Character Development in Les Miserables

(Question 11)
The novel Les Miserables is based entirely around the life of Jean Valjean and a host of supporting characters that are thoroughly developed and well-explained. The novel is character-driven, and accordingly each character is well supported with a personal background and full character sketch with provides motives and rationale for the character's actions and beliefs. Even minor characters are given extensive personal histories and backgrounds, the brevity of which is often unecessary and serves more to bog down the plot than enrich it. For example, the Bishop of D-- plays a relatively unimportant part in the book, except in conjunction with Jean Valjean's character and his transformation, which the Bishop ignites, from a theif to an honest man. Though this is undoubtedely a crucial part in the story, the amount of history given on the Bishop of D-- (65 pages dedicated to chronicling his good deeds) is excessive and frustrating. This shows that there is a happy medium between too much and too little character development.
The descriptions of main characters are so detailed that readers feel not only acquainted with the character but that they are the character in some ways. The physical, psychological and factual background on each character is immense, and makes readers emotionally invested in each, which leads to pathos. They also show the transformations in the characters very clearly, such as Jean Valjean's ascent to the height of goodness from the depths of evil, and Marius' change of heart from conservative bourgeoisie to radical revolutionary.
An example of the effect of pathos due to the character development is the description of the poor orphan Cosette as she looks at a doll in a toy booth.
"The whole booth seemed a palace to her; this doll was not a doll, it was a vision. It was joy, splendour, riches, happiness, and it appeared in a sort of chimerical radiance to this unfortunate little being, buried so deeply in cold and dismal misery. Cosette was measuring with the sad and simple sagacity of childhood the abyss which separated her from this doll" (Hugo 385).
This short excerpt shows how, in a few short sentences, Hugo transforms the character of Cosette from writing on a page to a living, breathing little child, who has wishes of happiness despite the destitution in which she lives. The sympathy we feel is very strong; instead of just reading about Cosette, we feel moved by the heartbreaking reality of her life. This shows the powerful effect that well-developed characters can have on a reader, as is demontrated time and time again throughout the novel.