Les Misérables, Book 4: To Confide Is Sometimes to Put Yourself in Someone’s Power, Chapter 1 summary
Book 4: To Confide Is Sometimes to Put Yourself in Someone’s Power, Chapter 1 of 365 · 13 min to read the chapter
In Chapter 1, Fantine meets Madame Thénardier at Montfermeil and takes her daughters’ happiness as proof that the inn offers safe care for Cosette. Hoping to find work without revealing her unmarried motherhood, she pays the couple and leaves her child, while their private conversation reveals their interest in her money.
What happens
- Madame Thénardier swings her two daughters in a heavy chain outside the inn, where Fantine stops with her sleeping child.
- The narrator explains Fantine’s abandonment, unanswered letters, poverty, and decision to seek work in her hometown.
- Fantine presents herself as a widow, and Cosette joins the innkeeper’s daughters in play.
- Encouraged by the children’s friendship, Fantine asks Madame Thénardier to keep Cosette while she seeks employment.
- The husband demands seven francs monthly, six months in advance, fifteen francs for expenses, and Cosette’s clothes.
- Fantine pays and leaves the next morning; the husband celebrates money for his debt and calls the children a trap.
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In this chapter
What to notice
Thénardier’s remark exposes the financial calculation beneath the welcoming family scene. The children inspire Fantine’s trust, but their father treats that trust as an opportunity.
Quick check
What payment does the husband demand before accepting Cosette?
Cite this page
“Les Misérables, Book 4: To Confide Is Sometimes to Put Yourself in Someone’s Power, Chapter 1 summary.” Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/pages/les-mis-rables-book-4-to-confide-is-sometimes-to-put-yourself-in-someones-power-chapter-1-summary.
Library of Alexandria. (2026). Les Misérables, Book 4: To Confide Is Sometimes to Put Yourself in Someone’s Power, Chapter 1 summary. https://libraryofalexandria.com/pages/les-mis-rables-book-4-to-confide-is-sometimes-to-put-yourself-in-someones-power-chapter-1-summary
“Les Misérables, Book 4: To Confide Is Sometimes to Put Yourself in Someone’s Power, Chapter 1 summary.” Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/pages/les-mis-rables-book-4-to-confide-is-sometimes-to-put-yourself-in-someones-power-chapter-1-summary.
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title = {Les Misérables, Book 4: To Confide Is Sometimes to Put Yourself in Someone’s Power, Chapter 1 summary},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/pages/les-mis-rables-book-4-to-confide-is-sometimes-to-put-yourself-in-someones-power-chapter-1-summary}
}
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