Les Misérables Volume 1, Chapter 2 Summary

Summary

That evening the Bishop of D—— is working late on a treatise about duties when Madame Magloire and Mademoiselle Baptistine set the table and discuss a rumored dangerous vagabond in town. The Bishop has been compiling a moral manual that arranges duties into general duties and particular duties drawn from Scripture; he stops his labors to join his sisters in the dining-room where a fire is burning and the lamp is lit. Hugo sketches the domestic scene in detail, contrasting Madame Magloire’s lively, earthy manner with Mademoiselle Baptistine’s quiet, saintly gentleness and the Bishop’s warm, inquisitive countenance.

Madame Magloire eagerly repeats reports she has heard: a bare-footed Bohemian, a suspicious mendicant, has been seen near the boulevard and refused lodgings at Jacquin Labarre’s; the town lacks adequate police and street lighting; therefore precautions should be taken at the episcopal residence. The Bishop listens without alarm, warming himself by the fire and replying with gentle questions. Mademoiselle Baptistine, anxious to please both, murmurs little but sides with prudent caution; Madame Magloire insists on practical measures — changing locks and adding bolts — and invokes the Bishop’s habit of saying “come in” as a potential risk. As they argue, there is a knock at the door and the Bishop invites the visitor to enter.

The chapter stays almost entirely inside the episcopal household and uses that intimate setting to reveal character by contrast: the Bishop’s philosophical occupation and serene curiosity; his sister’s meek devotion and saintliness; and the servant’s vivid, protective practicalness. The scene ends on an anticipatory note with the knock, shifting from domestic reflection to a moment of external intrusion.

Key events

1. Bishop works late on his book about duties.
2. Madame Magloire and Mademoiselle Baptistine prepare the meal in the dining-room.
3. Madame Magloire reports a dangerous-looking vagabond seen in town.
4. She urges replacing locks and bolting doors because of poor policing and darkness.
5. The Bishop listens calmly, questions mildly, and does not become alarmed.
6. A knock sounds at the door and the Bishop says, “Come in.”

Analysis

This chapter performs several functions: it develops the domestic world and moral temperament of the Bishop and his household, contrasts characters through detailed physical and behavioral description, and sets up a mood of minor tension that links private virtue with public insecurity. Hugo’s emphasis on the Bishop’s unpublished work on duties frames him as a thinker and moral exemplar; his calm, inquisitive reaction to alarm underscores a charity that privileges reasoned care over panic. Madame Magloire’s practical anxieties and vivid appearance provide earthy realism and local color, while Mademoiselle Baptistine’s meek sanctity reinforces the theme of humble goodness.

Narratively, the chapter is a quiet interlude that deepens reader sympathy for the household before introducing an outside element (the knock). Symbolically, the discussion of locks, doors, and the Bishop’s habit of saying “come in” gestures toward the novel’s recurring concerns about hospitality, mercy, and the permeability of private and public spaces. Hugo uses close third-person narration with rich cataloguing and gentle irony: he records trivial municipal faults (badly arranged police, dark streets) alongside spiritual preoccupations, thereby tying moral theory to everyday prudence. The final knock functions as a hinge, moving the scene from domestic debate to an encounter that will test the Bishop’s principles.

Important quotes

“The duties of all are the great duties. There are four of these.”

NarratorOpens the Bishop’s moral project, situating him as a careful compiler of moral duties and framing the chapter’s concern with prudence and obligation.

“Come, what is the matter? What is the matter? Are we in any great danger?”

Bishop MyrielThe Bishop’s calm, curious response to alarm shows his tendency to inquire and reassure rather than to panic or condemn.

““Come in,” said the Bishop.”

Bishop MyrielA small, hospitable phrase that foreshadows the household’s openness and will have moral weight given the discussion about locks and safety.

Characters in Volume 1, Chapter 2

• Bishop Myriel
• Madame Magloire
• Mademoiselle Baptistine
• Paulin Musebois
• Jacquin Labarre
• a Bohemian (vagabond)