Yeah, Les Mis really seems to be directed at a very presumed-bourgeois audience. Which, I mean, FAIR ENOUGH in its way, but it resulted in some weird grafting of characters, I think. :/
Aside from Prouvaire and Bahorel, I don't know how many/how much the Amis were based on Hugo's personal friends? The more reading I've done on Borel, at least, the more I've been surprised at just how direct a translation to character was going on there-- which may be why Bahorel also (I'd argue) gets to be one of the few of the Barricade Gang who gets to be really angry on, as you say, his own behalf, what with his mocking the bourgeoisie and tearing up All The Things and whatnot. As far as HE goes, I know Borel really was involved with The Friends of the People and other radical groups in a street-tearing capacity for pretty much as long as he physically COULD be, and Bahorel doesn't get a total class upgrade anyway...but that almost makes it WEIRDER, because Borel was both younger and well done with being an official student..? And most of the Cenacle gang seems to have been in sort of the same boat? Trying to live off their various arts, and all. Which makes me wonder if to some extent this is a Most Writers Are Writers situation, where Hugo went "okay, we should have doctors....and at least one worker...and then...uh..young people? What do Young People do, if they're not artisting? Students! NON-ARTING GUYS IN THEIR 20s ARE STUDENTS, PROBLEM SOLVED,Dramatic Forehead Pose time!"
...which isn't to say that I don't think there's some Gross Class Stuff happening here, because OH THERE CERTAINLY IS, just saying it might also have gotten mixed up worse by a certain degree of Writerly Myopia.
(tagged: Missing My Tags, I am seriously lost without that odd rhetorical device anymore, also no one listen to me I don't actually know anything special, I'm just blue blue skying.)
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timeasmymeasure
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Date: 2014-04-20 05:42 pm (UTC)Aside from Prouvaire and Bahorel, I don't know how many/how much the Amis were based on Hugo's personal friends? The more reading I've done on Borel, at least, the more I've been surprised at just how direct a translation to character was going on there-- which may be why Bahorel also (I'd argue) gets to be one of the few of the Barricade Gang who gets to be really angry on, as you say, his own behalf, what with his mocking the bourgeoisie and tearing up All The Things and whatnot. As far as HE goes, I know Borel really was involved with The Friends of the People and other radical groups in a street-tearing capacity for pretty much as long as he physically COULD be, and Bahorel doesn't get a total class upgrade anyway...but that almost makes it WEIRDER, because Borel was both younger and well done with being an official student..? And most of the Cenacle gang seems to have been in sort of the same boat? Trying to live off their various arts, and all.
Which makes me wonder if to some extent this is a Most Writers Are Writers situation, where Hugo went "okay, we should have doctors....and at least one worker...and then...uh..young people? What do Young People do, if they're not artisting? Students! NON-ARTING GUYS IN THEIR 20s ARE STUDENTS, PROBLEM SOLVED,Dramatic Forehead Pose time!"
...which isn't to say that I don't think there's some Gross Class Stuff happening here, because OH THERE CERTAINLY IS, just saying it might also have gotten mixed up worse by a certain degree of Writerly Myopia.
(tagged: Missing My Tags, I am seriously lost without that odd rhetorical device anymore, also no one listen to me I don't actually know anything special, I'm just blue blue skying.)