Les Misérables, Book 4: To Confide Is Sometimes to Put Yourself in Someone’s Power, Chapter 3 summary

What happens

1. The inn struggles, and Madame Thénardier pawns Cosette’s clothes; the child receives castoffs and eats scraps beside the animals.
2. Cosette’s mother sends monthly payments and receives false assurances, while Thénardier raises his demand from seven francs to twelve.
3. Madame Thénardier showers affection on her daughters but beats Cosette, and Éponine and Azelma imitate her cruelty.
4. Neighbors praise the Thénardiers, while Thénardier exploits the mother’s presumed secret to demand fifteen francs each month.
5. Before Cosette turns five, she becomes a servant; her mother’s payments grow irregular, and the household imposes heavy work.
6. After three years, Cosette is pale and miserable, and neighbors call her the Lark because she works before dawn.

In this chapter

What to notice

The final sentence contrasts Cosette’s birdlike nickname with her joyless life. Her early rising reflects forced work rather than happiness.

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