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Les Miserable bishop was center of controversy

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In light of the film blockbuster and Academy Award Best Picture Nominee, Les Miserables, new attention has been renewed over the history of the film.  Below is an excerpt [5] on how one of the central characters, the Bishop of Digne, almost was written out of the script.   

Fans of “Les Misérables” on film or stage may be surprised to know that not everyone in France was of good cheer when Victor Hugo published the book in 1862. The anticlerical set was especially offended by the pivotal role of the Bishop of Digne, who helped determine the course of the novel by resuscitating the soul of Jean Valjean. Ultimate ‘Les Mis’ – Pushing Actors’ Limits, Looks“Les Misérables” hits movie theaters Christmas Day. Hear from stars Anne Hathaway, Russell Crowe, Hugh Jackman and Eddie Redmayne. Learn about the actors’ dramatic body transformations. Get early buzz (good & bad) from celebrities and fans.

As Hugo worked on the novel, his son Charles, then in his 20s, objected to the reverential treatment of the bishop. He argued to his father that the portrayal gave undeserved respect to a corrupt clergy, bestowing credibility on a Roman Catholic Church opposed to the democratic ideals that he and his father held. Charles instead proposed that the catalyst for Jean Valjean’s transformation be a lawyer or doctor or anyone else from a secular profession.

The pushback didn’t work. Not only did Hugo hold his ground, but he amplified the importance of Charles-François Bienvenue Myriel, affectionately known in the novel as Monseigneur Bienvenue (Bishop Welcome). The book’s first hundred pages or so are a detailed chronicle of Myriel’s exemplary life, showing that his intervention on behalf of Jean Valjean was part of a long track record and not a singular aberration. Apparently Hugo recognized no contradiction between his anticlericalism and the possibility—or certainty—that grace could be mediated by a just priest who was transparent to the divine and never betrayed the human.

Read more [5]: