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Fictional character created by Jules Verne From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jean Passepartout (French: [ʒɑ̃ paspaʁtu]) is a fictional character in Jules Verne's novel Around the World in Eighty Days, published in 1873. He is the French valet of the novel's English main character, Phileas Fogg. His surname translates literally to "goes everywhere", but “passepartout” is also an idiom meaning "skeleton key" in French. It can also be understood as a play on the English word passport—or its French equivalent passeport.
 | This article relies largely or entirely on a single source. (August 2018) |
| Jean Passepartout | |
|---|---|
| Around the World in Eighty Days character | |
 Jean Passepartout by Alphonse de Neuville & Léon Benett (1873) | |
| First appearance | Around the World in Eighty Days |
| Created by | Jules Verne |
| In-universe information | |
| Gender | Male |
| Occupation | Valet |
| Nationality | French |
At 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. 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 farther afield than the Reform Club.
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. 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.
During the journey, Passepartout plays a needed 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. 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. 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. 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.
The next day home, Aouda proposes to Fogg to help him in his hard life ahead. While searching for a minister to marry the couple, Passepartout discovers that the date is one day earlier than he thought, due to the party having traveled east across the International Date Line. Once Fogg learns of the error, he dashes to the Reform Club and arrives just in time to win the bet.
Fogg marries Aouda, with Passepartout giving away the bride, and divides the net proceeds from the journey between Passepartout and Fix - but not without deducting the cost of the gaslight use from Passepartout's share.
The character Passepartout serves several purposes in the narrative - as a point-of-view character for Verne's French readers and as comic relief, both in his reactions to the strange places and events he encounters, and in a tendency to get trapped, abducted, or, on at least one occasion, left behind.
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