#Waterloo talk

[pilferingapples]

A thought, while I'm feeling sappy about Waterloo and the barricades in Les Mis:

Cambronne is established as the Real Victor of Waterloo.

The winner of the battle of Waterloo was not Napoleon, who was put to flight; nor Wellington, giving way at four o'clock, in despair at five; nor Blucher, who took no part in the engagement. The winner of Waterloo was Cambronne. To thunder forth such a reply at the lightning-flash that kills you is to conquer!

So who's the winner of the barricade sequence?

I think it's Prouvaire, calling out to the future in words we do indeed hear. I think it's Feuilly, honoring unity in an answer to nations insulting each other at Waterloo. It's Gavroche, singing under fire. It's Combeferre, who seizes the victory of honoring his conscience and the innocent good he longs for in a moment that should make his truth impossible. It is, especially, Enjolras and Grantaire, who get the last words , and face "the lighting flash that kills you" not with despairing defiance but a smile and love.

The Waterloo section is "Waterloo won by France"; the barricade sequence is "1832 won by the Republic". And the barricade is a much more effective victory, for a lot of reasons, but I've been up way too long and can't explain it to my own satisfaction right now. It's all very poetic and I'll start crying if I think about it too much.

...But also I think it's a heck of a turn of fate that the person who ultimately won 32 for the republic was the guy whose only involvement with the fighting was to hide in an alley for a bit until shit calmed down. Les Mis is Hugo's powder keg, I guess! Good job, Marius, you got there in the end XD

[pilferingapples]

eee ok this is an EXCITING bit so bear with me if I ramble a little

Historical Context A: The Napoleonic Era was huge for Hugo's generation of French writers. Like...what WWI was for the Jazz Age, you know? They'd all grown up with this image of the Emperor, this larger than life figure, and then POP he was gone--but he left a really massive legacy effect, not just on the macro level of new alliances, national borders, etc, but in the daily life of every French person, thanks to the Napoleonic Code (the effective legal system for AGES) , major changes that he had set up in society, etc.

which all leads to :

Literary Point A: one of the big themes going on in Les Mis is that it's time to move on from the concept of the Great Man of History and focus on regular people. That history is and should be made now by just people, that Jean Valjean is as important as Napoleon. So as you read the Waterloo section, look for the way Hugo talks about why Napoleon loses-- the emphasis on weather , on the way Napoleon treats his conscripted peasant guide, on how the effect he's having on history is out of favor with God.

Making this argument , Hugo still grants Napoleon and the French a LOT of glory, here. Saying "only GOD could stop Napoleon" is pretty complimentary, after all! And there's plenty of praise for individual leaders in the French army. Which brings us to...

Historical Context B: When Hugo wrote Les Miserables, he was in exile, an opponent of the current ruler of France , Napoleon.

...well , Napoleon III, Louis Bonaparte.

which leads to

Literary Point B: Hugo and his publisher were both sincerely concerned that Les Miserables might get banned in France, or be so heavily censored that it would effectively be banned. This had already happened with some earlier work he'd written in exile!

And Les Miserables is, frankly , a call to revolution , of one sort or another. It's extremely pro-socialism and pro-republic, and France was operating with neither system at the time. It is super political and Hugo's politics were Not Welcome with the people currently running the country.

But! the Waterloo section of Les Mis was really super positive about France and Napoleon's army, even while denouncing Napoleon as incompatible with Progress. Hugo actually pushed for the Waterloo section to be released if anyone wanted a preview , saying :

“If we give quotes, insist on Waterloo, bring out (focus on) what the book has of the national (cause/identity), what stirs the French fibers(/soul), make Persigny ashamed to stop a book in which justice is finally done to Ney, grandfather of his wife, make the seizure impossible by saying it is the battle of Waterloo won by France, etc…”

( more of that letter, and more on those background politics, here!)

As I say at that link, I don't think Waterloo is just chaff for the censors; Hugo didn't say anything he didn't mean to say. But the way he said it was always , of necessity, with consideration of his chances of publishing legally. (Hugo wasn't new to this. Writers in 19C France were always working around censors from one government or the other. It's a fun thing to think about when considering Why X Said It That Way! ) Waterloo is very relevant to that!

And, just for fun, Purely Literary Point C :

Les Mis looooves its parallels and antitheses. That's Hugo's stylistic jam. Les Mis reflects on itself and outwards in endless fractals. So Waterloo is this big grand last stand marking the end of an era... and then one of the major sequences in the narrative's present is a big grand last stand marking not an ending, but hopefully the beginning of a beginning. To be direct: keep an eye on the details in Waterloo, they will echo and counter-echo in surprising ways on the barricade.

(Also you can check out this fantastic post about it! it really helped me understand the emotional core of this section way back when)

(and all this said.... skip Waterloo entirely if you need to. The most immediately relevant chapter is the last one, with the post-battle looting. You can come back and read it later, with the rest of the book fresh for making connections, and it will still be good! But all this makes the whole digression a lot more interesting for me now. )

so part 2 is called Cosette

why the fuck am I reading about Napoleon for ages

[impishglee]

what i didn’t expect when I opened famed novel Les Misérables was to listen to Victor Hugo pontificate on why free public education should be instituted because we All Have A Fursona

[waterloo-to-anywhere]

“well since i listened to Death on the Stairs naturally i gotta listen to New Love Grows on Trees and if i listen to NLGOT i HAVE to listen to Gin&Milk which means i should probably listen to Shiver (demo) which will bring me BACK to NLGOT which'll take me to Deadwood and if I listen to Deadwood I also need to listen to Heartt of the Matter and and”

[dmercer91]

are there any big height differences with your au couples?

rae - 5’4, nick is 5’10

nick is not even that tall and he still makes short jokes, someone needs to knock him down a peg

lan - 5’3, luca is 6’0

it’s funny cause landen is luca’s scary dog privilege despite her being like nine inches shorter

blake - 5’7, dawson is 6’0

blake has always given me very 5’7 vibes idk but like this works perfectly cause he’s taller but she doesn’t need to put in any effort to kiss him

charlie - 5’11, jack is 5’11

as someone who is 5’11ish i don’t actually trust that jack is 5’11 but we roll,, charlie likes that jack isn’t a little bitch about her wearing heels, he actually thinks it’s kinda hot

wes - 5’1, wyatt is 6’2

wyatt is very much gentle giant bf to me and wesley loves the height difference. the hugs and cuddles go crazy and she likes to pull him down to her level for kisses

dahlia - 5’0, john is 6’2

in true john and dahlia fashion, the height difference is excessive and advantageous. they both eat it up

jamie - 6’2, mason is 6’7

despite these two both being ocs i needed to talk about the fact that mason is gigantic. the first person jamie’s been with that’s actually taller than her

rylie - 5’8, mackie is 5’11

good height difference for her to lean her head on his shoulder. she likes that he’s a wee bit taller so she can wear whatever shoes she wants

draya - 5’10, luke is 6’2

of all the people i wrote to pull a model, i never thought it’d be lukey tbh but he worships the ground she walks on so it works!! draya loves her awkward lanky bf

robbie - 5’6, quinn is 5’10

robbie’s ex is a tall dude and she kind of always felt uneasy about their size diff so this is perfect for her

cam - 5’4, trevor is 6’0

cam likes to have herself wrapped around him in some way pretty much at all times during the summer so their height diff is perfect

[runelocked]

william afton: world’s biggest abba fan

[needcake]

I watched Napoleon (2023) yesterday and it's... pretty bad

[a-bowl-of-grapes]

I thought tumblr was the place for obscure fandoms so where are all the waterloo road fans at 🙁

[ace-trainer-risu]

often when I am reading les mis I find myself wondering what victor hugo must have been like at parties

[batlesbianism]

first full run through today. BUT ITS OKAY. cause I get to see my boyfriend :33

[lacomandante]

Wellington, in the summer of 1813, consolidates the partisans working under him to be in the Spanish 4th Army- and in the canon where Teresa is Fine, it's my personal headcanon that rather than putting her in the 4th Army, Wellington makes her an officer on his staff- specifically a Major.

Making her men detachments allows him to send her off where he needs her, and with the rank allows her to lead them as she usually does, but under a more official banner. It's more efficient and she can answer directly to him, rather than jumping through hoops. Legend has it that Wellington did this with Agustina de Aragón, though whether its true or not, I do think Wellington would see the benefits of having Teresa on his staff considering how long she's worked for him, though there would be considerable changes Teresa would have to abide by, she'd happily accept.

[solcarow]

.

[ofpd]

victor hugo was so woman coded for writing so much about les amis

[skam-in-every-language]

Preston & Kai | Foolish

Preston Walters x Kai Sharif - Waterloo Road Reboot (Series 11)

[dmercer91]

Luke when everyone is thirsting over his girlfriend

"Okay yes, yet also not for you"

he feels like he needs a fly swatter or something

[lokh]

how long would it take to read the brick do you think