Les Misérables · Chapter
Two Complete Portraits explained
This chapter provides a full, detailed portrait of the Thénardier couple.
What happens
This chapter provides a full, detailed portrait of the Thénardier couple. Thénardier is depicted as a cunning, greedy, and superficially polite man with a fraudulent military past, while Madame Thénardier is a large, violent, and coarse woman who dominates the household physically but submits entirely to her husband's will. Together they oppress Cosette, treating her as a slave and subjecting her to abuse and hard labor.
Themes in this chapter
Social Injustice and Poverty
Cosette's brutal treatment as a child servant highlights the exploitation and suffering of the poor under the care of unscrupulous individuals like the Thénardiers.
Suffering and Sacrifice
Cosette endures relentless physical and emotional abuse, symbolizing the innocent suffering imposed by a cruel and selfish society.
The Human Condition and Fate
Thénardier's failed schemes and his belief that fate has 'hitched' him to an unprofitable inn reflect the randomness and struggle inherent in human life.
Characters to notice
- Thénardier
Portrayed as a small, thin, pale, and cunning man who is a swindler and a liar, claiming false military heroics at Waterloo. He is the true master of the household, directing his wife with invisible authority.
- Madame Thénardier
Described as a tall, blond, red, fat, angular, and agile giantess with a beard and a violent temper. She does all the housework and abuses Cosette, but fears and obeys her husband completely.
- Cosette
The abused child servant of the Thénardiers, subjected to beatings, hard labor, and neglect. She is described as a trembling fly caught in a spider's web.
Key passages
“The duty of the innkeeper... is to sell to the first comer, stews, repose, light, fire, dirty sheets, a servant, lice, and a smile; to stop passersby, to empty small purses, and to honestly lighten heavy ones; to shelter travelling families respectfully: to shave the man, to pluck the woman, to pick the child clean...”
Thénardier cynically defines the innkeeper's role as exploiting every guest for profit, charging for even the most trivial things and cheating everyone.
This aphorism reveals Thénardier's unscrupulous and predatory philosophy of business.
“Cosette was between them, subjected to their double pressure, like a creature who is at the same time being ground up in a mill and pulled to pieces with pincers.”
Cosette was crushed and torn apart by the combined cruelty of both Thénardiers.
This metaphor emphasizes the relentless and multifaceted abuse Cosette suffers.
“The ideal of oppression was realized by this sinister household. It was something like the fly serving the spiders.”
This household perfectly embodied oppression, with Cosette as the helpless victim serving her tormentors.
The spider-and-fly imagery underscores the predatory dynamic between the Thénardiers and Cosette.