XV: Cambronne explained

What happens

Themes in this chapter

• Revolution and Social Upheaval

  Cambronne's defiance is framed as a continuation of the revolutionary spirit, with Hugo comparing his word to Danton's speeches and the 'Marseillaise', linking the battle to the broader struggle for liberty and equality.

• The Human Condition and Fate

  The chapter explores the confrontation between an individual and overwhelming fate, as Cambronne's solitary act of defiance against the entire European coalition represents a human assertion of will in the face of inevitable doom.

• Suffering and Sacrifice

  The annihilation of the Imperial Guard and Cambronne's willingness to die for his principles highlight the theme of sacrifice, with the soldier's last stand embodying a sublime and tragic offering.

Characters to notice

• Georges Pontmercy

  Mentioned indirectly as part of the French legions that expired on Mont-Saint-Jean.

Key passages

• “To make that reply and then perish, what could be grander? For being willing to die is the same as to die; and it was not this man's fault if he survived after he was shot.”

  To utter that retort and then die—what could be more magnificent? Because the readiness to die is equivalent to dying itself; and it was not Cambronne's fault that he lived on after being shot.

  Hugo elevates Cambronne's defiant reply above the mere fact of his survival, suggesting that the moral victory of his words outweighs the physical outcome.

• “The winner of the battle of Waterloo was not Napoleon, who was put to flight; nor Wellington, giving way at four o'clock, in despair at five; nor Blücher, who took no part in the engagement. The winner of Waterloo was Cambronne.”

  The true victor at Waterloo was neither the fleeing Napoleon, nor the faltering Wellington, nor the late-arriving Blücher, but Cambronne, whose defiant word conquered history.

  Hugo redefines victory in moral and symbolic terms, arguing that Cambronne's scornful word achieved a lasting triumph over the military defeat.

• “Thus to answer the Catastrophe, thus to speak to Fate, to give this pedestal to the future lion, to hurl such a challenge to the midnight rainstorm, to the treacherous wall of Hougomont, to the sunken road of Ohain, to Grouchy's delay, to Blücher's arrival, to be Irony itself in the tomb, to act so as to stand upright though fallen, to drown in two syllables the European coalition, to offer kings privies which the Caesars once knew, to make the lowest of words the most lofty by entwining it with the glory of France, insolently to end Waterloo with Mardigras, to finish Leonidas with Rabellais, to set the crown on this victory by a word impossible to speak, to lose the field and preserve history, to have the laugh on your side after such a carnage—this is immense!”

  To respond to disaster in this way, to address fate itself, to erect a monument for the future, to defy the storm, the treacherous wall, the sunken road, the delays and arrivals of enemies, to be irony in the grave, to stand tall even when fallen, to dismiss the European coalition with two syllables, to offer kings the same privies known to Caesars, to elevate the basest word by linking it with France's glory, to end Waterloo with a carnival, to conclude Leonidas with Rabelais, to crown victory with an unspeakable word, to lose the battle but preserve history, to have the last laugh after such slaughter—this is immense!

  Hugo uses a cascade of contrasts and paradoxes to magnify Cambronne's act, portraying it as a sublime inversion of defeat into triumph.