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Victor Marie Hugo and the literature that changed
France, if not the world
"His novels have a purpose: historical, moral,
social or all at once. Their insistent vibrating style, and the frequent
intrusion of the author's inflections may awaken a sense of strain; but they
have kept their hold on others than school boys; and the grotesque, swarming,
medieval crowds surging the huge cathedral (Notre Dame de Paris), the symbolic
fight between man and the sea (Les Travialleurs de Mer). The epic allegories of
vice, suffering and regeneration in the background of modern society of it's
cruelty and indifference it has secured themselves a place among the French
books that live" (Cazamian, 1964).
At the age of twenty-five Victor Hugo published
his play Cromwell which, though never preformed, changed the course of
literature. The preface especially was viewed by the budding romantic movement
as the manifesto for the new school. The principles he expounded there
established him as the uncontested leader of the movement. Hugo's early works
would define the tone, subjects and style of the period. He discarded the rules
of the classic period with its continuity of time, place and action, it
restrictive superfluous vocabulary and the limit of a twenty-four hour time
period for drama. He established the legitimacy of addressing the strange, the
fantastic and the grotesque. Hugo led literature back to nature declaring that
the "Poet should have only one model, nature; only one guide, truth." He
compared the classical literature to the royal park at Versailles maintaining
that it was artificial literature much like the "well leveled, well pruned, well
raked, well sanded" grounds of the great labyrinth. His poetry, that of the
romantics, was a natural poetry that obeyed the natural laws and ignored
artificial restrictions. (Grant, 1945) By the age of twenty-nine he was the
established master of French poetry, drama and the novel; by virtue of Les
Orientales, Hernani and Notre Dame de Paris respectively. He would write for
nearly fifty-four more years with no significant depreciation in his work.
Victor as an adolescent, Hugo's parents and his childhood
Sophie Trébuchet, later Sophie Hugo, ardently
supported the monarchy of France. She was not a practicing catholic, and rather
disliked religion. She had been raised from the earliest childhood by an aunt
who loved Voltaire. Obviously, as a royalist she was in great danger during the
French Revolution, but several times she risked her life to save others from the
guillotine. There are even stories that the future Mademoiselle Hugo met Léopold
under such sorted circumstances. Supposedly young Sophie distracted Léopold, a
soldier of the republic, so that a group of rebels and priests could escape the
guillotine, though there is no evidence to support the anecdote. Victor, the
third son, was born on the twenty-sixth of February, 1802. He was apparently
born premature and it was thought that he would not survive his first night, his
health was so precarious that his father did not report him as a live birth
until he had already lived three days. His birth momentarily quieted the
frequent disputes between his parents; their diametrically opposing political
beliefs, Sophie a royalist and Léopold a solider of Napoleon's republic, often
put them at odds. Early in Victor's life his father made exaggerated claims
against his commanding officer which could not be substantiated by the ensuing
investigation. A court-martial was nearly underway when Sophie went to General
Victor La Horie, after whom Victor was named, and pleaded on her husband's
behalf. She succeeded in her aim, but was so struck by the General that she
stayed with him after her goal was accomplished. The general was also a royalist
who would later take part in a conspiracy against the republic, Sophie began a
long-standing affair with him. Léopold was sent to Corsica, to perform guard
duty as punishment, where he met a young Catherine Thomas who would be his
mistress, and eventually his wife. Léopold impressed Joseph Bonaparte (Napoleon's
brother) who made him a colonel at which time, after three years apart, Sophie
returned to him. After two rocky years, most of which was spent in separate
residences, Sophie took her sons and returned to Paris. As a young man Victor's
financial standing would largely be tied to the success of the Bonaparte family.
As Joseph Bonaparte became more powerful Léopold advanced with him, and became
wealthier and more powerful, ultimately becoming a general. Though they rarely
lived together, and would eventually divorce in 1818 (seven years after the
general originally asked for it) Léopold always supported Sophie and their sons.
When Sophie and Léopold were together they often fought, this is the tumultuous
environment in which young Victor Hugo spent his childhood. By the age of
fourteen Victor completed his first translations of Virgil, an early influence
impacted his writing and thought across his career, and by fifteen he had
composed a poem that received honorable mention from the French Academy in a
contest intended for college students and professionals. The academy was so
thoroughly impressed by the prodigousness of the youth that they demanded proof
of his age lest they revoke the prize. Hugo promptly furnished his birth
certificate and became the talk of Paris.
The youthful poet
At age sixteen Hugo finished his schooling at
the Pension Cordier and upon leaving had all but completed his formal education.
Hugo, like all youth of his day, found himself confronted with the decision of a
vocation. Young Victor tried his hand at law school but found he was
particularly unsuited for it, encouraged by his success with the National
Academy he decided upon poetry. Léopold, now General Hugo, did not approve of
his son's choice, but did not attempt to interfere with it either. In 1819, when
only seventeen years old, Victor Hugo won two prizes from the prestigious
Academy of Toulouse for his poems "Les Vierges de Verdun" and "Le Rétablissement
de la statue de Henri IV." Later that year Hugo was again recognized by the
National Academy with fifth place in another poetry contest, although the topic
was one he did not particularly wish to address. Soon he established a review
along with his brother called Le Conservateur littétaire named for his idol
Chateaubriande's Le Conservateur. This review was chiefly composed of Victor's
work and served as an important medium for many of his early poems. In January
of 1821 Chateaubraind and a number of others the Société des bonnes lettres, an
extreme royalist group that Charles and Victor were soon attracted to. Victor's
participation began to wane as other interests occupied his time, but Charles
remained active. In June Sophie died suddenly, in addition to immense personal
loss Victor also lost his source of support.
The next two years were an experience with
bitter poverty that would be recounted many years later as those of Marius
Pontmercy in Les Misérables. Victor soon approached his love interest, Adéle
Foucher whom his mother forbade him to court, and asked for her hand in marriage.
Her parents consented, but only if Hugo were capable of supporting her, and at
the time he most certainly was not. Victor and Adéle had a truly romantic
courtship, much of which was recorded in Lettres á la fiancée after Hugo's death.
He idealized her and refused to find any fault in her. When she confessed that
she disliked poetry Victor did not believe her, for in his mind innocence, which
she represented, was intimately intertwined with appreciation of poetry. In 1822
Hugo published his first volume of poems Odes et poésies diverses, the modest
volume immediately captured Louis XVIII's attention, he promptly awarded Hugo an
annual stipend. This support meant that he could finally marry Adéle, which he
did soon thereafter.
On June, 16 1823 Adéle gave birth to their
first son, Léopold, but Adéle was unable to nurse him and an incompetent wet
nurse caused him to die. Scarcely a year later Leopoldine, their first daughter,
was born on August twenty-eighth, 1824, just as Victor was rising to the head of
the new romantic school. He was beginning to dislike the establishment and its
restrictions on literature, Hugo asserted that poets must lead and could not be
bound by outdated rules. On the sixteenth of September Louis the XVIII died and
was succeeded by Charles X, to whose coronation Hugo was invited. It was during
this time that Charles Nodier first became an important friend of Hugo's, Nodier
would lead him to Shakespeare who was almost unknown in France at the time.
Though Hugo's thought's were beginning to put him at odds with the establishment
he still lived in his mother's shadow, so he was a royalist in name, if not in
thought.
In 1827 a critic named Charles-Augustine
Sainte-Beuve heralded Hugo as a supreme talent, his reviews were so flattering
that Hugo sought him out. The two soon became great friends, Sainte-Beuve
surpassed Nodier as Hugo's chief literary confidant. For a brief time the two
were the closest of friends, but sadly their relationship would come to a tragic
end.
Hugo's indecision on political matters would
soon be pulled into focus. He composed a poem titled "Ode á la Colonne de la
place Vendôme" based on the experiences of three Napoleonic marshals who were
granted ducal rank by Napoleon during his reign. They were announced without
title at a ball in Alsacé-Lorraine, the Germans present denied their rank
because of the humiliation Napoleon inflicted on the German army, the three
insulted dukes left immediately. These three men would later be represented in
Les Misérables by Maurius' father, who was likewise insulted. This poem gained
the favor of the liberal press and pleased his father who began to warm to him.
Soon thereafter the play Cromwell was published, this work, particularly its
preface, hurdled Hugo to the forefront of the romantic movement and crowned him
as the master of the movement. His success, however, would be bittersweet. This
joy would be counterbalanced with disaster as well. In 1828, as Hugo was drawing
truly close to his father, the General died suddenly.
Hugo the master, Hugo the political activist
In 1829 Victor Hugo published Les Orientales, a
collection of poems that far exceeded his previous offerings. The poems received
great acclaim, but also represented a significant shift in his political views.
Contained in the collection was a poem called "Lui" which extolled the greatness
of Napoleon. Other significant political ideas began to solidify this year as
well. Hugo chanced upon an executioner preparing his gallows for the next day's
"festivities", the crass indifference of the man astounded Hugo. Though always a
humanitarian, Hugo now explicitly opposed capitol punishment in his writing of
Dernier jour d'un condemn (The last day of a condemned man). The novel was one
of the first reviewed by the Great Cénacle, a group of Paris' literary elite,
who began meeting regularly in Hugo's home. The group included Sainte-Beuve,
Nodier, Vigny, Lamartaine and others whom would be among Hugo's closest friends
for the rest of his life.
Victor Hugo came directly in confrontation with
the monarchy for the first time in 1830 when, after its first performance,
Marion de Lorme was censored by Charles X. Hugo pleaded to have the ban removed,
but Charles would not relent. Hugo replied by writing his play Hernani,
considered by many his best play. In less than a month Hugo composed the play,
he had scarcely presented it to the Cénacle before he read it to the Thêatre-Francias.
The troupe instantly began production of the play. Charles X, meanwhile, had
dissolved the Parliament and abridged civil liberties guaranteed by the Charter.
The June revolution resulted in his exile. In this amiable atmosphere Hugo began
work an novel, which four months later became Notre Dame de Paris. The romantic
composer Hector Berlioz was present when Hugo presented the work to the Cénacle
and was bedazzled by its mastery. In 1831 it was published, at the extraordinary
age of twenty-nine Hugo was established as the romantic master of the novel, as
well as drama and poetry.
Tragedy
Even the joy of becoming the fulcrum of
romantic literature could not be long relished by Hugo. In early December
Sainte-Beuve confessed to Hugo that he had fallen in love with Adéle, but had
not revealed his feelings to her. Hugo was compassionate and understanding, he
asked his friend to try and dominate his feelings for Mme. Hugo, but two weeks
later Sainte-Beuve decided he could not master his emotions. He did what he felt
was the only honorable course of action, he offered to withdraw from the lives
of the Hugos. There was a brief period of intermittent contact, but then Sainte-Beuve
contacted Adéle and there was an affair. Hugo took the loss of his friend
especially hard, though he continued to wish him the best. Sainte-Beuve, however,
became quite spiteful to Hugo, though not always to his work. Later, in 1833,
Hugo met an actress, Juliette Drouet, who played a small part in his Lucréce
Borgia, after a brief time of clumsy modesty (Hugo's romantic ideal) the began
an affair. The two would be together for more than fifty years, until Juliette
died. She found herself in a considerable financial disaster which, though he
could scarcely afford to, Victor rectified by assuming all of her debts and
furnishing her with a modest apartment. Juliette would realize the romantic
ideal of rehabilitation through love. She had contact only with Victor, and she
devoted her life to him. In that respect her devotion may have been the model
for Jean Valjean's devotion to Cossette in Les Misérables. In his mind Hugo was
equally devoted to Adéle and Juliette, the former his hostess and the mother of
his children, the later a lover who could appreciate his poetry.
Political aspirations
In 1831 Joseph Bonaparte, General Hugo's
benefactor, contacted Hugo to see if he would support Napoleon's son if he were
to try for the leadership of France. Hugo, who had become quite liberal by this
point, enthusiastically agreed. The young Bonaparte, however, died before any
action could be taken. Hugo vehemently supported humanitarian causes and the old
republic (Napoleon's France). Hugo would later write, in Dieu (God), that Satan
had sent three evils into this world; war, capitol punishment and imprisonment.
Supporting these sorts of policies Hugo tried for a place in the National
Academy, an academic body that had some political influence. After three
attempts he was finally elected in 1840. On April 13, 1845 Hugo was made a Peer
de France and on June 4th he was elected to the National Assembly. Hugo fought
for the working class, but ultimately failed them by voting for the wrong causes
with good intentions. In November of that year Hugo began work on his greatest
masterpiece, Les Misérables. On August 1, 1848 he founded a newspaper called
L'Evenement. The paper was largely a political tool, one that he would use to
elect a man with a magic name. Hugo used the paper to support Louis-Napoleon's (Napoleon
III) bid for the French presidency. It was widely believed that without Hugo's
support, through his paper, that Napoleon III may not have won the election,
with the support he won by a landslide.
Napoleon III eventually became as tyrannical as
any monarch, he opposed Garabaldi and his attempts for a liberated Italy. This
outraged Hugo and other liberals in France. Hugo openly attacked Napoleon III's
policies using L'Evenement. Napoleon III ordered his army to force key
opposition to resign and smashed the printing presses of papers that were
hostile towards him, Hugo's was, of course, among these. The working class, led
by ousted liberals, rose against these outrages, but the army massacred the
workers. Hugo carefully noted the details which he would soon use to expose
Napoleon III's tyranny.
Fearing arrest Hugo went into hiding with
Juliette who concealed him, then helped him escape to Belgium. There Hugo
published Histoire d'un Crime (the story of a crime) and Napoleon le petit (the
small Napoleon). Both were vicious attacks on Napoleon III. Belgium asked Hugo
to leave because they were forced to maintain friendly relations with France.
Hugo then went to the small island of Jersey not far from the French coast, but
he would never make a real home for himself there. There he published Les
Châtements a book of poems further defaming Napoleon III. When England allied
itself with Napoleon III (1855) Hugo attacked the Queen as well, with this he
overstepped his welcome in Jersey and was told to leave the island (Jersey was a
British holding).
Hugo fled to nearby Guernsey, a place that
would be second in his heart only to Paris. There Hugo established his famous
home the Hauteville House. Shortly after arriving in Guernsey Victor Hugo
published Les Contemplations which were largely poems of grief over his daughter
Leopoldine's drowning (1843) and some poems on nature. His grief over her
passing was renewed by a series of seances held on Jersey, there, Hugo believed,
he had contacted her spirit as well that of Jesus and those of a number of other
important people. Interestingly enough most of the details he learned from the
seances, about historical events, could be verified (Harris, 1969). Victor Hugo
continued to criticize Napoleon III and the tyranny in France both in his work
and during the speeches he often gave, but his attention turned again to Les
Misérables.
Comentaries and change, ….sort of
On January 1, 1861 Hugo seriously resumed work
Les Misérables, it would be completed and published in 1862. Hugo said that
"Dante created a hell out of poetry, I have tried to create one out of reality.";
with his depiction of the working poor in Paris certainly did create that
hellish reality. The abused masses and the explicit subject of poverty-made
crime provide the antithesis behind for the romantic ideal of redemption through
love. Jean Valjean, like his Juliette Drouet, devotes his life to Fantine's
daughter Cossette, raising her as his own daughter, holding her more cherished
than even himself. His humanitarian approach treated the wretched hordes of the
city (Les Misérables) as real people with real concerns and real suffering. The
social commentary was astoundingly well received in France, even his old friend
(enemy?) Sainte-Beuve heralded it as a masterpiece.
In 1865 Napoleon III declared an amnesty for
exiled republicans. Hugo's family returned to Paris, but he declared that he
would not return to France until liberty did. Victor remained on Guernsey with
Juliette. The next year he publish Les Travailleurs de la mer (the toilers of
the sea), a symbolic struggle against, then resignation after victory, to the
sea. Two years later, in 1868, Adéle died in Brussels, where Victor and his sons
attended her during a brief illness. Victor went with her body as far as the
French border, but would not cross over. After another two years Hugo was
finally vindicated for change had come to Paris, and perhaps to France.
Return to France
On September 5, 1870, after nineteen long years
of exile (the same length of Jean Valjean's imprisonment), Hugo returned to
France. Napoleon III was overthrown and the Third Republic was declared.
Napoleon III had blundered the Franco-Prussian war and a revolution rebuked him
for it. During his long exile Hugo's name became synonymous with the Republic,
so upon his return he received a welcome like none in memory. Hugo was elected
to the National Assembly which had to immediately deal with the oncoming
Prussian assault. Hugo appealed to the Prussian leaders, but to no avail. The
French decided to resist the onslaught of Prussian soldiers. Hugo declared "There
will be henceforth in Europe two nations to be feared: one because it will be
victorious, the other because it will be vanquished." He prophetically, though
succinctly, described the state of Europe between the Franco-Prussian war and
the End of World War I. Paris was shortly thereafter besieged, during the four-month
affair Hugo suffered as any other Parisian, he often ate horse meat and even
worse.
Frustrated by conservative domination of the
National Assembly, the rest of France did not share Paris' visionary,
revolutionary zeal, Hugo resigned after the Assembly twice needlessly humiliated
the revolutionary Garabaldi (who aided in the overthrow of Napoleon III). On
March 11, 1873 his son François-Victor died suddenly of tuberculosis. Hundreds
of Parisians spontaneously joined Hugo in his grief at the funeral. That same
day barricades went up against the new government, Paris demanded the new
republic to which Hugo strove. The army was sent against the barricades and the
young men were slaughtered.
The Grandfather returns to politics
At the age of seventy-five Victor began to
concentrate on being a grandfather to his now fatherless grandchildren. He moved
and moved François-Victor's family so they could be close. He cherished his time
with the children and jotted down observations about them every few days. These
would become the poetry in L'art d'être grand-pére (The are of being a
grandfather).
In 1875 the rest of France caught up with
Paris, the republicans swept the elections and Georges Clemanceau led the
campaign to again elect Hugo. Unfortunately three years while arguing with his
close friend Louis-Blanc about Rousseau and Voltaire he had a mild apoplexy. He
was ordered to bed, so he returned to Hauteville House on Guernsey for four
months. When returned to Paris he seen the small island for the last time. After
the stroke Hugo discontinued writing, though he published some work he had
already written. He moved into a small house with Juliette upon his return to
Paris. In his old age he kept an open house just as he always had. Every person
of importance and thousands of common people flocked to meet him while he still
lived. " Paris enveloped him in a vast monumental glory" (Harris 307). The city
continued to revere its favorite son. On his seventy-ninth birthday the city
turned out to salute Hugo and the Republic.
In December of the same year Juliette was
diagnosed with cancer of the stomach, the following May she died. Her death
shattered Victor and his health visibly declined. He published only one more
time, and that of course, had been written many years before. France again
saluted Hugo on his eighty-third birthday, but it was apparent that his health
was failing. On May 13, 1885 he hosted a small dinner party for his intimate
friends, two days later he had contracted pneumonia. On the 22nd Victor Hugo
died.
Hugo's funeral procession began at the Arc
d'Triumphe, the monument of his beloved Napoleon. Over one million saw the
procession and it took ten thousand police to hold the crowds back. (Grant,
1945) On the first of June, Hugo's remains were laid to rest alongside those of
Rousseau and Voltaire in the Panthenon.
Hugo and Gardener's model
Like many of the creators that Gardner studied
in Creating Minds, Freud especially, young Hugo was largely dominated by his
mother. He would live in her shadow and maintain her beliefs long after her
direct influence had faded. Also like many of the creators the Hugos were
comfortable financially, at least during his childhood, but not wealthy by any
means. Like others Gardner studied Victor Hugo showed great promise early in
life. He was truly prodigious, a rare exception in the literary domain, and his
genius was first recognized at the tender age of fifteen, though he had
translated Virgil as early as fourteen. Like many other creators, again Freud in
particular, young Hugo was fascinated by the classics in general, and by Virgil
in particular.
In his youth Hugo idealized the monarchy,
compliments of his mother's beliefs, and greatly admired Chateubriand who was
the court master of letters. Given his political beliefs the monarchs, Louis
XVIII and Charles X, were also important influences, though not so much in
personality as in name. The young romantic idealized the King, regardless of who
sat upon the throne. Voltaire was an important influence on the youthful Hugo,
his mother especially adored Voltaire so Victor was familiar with his writings
at an early age. These early readings, which undoubtedly included Candide, may
have been the beginnings of his humanitarianism. The relationship between Hugo
the child and Hugo the master is inconsistent. Some views, like his
humanitarianism, started early on and were maintained throughout his lifetime,
but others, most notably his politics, diametrically changed over his lifetime.
He began firmly rooted in royalism, but then realized his ideals and drifted
republicanism which he stayed with throughout his adulthood. Many features of
his romantic literature can be traced to his childhood. The romantic fascination
with nature and the natural stems from his time in the family garden, more aptly
called a countryside, and his great love for the landscape. He adored the
natural, from his garden to the ocean, to the Alps and the Rhine. Also the
supernatural, fantastic and grotesque (comedy, beauty and repugnance) are common
themes in the thoughts of children, and as Hugo put they were part of a natural
order. As striking as the qualities are, without questions the most remarkable
facet of the young Hugo was his prodigious genius, a genius that did not wave,
but was enhanced with age. In this regard Victor Hugo is most like Pablo Picasso,
excelled at an early age in a domain that is not accustomed to prodigy. Also,
like Picasso, he assumed the mantle of mastery at an early age and maintained it
well into old age.
Many of the individuals studied by Gardner in
Creating Minds had interests other than their chosen domains, in this Hugo was
most like Einstein. Although they were both masters of their trade, they pursued
politics as a means of improving the human condition. Where Einstein was an
activist, Hugo became a leader. Like other great creators they exhibited a
generative concern for humanity. Here I should note that Hugo lived in, in some
ways defined, the era directly preceding the modern era. Hugo established the
rules that Elliot would rebel against, Hugo promoted the nationalism that led to
disaster in the First World War, though he vigorously opposed the use of
violence. In this Hugo resembled Ghandi, like Ghandi Hugo underwent self-imposed
hardship as a political tool. Long after he was permitted to return to France
Hugo remained in exile. This self-imposed exiled leant greater authority to his
words both during his exile, and after his return.
A number of the creators studied in Creating
Minds had troubled personal lives, Hugo fits here as well. Like Einstein, Freud,
Picasso and Elliot Hugo had difficult relationships with women in his life. The
individual relationships were strong, particularly with his mistress Juliette.
His relationship with Adéle was always cordial and loving, if not intimate.
There was a peculiar relationship between Adéle and Juliette, they knew and were
fond of one another. Hugo found in Juliette all that Adéle lacked, and Adéle was
the cordial hostess and mother that Juliette would never be. Hugo would likely
have never taken a mistress had it not been for the affair between Adéle and
Sainte-Beuve, but eventually became far more attached to Juliette than to Adéle.
Like all of the creators discussed by Gardner
Hugo a close association of friends with whom he shared his work. Hugo had
Cènacle, which Adéle graciously hosted, to share his work with and they were
privileged to experience Hugo's work before anyone else. Vigny, Blanc, Nodier,
Sainte-Beuve, Lamartaine and a host of others regularly met at Hugo's home, the
group was composed of Paris' literary elite. There were many guests to the group,
notably Hector Berlioz, the romantic composer, was present when Hugo first shard
Notre Dame de Paris (the Hunchback of Notre Dame). Berlioz was awed by the
novel. Charles, one of Hugo's sons, would be an important literary confidant,
but the most crucial influence was likely his brief friendship with Sainte-Beuve.
Charles-Augustin Sainte-Beuve had a profound influence the content of Hugo's
poems, the two mutually adored one another until the affair ripped them apart.
Hugo confessed that he was in the impossible position of being forced between
the two on this earth that he loved most, but he chose Adéle. Adéle however
would eventually choose Sainte-Beuve. Sainte-Beuve however was insanely jealous
of Hugo and enraged that he took Adéle for granted. The two had a bitter falling
out caused by Sainte-Beuve, Hugo always regretted their parting of ways.
Victor Hugo, in line with his romantic ideal,
always poured his soul into his work. He utilized his brilliant poetry and
oration as tools to accomplish his political aims. Hugo, through his work,
championed the poor, the condemned and the imprisoned, he renounced war and
advocated charity and piety. His works depicted the wretched reality of France
and offered viable alternatives. Hugo engaged life and politics on his terms,
though he did not always succeed he is all the greater for having tried. Instead
of merely expounding the way the world should be, he actively tried to make it
so. In doing so, Hugo did not make a Faustian bargain. His family was actively
involved in his aims and his work. His sons and some extended family worked on
his newspapers, his friends and companions shared his work with him, both during
exile and at home.
Even after considering the incongruancies
Victor Hugo fits Howard Gardner's model of creativity remarkably well. His life
echoes many facets of the creators Gardner examined. Hugo mastered the accepted
form of poetry and prose, then rebelled against its restrictive nature rising to
the forefront the romantic movement. Hugo eventually defined the period with his
expansive commentaries and unmatched poetry. Like others, he mastered the domain
then gathered a group of exceptional men and women around him that together
defined their time.
Conclusion
For over half a century Victor Hugo defined
romantic poetry, drama and literature. For forty years he was the liberal
conscious of France, his ideals and his work live today as vividly as the did
when he created them. Victor Hugo and his time are the context that Gardner's
individuals take place in, the romantic era, his era, was the backdrop for their
lives and creations. It cannot be declared that Hugo produced a single
masterpiece which represents his best work, an indispensable piece that
exemplifies him, without which he would loose significance. Hugo produced a
multitude of such works, none of which it can be claimed are indispensable. Many
years of Hugo's death T.S. Elliot appreciated that quality. John Porter Houston
wrote "I am reminded of the remarks T.S. Elliot made about Swineburne's poetic
language, which are all the more suggestive in the light of Swineburne's utter
worship of Hugo. Elliot emphasized the vastness of Swineburne's work and the
peculiar fact that no particular poem represents him at his absolute best and is
indispensable. His diffuseness is one of his glories.'" (Houston, 1988) Hugo's
work dwarfs that of Swineburne. Victor Hugo's importance to the romantic
movement cannot be overstated, he was its greatest master. Likewise Hugo's
importance to the French consciousness of his era cannot be exaggerated, the man,
the work and the creativity defined an era. Unlike his idle critics Hugo took
his destiny as well as his country's in his sturdy hands and made the best of
both. His mistakes were made with good intention, and his successes have stood
the test of time.
Works Cited
Cazamian, L. (1964). A History of French
Literature. Clarendon, England: Oxford University Press.
Gardner, H. (1993). Creating Minds. New York
City: Basic Books.
Grant, E. M. (1945). The Career of Victor Hugo.
London, England: Oxford University Press.
Harris, R. W. (1969). Romanticism and the
Social Order. Great Britain: Barnes and Noble.
Houston, J. P. (1988). Victor Hugo Revised Ed.
Boston Mass.: Twayne Publishers. |
