Les Misérables · Chapter
I: The 16th of February, 1833 explained
The chapter describes the wedding day of Marius and Cosette on February 16, 1833, which falls on Shrove Tuesday.
What happens
The chapter describes the wedding day of Marius and Cosette on February 16, 1833, which falls on Shrove Tuesday. Despite rain and the carnival atmosphere, the marriage proceeds at M. Gillenormand's house. Jean Valjean, having crushed his thumb, cannot sign the papers and wears his arm in a sling. The wedding procession takes a detour through the boulevard due to repaving, where they become entangled in a parade of maskers. Two maskers in a carriage—a Spaniard and a fishwife—notice Jean Valjean and discuss following the wedding to learn its destination.
Themes in this chapter
Love and Compassion
The wedding of Marius and Cosette represents the culmination of their love, with Cosette's tender entreaty to Jean Valjean to move into the Gillenormand house showing familial compassion.
The Human Condition and Fate
The chance encounter of the wedding procession with Thénardier and Azelma amid the carnival highlights the unpredictable intersections of fate and human lives.
Characters to notice
- Jean Valjean
Has crushed his thumb, wears his arm in a sling, and cannot sign the marriage papers. He rides in the first wedding coach with Cosette, Aunt Gillenormand, and M. Gillenormand. He is noticed by maskers who recognize him.
- Cosette
The bride, marrying Marius. She inherits Toussaint and promotes her to lady's maid. She persuades Jean Valjean to consider moving into the Gillenormand house.
- Marius Pontmercy
The bridegroom, separated from Cosette according to custom, rides in the second wedding coach. He agrees to marry on Shrove Tuesday despite Aunt Gillenormand's scruples.
- M. Gillenormand
Cosette's supervising-guardian, he signs the marriage papers in place of Jean Valjean. He insists on marrying on Shrove Tuesday and chooses the boulevard route to show the maskers.
- Mademoiselle Gillenormand
Aunt Gillenormand rides in the first wedding coach with Cosette, M. Gillenormand, and Jean Valjean. She expresses hesitations about marrying on Shrove Tuesday.
- Toussaint
Formerly of use to Jean Valjean, she is inherited by Cosette and promoted to lady's maid.
- Thénardier
Disguised as a Spaniard with a large nose and black moustache in the maskers' carriage, he recognizes Jean Valjean and discusses following the wedding.
- Azelma
Disguised as a gaunt fishwife with a loup mask in the maskers' carriage, she is hired for the day and cannot leave the vehicle. She talks with Thénardier about following the wedding.
Key passages
“The night of the 16th to the 17th of February, 1833, was a blessed night. Above its shadows heaven stood open. It was the wedding night of Marius and Cosette.”
The wedding night of Marius and Cosette, from February 16 to 17, 1833, was a blessed and heavenly night.
Opening lines establishing the joyous occasion.
“It rained that day, but there is always in the sky a tiny scrap of blue at the service of happiness, which lovers see, even when the rest of creation is under an umbrella.”
Although it rained on the wedding day, lovers always find a patch of blue sky for their happiness, even when everything else is gloomy.
Metaphor for the lovers' perspective amid the rain.
“I'm sure that I know him. ... I'm willing that they should cut my throat, and I'm ready to swear that I never said either you, thou, or I, in my life, if I don't know that Parisian.”
Thénardier insists he recognizes the old man in the wedding coach and would swear to it on his life.
Thénardier's recognition of Jean Valjean.
