Gillenormand says had André Chénier executed on 7 Thermidor.

The Moniteur

Also known as the newspaper

A newspaper that reports Javert’s body was found drowned beneath a laundress’s boat and that his written statement attributed his death to mental aberration.

The notary who would hold the money

Also known as the notary

An unnamed official whom the narrator contrasts with depositing money in a forest.

The third party holding Cosette’s legacy

Also known as a third party

An unnamed custodian of the legacy arranged for Cosette, to be transferred to her when she reached majority or married.

The mayor at the wedding

Also known as the mayor

An unnamed official who conducts the civil marriage of Marius and Cosette.

The beadle at the wedding

Also known as the suisse

An unnamed church beadle in a uniform with a colonel’s epaulettes who leads Marius and Cosette through the church.

The post-chaise coachman

Also known as the Postilion de Lonjumeau

A figure in the narrator’s comic description of the elaborate equipment and dress associated with fashionable wedding travel.

The conductor of the diligence

Also known as the conductor

An unnamed coach employee invoked in the narrator’s comic description of the conventional honeymoon journey.

The inn’s maid-servant

Also known as the maid-servant

An unnamed hotel worker mentioned in the narrator’s comic description of a couple’s honeymoon.

The Merry-Andrew

Also known as the clown

A traditional clown figure in the Carnival parade; the narrator describes the populace as needing buffoons.

Pantaloon

A traditional Carnival character among the masked figures on the boulevard.

The Clown

A traditional Carnival character appearing among the masked revelers.

The Bœuf Gras procession

Also known as the train of the Bœuf Gras

A festive procession whose carriage train is privileged to travel through the boulevard traffic.

The fishwife masker

Also known as the gaunt fishwife · Azelma

Azelma, disguised as a fishwife in the Shrove Tuesday procession. She recognizes Jean Valjean and agrees to follow the wedding party to discover where it lives.

The Spaniard masker

Also known as the Spaniard with an enormous nose

An unnamed masker who recognizes Jean Valjean in the wedding carriage and recruits Azelma to follow the procession.

Collé

A writer whose name the narrator associates with the slang and laughter of the Carnival carriage-loads.

Panard

A writer whose name the narrator associates with the slang and laughter of the Carnival carriage-loads.

Piron

A writer whose name the narrator associates with the slang and laughter of the Carnival carriage-loads.

Louis XI

A king whose accounts, according to the narrator, record payment for three coaches of masqueraders.

The bailiff of the palace under Louis XI

Also known as the bailiff

An unnamed palace official whose accounts record a payment for three coaches of masqueraders.

Churchill

Also known as Marlborough · Malbrouck

A man said to have been pelted with old shoes on his wedding day by an angry aunt, an incident the narrator connects with the custom of throwing shoes after newlyweds.

The aunt who pelted Churchill

Also known as the angry aunt

An unnamed aunt who threw shoes at Churchill, later Marlborough, on his wedding day.

Lord Anglès

Also known as Chief of Police Anglès · Count Anglès

A police chief who sent the King a report dismissing the people of Paris as harmless and indolent.

Nero

A Roman emperor whom the narrator says Rome loved and describes as a titanic lighterman.

The bride and bridegroom in the neighboring carriage

Also known as the bridal pair

An unnamed wedding couple seen by the maskers during the Shrove Tuesday procession.

The maskers’ coachman

Also known as the coachman crowned with flowers

An unnamed driver crowned with flowers who drives the overloaded carriage of Carnival revelers.

The inspectors at the Prefecture

Also known as the inspectors

Unnamed police officials whom Azelma fears will arrest her if she leaves the masker’s carriage.

The two sisters-in-law at the wedding procession

Also known as Cosette and Aunt Gillenormand

Cosette and Marius’s aunt ride together in the first wedding carriage on the way to the church.

The dead person who bequeathed Cosette money

Also known as the unknown benefactor

An invented deceased benefactor in Jean Valjean’s account of Cosette’s fortune; the money is actually Valjean’s savings from his years as Monsieur Madeleine.

The porter of the Rue de l’Homme Armé house

Also known as the porter

An unnamed porter who opens the door when Jean Valjean returns home with Javert. He had been asleep when Valjean called to him.

The grand-aunt Gillenormand

Also known as great-aunt Gillenormand

An unnamed elderly relative of the Gillenormand household whom Nicolette rouses after Marius is brought home.

The surgeon’s assistants

Also known as Basque and Nicolette

Basque and Nicolette, who prepare and apply bandages while the doctor treats Marius.

The young man Boulatruelle sees in the forest

Also known as the man

An unidentified man who walks into the Montfermeil forest before dawn and digs at a hole by the zinc-plastered tree. Boulatruelle recognizes his shape only vaguely and fails to catch him.

The sergeant at the Place du Châtelet station-house

Also known as the sergeant of police

An unnamed police sergeant whom Javert encounters at the station-house before writing a report.

The workmen who will repair the sewer sinkhole

Also known as the workmen

Unnamed workers expected to fill the sewer quagmire the next day; Thénardier says they might discover evidence there.

The examining magistrate

Also known as the examining magistrate

An unnamed judicial official whom Thénardier recalls from questioning, where he learned to avoid speaking too freely.

The examining magistrate’s clerks

Also known as the clerks

Unnamed officials associated with the questioning Thénardier mentions.

The judge who is a judge of the matter

Also known as the judge

An unnamed person referred to in the chapter heading about the effect Marius’s apparent death has on someone who can judge it.

The officers who search the prisoners at the prison

Also known as the searchers

Unnamed officials who search prisoners arriving after examination, according to one of Javert’s administrative observations.

The canteen woman at the Madelonettes

Also known as the canteen woman

An unnamed woman who keeps the canteen at the Madelonettes prison; Javert objects that its bars let her touch prisoners.

The prisoners called barkers

Also known as the barkers

Prisoners who summon others to the parlor for a fee, which Javert calls theft.

The weaving-shop contractor

Also known as the contractor

An unnamed contractor whose practice of withholding money for broken threads from prisoners’ weaving wages is criticized by Javert.

Mme. Henry

Also known as Madame Henry

An honest woman who keeps a neat canteen at the Conciergerie, according to Javert’s written observations.

The man who is a judge of the matter

Also known as the judge

An unnamed person referred to in the chapter heading about Marius’s apparent death.

Bruneseau

A sewer explorer and engineer who led a seven-year survey and reconstruction of Paris’s sewers beginning in 1805. He discovered historical features and relics underground and enlisted his son-in-law Nargaud.

Eckberg

The source cited for the account of Chinese peasants carrying human manure back from the city.

Liebig

A source cited for the claim that Rome’s sewers absorbed the well-being of the Roman peasant.

Teglath-Phalasar

An ancient king said in rabbinical books to have sworn by the sink of Nineveh.

John of Leyden

A man said to have produced a false moon from the sewer of Münster.

Mokanna

Also known as the veiled prophet of Khorassan

An oriental prophet said to have caused a false sun to emerge from the cesspool of Kekscheb.

Mercier

A writer cited for saying that the Paris sewer was abandoned to itself less than a hundred years before the account.

Fagon

A man who attributed the malignant fever of 1685 to a large sewer opening in the Marais.

Decrès or Crétet

Also known as some Decrès or Crétet or other

An unnamed or uncertainly identified Minister of the Interior who tells Napoleon about the man eager to explore the Paris sewers.

Fourcroy

A man whose advice led Bruneseau’s team to burn resin-soaked tow in the sewers to disinfect them during their exploration.

Philibert Delorme

Also known as Delorme

An architect commissioned by Henri II to inspect Paris’s underground drains; the date carved on a stone marks where his survey stopped.

Henri II

Also known as Henry II

The king who commissioned Philibert Delorme to inspect Paris’s subterranean drains.

The intelligent young workingman who survived Bruneseau’s sewer expedition

Also known as one of the survivors of this expedition

An unnamed worker who survived Bruneseau’s sewer exploration and later related details omitted from Bruneseau’s official report.

The laborers who explored the sewers with Bruneseau

Also known as the twenty laborers

Unnamed workers who accompanied Bruneseau underground; eight of the twenty refused to proceed beyond the first sections.

The sewermen

Also known as the sewer workers

Unnamed workers who explore, clean, and maintain Paris’s dangerous sewers. One faints during Bruneseau’s expedition, and an unnamed worker disappears into a collapsed shaft before being rescued.

Nargaud

Also known as Bruneseau’s son-in-law

Bruneseau’s son-in-law, whom he engaged to assist with the sewer works in 1806.

The lost orangutan of the Jardin des Plantes

Also known as the skeleton of an orangutan

An orangutan that disappeared from the Jardin des Plantes in 1800; its skeleton was later found in a Paris sewer.

The devil of the Rue des Bernardins

Also known as the devil

A legendary devil said to have appeared in the Rue des Bernardins near the end of the eighteenth century; the passage jokingly suggests that it drowned in a sewer.

Jean-Paul Marat

Also known as Marat

A revolutionary called the Friend of the People. Bruneseau’s team finds a torn piece of the fine shroud in which Marat was buried, which had once belonged to a marquise.

The marquise who had an affair with Marat

Also known as the great lady

An unnamed marquise with whom Marat had a historically attested love affair; the shroud fragment found in the sewer had once been her fine linen.

The old women who shrouded Marat

Also known as some old women

Unnamed women who wrapped Marat in the fine linen later discovered as a fragment in the sewer.

Watteau

A painter whom the narrator imagines would have delighted in sketching the folds of the fine linen found in the sewer.

Dante

A poet invoked by the narrator to describe the grim spectacle of Marat’s shroud fragment in the sewer.

The prefect of police during Bruneseau’s report

Also known as the prefect of police

An unnamed official to whom Bruneseau submitted his account of the sewer expedition.

Napoleon

Also known as Bonaparte · the Emperor

The emperor whose government built 4,804 metres of Paris sewers, according to the narrator’s historical account.

Louis XVIII

Also known as the old king

A king whose government built 5,709 metres of Paris sewers, according to the narrator’s account.

Charles X

Also known as the King

A king whose government built 10,836 metres of Paris sewers, according to the narrator’s account.

Louis Philippe d’Orleans

Also known as Louis Philippe · the Duc d’Orléans · Prince Equality

The king whose government built 89,020 metres of Paris sewers, according to the narrator’s account.

The superintendent Monnot

Also known as Monnot

An unnamed-by-title superintendent who directed dangerous sewer works near the Barrière Blanche and died after the project.

Duleau

Also known as the engineer

An engineer who directed major sewer works in Paris, including the Saint-Georges sewer and the lowering of the Notre-Dame-de-Nazareth vault floor; he died after this labor.

The police patrol in the sewers

Also known as the patrol of the right bank · the squad

Police agents and sewer workers searching Paris’s underground drains on June 6, 1832, for insurgents who might have taken refuge there. They nearly discover Jean Valjean and Marius, but turn away after hearing no further sound.

The sergeant in command of the sewer patrol

Also known as the sergeant

An unnamed police sergeant leading the right-bank sewer patrol. He orders the group to turn toward the Seine and fires once toward Jean Valjean before leaving.

The police agents and sewermen searching the sewers

Also known as the three squads

Unnamed police officers and sewer workers divided into three squads to search the drains during the June 1832 uprising.

Gisquet

Also known as Prefect Gisquet

The prefect of police who ordered a search of the sewers for defeated insurgents during the June 1832 uprising.

General Bugeaud

Also known as Bugeaud

A general assigned to sweep the streets of Paris while the police searched the sewers during the June 1832 uprising.

The thief tracked along the Seine

Also known as the man in the blouse · the fugitive

An unnamed, ragged man followed by a police agent along the Seine. He slips through a locked sewer grating using a key and vanishes underground.

The horses of the hackney-coach following the Seine pursuit

Also known as the horses

The unnamed coachman’s horses, whose muzzles are placed in feedbags while the carriage waits on the quay.

The sewerman swallowed in the Rue Carême-Prenant

Also known as Blaise Poutrain

A sewer worker who was swallowed by a quagmire beneath a manhole in the Rue Carême-Prenant.

Nicholas Poutrain

Also known as Nicholas

Blaise Poutrain’s brother and the last grave-digger of the Charnier des Innocents cemetery in 1785.

Vicomte d’Escoubleau

Also known as d’Escoubleau

A young nobleman and hero of the siege of Lérida who was drowned in a sewer quagmire while hiding from the Duke after visiting his cousin, the Duchesse de Sourdis.

The Duchesse de Sourdis

Also known as Madame de Sourdis

A cousin of the Vicomte d’Escoubleau. After hearing of his death in a sewer, she asks for her smelling-bottle and forgets to weep.

The Duke from whom d’Escoubleau fled

Also known as the Duke

An unnamed duke whom the Vicomte d’Escoubleau was trying to evade when he took refuge in the Beautreillis sewer.

The rats in the elephant

Also known as the rats · the mice

Rats living inside the Bastille elephant that climb onto Gavroche’s netted bed and gnaw at it. Gavroche’s voice frightens them away long enough for the children to sleep.

The veteran rats of the Paris sewers

Also known as the rats · the rodents

Rats inhabiting Paris’s sewer network; an old one sometimes peers out at passers-by, and one bites Jean Valjean as he carries Marius underground.

Enjolras

The uncompromising leader of the Friends of the A B C. During the final assault he shields the retreating insurgents and is captured after fighting on; he is executed by firing squad alongside Grantaire.

Courfeyrac

Also known as M. de Courfeyrac

Marius’s friend and a member of the Friends of the A B C. He fights at the barricade and is killed during the final assault.

Laigle de Meaux

Also known as Lesgle · Légle · L’Aigle · Légle [de Meaux] · Bossuet

A poor, unlucky, good-humored student nicknamed Bossuet. He fights at the barricade and is killed during the final assault.

Feuilly

A self-educated fan-maker and orphan in the Friends of the A B C. He fights at the barricade and is killed during the final assault.

Combeferre

A humane student in the Friends of the A B C. He is killed by bayonet thrusts while lifting a wounded soldier during the final assault.

Joly

Also known as Jolllly

A medical student who considers himself an invalid and follows eccentric health theories. He is named among the insurgents who had held the barricade’s centre before it gave way.

Grantaire

A skeptical, heavy-drinking student who sleeps through most of the fighting at the barricade. He wakes as Enjolras is about to be executed, declares for the Republic, and is shot beside him.

The officer who disobeys Enjolras

Also known as the officer

An unnamed government officer who ignores Enjolras’s order to halt during the assault. Enjolras kills him.

The sergeant who orders Enjolras’s execution

Also known as the sergeant

An unnamed government sergeant who commands the firing squad to take aim at Enjolras.

The officer who delays the firing squad

Also known as the officer

An unnamed government officer who interrupts the execution preparations to ask Enjolras whether he wants his eyes bandaged.

The National Guardsman who lowers his gun

Also known as the National Guardsman

An unnamed guardsman who lowers his aim rather than shoot Enjolras, saying that it feels like shooting a flower.

The people of the Rue de la Chanvrerie

Also known as the inhabitants

Unnamed residents who have shut their houses during the uprising, leaving the insurgents without shelter or aid.

Gerard de Nerval

A writer who once told the narrator that God might be dead, confusing the interruption of progress with the death of Being.

John Brown

A man whom the narrator calls greater than Washington as an example of a heroic, defeated champion of the future.

Pisacane

A man whom the narrator calls greater than Garibaldi as an example of a heroic, defeated champion of the future.

Garibaldi

A man whom the narrator compares unfavorably with Pisacane in praise of heroic defeat.

Leonidas

A Greek leader whom the narrator invokes as the model the insurgents have in mind when they accept the possibility of dying for their cause.

Palafox

A commander who, when Suchet calls for capitulation, is said to answer that after cannon comes knife fighting.

The old woman watching from a window

Also known as the woman at the lighted casement

An unnamed woman who watches from her candlelit window; Combeferre imagines she may be an insurgent’s mother.

The widow’s terrified neighbor

Also known as the old woman with the mattress

An unnamed elderly woman who puts a mattress in front of her attic window to muffle the sound of musketry. Jean Valjean shoots its supporting ropes so the barricade’s defenders can retrieve it and use it to absorb cannon fire.

The two little boys from the elephant

Also known as the elder brother · the five-year-old boy

The unnamed sons of the Thénardiers whom Gavroche sheltered in the Bastille elephant. Now lost and hungry in the Luxembourg garden, the older boy retrieves a brioche from the fountain and gives the larger share to his younger brother.

The bourgeois with the little boy

Also known as the bourgeois

An unnamed, smug bourgeois whom Marius had previously overheard advising his young son to avoid excesses. In the Luxembourg garden during the uprising, he takes the boy home when he fears the fighting may reach them.

The little boy in the Luxembourg

Also known as the little urchin

The bourgeois’s young son, dressed as a National Guardsman during the insurrection. He rejects his stale brioche, which his father throws toward the swans.

The young artillery sergeant killed by Enjolras

Also known as the captain of the piece · the captain of the gun · the captain of the artillery

A handsome, blond artillery sergeant, about twenty-five, who aims the cannon at the barricade. Enjolras shoots him as he adjusts the gun, delaying its next discharge.

The fireman watching the barricade from a roof

Also known as the fireman

An unnamed fireman who watches the barricade from a neighboring roof. Jean Valjean shoots his helmet off, and he quickly disappears.

The officer watching the barricade from a roof

Also known as the officer

An unnamed officer who takes the fireman’s place as rooftop observer. Jean Valjean shoots his helmet off, and the officer retreats.

Fannicot

Also known as Captain Fannicot · the Captain Fannicot

A bold, impatient National Guard captain who prematurely leads his company against the Rue de la Chanvrerie barricade. The attack fails, and he is killed by cannon fire.

Paul Aimé Garnier

Also known as the young poet

A young poet mistaken for a Saint-Simonian during the June 1832 uprising because he carries a volume of the Duc de Saint-Simon’s memoirs. He escapes a pursuing National Guardsman by taking refuge under a doorway.

Marshal General Cavaignac de Barague

Also known as Cavaignac de Barague

A marshal general leading a regiment of cuirassiers during the renewed fighting in Paris on the morning of June 6, 1832.

Suchet

A French commander whose remark during the fighting at Saragossa is recalled by Marshal Soult when people throw household vessels at soldiers from rooftops.

M. Clermont-Tonnerre

Also known as Clermont-Tonnerre

A man who, in 1822, called a battle’s decisive struggle “the tug of war,” a phrase the narrator applies to the impending assault on the barricade.

Madame Scarron

Also known as Madame de Maintenon

A woman invoked as a comparison for Courfeyrac and Bossuet’s cheerful banter amid danger.

Roland

A legendary hero invoked by Bossuet as an example of a man who fights for the woman he loves.

Angélique

The woman named by Bossuet as the beloved for whom Roland gives his life.

The artillerymen bringing the cannon

Also known as the gun-crew · the cannoneers

Unnamed artillerymen who bring a cannon into position and fire grape-shot and cannonballs at the barricade. Enjolras’s men shoot many of them during a later exchange.

The four dead and three wounded National Guardsmen

Also known as the casualties of Fannicot’s company

Unnamed members of Captain Fannicot’s company who are killed or wounded by the insurgents’ first volley during its assault on the barricade.

The old woman who placed a mattress at her window

Also known as the old woman

An unnamed woman who puts her mattress outside an attic window to protect herself from bullets. Jean Valjean cuts its ropes so the barricade’s defenders can use it to deaden cannon fire.

The woman who fires on the National Guard from behind a blind

Also known as the woman behind the lowered blind

An unnamed woman who shoots at National Guardsmen from behind a lowered blind during the renewed uprising on June 6, 1832.

The child arrested with cartridges

Also known as the fourteen-year-old child

An unnamed fourteen-year-old arrested in the Rue de la Cossonerie with his pockets full of cartridges.

The young man who attacks cavalry alone

Also known as the young man armed with a rifle

An unnamed insurgent who attacks a cavalry squadron alone on a boulevard, kills its commander with a rifle shot, and is then put to the sword.

The commander of the cavalry squadron

Also known as the commander of the squadron

An unnamed cavalry officer killed by the young rifleman who attacks his squadron alone.

The bourgeois dram-shop keeper killed in the June insurrection

Also known as the dram-shop keeper of Pantin des Vertus · the dram-shop keeper of la Cunette

An unnamed National Guardsman and tavern keeper whose establishment was closed by the riots. He is killed while defending the order and interests represented by his tea garden.

Henri Fonfrède

Also known as Fonfrède

A man whom the narrator names as one of the independent, irregular political fighters of the National Guard, a partisan of the pen.

The artillery sergeant’s family

Also known as his father, mother, and family

The unnamed parents and family of the young artillery sergeant killed by Enjolras; Combeferre imagines them as part of the human cost of the fighting.

Bahorel

A brave, irreverent student in the Friends of the A B C. He has been killed at the barricade, and Combeferre recalls him among the dead.

Father Hucheloup

Also known as Hucheloup

The deceased former proprietor of the Corinthe wine-shop, where the insurgents have made their barricade. His old stock of wine is found in the cellar.

Jeanne

A woman associated with the Saint-Merry barricade, which is said to have held out through the night. In a recalled episode, she answers insurgents demanding food that they will be dead within an hour.

The unknown blouse-wearing insurgent

Also known as the unknown blouse-wearer · the stranger · the passing hero

An unidentified insurgent who urges the fighters to remain at the barricade even if the people abandon the republicans. His words express their resolve, and he disappears without being identified.

The five insurgents chosen to leave the barricade

Also known as the five chosen men

Five unnamed insurgents selected to escape so fighters with family responsibilities can survive. Jean Valjean’s uniform lets all five depart.

The drunken Auvergnat asleep in the handcart

Also known as the man from Auvergne · the corner errand-man

An unnamed, intoxicated man sleeping in a handcart that Gavroche takes for the barricade. The National Guard post captures him as a suspected accomplice.

Cournet

A former naval officer and formidable insurgent who built the great barricade of the Faubourg Saint-Antoine in June 1848. He was later killed by Barthélemy in London.

Barthélemy

A thin, taciturn former galley convict who built the barricade of the Faubourg du Temple in June 1848. He survived its fall, later killed Cournet in London, and was eventually hanged in England.

Colonel Monteynard

Also known as the valiant Colonel Monteynard

A colonel who admires the precise construction of the Faubourg du Temple barricade. A bullet breaks the cross on his breast and brings him down.

Saint-Just

A revolutionary whose severity the narrator sees in Enjolras’s character.

Anacharsis Cloots

Also known as Cloots

A revolutionary thinker whom the narrator contrasts with Saint-Just when describing the breadth of Enjolras’s political outlook.

Danton

A revolutionary whose qualities the narrator compares with Cournet’s.

Hercules

The mythic hero invoked in the narrator’s comparison of Danton’s qualities.

General Lamarque

Also known as Lamarque

A celebrated general and parliamentary speaker whose death on 5 June 1832 sparks the uprising.

The porter shot by Le Cabuc

Also known as the gray-haired porter

An unnamed elderly porter whom Le Cabuc shot at a window. His dead face is still visible above the barricade as Marius arrives.

The passer-by who names the Lark’s meadow

Also known as the passer-by

An unnamed passer-by who tells Marius the name of the meadow and recalls that Ulbach killed the shepherdess of Ivry there. Another unnamed, late-walking bourgeois hears Éponine threaten the robbers near the Rue Plumet garden and hurries away.

Anceau

Also known as the lime-dealer

A lime-dealer whose dray was used to strengthen the barricade. The horses harnessed to the omnibus he helped requisition wander through the streets and stop near an abandoned barricade.

The friends waiting at the barricade

Also known as Marius’s friends

The insurgents at the Rue de la Chanvrerie barricade, including Courfeyrac and the Friends of the A B C, who are waiting for Marius.

The omnibus driver

Also known as the driver

An unnamed driver forced by Bossuet to surrender his omnibus, which is used to strengthen the barricade. Its two white horses wander through the streets after being left to stray.

The omnibus conductor

Also known as the conductor

An unnamed conductor dismissed by Bossuet after the omnibus passengers leave.

The passengers on the omnibus

Also known as the passengers

Unnamed passengers whom Bossuet makes leave the omnibus before it is used to strengthen the barricade.

The two white horses of the omnibus

Also known as the horses of the omnibus · the omnibus horses

The horses harnessed to the omnibus Bossuet requisitioned for the barricade. Left to wander through the streets, they eventually stop near an abandoned barricade.

The insurgents’ sentinel at the Rue des Prêcheurs

Also known as the sentinel

An unnamed insurgent guarding the end of the Rue des Prêcheurs. He does not see Marius approach the barricade.

The insurgents’ sentinel at the end of the street

Also known as one of the two sentinels

An unnamed sentinel who falls back to the barricade as government troops approach.

The vidette of the Rue de la Petite-Truanderie

Also known as the vidette

An unnamed insurgent lookout who falls back to the barricade when troops approach.

The vidette of the Lane des Prêcheurs

Also known as the vidette

An unnamed insurgent lookout who stays at his post, indicating that nothing is approaching from the direction of the bridges and Halles.

The tall municipal guardsman who attacks Gavroche

Also known as the colossus · the giant

An unnamed municipal guardsman who advances on Gavroche with his bayonet fixed. Marius shoots him before he can harm the boy.

The first municipal guard entering the barricade

Also known as the first municipal guard

An unnamed guard who enters over the omnibus and is killed by Bahorel.

The municipal guard who attacks Courfeyrac

Also known as the second guard

An unnamed guard who attacks Courfeyrac and is shot by Marius.

The municipal guards, soldiers, and National Guards attacking the barricade

Also known as the assailants

Government forces who assault the Rue de la Chanvrerie barricade. They briefly break through, then retreat when Marius threatens to ignite a barrel of powder.

The officer in a gorget

Also known as the officer

An unnamed officer who orders the insurgents to lay down their arms during the fighting at the barricade.

The soldier who aims at Marius

Also known as the soldier

An unnamed soldier who takes aim at Marius during the assault. Éponine blocks his gun, is shot, and dies from the wound.

The young man singing in the street

Also known as the lad · the boy

Little Gavroche, a ragged, resourceful boy who joins the barricade, warns the insurgents of the attack, and fights with a gun. He is Éponine’s younger brother.

The insurgent guarding Javert

Also known as the insurgent with a naked sword

An unnamed insurgent who remains in the tap-room with the bound Javert while the others take their positions.

The commissary of police making the legal summons

Also known as the commissary of police

An unnamed official whose voice is heard making a legal summons to the insurgents from the far end of the street.

The municipal guards at the barricade

Also known as the municipal guards

Government guards who climb into the barricade during the assault. Marius’s shots and threat to blow up the barricade force them to retreat.

The soldiers of the line at the barricade

Also known as the soldiers

Government troops who join municipal and National Guards in the assault on the barricade.

The National Guards from the suburbs

Also known as the National Guards

Government troops who climb the barricade with the municipal guards and soldiers of the line.

The insurgents caring for the wounded

Also known as the medical students

Unnamed insurgents, some of them medical students, who tend the wounded after the first assault.

The six insurgents carrying Mabeuf’s body

Also known as the six men

Unnamed insurgents who make a litter of their guns and carry Mabeuf’s body into the tap-room.

The three inhabitants of Corinthe

Also known as the three poor creatures

Mother Hucheloup, Matelote, and Gibelotte, who hide in the cellar during the fighting and are later found there.

The Thénardier couple

Also known as the Thénardiers

The innkeeper and his wife who took Cosette in for money and subjected her to neglect and abuse. They have five children, including Éponine and Gavroche.

The mother of Little Gavroche

Also known as his mother · the Thénardier woman

Thénardier’s unnamed wife and Gavroche’s mother. She and Thénardier have five children.

The young workman who disguised himself as a woman

Also known as the first young scamp

An unnamed young man who exchanged clothes with Éponine, allowing her to disguise herself as a man. The passage gives no further identifying details.

Lafayette

Also known as General Lafayette · M. de Lafayette · M. Lafayette

A general and political leader, named in the song Gavroche sings at the barricade.

Louis XVI

Also known as the king · the tyrant

The king whom Marius compares with Louis Philippe while arguing that both represent a confiscation of people’s rights.

Washington

A historical figure whose sword Marius invokes while weighing the justice of armed resistance.

Camille Desmoulins

Also known as Camille

A revolutionary figure whose pike Marius compares with Washington’s sword in his argument about resistance.

Timoleon

A Greek leader invoked by Marius as a liberator from tyranny.

Brutus

A Roman figure invoked by Marius in his discussion of resistance to unjust rule.

Marcel

A historical figure named by Marius in an argument that street warfare can serve a just cause.

Arnould von Blankenheim

A historical figure named by Marius in an argument that street warfare can serve a just cause.

Coligny

A historical figure named by Marius in an argument that street warfare can serve a just cause.

Ambiorix

A leader invoked by Marius as a fighter against foreign rule.

Artevelde

A leader invoked by Marius as a fighter against foreign rule.

Marnix

A leader invoked by Marius as a fighter against foreign rule.

Pelagius

A leader invoked by Marius as a fighter against foreign rule.

Prometheus

A mythological figure whom Marius uses to describe an idea beginning a struggle for liberation.

Aristogeiton

A figure whom Marius names as completing the work begun by an idea through action.

Æschylus

Also known as Aeschylus

A playwright whom Marius invokes in a sequence linking ideas to political action.

Thrasybulus

A leader whom Marius names as the political action following Æschylus.

Diderot

Also known as Denis Diderot

An encyclopedist whom Marius links to Danton in a sequence describing ideas followed by political action.

Father Mestienne

Also known as Mestienne

The former grave-digger of the Vaugirard cemetery and Fauchelevent’s friend, who dies just before Mother Crucifixion’s burial.

Matelote

A large, red-haired serving-maid at Corinthe, formerly Father Hucheloup’s favorite. During the uprising she helps prepare lint and remains at the barricade.

Gibelotte

A tall, pale, languid serving-maid at Corinthe. During the uprising she helps carry rubbish to the barricade and prepares lint.

The portress of Courfeyrac’s lodging

Also known as Mother Veuvain · the concierge

An unnamed portress at Courfeyrac’s lodging. She tells him that a young artisan has been waiting to speak with him.

The child who carries Enjolras’s message

Also known as Navet

A small, ragged boy who carries Enjolras’s message, “A B C,” to Bossuet at Corinthe. He calls himself Navet and says he is Gavroche’s friend.

The dandy who loses his way

Also known as the dandy

An unnamed, well-dressed young man who wanders past the barricade and flees when Gavroche invites him to join the uprising.

Pépin

Also known as the grocer in the Faubourg Saint-Antoine

A grocer reportedly supplying powder, vitriol, torches, and fire-pots to the insurgents at Corinthe.

The three insurgents helping the maids

Also known as the three bushy-haired, jolly blades

Three unnamed, bearded insurgents who help Mother Hucheloup, Matelote, and Gibelotte tear cloth into lint for the barricade.

The musicians of the Friends of the A B C

Also known as the musicians

Enjolras and the other armed Friends of the A B C who pass the wine-shop as Bossuet calls out to them.

The women making lint

Also known as the women

Mother Hucheloup, Matelote, and Gibelotte, who tear cloth into lint at the barricade.

Mother Plutarque

Also known as M. Mabeuf’s housekeeper · the old housekeeper

M. Mabeuf’s unmarried, simple-minded housekeeper. She tells him there is no money for dinner, and later falls seriously ill, prompting him to sell his last book to pay for her medicine and care.

The president of the Horticultural Society

Also known as the president of the society

An unnamed official of the Horticultural Society who visits Mabeuf and asks the Minister of Agriculture and Commerce to help him.

The Minister of Agriculture and Commerce

Also known as the Minister

An unnamed minister who expresses concern for Mabeuf and invites him to dinner, but ignores him at the gathering.

The Minister’s wife

Also known as the beautiful woman in a low-necked gown

An unnamed woman who asks who Mabeuf is while he waits at her husband’s dinner gathering.

Royal’s successor

Also known as the second-hand bookseller at the Porte Saint-Jacques

An unnamed bookseller who buys Mabeuf’s last book, a copy of Diogenes Laertius, for one hundred francs.

The gardener who tells Mabeuf about the riots

Also known as the gardener

An unnamed gardener who tells Mabeuf that fighting is taking place near the Arsenal.

Lombier

Also known as the carpenter named Lombier

A carpenter preparing for the uprising who says he is going to fetch his compasses because he has no weapons. He is later killed at the Rue Ménilmontant barricade.

Jacqueline

Also known as the expeditious man

An unnamed artisan called Jacqueline who buys wine for passing workers and directs them to Filspierre, where arms and cartridges are available.

Filspierre

A person whose premises between the Barrière Charonne and the Barrière Montreuil contain weapons and cartridges for workers preparing to fight.

Mavot

A frequently dismissed worker seen among the conspirators preparing for the uprising. He is killed at the Rue Ménilmontant barricade the following day.

Pretot

A worker who supports Mavot and openly says that his aim is insurrection. He is also destined to die in the fighting.

Lemarin

Also known as the revolutionary agent for the Faubourg Saint-Marceau

A revolutionary agent for the Faubourg Saint-Marceau, awaited by workers gathered near the Rue de Bercy.

The artisan who made a dagger from a stocking-weaver’s hook

Also known as the artisan

An unnamed joiner who turns a broken stocking-weaver’s hook into a dagger in preparation for the uprising.

The man who slept dressed to attack

Also known as the man in a fever to attack

An unnamed man so eager to fight that he sleeps fully dressed for three days.

The man with a red beard at the procession

Also known as the red-bearded man

An unidentified man whom a passer-by says will give the signal to fire. He reportedly performed the same role in the Quénisset affair.

The unknown personage who announces the arms factory plan

Also known as the personage whose name has remained unknown

An unidentified person who claims that two bribed overseers will open an arms factory to the people at a specified hour.

The two bribed overseers

Also known as the overseers who had been won over

Two unnamed factory overseers said to have agreed to open an arms factory to the people.

The man with pistols who reviews the procession

Also known as the armed man

An unidentified man who openly carries two pistols and appears to review the crowd during Lamarque’s funeral procession.

The man on horseback carrying a red flag

Also known as the man with the red flag · the man with a pike and liberty-cap

An unidentified rider in black who appears among the crowd at the Austerlitz bridge, carrying either a red flag or a pike topped with a red liberty-cap.

Exelmans

A man in the funeral procession who leaves it when a rider carrying a red flag appears.

Ludwig Snyder

A German veteran in the crowd around Lafayette. He had fought in the American War of Independence at Trenton under Washington and at Brandywine under Lafayette.

Cholet

Also known as the chief of the squadron

A squadron chief killed by the first of three gunshots during the confrontation between the dragoons and the crowd.

The old deaf woman at the window

Also known as the deaf woman

An unnamed elderly woman killed by the second shot while closing her window.

The officer whose shoulder was singed

Also known as the officer

An unnamed officer whose shoulder is grazed by the third shot at the Austerlitz bridge.

The officer of the 12th Light Infantry who declares himself a Republican

Also known as the officer of the 12th Light Infantry

An unnamed officer who publicly says, “I am a Republican,” as Lamarque’s funeral passes.

The Duc de Fitz-James

A duke seen wearing his hat on a balcony during the funeral procession; stones are thrown at him.

The German veteran’s fellow crowd member

Also known as the German

An unnamed German in the crowd who is identified as Ludwig Snyder.

The hair-dresser

Also known as the wig-maker

An unnamed hair-dresser whose shop Gavroche once drove the two little boys from. During the uprising, Gavroche throws a stone through his shop window.

The old soldier in the hair-dresser’s shop

Also known as the veteran of the legion · the veteran

An unnamed veteran of Napoleon’s army who recounts his wounds from several campaigns while being shaved. He witnessed Napoleon and once received a cross from him.

The National Guard lancer

Also known as the lancer

An unnamed National Guard lancer whose horse falls in the street; Gavroche helps him and the horse up.

The horse of the National Guard lancer

Also known as the lancer’s horse

The lancer’s horse, which falls in the street and is helped up by Gavroche.

The rag-picker La Vargoulême

Also known as Mother Dust-Heap-Corner · the rag-picker

An unnamed rag-picker who chats with three portresses in the Rue de Thorigny. She boasts about sorting the items she collects and insults Gavroche.

Mother Patagon

Also known as Patagon

One of three unnamed portresses chatting with the rag-picker. She rails against Gavroche and predicts that he will be guillotined.

The other two portresses in the Rue de Thorigny

Also known as the portresses

Two unnamed portresses who gossip with Mother Patagon and the rag-picker before insulting Gavroche.

Mame Bacheux

A woman cited by Mother Patagon as the source of a confused report that a revolution had occurred at Pontoise.

The errand-boy next door

Also known as the errand-boy

An unnamed young man, described by Mother Patagon as having a pointed beard and carrying a gun while walking with a young woman.

The young woman in the pink bonnet

Also known as the young person in a pink bonnet

An unnamed young woman whom Mother Patagon says she has seen walking with the errand-boy.

The gaunt poodle

Also known as the dog

A thin stray dog Gavroche pities and jokes must have swallowed a cask because its ribs show.

The twenty young men with the tricolored flag

Also known as the young men in Rue Sainte-Croix-de-la-Bretonnerie

A group of unnamed, long-haired young men who emerge from a dram-shop carrying a tricolored flag draped in black, led by three armed men.

The three armed men leading the flag group

Also known as the man with a sword · the man with a gun · the man with a pike

Three unnamed men at the head of the flag-bearing group, each armed with a sword, gun, or pike.

The well-dressed bourgeois offering cartridges

Also known as the bald bourgeois with a black beard

An unnamed, well-dressed man who publicly offers cartridges to passers-by during the uprising.

The woman whose home is used to make cartridges

Also known as the woman opposite the Quai de la Grève

An unnamed woman whose house is occupied by armed young men making cartridges; she says she did not know what cartridges were until her husband explained.

The husband who explains cartridges

Also known as her husband

An unnamed man who explains to his wife what cartridges are.

The mason killed in Rue de la Perle

Also known as the dead mason

An unnamed mason killed by a gunshot during the uprising.

The well-dressed man distributing money at Rue des Ménétriers

Also known as the man distributing money

An unnamed man who gives money to workers at a barricade.

The horseman paying expenses at Rue Grenetat

Also known as the horseman

An unnamed rider who gives what appears to be a roll of silver to a barricade commander for expenses.

The commander of the Rue Grenetat barricade

Also known as the one who seemed to be the commander

An unnamed insurgent who receives money from a horseman for the barricade’s expenses.

The light-haired young man carrying passwords

Also known as the young man without a cravat

An unidentified young man who moves between barricades carrying passwords.

The man placing sentinels

Also known as the man with a naked sword

An unidentified man wearing a blue police cap who places sentinels at barricades.

The man killed in Rue du Ponceau

Also known as the man with a plan of Paris

An unnamed man killed during the uprising who is found carrying a plan of Paris.

The drummer stabbed at Passage de l’Ancre

Also known as the drummer

An unnamed drummer struck by a dagger during the fighting.

The drummer attacked in Rue du Cygne

Also known as another drummer

An unnamed drummer attacked by thirty young men, who break his instrument and take his sword.

The drummer killed in Rue Grenier-Saint-Lazare

Also known as another drummer

An unnamed drummer killed during the uprising.

The three officers killed in Rue Michel-le-Comte

Also known as the officers

Three unnamed officers who fall one after another during the fighting.

Marshal Lobau

Also known as Lobau

A marshal who commands government forces during the uprising, with General Bugeaud serving under him.

Marshal Soult

Also known as Soult · the Minister of War

The Minister of War, a veteran of Austerlitz, who watches the crisis with a gloomy air.

The man of Lyons

Also known as Lagrange

Lagrange, a prisoner at the Conciergerie who valiantly harangues the prisoners.

Armand Carrel

Also known as Carrel

A political figure whom rumors say has consulted Marshal Clausel about obtaining a regiment.

Marshal Clausel

Also known as Clausel

A marshal whom rumors say Armand Carrel visited during the uprising.

The cocoa seller in the 1839 uprising

Also known as the infirm old man

An unnamed old man who pushes a handcart of cocoa through fighting during the 1839 insurrection, serving both government forces and insurgents.

The shopkeeper in Paris during uprisings

Also known as the shopkeeper

A representative shopkeeper who initially dismisses distant fighting, then closes his shop and takes up his National Guard uniform when the danger approaches.

The old man who pushes the cocoa cart

Also known as the cocoa seller

An unnamed infirm old man who, during the 1839 uprising, offers cocoa to both government soldiers and insurgents.

The two little fellows chased from the hair-dresser’s shop

Also known as the two brats · the two Thénardier sons given to Magnon

The Thénardiers’ two youngest sons, whom Gavroche had sheltered in the Bastille elephant. A hair-dresser chased them from his shop.

The man who falls from a diligence

Also known as the traveller

An unnamed traveller mentioned by Favourite as arranging for a diligence to pick him up on the quay.

The porter who becomes a general in revolt

Also known as the porter

A generic example in the narrator’s account of how revolt can turn an ordinary porter into a general; not individually identified.

The four gossips in the Rue de Thorigny

Also known as the three portresses and the rag-picker

Mother Patagon, two other portresses, and the rag-picker La Vargoulême, who gossip in a doorway as Gavroche passes.

The old woman who closes her window

Also known as the old deaf woman at the window

An unnamed deaf woman killed by a shot while closing her window during the confrontation at the Austerlitz bridge.

The boys who ran from the hair-dresser

Also known as the two little fellows

The two youngest sons of the Thénardiers, previously sheltered by Gavroche and chased from the hair-dresser’s shop.

M. Baour-Lormian

Also known as Baour-Lormian

An academician for whom Gavroche once carried out a commission.

The academician who influences Gavroche’s poetry

Also known as M. Baour-Lormian

M. Baour-Lormian, an academician for whom Gavroche once performed a commission; his influence is invoked in the chapter heading about Gavroche’s songs.

Mother What’s-your-name

Also known as Mother What’s-his-name

An unnamed shopkeeper whose old holster-pistol Gavroche takes from a bric-à-brac shop window.

Nini

A woman Gavroche calls his concubine while theatrically declaring that he may never see her again.

The four sisters in the Rue de Thorigny doorway

Also known as the four gossips

Mother Patagon, two other portresses, and the rag-picker La Vargoulême, who gossip together while Gavroche passes.

The man who makes his escape

Also known as the escaped thief

A generalized figure in the narrator’s reflection on the daring and ingenuity of prison escapes.

The two young men named as inseparable friends

Also known as Orestes and Pylades

Two mythological friends invoked as a comparison for the inseparable pairing of Grantaire and Enjolras.

The six ruffians at Rue Plumet

Also known as the six men

Thénardier, Claquesous, Gueulemer, Babet, Brujon, and Montparnasse, who gather to rob the Rue Plumet house. Éponine stops them, and Brujon decides they should leave.

The childlike messenger who warns Jean Valjean

Also known as the creature larger than a child

An unidentified figure, larger than a child but smaller than a man, who drops a note warning Jean Valjean to move away from his house, then escapes into the Champ-de-Mars moat.

Marius’s mother

Also known as Madame Pontmercy

Georges Pontmercy’s wife and Marius’s deceased mother. M. Gillenormand keeps her portrait beside his bed and sees a resemblance between her and Marius.

The people at Marius’s lodging

Also known as the members of the household

Unnamed household members at Courfeyrac’s lodging who are present with him, Enjolras, Feuilly, and Combeferre when Marius wakes.

The prison watcher in the dormitory

Also known as the watcher

An unnamed guard sleeping in a grated cell that opens into the prisoners’ dormitory. Brujon and Gueulemer escape before he notices their tunnel through the chimney.

The sentinel at La Force

Also known as the sentinel · the old soldier

An unnamed old soldier guarding La Force who is relieved at two in the morning. His post overlooks the gap between the prison and its outer wall.

The conscript sentry

Also known as the conscript · the raw recruit

An unnamed young conscript who replaces the old sentinel and is found drugged and asleep beside Thénardier’s cage. Thénardier escapes with the soldier’s bayonet.

The jailer who visits Thénardier

Also known as the man with the dogs · the jailer

An unnamed jailer who brings Thénardier food and water, checks his irons, and makes two rounds at night with two dogs. He does not notice the drugged sentry.

The jailer’s dogs

Also known as the two dogs

Two unnamed dogs accompanying the jailer on his visits to Thénardier’s cage.

Desrues

A man said to have invented the narcotic wine Thénardier secretly obtains in prison.

The porter at the bath-house wicket

Also known as the porter

An unnamed prison employee whose wicket Brujon and Gueulemer open during their escape from La Force.

The prison patrol

Also known as the patrol

Unnamed officers whose movements Thénardier hears while hiding on the ruin’s wall.

The four men who enter the enclosure

Also known as the men beneath Thénardier

Brujon, Babet, Montparnasse, and Gueulemer, who take shelter from the rain in an enclosure beneath Thénardier. They recognize his rope and help him descend.

The child Gavroche fetches

Also known as the brat · the young ’un

Little Gavroche, summoned by Montparnasse to climb a narrow flue and tie a rope for Thénardier’s escape.

The sentinel guarding La Force’s wicket

Also known as the sentinel

An unnamed guard posted a few paces from the enclosure where Thénardier hides. Heavy rain keeps him confined to his sentry box while the gang confers nearby.

The man who says “Let’s cut”

Also known as Brujon

Brujon, a member of Patron-Minette who waits with Babet, Montparnasse, and Gueulemer near La Force. He initially urges them to leave, then helps rescue Thénardier.

The man who says “It’s raining hard enough to put out the very devil’s fire”

Also known as Babet

Babet, a member of Patron-Minette who waits near La Force and recognizes Thénardier’s signal rope. He helps devise the rescue.

The man who says “There’s no hurry yet”

Also known as Montparnasse

Montparnasse, a member of Patron-Minette who waits near La Force for Thénardier. He fetches Gavroche to climb the flue and help with the rescue.

The silent man with huge shoulders

Also known as Gueulemer

Gueulemer, a member of Patron-Minette who waits with the others near La Force and helps Gavroche reach the shanty roof.

The old-clothes broker at the Temple

Also known as Babet

Babet, who once worked as an old-clothes broker at the Temple; Thénardier recognizes him by his use of Temple slang.

Poulailler

A speaker of the older criminal slang cited by the narrator.

Cartouche

A criminal whose speech is cited as an example of older slang; one phrase is attributed to him.

Corneille

A playwright invoked by the narrator as a comparison for the grandeur of an older slang expression.

Alighieri

Also known as Dante

The poet whom the narrator compares with Machiavelli while arguing that the inner life of society deserves historical attention.

The king of Thunes

An unnamed prisoner and slang speaker who engraved a maxim on a Bicêtre cell wall before being sent to the galleys.

Survincent

Also known as Poor Survincent

A poacher who endured the Châtelet prison cellar and said that rhymes helped him survive.

Mandrin

A criminal invoked by the narrator as a speaker of slang.

Villon

Also known as François Villon

A poet whom the narrator associates with slang and attributes a slang word to.

La Fontaine

A poet whose verse is compared with the slang word décarade.

Racine

Also known as Jean Racine

A playwright invoked in a comparison between metaphorical slang and the evolution of tragic style.

Euripides

A playwright invoked in a comparison with the movement from Corneille to Racine.

Jean Bart

A naval commander whose sailors’ language is described as vivid and heroic.

Duquesne

A naval commander associated with the vivid language of the sea.

Suffren

A naval commander associated with the vivid language of the sea.

Duperré

A naval commander associated with the vivid language of the sea.

Voltaire

Also known as François-Marie Arouet

A writer whose use of the word camouflet is traced by the narrator to criminal slang.

Langleviel La Beaumelle

Also known as La Beaumelle

A writer whom Voltaire says deserves a hundred camouflets.

Turgot

A leading physiocrat whom the narrator associates with progress toward the useful.

Rousseau

Also known as Jean-Jacques Rousseau

A philosopher whom the narrator associates with progress toward justice.

Restif de La Bretonne

A writer whose works the narrator says likely excavated an especially unhealthy ideological influence among the masses.

Schiller

A German writer whose drama The Robbers is cited in an account of the influence of ideas about theft and property.

Hannibal

A general whose encampment serves as an image in the narrator’s reflection on confronting the past.

The woman who loves Marius

Also known as Cosette

Cosette, whose love for Marius is described as generous and as one of the loves that saves.

The officer of lancers seen by Cosette

Also known as the handsome lieutenant · Lieutenant Théodule · Théodule Gillenormand · the Lancer

Théodule Gillenormand, a vain and handsome young lancer whom Cosette notices passing the garden gate while grieving for Marius. After reading Marius’s letter, she finds him hideous and later considers him insipid and ugly.

The little boy who sees the chain-gang

Also known as the old woman’s little boy

An unnamed five-year-old boy whose mother points out the convicts to him as a warning.

Magnon

Also known as the servant-maid dismissed six months previously

A criminal associate of the Thénardiers who once passed Brujon’s note to Éponine. After her own two boys die, she takes the Thénardiers’ two youngest sons in their place and continues receiving money for their upkeep from M. Gillenormand.

Jondrette’s little brother

Also known as the little brother

The unnamed younger brother of the Jondrette daughters, who is friends with theatre performers and sometimes gives his sister tickets.

Jondrette’s spouse

Also known as his spouse · Jondrette’s wife · the female Jondrette · Mother Jondrette · Madame Thénardier · the Thénardier woman · the female Thénardier

Thénardier’s unnamed wife and mother of their five children. She helped prepare and carry out the ambush, was arrested with her husband, and gave their two youngest sons to Magnon.

The shorter Jondrette daughter

Also known as Jondrette’s younger daughter · the little sister · the younger girl · the little girl

Thénardier’s younger daughter, about fourteen but stunted by poverty. She is injured, taken to the Bourbe hospital by her elder sister, and later arrested by Javert while keeping watch.

The long-haired accomplice in the snow

Also known as the long-haired man · Brujon

A member of Patron-Minette who crouches behind a wall with Demi-Liard and discusses a planned crime.

The collector of Gillenormand’s rents

Also known as M. Barge

A retired tip-staff who pays Magnon eighty francs a month on M. Gillenormand’s behalf for the two boys she claims are his sons.

Mamselle Miss

Also known as the clever gallicized English thief

An English thief naturalized as a Parisian and associate of Magnon. Police arrest her during the raid on Magnon’s lodgings.

The cobbler across from Magnon’s house

Also known as the cobbler

An unnamed cobbler who gives the two boys an address after police arrest Magnon and clear the house.

The child who was caught sleeping in the elephant

Also known as the child charged with vagabondage and mutilation of a public monument

An unnamed child whom the courts once tried for vagabondage and damaging the Bastille elephant after finding him asleep inside it.

The wig-maker’s wax bride

Also known as the wax bride

A wax figure in a low-necked dress and orange blossoms displayed in the wig-maker’s shop window.

The two boys who seek shelter from the wig-maker

Also known as the elder boy · the younger boy · the brothers

The Thénardiers’ two youngest sons, now living with Magnon, who are left homeless after she is arrested. Gavroche feeds them and takes them to sleep in his shelter inside the Bastille elephant.

The woman who laughs at Gavroche and the boys

Also known as Mamselle Omnibus

An unnamed woman who laughs when she sees Gavroche leading the two boys through the street.

The bearded portress

Also known as the portress with the broom

An unnamed woman with a broom whom Gavroche addresses as he passes.

The pedestrian whose boots Gavroche spatters

Also known as the furious pedestrian · the man

An unnamed passer-by whose polished boots Gavroche spatters while crossing a gutter; the man angrily rebukes him.

The beggar-girl under the porte-cochère

Also known as the beggar-girl

An unnamed thirteen- or fourteen-year-old girl lying cold beneath a doorway. Gavroche gives her the woollen shawl he has been wearing.

The baker

Also known as the proprietor in person

An unnamed baker who sells Gavroche white bread for the sou he offers to feed the three boys.

The man who tells Marius that Thénardier is in close confinement

Also known as the young licentiate in law

An unnamed young law graduate who tells Marius that Thénardier is being held in close confinement.

The four men in the empty attic

Also known as the motionless heads

Four unnamed accomplices whom Marius glimpses waiting silently in an unoccupied attic near his room before the ambush. At the Gorbeau garret, masked men with blackened faces join Thénardier’s attack on M. Leblanc.

The night prowler who carries the meat-axe

Also known as the man with the axe

An unnamed accomplice who carries a butcher’s pole-axe, makes a joke about splitting wood, and accompanies Thénardier’s wife. Javert identifies him as Gueulemer.

The patrol sergeant

Also known as the police sergeant

An unnamed police sergeant standing near Montparnasse and Gavroche in the street. Montparnasse warns Gavroche of his presence through a coded phrase.

The man who built the Bastille elephant

Also known as the architect of the elephant · Napoleon

Napoleon, whom the narrator identifies as the designer of the great elephant monument at the Place de la Bastille. Gavroche uses the ruined structure as a shelter.

The watchman who signals Gavroche

Also known as Montparnasse

Montparnasse, the criminal who disguises himself and summons Gavroche from beneath the Bastille elephant with a birdlike cry. He asks Gavroche to help the prisoners escape.

The market-gardeners

Also known as the market-gardeners in their carts

Unnamed produce sellers travelling in carts toward the Paris markets at dawn. They do not notice Montparnasse and Gavroche as the pair hurry past.

The schoolmaster

An unnamed schoolmaster in Montfermeil who questions Boulatruelle about his forest searches and helps Thénardier piece together his story.

The prison guards at La Force

Also known as the patrol

Unnamed guards who search doorways and alleys for nocturnal vagabonds. They pass the Bastille elephant without seeing the children sheltered inside.

The prison roofers

Also known as the roofers

Unnamed workers repairing the roof of La Force, whose scaffolding and ladders give the prisoners an opportunity to attempt escape.

The prisoners attempting to escape from La Force

Also known as Babet, Brujon, Guelemer, and Thénardier

Babet, Brujon, Gueulemer, and Thénardier plan an escape from La Force, with Montparnasse and Gavroche helping from outside.

Comte Coutard

Also known as the commandant of Paris

A general on horseback in full uniform whom Jean Valjean envies, imagining that Cosette might be dazzled by his rank and appearance.

The guards of the chain-gang

Also known as the escort troop · the soldier-blackguards · the myrmidons

Unnamed armed guards who escort the chained convicts from Bicêtre, beat them, and march alongside their wagons. A man who appears to command them signals a brutal flogging with his whip.

The man who appears to command the chain-gang escort

Also known as the captain of the escort

An unnamed guard who appears to lead the escort and cracks his whip to signal the flogging of the chained convicts.

The mounted gendarmes accompanying the chain-gang

Also known as the gendarmes at the head and rear of the convoy

Unnamed gendarmes who ride at the front and rear of the convoy transporting the convicts.

The convicts in the chain-gang

Also known as the men on the drays · the chained men

Unnamed prisoners transported in chains from Bicêtre toward the galleys. They are beaten and abused during the journey; Jean Valjean recognizes the route from his own past as a convict.

The former enslaved man in the chain-gang

Also known as the negro on the first cart

An unnamed man who had been enslaved and is now among the convicts transported in the chain-gang.

The sick convicts on the baggage wagon

Also known as the sick men

Unnamed, apparently ill prisoners who are bound and stretched out on the last wagon and are beaten along with the other convicts.

The children running behind the chain-gang

Also known as the band of children · the street urchins

Unnamed children who run behind the convoy, laughing and delighting in the violence against the convicts.

The crowd watching the chain-gang

Also known as the throng · the spectators

Unnamed onlookers who gather along the road to watch the convoy; some bourgeois listen with vacant delight to the convicts’ songs.

The old woman who warns her little boy about the chain-gang

Also known as the old woman in the crowd

An unnamed woman in the crowd who points out the convicts to her five-year-old son and tells him to take warning.

The injured man in the chain-gang

Also known as the sick man on the seventh wagon

An unnamed, apparently ill convict bound and lying among other sick prisoners on the baggage wagon.

The young man in the garden at night

Also known as the man with the round hat · the intruder

An unidentified man whose shadow Cosette sees in the garden at night, frightening her. Valjean later explains that the shadow resembles one cast by a chimney pipe, though Cosette remains unsure whether she had also heard someone walking.

The father of Brujon

Also known as the Brujon of 1811

The father of the imprisoned Brujon, who carved his name into a wall at La Force in 1811.

The magistrate who releases Brujon

Also known as the magistrate

An unnamed magistrate who lets Brujon out of close confinement, hoping he will be more useful under observation in the prison courtyard.

The prison corporal

Also known as the corporal

An unnamed prison official whose attention is drawn to the unusually costly errands Brujon arranges through other prisoners.

Kruideniers

Also known as Bizarro

A feared prowler of the barriers and suspected member of Patron-Minette. Police attention falls on him after Brujon’s prison errands point toward his address.

Glorieux

Also known as the discharged convict · the ex-convict

A feared prowler of the barriers and suspected member of Patron-Minette. Police attention falls on him after Brujon’s prison errands point toward his address.

Barrecarrosse

Also known as Barre-Carosse · Monsieur Dupont

A feared prowler of the barriers and suspected member of Patron-Minette. Police attention falls on him after Brujon’s prison errands point toward his address.

The police agents and sergeants transporting Claquesous

Also known as the police agents · the sergeants

Unnamed officers who transport the prisoners toward La Force and discover that Claquesous has vanished from the carriage.

The other inspectors in Javert’s squad

Also known as the inspectors

Unnamed police inspectors who serve under Javert and may know more than he does about the Prefecture’s secrets.

The prisoner who carries Brujon’s note

Also known as the prisoner who picks up the postilion

An unnamed prisoner in La Force who receives the bread pellet containing Brujon’s message and forwards it to Babet.

The prison watchman who sees Brujon writing

Also known as the watchman

An unnamed watchman who sees Brujon writing in the dormitory at night and alerts the prison guardian.

The prison guardian

Also known as the guardian

An unnamed prison official who enters the dormitory after the watchman reports Brujon writing, then places Brujon in solitary confinement.

The prison superintendent of the watch

Also known as the superintendent of the watch

An unnamed official inspecting the lower dormitory at La Force when a watchman spots Brujon writing.

Babet’s friend in the Salpêtrière

Also known as Babet’s good friend

An unnamed woman imprisoned in the Salpêtrière who receives Brujon’s note from Babet and passes it to Magnon.

Babet’s mistress in the Salpêtrière

Also known as Babet’s mistress

An unnamed woman in the Salpêtrière who receives Éponine’s coded reply through Magnon.

The errand-men of La Force

Also known as the errand-men

Unnamed prison workers who carry out errands for inmates; Brujon uses their services under the names of three comrades.

The sheep in prisons

Also known as the prisoners secretly sold

Prisoners who secretly pass information to the police, as described by the narrator.

Escousse

A man cited by the narrator as an example of someone driven toward crime or suicide by excessive reverie.

Lebras

A man cited by the narrator alongside Escousse as an example of someone driven toward crime or suicide by excessive reverie.

Ulbach

The man said to have killed the shepherdess of Ivry in the meadow later called the Lark’s meadow.

The goat-girl of Ivry

Also known as the shepherdess of Ivry

An unnamed girl said to have been killed by Ulbach in the meadow later called the Lark’s meadow.

Royal

Also known as Royol · the old bookseller of the Porte-Saint-Jacques

M. Mabeuf’s sole friend among the living, an old bookseller who has since died.

The chief justice in the Parliament of Paris

Also known as the magistrate

An unnamed magistrate from the previous century who built the secluded house and secret passage in what is now the Rue Plumet, to conceal his mistress and a child with a nurse.

The chief justice’s mistress

Also known as the mistress

An unnamed woman kept secretly by the chief justice in his secluded house in the Rue Blomet, now Rue Plumet.

The child and nurse hidden by the chief justice

Also known as the child and nurse

Unidentified individuals for whom the chief justice built a concealed back building, in case he needed to hide them.

Jean-Jacques Lamoignon

Also known as Lamoignon

A historical figure whom the narrator invokes when describing the chief justice’s garden and the imagined continuations of its former designers.

André Le Nôtre

Also known as Lenôtre

A garden designer invoked by the narrator in describing the old garden’s transformation.

Salvatore Ruysdael

Also known as Ruysdael

A painter whose name is invoked to convey the picturesque quality of the meadow near the Gobelins.

Gans

Also known as the Gans of the Gans and Savigny controversy

A German scholar whose controversy with Savigny Marius is supposed to translate into French, though he cannot work.

Savigny

Also known as the Savigny of the Gans and Savigny controversy

A German scholar whose controversy with Gans Marius is supposed to translate into French, though he cannot work.

The porters of Jean Valjean’s other apartments

Also known as the porters

Unnamed porters who serve Jean Valjean when he stays in his decoy apartments in the Rue de l’Ouest and Rue de l’Homme Armé.

The butcher who serves Jean Valjean and Cosette

Also known as the butcher

An unnamed butcher who sees Jean Valjean and calls him a queer fish; Toussaint describes Valjean as a saint.

The tax collector

Also known as the tax-collector

An unnamed official whose notices arrive at the Rue Plumet house.

The sergeant-major

Also known as the sergeant-major

An unnamed National Guard officer whom Jean Valjean willingly serves while concealing his age and identity.

Comte de Lobau

Also known as Count de Lobau

A military official whom Jean Valjean does not try to evade when serving in the National Guard.

Mère Gaucher

Also known as Mother Gaucher

A seller in the Rue du Figuier-Saint-Paul from whom Jean Valjean bought a Persian rug for Cosette’s room.

The chief justice’s mistress’s child

Also known as the child

An unnamed child for whom the chief justice’s secret back building was intended as a hiding place.

President Delancre

Also known as Delancre

The author of a treatise on the inconstancy of demons that M. Mabeuf reads in his garden.

Mutor de la Rubaudière

Also known as Rubaudière

The author of a book about the devils of Vauvert and the Gobelins that M. Mabeuf reads and later recalls while wondering whether the girl was a goblin.

The women who live in the Rue Plumet house

Also known as the woman

Cosette and Toussaint, whose presence is suggested to passers-by by the short curtains in the house’s windows.

Charles I

An English king whose solemn downfall is contrasted with the unceremonious departure of the Bourbons.

Guillaume du Vair

A French statesman and writer quoted on maintaining respect for kings, especially when they suffer misfortune.

Machiavelli

An Italian writer presented as the embodiment of political fact without moral right.

Cromwell

A revolutionary leader cited as an example of a man who could be made king after a revolution.

Iturbide

A man of fortune cited as a possible king made after a revolution.

House of Brunswick

A royal house cited as an example of the family sought by a later revolution to establish a dynasty.

House of Orleans

The royal family cited as an example of the dynasty sought after a revolution; Louis Philippe belonged to it.

Casimir Périer

A political leader who represented the restrictive side of the bourgeoisie and prevailed over Louis Philippe in establishing a quasi-legitimate place of execution.

Marie d’Orleans

A daughter of Louis Philippe who became known as an artist and sculpted a work she named Jeanne d’Arc.

Charles d’Orleans

A member of the Orleans family who had established its name among poets.

Metternich

A statesman who praised two of Louis Philippe’s daughters and whose influence over European affairs is noted.

Louis Blanc

A historian whose recent judgment of Louis Philippe had become more favorable.

Louis IX

A king invoked as a comparison for Louis Philippe’s gentleness.

Beccaria

A thinker whose work Louis Philippe annotated and whose principles the peerage invoked when opposing executions.

Fieschi

The perpetrator of an attack on Louis Philippe, after which the king lamented that he had not been wounded so he could pardon him.

The keeper of the seals under Louis Philippe

Also known as the keeper of the seals

An unnamed official who resisted Louis Philippe’s efforts to pardon a political criminal.

The political criminal whom Louis Philippe sought to pardon

Also known as the generous figure of our day

An unnamed political prisoner whom Louis Philippe regarded as exceptionally generous and sought to pardon.

The crown attorneys under Louis Philippe

Also known as the crown attorneys · the chatterers of the law

Unnamed prosecutors whose opposition Louis Philippe resisted while reviewing death sentences.

The witness who knew Louis Philippe

Also known as the witness

An unnamed person whose testimony is cited for Louis Philippe’s memory and his efforts to save condemned prisoners.

Polignac

A political figure whom Lafayette was used to defend, illustrating the contradictions of Louis Philippe’s government.

The last Prince de Condé

Also known as Prince de Condé

The last prince of the Condé line, whose disappearance is listed among the threatening events of 1832.

Nicolas

The Russian ruler whose hostility toward France is mentioned in the account of Europe’s tensions in 1832.

Ferdinand

The ruler of Spain, cited among the political threats facing Europe in 1832.

Miguel

The ruler of Portugal, cited among the political threats facing Europe in 1832.

Laffitte

A French political and financial figure described as ruined during the crises of 1832.

Benjamin Constant

A political thinker and writer whose death in poverty is listed among the troubles of 1832.

The Duchesse de Berry

Also known as the Duchess of Berry

A royalist figure who was in the Vendée during the political unrest of 1832.

The workers who swear to join the rising

Also known as the initiated · the workingmen

Unnamed workingmen in Faubourg Saint-Antoine wine-shops who pledge to take to the streets and fight in a coming uprising.

The man seated in the corner of the wine-shop

An unnamed man who reminds newly sworn workers of their pledge to fight.

The workingman who says “We have no arms!”

Also known as the workingman

An unnamed participant in a wine-shop gathering whose complaint about having no weapons prompts the reply that the soldiers have them.

The comrade who replies “The soldiers have!”

Also known as the comrade

An unnamed worker at a wine-shop meeting who answers a complaint about lacking arms.

The patriotic women in the wine-shops

Also known as the women

Unnamed women in some of the Faubourg Saint-Antoine wine-shops who welcome newcomers with embraces.

Burtot

A wine-merchant whose name appears on a proclamation addressed to the National Guard in the departments.

The bearded man with an Italian accent

Also known as the man with his beard worn like a collar

An unnamed speaker who reads a revolutionary document aloud at the Marché Lenoir and draws an approving crowd.

The passer-by who declares “I am a Babouvist!”

Also known as the Babouvist

An unnamed man who mounts a post in April 1832 and proclaims himself a Babouvist; the crowd suspects him of being Gisquet.

The artisan who cries “Silence, citizen spy!”

Also known as the artisan

An unnamed worker who interrupts the supposed Babouvist speaker by calling him a spy.

The very well-dressed man who claims to be an agent

Also known as the agent of the committee

An unnamed man who tells a workingman he is a committee agent, warns him that he is suspected, and hints that he is being watched.

The workingman suspected of disloyalty

Also known as the workingman

An unnamed man whom a purported committee agent accuses of being insufficiently faithful to the movement.

The weaver

An unnamed worker who urges a cabinet-maker to be initiated because a shot is soon to be fired.

The cabinet-maker

An unnamed worker whom the weaver urges to be initiated before an anticipated uprising.

The two ragged pedestrians

Also known as the two men

Two unnamed passers-by who debate whether M. Philippe or the bourgeoisie governs France.

M. Philippe

Louis Philippe, referred to by this name in a street exchange about who governs France.

The four men crouching in the ditch

Also known as the men in the ditch

Unnamed conspirators overheard discussing a plan to prevent an unidentified man from walking around Paris.

The intermediary for the Faubourg Saint-Antoine leaders

Also known as Aug—

An incompletely named chief of the Society aid for tailors on Rue Mondétour, reputed to connect the insurgent leaders with Faubourg Saint-Antoine.

The accused man who denies having a leader

Also known as the man accused before the Court of Peers

An unnamed defendant who later claims that he knew of and recognized no leader.

The carpenter who finds the papers

Also known as the carpenter

An unnamed carpenter working on a fence in Rue de Reuilly who discovers torn notes about revolutionary societies and weapons.

Bannerel

A name on a coded list of revolutionary section members, accompanied by an inventory of eight guns and eighty-three cartridges.

Boubière

A name on a coded list of revolutionary section members, with one pistol and forty cartridges recorded.

Rollet

A name on a coded list of revolutionary section members, with a foil, pistol, and powder recorded.

Tessier

A name on a coded list of revolutionary section members, with a sword and cartridge-box recorded.

Terreur

A name on a coded list of revolutionary section members, described as brave and recorded as having eight guns.

Blanchard

A name on a list of the Society of the Rights of Man’s section leaders, associated with Arbre-Sec.

Barra

A name appearing on a list of the Society of the Rights of Man’s section leaders.

Soize

A name appearing on a list of the Society of the Rights of Man’s section leaders.

Kosciusko

A name appearing on a list of the Society of the Rights of Man’s section leaders.

Aubry the Butcher

A name appearing with a question mark on a list of the Society of the Rights of Man’s section leaders.

Dufond

A name appearing on a list of the Society of the Rights of Man’s section leaders, under the heading “Right of revision.”

Derbac

A name appearing on a list of the Society of the Rights of Man’s section leaders, under the heading “Fall of the Girondists.”

Pinson

A name appearing on a list of the Society of the Rights of Man’s section leaders, with a pistol and cartridges recorded.

Michel

A name appearing on a list of the Society of the Rights of Man’s section leaders, with a sword recorded.

Tilly

Also known as the crier of the Populaire

A crier for the Populaire named on a list of the Society of the Rights of Man’s section leaders.

The honest bourgeois who finds the section list

Also known as the bourgeois

An unnamed man who finds a list identifying section chiefs of the Society of the Rights of Man and understands its significance.

Lahautière

The signer of two printed revolutionary dialogues found in a package containing cartridges.

Pardon

A man found preparing cartridges by police in 1832; he later joined the Barricade-Merry section and was killed in the 1834 insurrection.

Gallais

A man who boasted of keeping hundreds of cartridges and flints at his home and was later killed in the Rue Beaubourg affair.

The furniture-dealer of Rue Moreau

Also known as the furniture-dealer

An unnamed shopkeeper who asks when the revolution will begin and offers his gun.

The neighboring shopkeeper who offers a pistol

Also known as the neighbor

An unnamed shopkeeper who offers to sell a small pistol to aid the coming attack.

The weaver urging initiation

Also known as the weaver

An unnamed weaver who tells a cabinet-maker to get initiated because a shot is soon to be fired.

The man questioned about the meeting in Rue de la Paix

Also known as the accused young man

An unnamed young defendant who says he led the Manuel section and received instructions from the central committee.

Béford

A name associated with military operations that later demonstrated revolutionary activity within the army.

Luneville

A name associated with military operations that later demonstrated revolutionary activity within the army.

Épinard

A name associated with military operations that later demonstrated revolutionary activity within the army.

The man chosen for the Barrière du Maine mission

Also known as Grantaire

Grantaire, the skeptical and heavy-drinking student who agrees to visit the marble-workers and artists at Richefeu’s. He dons a red Robespierre waistcoat and promises Enjolras he will manage.

The sculptors’ workshop workers at the Barrière du Maine

Also known as the marble-workers, painters, and journeymen

Unnamed artists and workers who meet at Richefeu’s, where Enjolras fears their revolutionary enthusiasm is cooling.

The adversary playing dominoes with Grantaire

Also known as the other figure

An unnamed man playing dominoes with Grantaire at Richefeu’s when Enjolras arrives.

Ma’am Bougon

Also known as the old woman at No. 50-52 · the principal tenant at the Gorbeau house · the old woman who waits on Marius · the old principal lodger

The elderly portress and principal tenant of the Gorbeau house. Marius pays her his overdue rent and moves away after the raid; she later tells neighborhood portresses she suspects him of being an accomplice.

The law licentiate who frequents the courts

Also known as the young licentiate in law

An unnamed young law graduate who tells Marius that Thénardier is being held in close confinement.

The portresses who hear Ma’am Bougon’s suspicion

Also known as the portresses of the quarter

Unnamed neighborhood portresses to whom Ma’am Bougon says she suspects Marius was involved with the arrested robbers.

The 221

Also known as the 221 deputies

A group of 221 deputies who made Louis Philippe king in 1830.

The seven men whom Louis Philippe says he saved

Also known as the condemned heads

Seven unnamed prisoners whose death sentences Louis Philippe says he managed to overturn in one night.

The crowd at the Marché Lenoir

Also known as the groups

Unnamed people who gather around the bearded speaker and applaud his revolutionary document.

The man who speaks with Jondrette by the wall

Also known as the prowler of the barriers

An unnamed criminal-looking man whom Marius sees talking with Jondrette; Marius thinks he resembles Panchaud.

Father What’s-his-name

Also known as Father What’s-his-name’s team

An unnamed man whose team Jondrette says will already be harnessed for the planned crime.

The man with the iron-tipped cudgel

Also known as the thin man

An unnamed criminal who arrives with two other armed men and reports to Thénardier that the carriage and team are ready. He is later identified by Javert as Babet.

The man with the prison key

Also known as the masked man with the ventriloquist’s voice

An unnamed accomplice who carries a large stolen key, speaks in a ventriloquist’s voice, and signals the gang’s escape. Javert identifies him as Claquesous.

The man with the hammer

Also known as the old man on the bed

An unnamed, apparently drunken accomplice who rises with a stone-breaker’s hammer during the struggle. Thénardier calls him Boulatruelle.

The police agents and policemen

Also known as the squad of policemen

Unnamed officers summoned by Javert who enter the garret and pinion the gang.

The Thénardiers’ daughters

Also known as the two young girls

Éponine and Azelma, Thénardier’s daughters. Javert says they are in custody after the raid.

The old woman who rummages in the refuse

Also known as the bent old woman · the very old woman

An unnamed elderly woman whom Little Gavroche jostles in the street and mocks before she recognizes him as he reaches the Gorbeau house.

The child in the garret scene

Also known as the little one · the Lark · Ursule · Mademoiselle Fabre

The young woman Marius loves, whom Thénardier calls the Lark and tries to lure to the garret by letter. She is M. Leblanc’s daughter, and the false address he writes prevents her abduction.

The portress at Rue Saint-Dominique-D’Enfer

Also known as the portress

An unnamed, stout portress who tells Thénardier’s wife that she knows nothing of Urbain Fabre when she checks the false address.

The porter at Rue Saint-Dominique-D’Enfer

Also known as the porter

An unnamed porter who tells Thénardier’s wife that he knows nothing of Urbain Fabre at the address on the dictated letter.

The man who says “There’s only one thing left to do”

Also known as the husband

Thénardier, who confers with his wife about killing their prisoner when the ransom plan fails.

The wife who says “Cut his throat”

Also known as the wife

Thénardier’s unnamed wife, who advises killing M. Leblanc after learning that the address he gave is false.

The “man with the axe” who is growing merry

Also known as the man with the butcher’s axe

Gueulemer, the accomplice who removes his mask and jokes while the gang holds M. Leblanc.

The inspector at Rue de Pontoise

Also known as the inspector · the police agent

A formidable police inspector who takes the absent commissary’s place. He identifies himself to Marius as Inspector Javert, gives him pistols, and directs him to signal when Jondrette’s trap is underway.

The clerk at Rue de Pontoise

Also known as the clerk

An unnamed clerk who tells Marius that the commissary of police is away and directs him to the inspector.

The house-sparrows in the Luxembourg

Also known as the sparrows

Sparrows skipping about the garden walk while Marius watches the young woman; he imagines they are making sport of him.

The waiter at Restaurant Rousseau

Also known as the waiter

An unnamed waiter to whom Marius gives six sous after dining with Courfeyrac.

Audry de Puyraveau

Also known as Audry

A man whose fine discourse Marius praises during dinner with Courfeyrac.

The modiste crossing the gutter

Also known as the woman in the street

An unnamed milliner whose garter Courfeyrac notices as she steps across a gutter; Marius’s shyness makes him refuse to look.

The man from the provinces

Also known as the provincial

An unnamed man introduced to Marius at breakfast, whom Marius tenderly embraces in his sudden, exuberant mood.

The nurses in the Luxembourg

Also known as the children’s nurses

Unnamed women tending children in the Luxembourg garden; Marius’s dreamy wandering makes each think he is in love with her.

Virgil

A poet whose nymphs are invoked in the description of the young woman’s reaction to a gust of wind.

Theocritus

A poet whose fauns are invoked in the description of the young woman’s reaction to a gust of wind.

The veteran in the Luxembourg

Also known as the old veteran

An unnamed, bent and wrinkled old soldier wearing a Louis XV-pattern uniform, with one empty sleeve, a silver chin, and a wooden leg. He winks cheerfully at Marius, who wrongly suspects he witnessed the young woman’s dress being lifted by the wind.

Cherubino

A character invoked to describe the jealous, possessive side of Marius’s reaction to the young woman’s exposed leg.

The porter of the Rue de l’Ouest house

Also known as the porter

An unnamed porter who tells Marius that the white-haired man lives on the third floor and is a kind, property-owning man. After the man moves away without leaving an address, the porter recognizes Marius and suspects he is a police spy.

The man disguised as a workingman

Also known as the stranger in the cap

A white-haired man in workingman’s clothes and a long-visored cap whom Marius briefly thinks resembles M. Leblanc. Marius loses sight of him before he can investigate.

Mathieu Laensberg

Also known as Laensberg

The source named for two proverbial lines about the Candlemas sun and the length of winter.

The child in the coffin on Rue Mouffetard

Also known as the dead child

An unnamed child whose small coffin Marius sees illuminated by a candle; the sight makes him think of the misery of children.

Don Alvarès

Also known as the Spanish Captain Don Alvarès

A fictitious Spanish royalist cavalry captain whose name appears on a petition for charity written by Jondrette.

Genflot

Also known as the man of letters Genflot

A fictitious playwright whose name appears on a petition for charity written by Jondrette.

Fabantou

Also known as P. Fabantou · the dramatic artist

A fictitious dramatic artist whose name appears on a petition for charity written by Jondrette.

Madame la Marquise de Grucheray

Also known as the marquise

The addressee of a charity petition falsely attributed to Don Alvarès and written by Jondrette.

Madame la Comtesse de Montvernet

Also known as the countess

The addressee of a charity petition falsely attributed to Mistress Balizard and written by Jondrette.

Monsieur Pabourgeot

Also known as Pabourgeot

An elector and wholesale stocking merchant addressed in a charity petition falsely attributed to the playwright Genflot and written by Jondrette.

Madame Pabourgeot

The wife of Monsieur Pabourgeot, also addressed in the charity petition falsely attributed to Genflot.

The benevolent gentleman of Saint-Jacques-du-Haut-Pas

Also known as the old fellow who goes to mass

An unnamed man who attends mass at Saint-Jacques-du-Haut-Pas and is the addressee of one of Jondrette’s false charity petitions.

Petrarch

A poet whom the narrator says the young woman’s beauty might have inspired to sing.

M. Bamatabois

Also known as Bamatabois

A wealthy, idle dandy and elector who torments Fantine in the street. Javert witnesses Fantine attack him.

Diogenes

A philosopher whom the narrator imagines borrowing Jean-Jacques’s pick in an allegory of underground ideas.

John Huss

Also known as John Hus

A religious reformer placed on the narrator’s allegorical descending scale of thinkers and revolutionaries.

Martin Luther

Also known as Luther

A religious reformer placed below John Huss on the narrator’s allegorical descending scale.

René Descartes

Also known as Descartes

A philosopher placed below Luther on the narrator’s allegorical descending scale.

Gracchus Babeuf

Also known as Babeuf

A revolutionary placed below Marat on the narrator’s allegorical descending scale.

Robert Owen

Also known as Owen

A social thinker named among those working in lateral galleries of the narrator’s allegorical mine.

Lacenaire

A criminal whom the narrator presents as emerging from the social abyss; later, when questioned about a crime, he answers that perhaps Patron-Minette committed it.

Johann Reinhold Patkul

Also known as Schinderhannes

A criminal whom the narrator invokes in comparing the criminals’ underworld with revolutionary figures.

Marshal Brune

Also known as Brune

A marshal with whom Gueulemer may have had some connection, according to the narrator.

Babet’s wife

Also known as his wife

An unnamed woman who was married to Babet and had children with him; he no longer knows what became of her.

Babet’s children

Also known as his children

Babet’s unnamed children, whose whereabouts he no longer knows.

The woman whose child had a calf’s muzzle

Also known as the woman in the Messager

An unnamed woman whose unusual newborn child was reported in the Messager; Babet jokes that such a child could make his family rich.

Coco-Latour

A man whom the narrator says was once fooled by Patron-Minette’s members into thinking they were a crowd.

Vidocq

A man whose attempts to observe the criminal group Patron-Minette they evade.

The President of the Assizes who visits Lacenaire

Also known as the President

An unnamed judge who questions Lacenaire in prison about a crime.

Laveuve

A principal member of Patron-Minette.

Finistère

A principal member of Patron-Minette.

Homère-Hogu

A principal member of Patron-Minette, described as a Black man.

Mardisoir

A principal member of Patron-Minette; the name means Tuesday evening.

Dépêche

A principal member of Patron-Minette; the name means “make haste.”

Fauntleroy

Also known as Bouquetière

A principal member of Patron-Minette, also known by the name Bouquetière, meaning “the Flower Girl.”

L’Esplanade-du-Sud

A principal member of Patron-Minette.

Poussagrive

A principal member of Patron-Minette.

Carmagnolet

A principal member of Patron-Minette.

Mangedentelle

A principal member of Patron-Minette; the name means “Lace-eater.”

Les-pieds-en-l’Air

A principal member of Patron-Minette; the name means “Feet in the air.”

The child born with a calf’s muzzle

Also known as the newborn in the Messager

An unnamed infant reported in the Messager as born with a calf’s muzzle; Babet jokes about the child’s potential as a fairground attraction.

Justinian

A ruler whom Marius compares Napoleon to for his lawmaking.

Cæsar

Also known as Caesar

A Roman leader whom Marius compares with Napoleon’s command and achievements.

Blaise Pascal

Also known as Pascal

A thinker whose brilliance Marius invokes while praising Napoleon’s conversation.

Tacitus

A historian whose forceful style Marius compares with Napoleon’s conversation.

Isaac Newton

Also known as Newton

A scientist whose mathematical skill Marius compares with Napoleon’s intellect.

Mahomet

Also known as Muhammad

A religious leader whose metaphorical power Marius compares with Napoleon’s.

Oliver Cromwell

Also known as Cromwell

A historical ruler whom Marius invokes in an anecdote about bargaining for a curtain tassel.

Laplace

A scientist whom Marius says Napoleon answered at the Academy of Sciences.

Merlin

A legal official whom Marius says Napoleon bested in the Council of State.

The proprietor of Marius’s hotel

Also known as the host

An unnamed hotel proprietor who tells Marius that Courfeyrac has answered for him and demands payment of the outstanding bill.

The clothes-dealer

An unnamed dealer who buys Marius’s cast-off garments for twenty francs.

The watchmaker

An unnamed watchmaker who buys Marius’s watch for forty-five francs.

The publisher who is Courfeyrac’s friend

Also known as Courfeyrac’s friend, the publisher

An unnamed publisher preparing an encyclopaedia who offers Marius poorly paid translation work.

Marius’s landlord

Also known as the landlord

An unnamed landlord who presents Marius with his hotel bill.

The Moniteur’s recommendation in the family quarrel

Also known as the Moniteur

A newspaper M. Gillenormand says should be the only one people read.

M. Mabeuf’s brother

Also known as the curé

M. Mabeuf’s brother, a priest who died around 1830. Mabeuf inherited money through him, most of which he later lost in a notary’s failure.

Sultan

Mother Plutarque’s cat, which fills her heart and is her chief companion.

The Buddhist dragon

Also known as the dragon

A dragon in a story Mother Plutarque reads aloud; Buddha converts it.

Marius’s old principal tenant

Also known as the old woman who waited on Marius

An unnamed elderly woman who cleans Marius’s room and brings him hot water, an egg, and bread. She tells him that the Jondrette family is being evicted.

The butcher’s wife

An unnamed woman in a butcher’s shop to whom Marius bows when he buys a cutlet.

The man Marius’s aunt calls “a blood-drinker”

Also known as Marius

Marius, whom M. Gillenormand had ordered his daughter not to mention after their quarrel.

Molière

Also known as the comedian Molière

A playwright whose comedies Marius thinks are underrepresented in the baccalaureate manual.

M. François de Neufchâteau

Also known as François de Neufchâteau

An editor whose edition of Gil Blas included Marius’s dissertation on Marcos Obrégon de la Ronde without crediting Marius.

Marcos Obrégon de la Ronde

The subject of a dissertation written by Marius and placed at the head of M. François de Neufchâteau’s edition of Gil Blas.

The porter of the Gorbeau house

Also known as the porter

An unnamed porter who locks Marius out when he has not paid his rent.

The cook-shop man

An unnamed shopkeeper whose insolence is among the hardships Marius endures.

The water-carrier

An unnamed water-carrier whose arrival disappoints Mother Plutarque when she thinks someone has come to buy M. Mabeuf’s book.

Jondrette’s two daughters

Also known as Little Gavroche’s sisters

The unnamed daughters of Jondrette and his wife, who live with them at the Gorbeau house.

Marius’s first professor of German and English

An unnamed person from whom Marius says he will learn German and English so he can take on translation work.

Madam Rousseau

Also known as the restaurant proprietor’s wife

A plump, rosy woman who presides at the desk of Restaurant Rousseau and smiles at Marius when he pays.

The fruiterer

An unnamed seller from whom Marius buys a sou’s worth of Brie cheese.

The students in the Luxembourg

Also known as the five or six students

Unnamed students who notice the white-haired man and young woman sitting together in the Luxembourg garden.

The grisette in the Luxembourg

Also known as the grisette

An unnamed young woman who calls the white-haired man a tidy widower.

The old man’s daughter

Also known as the daughter

The young woman who sits with the white-haired man in the Luxembourg garden; Marius initially assumes she is his daughter.

The people who stare at Marius

Also known as the passers-by

Unnamed passers-by who notice Marius during his solitary walks; he mistakenly thinks young women stare because of his worn clothes.

The young women who turn to look at Marius

Also known as the pretty passers-by

Unnamed young women who look after Marius because of his grace, though he assumes they are laughing at his clothes.

The owner of the restaurant near Basset’s

Also known as the proprietor of Restaurant Rousseau

M. Rousseau, who runs the inexpensive restaurant where Marius dines.

The diligence conductor

Also known as the conductor

An unnamed coach conductor who calls out the Vernon stop at daybreak, waking Théodule.

The peasant girl selling flowers

Also known as the little peasant girl

An unnamed girl offering flowers to passengers at the Vernon stop. Marius buys a bouquet from her and lays it on his father’s grave.

The coachman of the cabriolet

Also known as the coachman

An unnamed driver carrying Marius in a two-wheeled vehicle through the Place Saint-Michel.

M. Lesgle

Also known as L’Aigle’s father · Lesgle · Légle

Laigle de Meaux’s father, descended from a keeper of the hounds surnamed Lesgueules. Louis XVIII granted him a post-office at Meaux after hearing his explanation of his name.

The professor who calls the school roll

Also known as the professor

An unnamed professor who calls the student roll at the law-school; his third call of Marius’s name prompts Laigle to answer in Marius’s place.

Blondeau

Also known as Blondeau the Nose · Blondeau Nasica

A law-school professor who calls the roll and erases absent students after three unanswered calls. Laigle mockingly delivers a funeral oration for him.

Thérèse

Jean-Jacques Rousseau’s companion, mentioned by Courfeyrac as the mother of children Rousseau presented as foundlings.

The dish-washer at the Café Musain

Also known as Louison

A café worker who passes through the Friends of the A B C’s back room on her way to wash dishes. Grantaire drunkenly addresses her as she passes.

The two students drafting a vaudeville

Also known as the vaudeville aspirants

Two unnamed students who quietly sketch out a vaudeville in the Café Musain’s back room and propose names for its characters.

Monsieur Dorimon

Also known as Dorimon

A proposed character in the vaudeville being drafted by two students; they describe him as an independent gentleman.

Célestine

A proposed character in the vaudeville being drafted by two students; she is Monsieur Dorimon’s daughter.

Colonel Valsin

Also known as Colonel Sainval

A proposed colonel character in the vaudeville being drafted by two students; one rejects Sainval as a stale name and suggests Valsin instead.

The older student advising a younger student about a duel

Also known as the old fellow of thirty

An unnamed student who counsels an eighteen-year-old on the skill and left-handed style of his prospective dueling opponent.

The younger student preparing for a duel

Also known as the young one of eighteen

An unnamed eighteen-year-old student whom an older student advises about his prospective dueling opponent.

The duelist described as a fine swordsman

Also known as the adversary

An unnamed swordsman whom the older student describes as skilled, precise, and left-handed.

Musichetta

Also known as Mamselle

A beautiful, literary young woman with whom Joly is in love. She is described as sulking at him, while he praises her appearance and style.

The mistress of Bahorel

Also known as Bahorel’s mistress

An unnamed woman who is always laughing, according to Bahorel. He says their relationship remains peaceful because they have agreed to keep to separate boundaries.

The young Lallemand

Also known as Lallemand

A young man whose burial occasioned the bloody tumult of June 1822, in which Bahorel took part.

The Marquis d’Avaray

Also known as d’Avaray

A marquis whom Louis XVIII made a duke after he helped the king enter a hackney-coach during his emigration. He recounts the king’s encounter with M. Lesgle at Calais.

M. Lesgle’s ancestor

Also known as the keeper of the hounds surnamed Lesgueules

An unnamed keeper of the hounds whose surname, Lesgueules, was shortened and later corrupted into the family name Lesgle.

Irma Boissy

A celebrated boot-stitcher who calls Grantaire impossible because of his homeliness.

The mistress who shared Bossuet’s supper

Also known as the wench

An unnamed woman who dines with Bossuet during an extravagant supper costing him a hundred francs.

The woman whom Joly loves

Also known as Joly’s mistress

Musichetta, Joly’s beloved, whom he says sulks at him with cruel patience.

The woman who is the subject of Joly’s love affair

Also known as Mamselle

Musichetta, the beautiful and literary young woman with whom Joly is infatuated.

Lancret

A painter mentioned in the passage’s discussion of lovers and bourgeois couples.

d’Urfé

A writer mentioned in the passage’s discussion of love idylls.

Arago

A scientist from whom Combeferre learned about the polarization of light.

Geoffroy Sainte-Hilaire

A lecturer whose explanation of the carotid arteries Combeferre recalls attending.

Saint-Simon

A thinker whom Combeferre compares with Fourier.

Charles Fourier

Also known as the celebrated Fourier

A thinker whom Combeferre compares with Saint-Simon.

Puységur

A thinker whom Combeferre studied.

Deleuze

A thinker whom Combeferre studied.

Gracchus

Also known as Gaius Gracchus

A Roman tribune whom the narrator says Enjolras would have resembled on the Aventine.

Condorcet

A thinker with whom the narrator associates Combeferre’s political principles.

Evadne

A mythological woman whose beauty, the narrator says, would not have moved Enjolras.

Harmodius

A figure whose devotion to his purpose is compared with Enjolras’s.

Beaumarchais

A writer named in a comparison between Enjolras and the gallant Cherubino.

Jean-Baptiste Colbert

Also known as Colbert

A statesman mentioned in a comparison to Courfeyrac’s playful wit.

M. de Chauvelin

Also known as Chauvelin

A man who dropped the particle from his name, cited as an example of Restoration-era attitudes to nobility.

M. de Caumartin

Also known as Caumartin

A man who dropped the particle from his name, cited as an example of Restoration-era attitudes to nobility.

Tholomyès

Also known as Félix Tholomyès

A witty student whose manner the narrator compares with Courfeyrac’s. The narrator says their humor resembles each other, though Tholomyès is a district attorney in spirit while Courfeyrac is a paladin.

M. Delvincourt

Also known as the dean

An unnamed law-school dean, mocked by Bahorel as a monument.

Blondeau’s colleague who answered the roll

Also known as the student who answered for Marius

Laigle de Meaux, who answers when Blondeau calls Marius’s name so Marius will not be erased from the school roll.

Pollux

A mythological figure used as an example of someone whose identity is bound to another man.

Patrocles

Also known as Patroclus

A mythological figure used as an example of someone whose identity is bound to another man.

Nisus

A mythological figure used as an example of someone whose identity is bound to another man.

Eudamidas

A historical figure used as an example of someone whose identity is bound to another man.

Ephestion

Also known as Hephaestion

A companion of Alexander the Great invoked as an example of someone defined in relation to another man.

Pechmeja

A man invoked as an example of someone whose identity is bound to another man.

Strongylion

A Greek sculptor whose statues were admired by Brutus and Nero, according to Grantaire.

The Beautiful Leg

Also known as Eucnemos

An Amazon statue carved by Strongylion that Nero carried on his travels, according to Grantaire.

Phocion

An Athenian statesman whom Grantaire says the Athenians executed.

Anacephorus

A figure whom Grantaire cites as having made a remark about Pisistratus.

Pisistratus

A tyrant whose urine is said by Anacephorus to attract bees, in Grantaire’s speech.

Philetas

A Greek grammarian whom Grantaire calls the most prominent man in Greece for fifty years.

Episthates

A figure represented by a statue in Corinth; Grantaire says he invented a trip.

John Bull

A personification of England whom Grantaire says he has little taste for.

Brother Jonathan

A personification of the United States whom Grantaire mentions while criticizing slavery.

Queen Isabella

A queen whose chemise Grantaire cites as an example of royal majesty’s indignities.

The Dauphin

A royal child whose chamber-chair Grantaire cites as an example of majesty’s indignities.

The Grand Lama

A religious leader whom Grantaire mentions while comparing Asian and European customs.

Cleopatra

An Egyptian queen whom Grantaire invokes in a drunken boast about luxury.

The dish-washer whom Grantaire calls Louison

Also known as Louison

An unnamed Café Musain worker whom Grantaire addresses during his drunken speech.

The law student discussing Normandy customs

Also known as the amateur attorney

Bossuet, who argues in legal jargon about payments owed to a lord of the manor.

The student writing the vaudeville

Also known as the one who says “I will write”

One of two unnamed students drafting a vaudeville and taking down proposed character names.

The student dictating the vaudeville

Also known as the one who says “Dictate”

One of two unnamed students drafting a vaudeville and proposing names for its characters.

The student who is playing dominoes with Joly

Also known as Bahorel

Bahorel, who discusses his romantic arrangement with Joly while they play dominoes.

The student who is playing dominoes with Bahorel

Also known as Joly

Joly, who discusses his love life with Bahorel while they play dominoes.

Vaud

A place invoked by Joly in a joke about the boundaries in his and Bahorel’s relationships.

Gex

A place invoked by Joly in a joke about the boundaries in his and Bahorel’s relationships.

The mistress who sulks at Joly

Also known as Musichetta

Musichetta, Joly’s beloved, who sulks at him with what he calls cruel patience.

The student who takes the side of Olympus

Also known as Jean Prouvaire

Jean Prouvaire, who argues for the continuing presence and meaning of pagan gods.

Jupiter

A pagan god whom Jean Prouvaire says does not seem dead.

Pan

A pagan god whom Jean Prouvaire imagines breathing into hollow willow trunks at night.

Io

A mythological woman whom Jean Prouvaire connects with the cascade of Pissevache.

Cybele

A goddess whose headdress Jean Prouvaire sees in the profile of a mountain.

François I

Also known as Francis I

A king whose death is used by Courfeyrac in an argument about the cost of monarchy.

Desmarets

An authority cited by Courfeyrac for the value of France’s national debt in 1760.

Touquet

Also known as the author of the Charter

The name associated with the Charter Courfeyrac burns during the Café Musain debate.

The Friends of the A B C

Also known as the society of the Friends of the A B C · the A B C

A small secret society of students and workingmen that claims to educate children but aims to elevate the people. Its members meet at the Café Musain and the wine-shop Corinthe.

M. Gillenormand’s second wife

Also known as his second wife

An unnamed woman who administered M. Gillenormand’s fortune so poorly that, after her death, he had little left beyond an annuity and his house.

Magnon’s two children

Also known as the two brats · the two boys

Two unnamed boys whom Magnon presents as M. Gillenormand’s sons. He sends them back to her and pays for their maintenance.

M. Gillenormand’s brother

Also known as the rector of the Academy of Poitiers

A priest who served as rector of the Academy of Poitiers for thirty-three years. He was a quiet miser who gave poor people bad or demonetized coins.

M. Gillenormand’s younger daughter

Also known as Madame Pontmercy

M. Gillenormand’s younger daughter, who married Georges Pontmercy and died in 1815, leaving their son Marius. She is described as loving and worthy of her husband.

The woman who serves Georges Pontmercy

Also known as the servant-woman · the woman with a little lamp

An unnamed woman who keeps house for Pontmercy in Vernon and is present when he dies. She tells Marius that his father no longer expects him.

The doctor at Pontmercy’s death

Also known as the doctor

An unnamed physician who arrives too late to save Pontmercy and is present when Marius reaches his father’s house.

The curé of Vernon

Also known as M. l’Abbé Mabeuf · the Abbé Mabeuf

A kind priest and brother of a Saint-Sulpice warden. He befriends Pontmercy and later tells Marius about his father’s life in Vernon.

Mademoiselle Vaubois

An elderly unmarried friend of Mademoiselle Gillenormand, known for her ignorance and her knowledge of making preserves.

Madame de T.

Also known as Madame la Baronne de T.

A widowed baroness who hosts a Royalist salon in the Rue Férou. Marius knows little of the world beyond her gatherings, where aristocrats mourn the Revolution and the Empire.

Baron de T.

Also known as Madame de T.’s husband

Madame de T.’s late husband, who served as French ambassador to Berlin under Louis XVI and left her a set of manuscripts about Mesmer.

M. de Bonald

A man against whom M. Gillenormand had held his own in conversation.

M. Bengy-Puy-Vallée

A man against whom M. Gillenormand had held his own in conversation.

The Baroness de T.’s Royalist friends

Also known as the friends assembled at her salon

Unnamed friends who gather twice a week at Madame de T.’s salon and share Royalist opposition to the Charter, Bonapartists, and the politics of the Restoration.

Monsieur, later Charles X

Also known as Monsieur · Charles X

The royal prince whose prospects the Royalists in Madame de T.’s salon discuss.

The Comte de Lamothe-Valois

Also known as Comte de Lamothe · M. de Lamothe

A Royalist salon regular known as the Lamothe of the Affair of the Necklace. The group values him for his notoriety and the name Valois.

Bastide

A man supported by Madame de T.’s Royalist circle during the Fualdès affair.

Jausion

A man supported by Madame de T.’s Royalist circle during the Fualdès affair.

Fualdès

A man whose murder case became a political cause in 1816; Madame de T.’s circle sided against him because they considered him a Bonapartist.

Marigny

Also known as the brother of the Pompadour

The brother of Madame de Pompadour, who was admitted to the house of Prince de Soubise.

Madame de Pompadour

Also known as the Pompadour

Marigny’s sister, mentioned in the account of aristocratic society.

M. le Prince de Soubise

Also known as Prince de Soubise

A prince whose household admitted Marigny, the brother of Madame de Pompadour.

Du Barry

Also known as the godfather of Vaubernier

A man welcomed at the house of Marshal de Richelieu despite being a thief.

Vaubernier

A person whose godfather was Du Barry.

M. le Maréchal de Richelieu

Also known as Marshal de Richelieu

A marshal whose house welcomed Du Barry.

The Prince de Guémenée

Also known as Prince de Guémenée

A prince cited as part of the aristocratic world in which even a notorious thief could be received.

The King of Prussia

Also known as the Count de Ruppin

A king who visited Louis XVIII after restoring him, using the name Count de Ruppin.

The editor of the Courrier Français

An unnamed editor whose suspension prompted a wordplay by M. Gillenormand.

M. de Talleyrand

Also known as Talleyrand · his Excellency the Evil One

A statesman whom M. Gillenormand mockingly calls the Evil One at a Bourbon anniversary Te Deum.

Madame la Comtesse de T. and her salon’s titled visitors

Also known as the noble ladies Mathan, Noé, Lévis, and Cambis

The salon includes several unnamed or incompletely identified aristocratic visitors, among them ladies surnamed Mathan, Noé, Lévis, and Cambis, who make a solemn impression on young Marius.

The Marquis de Sass****

A private secretary to Madame de Berry who frequents Madame de T.’s salon.

The Vicomte de Val***

Also known as Charles-Antoine

A salon regular who publishes monorhymed odes under the pseudonym Charles-Antoine.

The Prince de Beauff*******

A young prince with gray hair who attends Madame de T.’s salon with his witty, fashionably dressed wife.

The wife of the Prince de Beauff*******

An unnamed, witty woman whose low-cut scarlet velvet dresses alarm the older visitors at Madame de T.’s salon.

The Marquis de C***** d’E******

A salon regular described as the man in France who best understood proportioned politeness.

The Comte d’Am*****

A kindly salon regular noted for his amiable chin.

The Chevalier de Port-de-Guy

Also known as M. de Port-de-Guy

A regular at Madame de T.’s salon and a library official who recounts being chained in the galleys at Toulon in 1793.

The Bishop of Mirepoix

An octogenarian priest who was chained in the Toulon galleys with the young Chevalier de Port-de-Guy.

M. Thibord du Chalard

A deputy who plays whist at Madame de T.’s Royalist salon.

M. Lemarchant de Gomicourt

A deputy who plays whist at Madame de T.’s Royalist salon.

M. Cornet-Dincourt

Also known as the celebrated scoffer of the Right

A deputy and celebrated scoffer of the Right who plays whist at Madame de T.’s salon.

The bailiff de Ferrette

Also known as de Ferrette

A bailiff who passes through Madame de T.’s salon on his way to M. de Talleyrand and is said to have made Guimard crawl on all fours.

M. le Comte d’Artois

Also known as Comte d’Artois

A royal prince whose companion in pleasures was the bailiff de Ferrette.

Guimard

A woman whom the bailiff de Ferrette reportedly made crawl on all fours.

The Abbé Halma

A priest who attends Madame de T.’s salon and collaborated with M. Larose on La Foudre.

M. Larose

A collaborator with the Abbé Halma on La Foudre, known for joking about age.

The Abbé Letourneur

A preacher to the King who attends Madame de T.’s salon.

The Abbé Frayssinous

A priest who attends Madame de T.’s salon before becoming a count, bishop, minister, or peer.

The Abbé Keravenant

Also known as the Curé of Saint-Germain-des-Prés

The parish priest of Saint-Germain-des-Prés who attends Madame de T.’s salon.

Monsignor Macchi

Also known as the Pope’s Nuncio · Archbishop of Nisibi · Cardinal Macchi

The papal nuncio and Archbishop of Nisibi who frequents Madame de T.’s salon; he later becomes a cardinal.

Abbate Palmieri

Also known as Monsignor Palmieri

A papal domestic prelate and canon who attends Madame de T.’s salon and serves as an advocate for causes of sainthood.

Cardinal de la Luzerne

Also known as M. de la Luzerne

A cardinal and writer who attends Madame de T.’s salon and later publishes articles alongside Chateaubriand.

Cardinal de Cl****** T*******

Also known as the Archbishop of Toul****

A merry cardinal and archbishop who attends Madame de T.’s salon, dislikes the Encyclopédie, and plays billiards with his conclavist.

Monseigneur Cotiret

Also known as Bishop in partibus of Caryste

The conclavist of Cardinal de Cl****** T*******, whom the cardinal calls to watch his billiards shot.

The Marquis de T*******

Also known as the cardinal’s nephew

A nephew of Cardinal de Cl****** T******* who serves as Minister of Marine and War.

M. de Roquelaure

Also known as the former Bishop of Senlis

A former bishop and member of the Academy, friend of Cardinal de Cl****** T*******, who brings the cardinal to Madame de T.’s salon.

The Marquis de Vib****

A peer of France who attends Madame de T.’s salon.

The Marquis de Tal***

A peer of France who attends Madame de T.’s salon.

The Marquis de Herb*******

A peer of France who attends Madame de T.’s salon.

The Vicomte Damb***

A peer of France who attends Madame de T.’s salon.

The Duc de Val********

Also known as Prince de Mon***

A peer of France and foreign reigning prince who judges other ranks through the French peerage.

Comte Beug***

A man admitted to Madame de T.’s salon on probation and subject to correction.

M. Martainville

A man whom the narrator says had more wit than Voltaire in the era of Madame de T.’s salon.

Fiévée

Also known as M. Fiévée

A writer whose views were believed in at the Royalist salons.

M. Agier

A man whose opinions were treated as authoritative in the Royalist salons.

M. Colnet

Also known as the old bookseller and publicist of the Quai Malaquais

A bookseller and publicist whose writings the Royalist salons discuss.

M. le Marquis de Bonaparte

Also known as Lieutenant-General of the King’s armies

A royalist-era title for Napoleon, introduced into history by the Royalists as a concession to the times.

The young professor who teaches Marius

Also known as the worthy professor

An unnamed teacher of classical learning to whom Marius is entrusted after leaving his aunt’s care.

The church warden of Saint-Sulpice

Also known as the warden

An unnamed official who notices Pontmercy secretly watching Marius at mass and tells his brother, the curé of Vernon.

The old woman who owned the spring-cart at Hesdin

Also known as the old woman

An unnamed woman who offers Madeleine a ramshackle cart when his tilbury is damaged.

The ancient virgin from Madame de T.’s chapel

Also known as Mademoiselle Vaubois

An unmarried friend of Mademoiselle Gillenormand, described as a simple-minded devotee who knows how to make preserves.

M. de Villèle

A political leader whose advent marks the end of the period of Restoration ultra-Royalism described by the narrator.

M. de Deserre

Also known as Deserre

A member of the Dessolles ministry, used in a Royalist salon’s pun about the ministry.

The leader of the Dessolles ministry

Also known as M. Dessolles

A moderate minister whose cabinet is mocked in a pun at Madame de T.’s salon.

The unnamed Marquis de Créquy

Also known as Madame la Colonelle

A woman identified as the Marquise de Créquy, who is also called Madame la Colonelle.

Madame de Léon

Also known as the Princesse

A woman who prefers the title Madame de Léon to that of princess, perhaps in memory of earlier duchesses.

The Duchesses de Longueville and de Chevreuse

Two duchesses invoked as possible inspiration for Madame de Léon’s preferred title.

M. de Vaublanc

Also known as de Vaublanc

A royalist official whose removal of the N’s from the bridge of Jena is cited in a debate over accepting all of France’s history.

M. de Bonaparte

Also known as Bonaparte · Napoleon

Napoleon, whom Royalists in this period deride as the Corsican Ogre and whose legacy later becomes central to Marius’s political transformation.

Mirabeau

A revolutionary leader whose brilliance Marius discovers while reading the histories of the Republic and Empire.

Vergniaud

A revolutionary leader whose brilliance Marius discovers while reading the histories of the Republic and Empire.

Charles IX

Also known as his Majesty Charles IX

A king mentioned by M. Gillenormand as the father of the Duke d’Angoulême.

The Duc d’Angoulême

Also known as M. le Duc d’Angoulême

A royal prince mentioned as having married at eighty-five; M. Gillenormand cites him while dismissing the claim that he fathered Magnon’s child.

M. Virginal, Marquis d’Alluye

Also known as Marquis d’Alluye

A marquis and brother of Cardinal de Sourdis, cited by M. Gillenormand as having fathered a son at eighty-three.

Cardinal de Sourdis

The brother of the Marquis d’Alluye, mentioned in M. Gillenormand’s account.

Madame la Présidente Jacquin

A woman whose maid is said to have borne a son by the elderly Marquis d’Alluye.

The Abbé Tabaraud

A prominent man whom M. Gillenormand cites as the son of an eighty-seven-year-old father.

Austerlitz officer and Waterloo colonel

Also known as M. Gillenormand’s son-in-law

Georges Pontmercy, the soldier who won the cross at Austerlitz and became a colonel at Waterloo. M. Gillenormand calls him the disgrace of the family.

The President of the Royalist salon

Also known as Madame la Baronne de T.

Madame de T., a poor, proud widow whose salon is one of the few windows onto society available to young Marius.

Madame de Berry

Also known as Madame la Duchesse de Berry

A royal woman for whom the Marquis de Sass**** serves as private secretary.

The King’s private secretary

Also known as M. de Sass****

An unnamed marquis serving as private secretary to Madame de Berry.

The Marquise de Fervacques

The name is not a character here; no new entry.

The vocal mother who questions Jean Valjean

Also known as the vocal mother

An unnamed nun who stands with the prioress during Jean Valjean’s admission and approves Fauchelevent’s answers.

M. de Latil

Also known as Monsieur’s confessor

A confessor to Monsieur who hears the archbishop praise Fauchelevent; he later becomes Archbishop of Reims and a cardinal.

Leo XII

Also known as Pope Leo XII

The reigning pope who writes to a relative in the Paris nunciature praising a supposedly holy gardener named Fauvent.

Della Genga

Also known as the Monsignor in the Nuncio’s establishment in Paris

A relative of Pope Leo XII, serving as a monsignor in the papal nunciature in Paris; the Pope addresses him by the family name Della Genga.

The preceding gardener at the convent

Also known as the old Chouan

An unnamed former gardener at the Petit-Picpus convent who died there and left a Vendean bank-note nailed to the hut wall.

The gamin of Paris

Also known as the street Arab · the titi · the homuncio · the gnat

The narrator’s collective figure for the poor, resourceful street child of Paris, described as both lively and vulnerable. The passage presents this as a social type rather than one individually identified child.

The barber who shaves M. Gillenormand

Also known as the mad barber

An unnamed barber who is described as mad and detests M. Gillenormand, whom he envies for marrying a pretty, coquettish barberess.

The barberess

Also known as the barber’s wife

An unnamed pretty, coquettish woman whose husband, M. Gillenormand’s barber, is jealous of Gillenormand.

Nahenry

A young dancer whom M. Gillenormand loved when he was sixteen; she was also sixteen and obscure at the time.

The Camargo

A celebrated beauty whom the young M. Gillenormand recalls seeing at the opera.

La Sallé

Also known as the Sallé

A celebrated beauty whom the young M. Gillenormand recalls seeing at the opera.

Madame de Boufflers

A woman who described the young M. Gillenormand as a charming fool.

Luc-Esprit

The name given to M. Gillenormand by his godfather, who predicted that he would become a man of genius.

M. Gillenormand’s godfather

An unnamed man who predicted that Gillenormand would become a man of genius and gave him the names Luc-Esprit.

The Duc de Nivernais

Also known as the Duc de Nevers

A duke who crowned the young M. Gillenormand after he won prizes at the College of Moulins.

Catherine the Second

Also known as Catherine II

A ruler whom M. Gillenormand credits with buying Bestucheff’s supposed elixir of gold.

Bestucheff

Also known as General Lamotte

A figure whom M. Gillenormand associates with the secret of the elixir of gold and its supposed medicinal drops.

M. de Vivonne

A man who commissioned hangings from Louis XIV’s convicts for his mistress; M. Gillenormand later inherited them.

M. Gillenormand’s maternal great-aunt

Also known as the centenarian great-aunt

A maternal relative of M. Gillenormand who lived to a hundred and left him the elegant hangings in his boudoir.

M. Gillenormand’s daughter

Also known as his unmarried daughter

An unnamed unmarried woman over fifty, whom M. Gillenormand chastises harshly and treats as though she were a child.

Mother Crucifixion

A revered nun of the Petit-Picpus convent who dies at daybreak. Her wish to be buried in her old coffin beneath the chapel altar leads the prioress and Fauchelevent to arrange a secret burial.

Mother Ascension

A strong nun who is assigned to help Fauchelevent raise the chapel vault’s stone and lower Mother Crucifixion’s coffin.

The fruit-seller in the Rue Chemin-Vert

Also known as Fauchelevent’s fruit-seller friend

An unnamed, deaf woman known to Fauchelevent who has a little bed. He plans to leave Cosette with her while Jean Valjean is brought into the convent.

The police doctor for the dead

Also known as the dead-doctor · the municipal doctor

An unnamed doctor who examines the deceased nun and certifies her death for the authorities.

The prioress of the Petit-Picpus convent

Also known as our mother · Mademoiselle de Blemeur · Mother Innocente

The elected superior of the Bernardine-Benedictine nuns, whose authority over the community is absolute. Usually cheerful, she is deeply concerned that Mother Crucifixion’s final wish be honored and entrusts Fauchelevent with the secret burial.

Madame de Béthune

A Jansenist who, three years earlier, became orthodox after seeing Mother Crucifixion at prayer.

Cardinal de Bérulle

Also known as Pierre de Bérulle

A cardinal whose death while saying mass is cited by the prioress as an example of a holy death.

Saint Didorus

Also known as Didorus, Archbishop of Cappadocia

An archbishop of Cappadocia said to have requested that his tomb bear the word “Acarus,” meaning a worm of the earth.

Mezzocane

Also known as the blessed Mezzocane · Abbot of Aquila

An abbot who, according to the prioress, wished to be buried beneath the gallows.

Saint Terentius

Also known as Terentius, Bishop of Port

A bishop said to have requested that his tomb bear the mark used on the graves of parricides.

Bernard Guidonis

Also known as Bernard Gui

A French-born bishop of Tuy whose body was carried to the Dominican church in Limoges at his own request.

Plantavit de la Fosse

A source cited by the prioress as attesting the account of Bernard Guidonis’s burial.

Saint Benoît II

A saint whom the prioress says resisted Constantine Pogonatus in a dispute concerning burial.

Constantine Pogonatus

An emperor whom Saint Benoît II is said to have resisted over burial matters.

Chonodemaire

One of seven German kings said by the prioress to have recognized nuns’ right to burial beneath an altar.

Martin, the eleventh general of the Carthusians

Also known as Martin

A Carthusian leader whose device, “Stat crux dum volvitur orbis,” is quoted by the prioress.

Gymnastoras

A rhetorician who, after leaving prison, is said to have argued at length with a tree.

Saint Bernard

Also known as Bernard of Clairvaux

The first abbot of Clairvaux, praised at length by the prioress for his religious achievements and influence.

Técelin

Saint Bernard’s father, named by the prioress.

Alèthe

Saint Bernard’s mother, named by the prioress.

Guillaume de Champeaux

The bishop of Châlon-sur-Saône who ordained Saint Bernard abbot, according to the prioress.

Abeilard

Also known as Abélard

A religious thinker whom the prioress says Saint Bernard overcame at the Council of Sens.

Pierre de Bruys

A religious dissenter whom the prioress says Saint Bernard opposed.

Henry, disciple of Pierre de Bruys

A disciple of Pierre de Bruys whom the prioress says Saint Bernard opposed.

Arnauld de Brescia

Also known as Arnold of Brescia

A religious figure whom the prioress says Saint Bernard confounded.

Raoul, the monk

Also known as the monk Raoul

A monk whom the prioress says Saint Bernard rebuked; she calls him a murderer of Jews.

Gilbert de Poréa

Also known as Gilbert de la Porrée

The Bishop of Poitiers, whose condemnation the prioress attributes to Saint Bernard.

Éon de l’Étoile

Also known as Eon de l’Étoile

A religious figure whose condemnation the prioress attributes to Saint Bernard.

Louis the Young

Also known as Louis VII

A king whom the prioress says Saint Bernard enlightened.

Pope Eugene III

Also known as Eugene III

A pope whom the prioress says Saint Bernard advised.

Saint Benoît

Also known as Saint Benedict

The founder of the Benedictine order, whose rule shapes the discipline of the Petit-Picpus nuns. The prioress also praises his legacy and says his body rests at Saint Benoît-sur-Loire.

Benoît VIII

Also known as Pope Benedict VIII

A pope whom Emperor Henry II is said to have restored.

The Saint Bernard of the Poor Catholics

Also known as Saint Bernard

A thirteenth-century ecclesiastic whom the prioress distinguishes from Bernard of Clairvaux.

César de Bus

A religious figure whom the prioress says is of blessed memory, though less widely known than Voltaire.

Cardinal de Périgord

An unnamed cardinal described as the last archbishop who did not know the succession of Oratorian leaders.

Charles de Gondren

Also known as Charles de Condren

An Oratorian leader who succeeded Bérulle, according to the prioress.

François Bourgoin

An Oratorian leader who succeeded Charles de Gondren, according to the prioress.

Jean-François Senault

An Oratorian leader who succeeded François Bourgoin, according to the prioress.

Father Sainte-Marthe

An Oratorian leader who succeeded Jean-François Senault, according to the prioress.

Father Coton

An Oratorian associated with the founding of the Oratory, whom the prioress says is chiefly remembered for furnishing Henri IV with oath material.

Saint François de Sales

Also known as François de Sales

A saint whom the prioress says is admired by worldly people for cheating at play.

Sagittaire

Also known as Sagittaire, Bishop of Gap

A bishop whom the prioress mentions as an example of a bad priest.

Salone

Also known as Salone, Bishop of Embrun

A bishop and brother of Sagittaire, whom the prioress mentions in criticizing bad priests.

Mommol

A figure whom Sagittaire and Salone are said to have followed.

Saint Martin of Tours

Also known as Martin de Tours

A saint whom the prioress cites for giving half his cloak to a beggar.

Saint Leo II

Also known as Leo II

A pope said to have written letters opposing secular authority over burial matters.

Pierre Notaire

The recipient of one of Saint Leo II’s letters concerning authority over the dead.

The king of the Visigoths

An unnamed king who received a letter from Saint Leo II concerning authority over burial matters.

Gauthier

Also known as Gauthier, Bishop of Châlons

A bishop who, according to the prioress, upheld the church’s burial rights against Otho, Duke of Burgundy.

Otho, Duke of Burgundy

Also known as Otho

A duke opposed by Bishop Gauthier in a dispute over burial rights.

Arnoul Wion

A writer whose work the prioress recommends for accounts of church history.

Gabriel Bucelin

A writer whose work the prioress recommends for accounts of church history.

Trithemus

Also known as Johannes Trithemius

A writer whose work the prioress recommends for accounts of church history.

Maurolics

Also known as Francesco Maurolico

A writer whose work the prioress recommends for accounts of church history.

Dom Luc d’Achery

Also known as Luc d’Achery

A writer whose work the prioress recommends for accounts of church history.

Antipope Gregory

Also known as Gregory

An antipope opposed by Emperor Henry II.

Austin Castillejo

Also known as the monk Austin Castillejo

A monk cited by the narrator as the source for the story that Charles V used a coffin to visit Plombes after abdicating.

Charles V

Also known as Charles the Fifth

An emperor said to have used a coffin to visit Plombes after his abdication.

Plombes

A person whom Charles V is said to have wanted to see for the last time after abdicating.

The cemetery porter

Also known as the porter of the Vaugirard cemetery

An unnamed gatekeeper who controls entry and exit at the cemetery and opens a small door when grave-diggers present their cards.

The priest at Mother Crucifixion’s burial

Also known as the priest in the surplice

An unnamed priest who accompanies the funeral procession and recites prayers over the coffin.

The choir boy at Mother Crucifixion’s burial

Also known as the choir boy in the red cap · the child’s voice

An unnamed boy who accompanies the priest and responds to the burial prayers.

The undertaker’s men at Mother Crucifixion’s burial

Also known as the two men in gray uniforms

Two unnamed attendants who carry the coffin to the Vaugirard cemetery and lower it into the grave.

Gribier

Also known as the new grave-digger · the grave-digger

The new grave-digger at the Vaugirard cemetery, a former student and public writer who also writes letters at a market stall. Fauchelevent tricks him into leaving the cemetery, enabling Jean Valjean to escape the coffin.

Gribier’s wife

Also known as the thin woman

An unnamed woman living with Gribier in his poor attic home; she has been crying after he searches for his missing cemetery card.

Gribier’s children

Also known as his seven small children · the children in the attic

Gribier’s unnamed children, whom he says he must feed and whom Fauchelevent finds crowded with their mother in the attic.

The Vaugirard cemetery porter

Also known as the porter

An unnamed gatekeeper whose pavilion stands beside the cemetery gates; he admits grave-diggers who present their cards.

Perronet

Also known as the architect Perronet

The architect who designed the pavilion beside the Vaugirard cemetery gates.

The grave-digger who replaced Gribier

Also known as the new grave-digger

An unnamed cemetery worker briefly mistaken for the former grave-digger Father Mestienne; he turns out to be Gribier.

Martin Verga

The founder in 1425 of the Bernardine-Benedictine congregation whose obedience the Petit-Picpus convent follows.

The schoolgirls of the Petit-Picpus convent

Also known as the pupils · the young girls · the scholars

Unnamed girls, mostly from noble and wealthy families, educated at the convent boarding-school. They follow its practices, visit the aged nuns, and fill the cloister with play and conversation.

Mademoiselle de Saint-Aulaire

A noble young girl attending the boarding-school at the Petit-Picpus convent.

Mademoiselle de Bélissen

A noble young girl attending the boarding-school at the Petit-Picpus convent.

The English girl Talbot

Also known as Talbot

An English boarding-school pupil whose family name is described as an illustrious Catholic name.

The young woman who kept saying “forever!”

An unnamed former pupil who, after years of married life, still hurriedly answered a knock at the door with the convent word “forever!”

The young girl visited by her mother

An unnamed pupil who wept because she could not embrace her three-year-old little sister during a visit.

The mother accompanying the little sister

Also known as the mother

An unnamed woman who visits her daughter at the convent and brings her three-year-old child.

The little sister of the young pupil

Also known as the child

An unnamed three-year-old girl who accompanies her mother to visit her older sister at the convent.

The child who wished to remain at the convent

Also known as the child aged five

An unnamed five-year-old pupil who joyfully remarks that she has only nine years and ten months left at the convent.

The Vocal Mother in the history lesson

Also known as the Mother

An unnamed nun who questions a six-year-old pupil about a dispute over her knowledge of French history.

The six-year-old pupil who claims to know French history

Also known as the child

An unnamed pupil who insists she knows French history but cannot answer Alix’s randomly chosen question.

Alix

Also known as the big girl

A nine-year-old pupil who challenges a younger girl’s claim to know French history by asking her a question from a book.

The lady boarder who owned the parrot

Also known as the lady

An unnamed boarding-school pupil who owns a notably greedy parrot.

The parrot

Also known as the paroquet

A pet bird belonging to a boarding-school pupil, remarked upon for eating bread and butter like a person.

The seven-year-old pupil who wrote her confession

Also known as the sinner

An unnamed child who wrote a confession in advance, accusing herself of avarice, adultery, and looking at gentlemen.

The six-year-old storyteller

Also known as the rosy mouth

An unnamed pupil who invents a tale about three little cocks and a wolf for younger children.