Les Misérables: Ethical Dilemmas of Today

DRAM 2559 / FRTR 2580   (ID number:  19399)

Fall 2013:  TR, 12:30-13:45 am, ROUSS 410

Marva Barnett, Department of French; Director & Professor, Teaching Resource Center

In our fast-paced digital world, thinking people still dedicate hours to reading novels, seeing plays, watching movies.  Why?  In this seminar, we’ll explore the multifaceted appeal of literature, theater, and film by plunging into one great novel: Victor Hugo’s Les Misérables.  What is it about this story that speaks to people across decades and cultural divides?  

Les Misérables, moreover, leads us readers to consider a remarkable variety of ethical dilemmas, from the personal to the international.  Should Jean Valjean reveal his criminal past to save a stranger, or keep his secret and protect his workers’ financial future?  In what ways do his battles with his conscience parallel our own?  How just was the criminal justice system for Valjean, and how just is America’s system today?  When, if ever, is war defensible?  Is revolution necessary for social progress?  How glorious and moral is it to fight (and die?) for a cause one believes in?  How moral is it to sacrifice oneself for a beloved person?

In a discussion class that will depend primarily on students’ ideas and questions, we will embark on a wide-ranging conversation about big issues such as these:

• why this novel is considered “great”
• what ethical dilemmas and perspectives Hugo explores and how relevant they are for us today 
• what “great literature” can do for us personally