Victor Hugo

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Victor-Marie Hugo (February 26, 1802 – May 22, 1885) is recognized as the most influential Romantic writer of the 19th century and is often identified as the greatest French poet. His best-known works are doubtless the novels Les Misérables and Notre-Dame de Paris (The Hunchback of Notre-Dame). Poetry was another of his vocations: among many volumes, Les Contemplations and La Légende des siècles stand particularly high in critical esteem. Though extremely conservative in his youth, he moved to the political left as the decades passed; he became a passionate supporter of republicanism and of a European Union. His work touches upon most of the political and social issues and artistic trends of his time.

1 Theatrical work
2 Mature fiction
3 Political life and exile
4 Religious views
5 Declining years and death
6 Drawings
7 Memorials
8 Works
9 References
- 9.1 Online references
- 9.2 Further reading
10 External links

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Theatrical work

Image:Victor Hugo-Hernani(1).jpg

Hugo did not achieve such quick success with his works for the stage. In 1827, he published the never-staged verse drama Cromwell, which became more famous for the author's preface than its own worth (the play's unwieldy length was considered "unfit for acting"). In his introduction to the work, Hugo urged his fellow artists to free themselves from the restrictions imposed by the French classical style of theatre, and thus sparked a fierce debate between French Classicism and Romanticism that would rage for many years. Cromwell was followed in 1828 by the disastrous Amy Robsart, an experimental play from his youth based on the Walter Scott novel Kenilworth, which was produced under the name of his brother-in-law Paul Foucher and managed to survive only one performance before a less-than-appreciative audience.

The first play of Hugo's to be accepted for production under his own name was Marion de Lorme. Though initially banned by the censors for its unflattering portrayal of the French monarchy, it was eventually allowed to premiere uncensored in 1829, but without success. However, the play that Hugo produced the following year—Hernani—would prove to be one of the most successful and groundbreaking events of nineteenth-century French theatre, the opening night of which became known as the "The Battle of Hernani". Today the work is largely forgotten, except as the basis for the Verdi opera of the same name. However, at the time, performances of the work sparked near-riots between opposing camps of French letters and society: Romantics vs. Classicists, Liberals vs. Conformists, and Republicans vs. Royalists. The play was largely condemned by the press, but played to full houses night after night, and all but crowned Hugo as the preeminent leader of French Romanticism. It also signalled that Hugo's concept of Romanticism was growing increasingly politicized: Hugo believed that just as Liberalism in politics would free the country from the tyranny of monarchy and dictatorship, Romanticism would liberate the arts from the constraints of Classicism.

Image:Victor Hugo-DrouetSmall.jpg

In 1832 Hugo followed the success of Hernani with Le roi s'amuse (The King Takes His Amusement). The play was promptly banned by the censors after only one performance, due to its overt mockery of the French nobility, but then went on to be very popular in printed form. Incensed by the ban, Hugo wrote his next play, Lucréce Borgia (see: Lucrezia Borgia), in only fourteen days. It subsequently appeared on the stage in 1833, to great success. Mademoiselle George (former mistress of Napoleon) was cast in the main role, and an actress named Juliette Drouet played a subordinate part. However, Drouet would go on to play a major role in Hugo’s personal life, becoming his life-long mistress and muse. While Hugo had many romantic escapades throughout his life, Drouet was recognized even by his wife to have a unique relationship with the writer, and was treated almost as family. In Hugo’s next play (Marie Tudor, 1833), Drouet played Lady Jane Grey to George’s Queen Mary. However, she was not considered adequate to the role, and was replaced by another actress after opening night. It would be her last role on the French stage; thereafter she devoted her life to Hugo. Supported by a small pension, she became his unpaid secretary and travelling companion for the next fifty years.

Hugo’s Angelo (play) premiered in 1835, to great success. Soon after, the Duke of Orleans (brother of King Louis-Philippe, and an admirer of Hugo’s work) founded a new theatre to support new plays. Théâtre de la Renaissance opened in November 1838, with the premiere of Ruy Blas. Though considered by many to be Hugo’s best drama, at the time it met with only average success. Hugo did not produce another play until 1843. The Burgraves played for only 33 nights, losing audiences to a competing drama, and it would be his last work written for the theatre. Though he would later write the short verse drama Torquemada in 1869, it was not published until a few years before his death in 1882, and was never intended for the stage. However, Hugo's interest in the theatre continued, and in 1864, he published a well-received essay on William Shakespeare, whose style he tried to emulate in his own dramas.

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Mature fiction

Image:Victor Hugo-Hunchback.jpg

Victor Hugo's first mature work of fiction appeared in 1829, and reflected the acute social conscience that would infuse his later work. Le Dernier jour d'un condamné (Last Days of a Condemned Man) would have a profound influence on later writers such as Albert Camus, Charles Dickens, and Fyodor Dostoevsky. Claude Gueux, a documentary short story about a real-life murderer who had been executed in France, appeared in 1834, and was later considered by Hugo himself to be a precursor to his great work on social injustice, Les Misérables. But Hugo’s first full-length novel would be the enormously successful Notre-Dame de Paris (The Hunchback of Notre Dame), which was published in 1831 and quickly translated into other languages across Europe. One of the effects of the novel was to shame the City of Paris to undertake a restoration of the much-neglected Cathedral of Notre Dame, which was now attracting thousands of tourists who had read the popular novel. The book also inspired a renewed appreciation for pre-renaissance buildings, which thereafter began to be actively preserved.

Image:Victor Hugo-Cossette.jpg

Hugo began planning a major novel about social misery and injustice as early as the 1830s, but it would take a full 17 years for his most enduringly popular work, Les Misérables, to be realized and finally published in 1862. The author was acutely aware of the quality of the novel and publication of the work went to the highest bidder. The Belgian publishing house Lacroix and Verboeckhoven undertook a marketing campaign unusual for the time, issuing press releases about the work a full six months before the launch. It also initially published only the first part of the novel (“Fantine”), which was launched simultaneously in major cities. Installments of the book sold out within hours, and had enormous impact on French society. Response ranged from wild enthusiasm to intense condemnation, but the issues highlighted in Les Misérables were soon on the agenda of the French National Assembly. Today the novel is considered a literary masterpiece, adapted for cinema, television and musical stage to an extent equaled by few other works of literature.

Hugo turned away from social/political issues in his next novel, Les Travailleurs de la Mer (Toilers of the Sea), published in 1866. Nonetheless, the book was well received, perhaps due to the previous success of Les Misérables. Dedicated to the channel island of Guernsey where he spent 15 years of exile, Hugo’s depiction of Man’s battle with the sea and the horrible creatures lurking beneath its depths spawned an unusual fad in Paris: Squids. From squid dishes and exhibitions, to squid hats and parties, Parisiennes became fascinated by these unusual sea creatures, which at the time were still considered by many to be mythical.

Hugo returned to political and social issues in his next novel, L'Homme Qui Rit (The Man Who Laughs), which was published in 1869 and painted a critical picture of the aristocracy. However, the novel was not as successful as his previous efforts, and Hugo himself began to comment on the growing distance between himself and literary contemporaries such as Flaubert and Zola, whose naturalist novels were now exceeding the popularity of his own work. His last novel, Quatrevingt-treize (Ninety-Three), published in 1874, dealt with a subject that Hugo had previously avoided: the Reign of Terror that followed the French Revolution. Though Hugo’s popularity was on the decline at the time of its publication, many now consider Ninety-Three to be a powerful work on par with Hugo’s more well known novels.

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Political life and exile

Image:Victor Hugo-Cartoon3.jpg After three unsuccessful attempts, Hugo was finally elected to the Académie Francaise in 1841, solidifying his position in the world of French arts and letters. Thereafter he became increasingly involved in French politics as a supporter of the Republic form of government. He was elevated to the peerage by King Louis-Philippe in 1841 and entered the Higher Chamber as a Pair de France, where he spoke against the death penalty and social injustice, and in favour of freedom of the press and self-government for Poland. He was later elected to the Legislative Assembly and the Constitutional Assembly, following the 1848 Revolution and the formation of the Second Republic. Image:Victor Hugo-Exile.jpg When Louis Napoleon (Napoleon III) seized complete power in 1851, establishing an anti-parliamentary constitution, Hugo openly declared him a traitor of France. Fearing for his life, he fled to Brussels, then Jersey, and finally settled with his family on the channel island of Guernsey, where he would live in exile until 1870.

While in exile, Hugo published his famous political pamphlets against Napoleon III, Napoléon le Petit and Histoire d'un crime. The pamphlets were banned in France, but nonetheless had a strong impact there. He also composed some of his best work during his period in Guernsey, including Les Misérables, and three widely praised collections of poetry (Les Châtiments, 1853; Les Contemplations, 1856; and La Légende des siècles, 1859).

Although Napoleon III granted an amnesty to all political exiles in 1859, Hugo declined, as it meant he would have to curtail his criticisms of the government. It was only after the unpopular Napoleon III fell from power and the Third Republic was proclaimed that Hugo finally returned to his homeland in 1870, where he was promptly elected to the National Assembly and the Senate.

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Religious views

Hugo's religious views changed radically over the course of his life. In his youth, he identified as a Catholic and professed respect for Church hierarchy and authority. From there he evolved into a non-practicing Catholic, and expressed increasingly violent anti-pope and anti-clerical views. He dabbled in Spiritualism during his exile, and in later years settled into a Rationalist Deism similar to that espoused by Voltaire. When a census-taker asked Hugo in 1872 if he was a Catholic, he replied, "No. A Freethinker." Image:Victor Hugo-Brooding.jpg

Hugo never lost his antipathy towards the Catholic Church, due largely to the Church's indifference to the plight of the working class under the oppression of the monarchy; and perhaps also due to the frequency with which Hugo's work appeared on the Pope's list of "proscribed books" (Hugo counted 740 attacks on the Les Misérables in the Catholic press). On the deaths of his sons Charles and François-Victor, he insisted that they buried without crucifix or priest, and in his will made the same stipulation about his own death and funeral. However, although Hugo believed Catholic dogma to be outdated and dying, he never directly attacked the institution itself. He also remained a deeply religious man who strongly believed in the power and necessity of prayer.

Hugo's Rationalism can be found in poems such as Torquemada (1869, about religious fanaticism), The Pope (1878, violently anti-clerical), Religions and Religion (1880, denying the usefulness of churches) and, published posthumously, The End of Satan and God (1886 and 1891 respectively, in which he represents Christianity as a griffin and Rationalism as an angel).

"Religions pass away, but God remains", Hugo declared. Christianity would eventually disappear, he predicted, but people would still believe in "God, Soul, and Responsibility."

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Declining years and death

Image:Legros - Victor Hugo.jpg When Hugo returned to Paris in 1870, the country hailed him as a national hero. He went on to weather, within a brief period, the Siege of Paris, a mild stroke, his daughter Adèle’s commitment to an insane asylum, and the death of his two sons. (His other daughter, Léopoldine, had drowned in a boating accident in 1843; his wife Adele died in 1868; and his faithful mistress, Juliette Drouet, died in 1883, only two years before his own death.) Despite his personal loss, Hugo remained committed to political change.

Victor Hugo's death on May 22, 1885, at the age of 83, generated intense national mourning. He was not only revered as a towering figure in French literature, but also internationally acknowledged as a statesman who helped to preserve and shape the Third Republic and democracy in France. More than two million people joined his funeral procession in Paris from the Arc de Triomphe to the Panthéon, where he was buried.

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Drawings

Image:Victor Hugo-Setting Sun.jpg

Many are not aware that Hugo was almost as prolific in the visual arts as he was in literature, producing more than 4,000 drawings in his lifetime. (Some reproductions can be viewed on the internet at ArtNet and on the website of artist Misha Bittleston).

Originally pursued as a casual hobby, drawing became more important to Hugo shortly before his exile, when he made the decision to stop writing in order to devote himself to politics. Drawing became his exclusive creative outlet during the period 1848-1851.

Image:Victor Hugo-Octopus.jpg

Hugo worked only on paper, and on a small scale; usually in dark brown or black pen-and-ink wash, sometimes with touches of white, and rarely with color. The surviving drawings are surprisingly accomplished and "modern" in their style and execution, foreshadowing the experimental techniques of Surrealism and Abstract Expressionism.

He would not hesitate to use his children's stencils, ink blots, puddles and stains, lace impressions, "pliage" or folding (i.e. Rorschach blots), "grattage" or rubbing, often using the charcoal from match sticks or his fingers instead of pen or brush. Sometimes he would even toss in coffee or soot to get the effects he wanted. It is reported that Hugo often drew with his left hand or without looking at the page, or during Spiritualist séances, in order to access his unconscious mind, a concept only later popularized by Sigmund Freud.

Hugo kept his artwork out of the public eye, fearing it would overshadow his literary work. However, he enjoyed sharing his drawings with his family and friends, often in the form of ornately handmade calling cards, many of which were given as gifts to visitors when he was in political exile. Some of his work was shown to, and appreciated by, contemporary artists such as van Gogh and Delacroix; the latter expressed the opinion that if Hugo had decided to become a painter instead of a writer, he would have outshone the artists of their century.

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Memorials

The people of Guernsey erected a statue in Candie Gardens to commemorate his stay in the islands.

The City of Paris have preserved his residences Hauteville House, Guernsey and 6, Place des Vosges, Paris as museums.

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Works

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Published during Hugo's lifetime

Nouvelles Odes (1824)
Bug-Jargal (1826)
Odes et Ballades (1826)
Cromwell (1827)
Les Orientales (1829)
Le Dernier jour d'un condamné (1829)
Hernani (1830)
Notre-Dame de Paris (1831), (translated into English as The Hunchback of Notre Dame)
Marion Delorme (1831)
Les Feuilles d'automne (Autumn Leaves) (1831)
Le roi s'amuse (1832)
Lucrèce Borgia Lucrezia Borgia (1833)
Marie Tudor (1833)
Étude sur Mirabeau (1834)
Littérature et philosophie mêlées (1834)
Claude Gueux (1834)
Angelo (1835)
Les Chants du crépuscule (1835)
Les Voix intérieures (1837)
Ruy Blas (1838)
Les Rayons et les ombres (1840)
Le Rhin (1842)
Les Burgraves (1843)
Napoléon le Petit (1852)
Les Châtiments (1853)
Lettres à Louis Bonaparte (1855)
Les Contemplations (1856)
La Légende des siècles (1859)
Les Misérables (1862), (on which the very successful musical of the same name is based)
William Shakespeare (essay) (1864)
Les Chansons des rues et des bois (1865)
Les Travailleurs de la Mer (1866), (Toilers of the Sea)
Paris-Guide (1867)
L'Homme qui rit (1869), (The Man Who Laughs)
L'Année terrible (1872)
Quatre-vingt-treize (Ninety-Three) (1874)
Mes Fils (1874)
Actes et paroles — Avant l'exil (1875)
Actes et paroles - Pendant l'exil (1875)
Actes et paroles - Depuis l'exil (1876)
La Légende des Siècles 2e série (1877)
L'Art d'être grand-père (1877)
Histoire d'un crime 1re partie (1877)
Histoire d'un crime 2e partie (1878)
Le Pape (1878)
Religions et religion (1880)
L'Âne (1880)
Les Quatres vents de l'esprit (1881)
Torquemada (1882)
La Légende des siècles Tome III (1883)
L'Archipel de la Manche (1883)

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Published posthumously

Théâtre en liberté (1886)
La fin de Satan (1886)
Choses vues - 1re série (1887)
Toute la lyre (1888)
Alpes et Pyrénées (1890)
Dieu (1891)
France et Belgique (1892)
Toute la lyre - nouvelle série (1893)
Correspondances - Tome I (1896)
Correspondances - Tome II (1898)
Les années funestes (1898)
Choses vues - 2e série (1900)
Post-scriptum de ma vie (1901)
Dernière Gerbe (1902)
Mille francs de récompense (1934)
Océan. Tas de pierres (1942)
Pierres (1951)
Conversations with Eternity

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Online texts

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References

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Online references

Afran, Charles (1997). “Victor Hugo: French Dramatist”. Website: Discover France. (Originally published in Grolier Multimedia Encyclopedia, 1997, v.9.0.1.) Retrieved November 2005.
Bates, Alfred (1906). “Victor Hugo”. Website: Theatre History. (Originally published in The Drama: Its History, Literature and Influence on Civilization, vol. 9. ed. Alfred Bates. London: Historical Publishing Company, 1906. pp. 11-13.) Retrieved November 2005.
Bates, Alfred (1906). “Hernani”. Website: Threatre History. (Originally published in The Drama: Its History, Literature and Influence on Civilization, vol. 9. ed. Alfred Bates. London: Historical Publishing Company, 1906. pp. 20-23.) Retrieved November 2005.
Bates, Alfred (1906). “Hugo’s Cromwell”. Website: Theatre History. (Originally published in The Drama: Its History, Literature and Influence on Civilization, vol. 9. ed. Alfred Bates. London: Historical Publishing Company, 1906. pp. 18-19.) Retrieved November 2005.
Bittleston, Misha (uncited date). "Drawings of Victor Hugo". Website: Misha Bittleston. Retrieved November 2005.
Burnham, I.G. (1896). “Amy Robsart”. Website: Theatre History. (Originally published in Victor Hugo: Dramas. Philadelphia: The Rittenhouse Press, 1896. pp. 203-6, 401-2.) Retrieved November 2005.
Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th Edition (2001-05). “Hugo, Victor Marie, Vicomte”. Website: Bartleby, Great Books Online. Retrieved November 2005. Retrieved November 2005.
Fram-Cohen, Michelle (2002). “Romanticism is Dead! Long Live Romanticism!”. The New Individualist, An Objectivist Review of Politics and Culture. Website: The Objectivist Center. Retrieved November 2005.
Haine, W. Scott (1997). “Victor Hugo”. Encyclopedia of 1848 Revolutions. Website: Ohio University. Retrieved November 2005.
Illi, Peter (2001-2004). “Victor Hugo: Plays”. Website: The Victor Hugo Website. Retrieved November 2005.
Karlins, N.F. (1998). "Octopus With the Initials V.H." Website: ArtNet. Retrieved November 2005.
Liukkonen, Petri (2000). “Victor Hugo (1802-1885)”. Books and Writers. Website: Pegasos: A Literature Related Resource Site. Retrieved November 2005.
Meyer, Ronald Bruce (2004). “Victor Hugo”. Website: Ronald Bruce Meyer. Retrieved November 2005.
Robb, Graham (1997). “A Sabre in the Night”. Website: New York Times (Books). (Excerpt from Graham, Robb (1997). Victor Hugo: A Biography. New York: W.W. Norton & Company.) Retrieved November 2005.
Roche, Isabel (2005). “Victor Hugo: Biography”. Meet the Writers. Website: Barnes & Noble. (From the Barnes & Noble Classics edition of The Hunchback of Notre Dame, 2005.) Retrieved November 2005.
Uncited Author. “Victor Hugo”. Website: Spartacus Educational. Retrieved November 2005.
Uncited Author. “Timeline of Victor Hugo”. Website: BBC. Retrieved November 2005.
Uncited Author. (2000-2005). “Victor Hugo”. Website: The Literature Network. Retrieved November 2005.
Uncited Author. "Hugo Caricature". Website: Présence de la Littérature a l’école. Retrieved November 2005.