Les Misérables, Book 5: Grandson and Grandfather, Chapter 6 summary
Book 5: Grandson and Grandfather, Chapter 6 of 365 · 13 min to read the chapter
In Chapter 6, Jean Valjean creates a legally acceptable identity for Cosette, while M. Gillenormand supplies extravagant wedding gifts and prepares rooms for the couple. Cosette’s supposed inheritance removes family objections, and her happiness with Marius makes the discovery that Valjean is not her father seem only briefly painful.
What happens
- The doctor approves a February wedding, and Marius, Cosette, and the grandfather enjoy weeks of happiness.
- Jean Valjean invents a deceased family for Cosette and secures legal recognition of her identity and guardianship.
- Cosette accepts the account of her parentage with brief sadness but continues calling Jean Valjean Father.
- M. Gillenormand showers Cosette with inherited finery and argues that weddings need extravagant celebration.
- Aunt Gillenormand’s resentment over being ignored gives way to approval when she learns of Cosette’s wealth.
- The couple’s home is arranged in the grandfather’s house, with his bedroom for them and his library for Marius’s work.
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In this chapter
What to notice
Cosette keeps the affectionate relationship even while accepting a different legal account of her birth. The line distinguishes her bond with Valjean from the identity he arranges.
Quick check
What becomes Marius’s lawyer’s office?
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