Jul 11
woah he’s so fancy now
seen from France
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woah he’s so fancy now
LM 3.6.4
"Start of a Great Sickness" indeed
Big sigh. Okay. Biting the bullet. Here goes.
He passed Courfeyrac on the way and pretended not to see him. When Courfeyrac got home he said to his friends, ‘I just ran into Marius’s new hat and new coat, with Marius inside them. He was probably going to sit an exam. He looked a complete dolt.’
HAHAHA my opinion of Courfeyrac just gained like 50 points. It was already good but it sure got better.
Near the fountain was a pot-bellied bourgeois of about forty holding a five-year-old by the hand and saying to the little boy, ‘Avoid extremes. Keep an equal distance, my son, from despotism and anarchy.’ Marius listened to this bourgeois gentleman.
"Avoid extremes" - advice Marius needs but no doubt won't actually absorb and use. In one ear and out the other.
Round 2, Matchup 60: II.vi.10 vs III.vi.4
Which chapter title do you prefer?
The Origin of Perpetual Adoration
Beginning of a Grave Malady
LES MIS LETTERS IN ADAPTATION - Beginning of a Great Malady, LM 3.6.4 (Les Miserables 1925)
On the following day, at the accustomed hour, Marius drew from his wardrobe his new coat, his new trousers, his new hat, and his new boots; he clothed himself in this complete panoply, put on his gloves, a tremendous luxury, and set off for the Luxembourg. On the way thither, he encountered Courfeyrac, and pretended not to see him. Courfeyrac, on his return home, said to his friends:— “I have just met Marius’ new hat and new coat, with Marius inside them. He was going to pass an examination, no doubt. He looked utterly stupid.”
Thanks to Courfeyrac, we're starting off on a fun note:
“I have just met Marius’ new hat and new coat, with Marius inside them. He was going to pass an examination, no doubt. He looked utterly stupid.”
Poor Marius. He's trying! But apparently he's not great at fashion.
A brief political note:
"Near the basin there was a bourgeois forty years of age, with a prominent stomach, who was holding by the hand a little urchin of five, and saying to him: “Shun excess, my son, keep at an equal distance from despotism and from anarchy.” Marius listened to this bourgeois."
From this man's status (he's bourgeois, and the mention of his stomach may imply that he's well off because he's well-fed), we could make some assumptions about his politics. If he's well under this order, he may be in favor of some kind of constitutional monarchy (like that of Louis Philippe, which was popular with the wealthy segments of the bourgeoisie). "Despotism," then, could refer to absolute monarchy, while "anarchy" could be a more democratic order. That being said, it's notable that this language is so vague. We could speculate about what he means, but it would be just that: speculation. Given that Marius' own political leanings have become "sympathies," it's significant that he's listening; his beliefs are vague, too, and that can make this context-less statement sound a lot more acceptable than what it might mean. Marius himself approves of Louis Philippe, but that doesn't mean he might disagree with this man if they discuss what "despotism" means. This moment of vague politics suggests that many bourgeois Parisians were more interested in stability at the time than drastic change (hence the emphasis on moderation), but it also reminds us that Marius had a similar mindset, partly because he had come to accept vague principles rather than specific policies.
In terms of how Marius approaches "Mlle Lanoire," I normally think comparisons between romance and conquest are hit-or-miss (if the relationship is supposed to be nice, conquest isn't a great metaphor, but it can be great for deconstructing ideals about relationships), but I think it works well here because of Marius' past. He may not be a committed Bonapartist right now, but a lot of his self-discovery is tied to Napoleon and his father's military history, so using a military metaphor for another defining character moment fits into a larger pattern of how Marius understands himself and the world around him. It also adds an image of stiffness to his movements (enhanced by the reference to how he looks "mechanical"), which reminds us of his awkwardness.
His academic thoughts are also so funny:
"At that moment, he was thinking that the Manuel du Baccalauréat was a stupid book, and that it must have been drawn up by rare idiots, to allow of three tragedies of Racine and only one comedy of Molière being analyzed therein as masterpieces of the human mind."
I've heard that Molière became more popular during the Restoration, so that might explain his opinion (although I would love to learn more!). Judging curriculum choices like this is certainly part of being a student, though, so it's nice to see how Marius relates to his studies (and how he still has other stuff going on even now that he's in love! This is just one new aspect of his life, but he's dealing with everything else as well).
And this!:
“She could not, however,” he thought, “help feeling esteem and consideration for me, if she only knew that I am the veritable author of the dissertation on Marcos Obrégon de la Ronde, which M. François de Neufchâteau put, as though it were his own, at the head of his edition of Gil Blas.”
Some of Hugo's writing was in that edition and he wasn't credited for it, so this is both a moment of pettiness from the author and an attempt to show Marius' academic achievements (which is also funny, because who knows if this dissertation would really impress a random person? And he has no way of proving that he wrote it, either).
The chapter about Marius in love is SO HILARIOUS: "Courfeyrac, on his return home, said to his friends:— “I have just met Marius’ new hat and new coat, with Marius inside them. He was going to pass an examination, no doubt. He looked utterly stupid.”
Brickclub 3.6.4, “Start of a Great Sickness”
Marius is soon going to start making genuinely bad decisions, instead of just silly ones, and my sympathy for him is going to be stretched again, but here, I do feel for him. He is newly infatuated with Cosette and he is not enjoying it and he has so little access to his own emotions that he’s mostly perceiving his new crush as a set of vague promptings from some very distant authority.
And Courfeyrac, by teasing him about his prudery and fear of women, has guaranteed that Marius is never, ever going to tell him anything:
On the way, he met Courfeyrac, and pretended not to see him. Courfeyrac said to his friends, “I have just met Marius’s new hat and coat, with Marius in them. Probably he was going to take an examination. He looked completely idiotic.”
I do like that Courfeyrac is a good and generous friend but not an especially helpful one in all cases. If you need a couch to crash on, a coat to borrow, or a job lead, he’s your man, but he’s badly misjudged Marius’s ability to laugh at himself or live with embarrassment.
In the Luxembourg, we meet the pot-bellied bourgeois whom we will meet again in our last look at the mômes. He is telling his five-year-old son, “Avoid extremes. Keep an equal distance, my son, from despotism and from anarchy.”
This is a) hilarious advice to a five-year-old, b) the July Monarchy personified, c) objectively terrible advice for Marius right now, who could use some anarchy in his life.
But instead, Marius falls back on what he knows--which is to say, on Napoleon: He marches on the young girl’s bench “as Hannibal marched on Rome,” and then he regroups and does it again, “erect and resolute, blushing to his ears, without daring to glance to left or right, and, statesmanlike, his hand tucked into his coat.”
Oh Marius.
Round 1, Matchup 150: III.vi.4 vs V.vi.2
Which chapter title do you prefer?
Beginning of a Grave Malady
Jean Valjean Still Has His Arm in a Sling