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Definition of Foreshadowing
Foreshadowing is a literary device in which authors hint at plot developments that don't actually occur until later in the story. Foreshadowing can be achieved directly or indirectly, by making... read full definition
Foreshadowing is a literary device in which authors hint at plot developments that don't actually occur until later in the story. Foreshadowing can be achieved... read full definition
Foreshadowing is a literary device in which authors hint at plot developments that don't actually occur until later in the... read full definition
Volume 1, Book 1: A Just Man
Explanation and Analysis—Never Fear Robbers:
The first page of the novel introduces the reader to Monsieur Myriel, the Bishop of D—. Before meeting Jean Valjean, the Bishop foreshadows the stolen silver and the grace that he shows such thievery with personification and situational irony:
That evening, before he went to bed, he said again, “Let us never fear robbers nor murderers. Those are dangers from without, petty dangers. Let us fear ourselves. Prejudices are the real robbers; vices are the real murderers. The great dangers lie within ourselves. What matters is what threatens our head or our purse! Let us think only of that which threatens our soul.”
Related Themes:
Volume 3, Book 8: The Wicked Poor Man
Explanation and Analysis—A Plague of Butterflies:
In Volume 3, Book 8, Chapter 15, Bossuet shares a metaphorical comment about the snowfall, all while foreshadowing the tragic events at the barricades:
Unlock with LitCharts A+A few moments later, about three o’clock, Courfeyrac chanced to be passing along the Rue Mouffetard in company with Bossuet. The snow had redoubled in violence, and filled the air. Bossuet was just saying to Courfeyrac, “One would say, to see all these snowflakes fall, that there was a plague of white butterflies in heaven.” All at once, Bossuet caught sight of Marius coming up the street toward the barrier with a peculiar air.
Related Themes:
Volume 4, Book 13: Marius Enters the Shadow
Explanation and Analysis—Peace of the Sepulcher:
Hopeless without Cosette, Marius wanders the streets of Paris amid the rebellion. The narrator's description of the Halles incorporates a metaphor which foreshadows the coming tragedy at the barricades:
Unlock with LitCharts A+Marius had reached the Halles. There everything was still calmer, more obscure and more motionless than in the neighboring streets. One would have said that the glacial peace of the sepulchre had sprung forth from the earth and had spread over the heavens.
Related Themes:
Volume 5, Book 1: The War Between Four Walls
Explanation and Analysis—A Plague of Butterflies:
In Volume 3, Book 8, Chapter 15, Bossuet shares a metaphorical comment about the snowfall, all while foreshadowing the tragic events at the barricades:
Unlock with LitCharts A+A few moments later, about three o’clock, Courfeyrac chanced to be passing along the Rue Mouffetard in company with Bossuet. The snow had redoubled in violence, and filled the air. Bossuet was just saying to Courfeyrac, “One would say, to see all these snowflakes fall, that there was a plague of white butterflies in heaven.” All at once, Bossuet caught sight of Marius coming up the street toward the barrier with a peculiar air.
Related Themes:
