French: Literature to Film : Home

Emma Bovary feels trapped in a loveless marriage and indulges herself in a lifestyle of reckless overspending and a series of shocking affairs that can only end in her destruction.

However, several alternatives have been used, including The Miserables, The Wretched, The Miserable Ones, The Poor Ones, The Wretched Poor, The Victims and The Dispossessed. Beginning in 1815 and culminating in the 1832 June Rebellion in Paris, the novel follows the lives and interactions of several characters, particularly the struggles of ex-convict Jean Valjean and his experience of redemption.

Examining the nature of law and grace, the novel elaborates upon the history of France, the architecture and urban design of Paris, politics, moral philosophy, antimonarchism, justice, religion, and the types and nature of romantic and familial love. Les Misérables has been popularized through numerous adaptations for film, television and the stage, including a musical.

Often called France’s first historical novel, the work influenced the course of French fiction. It is set during the 16th-century reign of Henry II and is the story of a virtuous young wife, the title character, who suppresses her passion for a young nobleman. With this simple story told in dignified, unsentimental prose, La Fayette launched the novel of character; much more than a story of thwarted love, it is an intimate psychological portrait. Many 18th- and 19th-century writers used the novel as a model; in its depiction of the princess’s move from the sheltered world of her family to the world of intrigue and politics in the court.

Examining the nature of law and grace, the novel elaborates upon the history of France, the architecture and urban design of Paris, politics, moral philosophy, antimonarchism, justice, religion, and the types and nature of romantic and familial love. Les Misérables has been popularized through numerous adaptations for film, television and the stage, including a musical.