Les Misérables (ABR) characters

Also known as Monsieur Bienvenu

Appears from the start

The elderly bishop of Digne, known for giving most of his income and comfort to people in need. His household is simple and his hospitality extends even to those the town fears or rejects.

Also known as Monsieur Madeleine, Prisoner 24601

First appears in chapter 15

A recently released convict who served nineteen years after stealing bread and attempting to escape. Extraordinary physical strength and long punishment have made him bitter and suspicious. Carrying the yellow passport that marks his past, he is refused lodging until Bishop Myriel welcomes him.

First appears in chapter 28

A young working-class woman from Montreuil-sur-Mer who comes to Paris and joins three other women in a carefree circle of students and lovers. She is sincere in her love for Tholomyès and more vulnerable than her companions understand.

Also known as Madame Thénardier, the Thénardiess

First appears in chapter 37

The wife of an innkeeper at Montfermeil. Fantine sees her caring for her own daughters and trusts her to foster the child Cosette, without recognizing the calculation behind the woman's welcoming manner.

Also known as Jondrette

First appears in chapter 37

An innkeeper at Montfermeil who agrees to care for Fantine's daughter. Outwardly accommodating, he is alert to every opportunity for payment and lets supposed expenses steadily expand once the arrangement is made.

Also known as Euphrasie

First appears in chapter 37

Fantine's small daughter, left at the Thénardiers' inn while her mother seeks work. She begins as a trusting child among the innkeeper's two daughters, unaware that the adults' arrangement will shape her life.

First appears in chapter 44

A police inspector in Montreuil-sur-Mer whose belief in law and fixed social categories is absolute. He distrusts the benevolent mayor Monsieur Madeleine because the man's immense strength and guarded past remind him of a former convict.

Also known as Baron de Pontmercy

First appears in chapter 168

A serious young man raised by his wealthy royalist grandfather, Monsieur Gillenormand, apart from the father he has been taught to disregard. Learning more about his father's life forces him to reconsider the political and family beliefs in which he grew up.

First appears in chapter 160

Marius's very elderly maternal grandfather, a proud royalist with a forceful temper and a genuine but possessive love for his grandson. His household represents the security Marius risks when their political and family disagreements become open.

First appears in chapter 147

A resourceful street child of Paris, cheerful despite hunger and neglect. He sleeps where he can, knows the city's hidden corners, and readily helps people even when he has almost nothing himself.

First appears in chapter 176

The charismatic leader of the republican student group known as the Friends of the ABC. Austere, eloquent, and wholly committed to political liberty, he inspires the others while keeping his personal life subordinate to the cause.

First appears in chapter 176

Marius's warm and sociable student friend, a member of the Friends of the ABC. He gives Marius lodging when the younger man breaks with his grandfather and serves as his entry into a circle of republican thinkers and activists.

Also known as the Jondrette girl

First appears in chapter 201

The elder daughter of the impoverished Jondrette family, now living near Marius in the Gorbeau tenement. Thin, neglected, and accustomed to street life, she approaches him to beg and quickly takes a personal interest in him.

First appears in chapter 169

An aging churchwarden and amateur botanist who was a friend of Marius's father. Gentle, poor, and politically detached, he offers Marius companionship and a living connection to the parent he barely knew.