Victor Hugo

Le roi s'amuse, best translated as ‘The King Amuses Himself’, is a play in five acts. It is set in Paris in the 1520s and the plot was used for Verdi's 1851 opera Rigoletto. The main person of the play is Triboulet, a witty court jester, through whose words Hugo frequently attacks contemporary society.

Les Misérables is a French historical novel by Victor Hugo, first published in 1862, that is considered one of the greatest novels of the 19th century. In the English-speaking world, the novel is usually referred to by its original French title. However, several alternatives have been used, including The Miserable, …