The next day at home, Aouda proposes to Fogg to help him in his hard life ahead. This critically delays Fogg before he is exonerated and the company arrives in London, seemingly too late and leaving Passepartout in almost suicidal despair at his foolishness. Due to his silence, however, Fogg and Fix never have a chance to discuss the case in neutral territory, and Fix arrests Fogg as soon as they return to England. Passepartout learns of Fix's suspicions, but keeps them to himself as he believes Fogg already has enough to worry about concerning his wager, and comes to suspect Fogg may possibly have committed the crime considering the extraordinary spending his master does through the trip's more desperate moments. In the journey, Passepartout plays a critical role in Fogg's adventures, such as rescuing a young woman named Aouda from a forced sati and becoming a friend of Fix, a police detective who suspects Fogg of robbing a bank. In addition to the wager, the valet has an additional incentive to complete the journey quickly: he left a gaslight burning in his room and the resulting expense of wasted gas will be docked from his salary. Ironically, on Passepartout's first day at work, Fogg makes a bet with his friends at the Club that he can circumnavigate the world within 80 days and Passepartout is obliged to accompany him. Passepartout, who has lived an irregular and well-travelled life, is looking forward to a restful employment, as Fogg is known for his regular habits which never take him further afield than the Reform Club. It can also be understood as a play on the English word passport-or its French equivalent passeport.Īt the beginning of the novel, Passepartout has just been hired by Phileas Fogg after Fogg's previous valet failed to meet his exacting standards on 2 October 1872 at twenty eight minutes past eight.

His surname translates literally to 'goes everywhere', but “passepartout” is also an idiom meaning ' skeleton key' in French. He is the French valet of the novel's English main character, Phileas Fogg. Jean Passepartout ( French: ) is a fictional character in Jules Verne's novel Around the World in Eighty Days, published in 1873. Jean Passepartout by Alphonse de Neuville & Léon Benett (1873)

Phileas fogg book