Jean Valjean y Rastignac: dos modelos extremos de comprender la libertad en el héroe decimonónico

Abstract

Through two universal characters, Jean Valjean and Eugène de Rastignac, French decimononic narrative offers two heroic models as two different views of the world: one embodies Victor Hugo’s social ideas, and the other Honoré de Balzac’s ones. In this paper, we suggest a study focused on the heroe’s fight against destiny in order to develop several oppositions between chance and fate. This duality is the central idea in the work of both novelists. Finally, we will analyze the heroe’s work aiming to undersand how the ethical behavior trascends fiction to emerge into the real world.