Awright short post short posts, because today's chapter is what it's really all about, isn't it?
1.7.1
Agh man, Hugo's classism comes up in the WEIRDEST places. I just. I don't. "heavy peasant clay", really, Hugo, must we? Well, he goes on to diss her dialect AND manage to dismiss peasants AND the church as bastions of ignorance so I GUESS WE MUST.
I am not sure what it means that Perpetue sugars the potions she gives people "according to the bigorty or hypocrisy" of each patient? Like, okay, bigotry in this context means, like, extreme religious orthodoxy, and hypocrisy, as always, means jerkness. But does that mean she, like, doesn't sweeten it for the hypocrites, or sweetens it more, or...? SO MANY MYSTERIES. Anyway, I am putting Perpetue in my fan club of Victor Hugo Characters Victor Hugo Can't Play With Anymore Because WAY TO BE A JERK, HUGO.
...which really probably covers all of them.
I'm not sure if it includes Sister Simplice! I mean on the one hand ( a delicate waxen tapering etc hand) she is spoken of very well! But then there's the whole "she's so holy she's NOT EVEN A WOMAN ANY MORE" thing, which, you know, I'd love to be able to think this is just a thing Hugo has about holy types-- get nigh-divine enough and little mortal issues like "gender" and "race" and "not actually being made of wax and stone and stuff" just goes away-- but men are never made Less Man by being holy and spiritual, so I ain't buying it. Which means Hugo is pretty much just being right on board with the very confusing "women are about instinct and bodily things OH BUT ALSO inherently moral and pure what" confusing gender rules of his day, but of course not everyone was on board with that at the time, and I am sure as heck not getting on board with it now. Gross, Hugo, gross. And it's ESPECIALLY irritating because EXCEPT FOR THAT I really like Simplice's description, darn it.
1.7.2
Scaufflaire is really charming? Like. He's nosy, but I don't really blame him, seeing as he's basically just had a customer come in and go "Hey so I wanna maybe kill one of your horses on a wild charge across France in the winter". and the points he raises with Valjean are very good and totally useful points that Valjean is pretty obviously disregarding, at least as far as the whole "dude it is WINTER and you will DIE OF EXPOSURE" thing.
...also I have reached a point in my fandom geeking where I am actually CONCERNED that I don't know if there's a stereotype that Scaufflaire being Flemish is meant to refer to . RESEARCH FAIL OH NO. Anyone else know?
