Les Misérables · Chapter
Requiescant explained
This chapter describes the ultra-royalist salon of Madame de T., which represents the reactionary and mummified society of the early Restoration period (1814-1820).
What happens
This chapter describes the ultra-royalist salon of Madame de T., which represents the reactionary and mummified society of the early Restoration period (1814-1820). Marius Pontmercy, raised in this environment, becomes a fanatical young royalist, though he finds the salon gloomy and oppressive. The chapter details the salon's inhabitants—aged nobles, priests, and émigrés—who cling to the past, despise Napoleon, and embody the 'ultra' spirit of going beyond mere royalism into a caricature of itself.
Themes in this chapter
The Human Condition and Fate
The chapter reflects on the inevitable passage of time and the disappearance of entire social worlds, as the ultra-royalist salon is described as a 'mummified society' that has been 'engulfed in a deluge' by two Revolutions.
Revolution and Social Upheaval
The text contrasts the static, backward-looking world of the salon with the dynamic forces of revolution and change, noting how ideas 'destroy and bury' and create 'frightful gulfs.'
Characters to notice
- Marius Pontmercy
Marius is introduced as a young man emerging from his studies, a fanatical and severe Royalist who finds the salon of Madame de T. somber and cold, and who feels gloomy and grave despite his youth.
- Mademoiselle Gillenormand
Aunt Gillenormand is mentioned as the one who first had charge of Marius before his grandfather entrusted him to a professor.
- M. Gillenormand
Marius's grandfather, whose gaiety and cynicism repel Marius, and who confides Marius to a professor after his aunt's care.
- Georges Pontmercy
Marius's father, toward whom Marius feels gloomy emotions, as his feelings are described as 'gloomy' in contrast to his grandfather.
Key passages
“that it is their mission to destroy and to bury, and how promptly they create frightful gulfs!”
Ideas have the power to demolish and inter the old order, and they can swiftly open up terrifying chasms of change.
This reflects on the transformative and often destructive power of revolutionary ideas.
“It was a mummified society. The masters were embalmed, the servants were stuffed with straw.”
This society was preserved like a corpse, with the nobility lifeless and the servants hollow and artificial.
A vivid metaphor for the stagnation and artificiality of the ultra-royalist circle.