Les Misérables Volume 1, Chapter 5 Summary

Summary

A party of eight who spent the day in the countryside end their outing at Bombarda’s public house on the Champs-Élysées. The room is large but ugly, arranged with two tables—one set with a mountain of bouquets and hats, the other with four couples amid scattered dishes, bottles, and general disorder. The late afternoon sun lights the scene; beyond the windows the avenue, river, and promenaders fill the city with warmth and bright activity. Hugo paints the festive atmosphere: carriages, body-guards, the Tuileries’ flag, and crowds wearing remnants of royal insignia.

From this convivial, almost theatrical tableau the narrator launches into a polemical digression about the state of Parisian public life. He quotes a complacent report by Chief of Police Anglès to the king, which dismisses the suburbs’ people as harmless, “as heedless and as indolent as cats.” Hugo challenges that complacency, arguing that Parisians are deceptively tranquil but capable of sudden, massive action; he evokes classical and revolutionary imagery—cats as liberty, references to ancient statues, and historical leaders like Napoleon and Danton—to show how the seemingly insignificant populace can become epic and decisive. The chapter ends by returning to the table, the day’s dinner drawing to a close, leaving the cheerful company in the context of a larger civic meditation.

Key events

1. The party of eight settles into Bombarda’s public house after a long day.
2. Detailed description of the dining room, the windows, the two tables, and the disorderly meal.
3. Vivid portrayal of the Champs-Élysées, Tuileries, and festive public life outside.
4. Quotation of Chief of Police Anglès’ report that underestimates the populace.
5. Narrator’s extended reflection rebutting the police view and praising the latent power of Parisians.
6. Return to the dinner as it draws to a close.

Analysis

This chapter functions as a brief scene-setting episode that alternates intimate social description with a broader political and sociological meditation. On the micro level, the meal at Bombarda’s establishes the characters’ everyday life and conviviality: Hugo’s sensory detail—sunlight on panes, a triumphant mountain of bouquets, the clatter beneath the table—creates a vivid domestic tableau. Structurally, this calm, detailed portrait prepares a contrast with the narrator’s digression, which enlarges the scope from a single room to the city and nation.

The extended commentary on the populace and Chief of Police Anglès introduces central themes: the double nature of Parisian crowds (frivolous yet potentially revolutionary), the danger of elite complacency, and the tension between surface order and latent upheaval. Hugo uses classical and revolutionary allusions (Minerva Aptera, Napoleon, Danton) and sharp rhetorical contrasts (cat vs. lion) to foreshadow the idea that the ordinary masses can become agents of monumental change. Narratively, the chapter reveals Hugo’s habit of interrupting plot action for thematic exposition—these digressions shape the novel’s scope and tone, making social critique as important as character-driven events.

Important quotes

““They made beneath the table A noise, a clatter of the feet that was abominable,” says Molière.”

Narrator (quoting Molière)Underlines the rowdy, lively atmosphere beneath the dining table and connects the scene to theatrical tradition.

““Taking all things into consideration, Sire, there is nothing to be feared from these people. They are as heedless and as indolent as cats. The populace is restless in the provinces; it is not in Paris.””

Chief of Police Anglès (quoted)This complacent police judgment provides the narrator a springboard to argue that Parisians are deceptively powerful and should not be underestimated.

““Beware! his hair filled with wrath, is epic; his blouse drapes itself like the folds of a chlamys.””

NarratorA vivid image praising the potential grandeur and fury of the common Parisian, countering the police report's dismissal.

Characters in Volume 1, Chapter 5

• Bombarda
• Molière
• Chief of Police Anglès
• Napoleon
• Danton
• Louis XVI
• Minerva Aptera