Les Misérables, Book 6: Le Petit-Picpus, Chapter 9 summary
Book 6: Le Petit-Picpus, Chapter 9 of 365 · 3 min to read the chapter
In Chapter 9, the narrator describes a centenarian at Petit-Picpus whose memories and habits bring eighteenth-century society into convent life. Her guarded cupboard invites guesses about sacred treasures, but after her death its contents reveal a comic platter rather than a devotional object.
What happens
- A centenarian from Fontevrault recalls society before the Revolution and repeatedly mentions her important acquaintances.
- Her accent and elaborate formula during her annual vows make the schoolgirls laugh and the singing mothers frown.
- She describes a ceremonial gift of four wines whose animal labels represent successive stages of drunkenness.
- Her secret cupboard attracts gossip, but she refuses to reveal its contents.
- After her death, the cupboard yields a Faenza platter showing little Loves pursued with syringes.
- The narrator notes the platter’s survival in an antique shop and the woman’s dislike of receiving outside visitors.
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What does the centenarian keep hidden in her cupboard?
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