Les misérables by Victor Hugo: invisibility through the name

Abstract

Les misérables by Victor Hugo, written in 1862, is one of the literary works most adapted to other media. In this paper, our purpose is to show that the characters’ invisibility is paradoxically revealed by changing their names, which are transformed depending on the opportunities of merging into the crowd. The nicknames adopted are suitable to dramatic situations developed in the book and in its adaptations from sequential art to operatic and cinematic adaptations. And even if Les misérables is a 19th century work, we understand that it still echoes in real characters, who have their lives claimed because of primary crimes and, unlike anonymity, they hide themselves behind new identities in the contemporary crowd.