IV: Mademoiselle Gillenormand Ends by No Longer Thinking It a Bad Thing That M. Fauchelevent Should Have Entered with Something Under His Arm explained

What happens

Themes in this chapter

• Love and Compassion

  The reunion of Cosette and Marius is depicted as a radiant, joyful moment, with M. Gillenormand's blessing emphasizing the power of love.

• Redemption and Transformation

  Jean Valjean, once a convict, now appears as a respectable bourgeois providing a fortune for Cosette, symbolizing his transformed life and sacrifice.

Characters to notice

• Cosette

  Reunited with Marius, overjoyed and stammering with happiness; reveals her fortune of 584,000 francs.

• Marius Pontmercy

  Recovering from his wounds, reunited with Cosette; receives his grandfather's blessing for marriage.

• Jean Valjean

  Present as M. Fauchelevent; dressed in new black clothes, carries a package of banknotes, reveals Cosette's fortune.

• M. Gillenormand

  Joyfully blesses the marriage of Marius and Cosette; jokes and expresses delight at the fortune.

• Mademoiselle Gillenormand

  Observes the reunion with amazement; initially mistakes Jean Valjean's package for a book; later murmurs the amount of the fortune.

• Courfeyrac

  Mentioned as Marius's intimate friend; reported dead by Marius.

Key passages

• “Cosette and Marius beheld each other once more. What that interview was like we decline to say. There are things which one must not attempt to depict; the sun is one of them.”

  The narrator refuses to describe the reunion of Cosette and Marius, comparing its brilliance to the sun, which cannot be looked at directly.

  Highlights the overwhelming, almost sacred nature of their love.

• “Mademoiselle Euphrasie Fauchelevent possesses six hundred thousand francs.”

  Jean Valjean announces that Cosette has a fortune of 600,000 francs.

  Reveals the financial security Jean Valjean has provided for Cosette.