About Hugo

Victor Hugo was the leader of the French Romanticism movement and one of the greatest writers in the history of French literature. His life spanned almost the entire 19th century, his literary career lasted for 60 years, and his creative power is enduring. His romanticism

The novels are exciting, powerful, and have a lasting charm on readers.

Hugo was born in 1802 in Chanson, southern France. His grandfather was a carpenter, and his father was an officer in the French Army. He was awarded the rank of general by Napoleon's brother, King Joseph Bonaparte of Spain, and was a close confidant of the king.

Hugo was talented and started writing poetry at the age of 9. When he was 15 years old, he wrote "The Joy of Reading" and was awarded by the French Academy; when he was 20 years old, he published the collection of poems "Odes and Miscellaneous Poems", and King Louis XVIII gave him an annuity.

In 1827, Hugo published the script "Cromwell" and its preface. Although the script was not performed, the preface was considered a declaration of French Romanticism and became an epoch-making document in the history of literature. It played a great role in promoting the development of French romantic literature.

In 1830, Victor Hugo's play "Onani" was performed at the Grand Theater of the French Academy, which had a huge impact and established the dominant position of Romanticism in the French literary world.

"Onani" tells the story of Onani, a robber from a noble family in Spain who rebelled against the king in the 16th century. Hugo praised the robber's chivalry and nobility and showed a strong anti-feudal tendency.

In July 1830, the "July Revolution" occurred in France, and the feudal restoration dynasty was overthrown. Hugo enthusiastically praised the revolution, praised those revolutionaries, and wrote poems to mourn those heroes who died in street fighting.

"The Hunchback of Notre Dame" published in 1831 is Hugo's most romantic novel. The plot of the novel is twists and turns,

tense, vivid, unpredictable, dramatic and legendary.

The story takes place in the Middle Ages. On April Fool's Day, wandering Gypsy performers performed songs and dances in the square. A Gypsy girl named Esmeralda attracted passers-by. She was beautiful and danced very gracefully.

At this time, Claude Frollo, the deputy bishop of Notre Dame de Paris, was suddenly fascinated by the beautiful Meralda. The fire of lust burned in his heart and he fell madly in love with her. So he ordered the church bell ringer, the extremely ugly Quasimodo, to snatch Esmeralda away. As a result, Fabi, the French king's archer captain, rescued Esmeralda and captured Quasimodo. He took the bell ringer to the square to be whipped. The kind-hearted Gypsy girl did not care about her past grudges, but instead gave Quasimodo more water to drink.

Although the bell ringer looks ugly, he is pure and noble in his heart. He is very grateful to Esmeralda and falls in love with her. The innocent Esmeralda fell in love with Fabi at first sight. When they were dating, Frollo followed quietly. Out of jealousy, he stabbed Fabi with a knife and ran away. Emeslada was sentenced to death for murder. Quasimodo snatched Esmeralda from the gallows and hid it in Notre Dame de Paris. Frollo took the opportunity to threaten the gypsy girl and asked her to satisfy his lust. After being refused, he handed her over to the king. The army, the innocent girl was hanged. Quasimodo angrily pushed Frollo off the church and fell to death. He also died hugging Esmeralda's body.

The novel shows Hugo's strong hatred for the feudal government and the church, and also reflects his deep sympathy for the lower class people.

After the "July Revolution", France established the "July Dynasty

ruled by the big bourgeoisie headed by the financier Louis Philippe." The July Dynasty continued to challenge the Hugo tried to win over him, and in 1841 Hugo was elected to the French Academy. In 1845, Louis Philippe made him the Minister of the French Nobility, and he also became a member of the House of Nobles. Hugo's passion for struggle in his creation weakened. In 1843, he wrote a mystical play "The Garrison", which was booed by the audience during the performance and failed. Hugo remained silent for nearly 10 years without writing.

In June 1848, the people of Paris held a revolution, overthrew the July Dynasty and established the French Republic. At first Hugo did not understand revolution, but when the big bourgeoisie conspired to destroy the Republic of China, Hugo became a staunch communist and pacifist. In December 1851, Louis Bonaparte launched a coup, and Hugo participated in the anti-coup uprising organized by the Communist Party. After Louis Bonaparte came to power, he established the Second French Empire. He implemented a policy of terror and ruthlessly suppressed those who resisted. Hugo was also persecuted and had to go into exile.

During his exile, Hugo persisted in his struggle against Napoleon III. He wrote political satirical pamphlets and political satirical poems, slamming Napoleon III's dictatorship. During this period, he successively published the novels "Les Miserables", "Sea Laborers" and "The Man with the Laughing Face".

"Les Misérables" is Hugo's masterpiece. The plot of the novel is roughly like this: Jean Valjean, a poor worker from a peasant background, once saw his sister's children crying from hunger, so he went to steal bread. Unfortunately, he was caught and sentenced to five years in prison. He escaped from prison several times, was caught, and was sentenced to an additional 14 years in prison. As a result, he spent 19 years in prison for a piece of bread. After being released from prison, Jean Valjean was looked down upon by people everywhere. He had no job and no food. He vowed to take revenge on society. At this time, a bishop named Miriam influenced him, and he determined to do good deeds and become a good person.

He changed his name to Madeleine, set up a factory in a city, and became a rich man. He provided employment opportunities for poor people, gave them food, and gave them houses. He was always willing to help others and was elected as mayor by the citizens. At this time, a girl named Mang Ding came to the city. She was originally a rural girl who went to work in the city and was tricked into giving birth to a daughter. She fostered her daughter Cosette in the home of an innkeeper. The boss was a villain and took the opportunity to blackmail her. Mountain was forced to sell her beautiful hair and teeth, and then sold herself as a prostitute. In the end, she was poor and dying of illness. Agen immediately went to take care of her after hearing about it and promised to raise her daughter Cosette after her death. At this time, policeman Javert was hunting down the slave laborer Jean Valjean who had been missing for many years. In the city of Madeleine, he caught a poor worker, thinking he was Jean Valjean, and was going to send him to prison. In order to save this innocent worker , Jean Valjean stepped forward and took the initiative to admit his identity. He fell into the hands of the police again, and on the way to prison he managed to escape.

Jean Valjean immediately found Cosette and took her to hide in a remote monastery. Years later, Cosette has grown into a beautiful girl. She fell in love with Marius, a communist. In 1832, an uprising led by the Communists and the Party broke out in Paris, which was bloody suppressed by the July Monarchy. Marius was seriously injured, and Jean Valjean risked his life to rescue him through the sewer. At this time, Javert sneaked into the rebel team for reconnaissance, and was sentenced to death after being caught. Jean Valjean went to execute the order and shoot Javert, but Jean Valjean let Javert go. Javert was so ashamed in front of Jean Valjean's noble personality that he committed suicide by throwing himself into the river.

Cosette and Marius got married, and the young people were very happy. Jean Valjean lived a lonely life, and finally he died in Cosette's arms.

"Les Misérables" exposed the sharp contradictions and the disparity between rich and poor in capitalist society, described the painful fate of the lower class people, and raised three pressing issues in society at that time: "Poverty makes men miserable, hunger makes men miserable." Women degenerate, darkness weakens children," lashing out at the hypocrisy of bourgeois law. It comprehensively reflects the social and political life of France in the first half of the 19th century.

Therefore, the novel is welcomed by people all over the world. In the 20th century, it was adapted into movies many times, which also attracted countless audiences.

The Franco-Prussian War broke out in 1870. After France was defeated in Sedan, the Prussian army approached Paris. At this critical moment when the country was in danger, Hugo returned to his motherland after 19 years of exile. He gave speeches everywhere, calling on the French people to fight against the German invaders and defend the motherland. He also used the remuneration from his writings and poetry recitation to buy two cannons, showing his lofty patriotism.

When the Paris Commune revolted, Hugo did not understand the revolution. But when the Commune failed and the reactionary government frantically suppressed the Communards, Hugo angrily condemned the reactionaries for their brutal behavior. He called for an amnesty for all Communards and announced in the newspaper that his residence in Brussels, the capital of Belgium, would be provided to the exiled Communards as a refuge. Place. For this reason, his home was attacked by reactionary thugs and he nearly died, but he still stood his ground.

In 1885, Hugo died. The French people held a state funeral for this great poet. His body was buried in the Pantheon, which is dedicated to the burial of great men.

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