Les Miserables Lesson Plan

Discuss Hugo's diversion to recounting the battle of Waterloo.

This section begins with another of the historical diversions that characterize Les Misérables - a description of the Battle of Waterloo. Waterloo was fought in 1815, between the French forces of Napoleon and an alliance of English troops under the command of the Duke Wellington and Prussian troops under Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher.

In fact, Hugo has fabricated some aspects of the battle for his novel. He describes a ditch, which he claims was the downfall of the French forces. In fact, no such ditch exists on the battlefield, and the battle itself was always much more in favor of the English than Hugo...