# A Centenarian Aspirant explained — Les Misérables

> Chapter companion for Les Misérables by Victor Hugo.

## What happens

This chapter introduces M. Gillenormand, an elderly man of ninety years who is deeply nostalgic for the ancien régime. He fondly recalls being crowned by the Duc de Nevers as a boy and holds a romanticized view of the 18th century, including Catherine the Great's purchase of the elixir of gold. He is a staunch royalist who abhors the French Revolution and the Republic, and he expresses a desire to live to be a hundred, hoping never to see 'ninety-three' again.

## Themes in this chapter

### The Human Condition and Fate

Gillenormand's obsession with reaching a hundred years and his refusal to accept the passage of time reflect the human struggle against mortality and fate.

## Character check-ins

### M. Gillenormand

The centenarian aspirant, a nostalgic royalist who cherishes memories of the Duc de Nevers and the 18th century, and expresses horror at the Revolution.

## Key lines

> He had taken prizes in his boyhood at the College of Moulins, where he was born, and he had been crowned by the hand of the Duc de Nivernais, whom he called the Duc de Nevers.

As a child at the College of Moulins, he won awards and was honored by the Duc de Nivernais, whom he always referred to as the Duc de Nevers.

_Highlights Gillenormand's lifelong reverence for the old nobility and his selective memory._

> He would have been greatly irritated and thrown off his balance, had anyone told him that the elixir of gold is nothing but the perchloride of iron.

He would have been deeply upset if someone had informed him that the elixir of gold was actually just a chemical compound.

_Illustrates Gillenormand's attachment to romanticized myths of the past over scientific reality._

> I hope that I shall not see ninety-three twice.

I hope I never have to live through another 1793.

_Reflects his horror of the Reign of Terror and his royalist political stance._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/les_miserables_se/chapters/iv-a-centenarian-aspirant
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/les_miserables_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/les_miserables_se/chapters