Les Misérables, Book 6: Le Petit-Picpus, Chapter 3 summary
Book 6: Le Petit-Picpus, Chapter 3 of 365 · 3 min to read the chapter
In Chapter 3, the narrator describes the order’s demanding preparation for vows and the convent school’s mixture of religious recreation and strict confinement. The pupils enjoy dressing as nuns, yet their upbringing encourages fear of the outside world and rules prevent physical affection even between close family members.
What happens
- Women spend years preparing for final vows, while the order excludes widows and requires secrecy about private acts of self-denial.
- A novice’s vow ceremony combines fine clothes and white roses with a black veil and prayers for the dead.
- The convent educates privileged girls, who learn to fear the world outside its walls.
- On special feast days, pupils enjoy wearing religious clothing and performing convent services, though they do not practice its austerities.
- Strict visiting rules forbid embraces, and a pupil cannot even kiss her little sister’s hand through the bars.
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Whose garments may the pupils borrow after the prioress intervenes?
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