Historical Backgrounds
Valjean's character is loosely based on the life of Eugène François Vidocq, an ex-convict who became a successful businessman widely noted for his social engagement and philanthropy. Valjean's incredible strength in general is based on Vidocq's, who helped Hugo with his research for Claude Gueux and Le Dernier jour d'un condamné (The Last Day of a Condemned Man). The accident of the cart, in particular, is based on an event in Vidocq's life: In 1828, he saved one of the workers in his paper factory by lifting a heavy cart on his shoulders. Hugo only added the fact that Valjean betrayed his real identity with the act (Vidocq had already been pardoned at the time).
Valjean saving the sailor on the Orion is based on a real event not witnessed by Hugo himself. Hugo reproduced a friend's letter describing the incident nearly word for word, changing the end however by letting Valjean escape afterwards. Other incidents in the novel which have been linked to Hugo's own life include:
- In 1841, Hugo saved a prostitute from arrest for assault. He would let Valjean perform the same deed, even using a short part of the dialogue between himself and the constables.
- The 22nd of February, 1846, Victor Hugo witnessed the arrest of a bread thief. A Duchess and her child were also watching the scene pitilessly from their coach. While this cannot be considered as the inspiration for Les Misérables (Hugo had started the novel years previously), the note in his diary makes clear that the scene impressed him.
- Hugo himself joined the revolutionaries against Napoleon III on the barricades in December 1851. There he refused any weapons but tended to the wounded.
The convict's number, 24601, may stand for the date Hugo was conceived (24 June 1801); in addition, the 24th of June is St. John's (Jean's) Day.
Jean Valjean is born the same year as Napoleon Bonaparte, and his imprisonment equals the years of Napoleon's rise to power and the Napoleonic wars (1796-1815).
The revolt of the university students is based on the 1832 June Rebellion.
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“We can imagine a society in which no one could survive as a social being because it does not correspond to biologically determined perceptions and human social needs. For historical reasons, existing societies might have such properties, leading to various forms of pathology.”
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