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Abstract
The name Thnardier has become a synonym for evil as a result of Victor Hugos melodramatic characterization of Monsieur and Madame Thnardier in Les Misrables. Describing these characters in exquisite detail and revealing nearly countless evil deeds, the reader is left wondering how a couple capable of such deplorable acts could ever find redemption in what seems like a state of absolute evil. Upon closer examination of the melodramatic genre and Hugos own insertions through the lines of his characters and his poetry, he reveals the answer. The reader must decide if any of the characters in his novel are absolutely good or evil, and whether, in the melodramatic world, absolutes are even required.