Les Misérables Volume I Book 4 Chapter 2 - First Sketch of Two Unprepossessing Figures

In which we encounter the unsavoury Thénardiers, a couple whose characters are marked by a mixture of coarseness and cunning, embodying a dark and retrograde spirit that hints at grim secrets both past and future. Their provincial pretensions and the romantic misadventures of their youth unfold against the subtle backdrop of social upheaval and the shifting tides of equality, reflected even in the curious choice of names for their daughters.