Google Doc Glog BIOGRAPHY Victor Hugo world renowned for being a outstanding author is best known for his work in writing The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1831) and Les Misérables (1862).
Victor Hugo was born in Besançon 1802. His father was a army General. When he was a child his parents separated and Hugo was sent to live with his mother. Hugo grew up and went to school in Paris. From 1815 to 1818 he was enrolled in the Lycée Louis-le Grand in Paris. Hugo's first claim to fame was his collection of poems called the Odes Et Poesies Diverses, which was so popular King Louis XVIII gave him money for it.
In 1822 Victor Hugo married his childhood friend Adèle Foucher who happened to be the daughter of an officer at the ministry of war. Victor and Adèle’s first child, Léopold, a boy died in infancy shortly after he was born in 1823. On 28 August 1824 Léopoldine their second child was born. They kept having children which resulted in Charles in 1826, François-Victor in 1828, and Adèle in 1830.
After he had had enough of children, his next work was one of action and romance called Han D'Islande which he debuted in 1823. A few years later in 1826 he followed up by writing Bug-Jargal which reflects on friendship between people of different social classes. Victor Hugo kept trying his hand at writing and gained more fame with his presentation in 1830 of Hernani. By the 1830s he had continued and created multiple volumes of lyric poetry. One of his incomplete works which was never finished turns out to be a more interesting piece called "Et nox facta est," ("And There Was Night") which was a study of Satan's fall.
Somewhere along the line Victor Hugo become involved heavily with politics. He was a strong advocate of a republican form of government. Victor Hugo tried three times to get elected but all were unsuccessful. In 1841 he was finally elected to the Académie Francaise. Two years later his eldest daughter Léopoldine died in 1843 when her boat capsized on the Seine.
Victor Hugo was elected to the Constitutional Assembly and Legislative Assembly after the 1848 revolution. When the coup d'état by Louis Napoleon (Napoleon III) took place 1851, Victor believed his life was in danger. He ended up fleeing to Brussels then to Jersey and Guernsey on the English Channel. This voluntary exile lasted 20 years. During this exile he wrote at Hauteville House some his best works, including Les Chatimets (1853) and Les Misérables (1862) The rise of the Third Republic made Hugo return to France.
Victor Hugo died in Paris on May 22, 1885. He received a national funeral which was attended by two million people. Victor Hugo now rests in the Panthéon where he was buried with great honor.
Why “We” Relate to Hugo’s Works
For more than fifty years Victor Hugo defined romantic poetry, drama and literature. For forty years he was the liberal conscious of France, his ideas and his work living today as vividly as they did when he created them. We all relate to Hugo’s work for many of the same reasons people relate to any piece of classic literature, The timeless themes of love, hope, loss, sadness, and triumph of humanity. Victor Hugo was a major factor in the event of his time, a great political activist and he espoused the virtues of Romanticism—liberty, individualism, spirit, and nature—which would become the tenets of high art for generations. Hugo also does not belong to any religion, so his works are relatable to those of all faiths and backgrounds. Unlike his critics Hugo took his fate as well as his country’s in his sturdy hands and tried to make the best of both. His mistakes were made with good intention, and his successes have stood the test of time.
Other Works by Victor Hugo
Although Les Misérables is Victor’s most famous work, he was a fairly prolific artist, writing novels, poetry, and plays as well as doing some paintings and sketches. Another of his more famous works is Notre-Dame de Paris or more commonly known as the Hunchback of Notre-Dame which was his first published full-length novel and was enormously successful. . But, early on, it wasn’t his novels that gained Hugo his fame but rather his poetry. His first collection of poetry, Odes et Poesies Diverses, earned him a royal pension! Some of his other poetry works are Les Châtiments, Les Contemplations, and La Légende des siècles. However his most ambitious poem was La Fin de Satan. He is often referred to as the greatest French, and the most influential Romantic writer of the 19th century. Many of Hugo’s works address social and political issues, not just Les Mis, but, L’Homme Qui Rit, Quatrevingt-Trieze, and Le Demier jour d’un condamné. A list of Hugo’s works could go on for pages and pages, because there is no one work that completely defines him. There is no one work that if removed would take away Hugo’s influence, he has no master work. All of Hugo’s pieces add something to the way we remember him.
How culture and personal life shaped Hugo’s literature
Victor Hugo wrote much of his literature based on the events taking place around him, both culturally and personally. A few of these connections can be found in his famous play Les Misérables. This story is set in a bleak time, depicting the poor working class of France during the early 1800’s. Some events mirror the French Revolution and life under the rule of the Napoleonic Empire. Similarities can be found surrounding the characters as well. Parts of Hugo’s own childhood can be seen reflected in the character Marius. A leading character, Jean Valjean, shows much dedication to the young girl Cossette. This is said to be a representation of the devotion shown by Juliette Drouets, Hugo’s love. In the play, Marius’ father is insulted in a way similar to that of three marshals who were humiliated by Napoleon. Hugo also uses this story as inspiration for the poem “Ode a la Colonne de la Place Vendome”. After watching an executioner seem indifferent while going through his regular tasks to prepare for an execution, Victor addressed his humanitarian side by sharing his views on the popular capital punishment in Dernier jour d’un Condemn. Another of Hugo’s most famous works “The Hunchback of Notre Dame” described the medieval society under the rule of Louis XI. This is something society responded to very well. Hugo also wrote Les Chatements, Napoleon le Petit, and Histoire d’un Crime attacking Napoleon III for becoming a tyrant after Hugo once supported him. Showing a softer side, Victor published many poems in Les Contemplations about his daughter’s drowning. Later in life, he published L’art d’têre grand-pere sharing his observations of his beloved grandchildren. In almost every work of Victor Hugo, there is some connection to his life or to the world he lived in.
Les Misérables: The Book that Has Shaped Generations.
Les Misérables was and is a book written for those who are oppressed. Almost everyone can relate to the book because the theme is (as the title suggests) about the misery experienced by many of the time. We can each relate to this with times in our lives when the world has not been as kind as we would wish. The book begins with the struggles of a man named Jean Valjean. He is convicted of stealing bread so that his sisters family may live. He did commit the crime and confesses to it. He is sentenced first five years for stealing bread and an additional fourteen for trying to escape. In all, he serves nineteen years hard labor for a meager crime. As the story progresses, readers can see Valjean turn his life around. He tries very hard to find work, but cannot. Eventually he breaks parole, steals from a priest, and is then saved by the priest from gendarmes trying to apprehend him for stealing. In this saving action, the priest re affirms the ideals of a just God and gives Valjean the second chance he needs, at life. The book then skips ahead six years and we see that M. Valjean has become a wealthy businessman under the name Monsieur Madeleine. He owns the factory in town and is gives jobs to the poor who work to better themselves. He has also become the mayor of a town that is unidentified in the book. A woman by the name of Fantine works in the factory in order to feed the child that she had out of wedlock (Cosette) who is living with cruel innkeepers, the Thenardiers. They treat the little girl miserably, but Fantine does what she must for her child to live. Fantine becomes very ill and dies. Valjean promises to take care of the child, but is confronted by Javert, who was one of the prison guards when Valjean was in prison. Javert has since become a police inspector and is tracking Valjean. Valjean takes Cosette from the Thenardiers and escapes Javert. The book then skips ahead several more years. Cosette and Valjean have been hiding in the church these past years. It is revealed that Cosette has grown into a fine young woman. She catches the eye of one of the revolutionaries, Marius. His family is rich, but he opposes the ruling class structure of France. Eventually, a large battle is fought, the rebels lose, Marius and Cosette end up together, Javert commits suicide, and Valjean dies as a happy old man. This summary is rough, but the book is almost 1,900 pages in its original French edition, while most English translations are over 1,500. The influence of this work is not truly measurable. It has been the backing of many speeches, revolutions, and ideologies. The idea that someone could turn around their life was somewhat revolutionary in Hugo’s era. It is indeed a testament to both his legacy and his outright forethought that this work has lasted over 150 years. One characteristic of the book that Hugo is both praised and ridiculed for is his tendency to go off topic into little narrations of his own. Of the original book’s 2,700 pages, almost 900 are dedicated to his digressions. Many critics say that these asides detract from the story, but others would argue that it is part of Hugo’s genius, and should therefore be embraced and appreciated. In whatever form the struggle of the human soul has taken, it has grabbed hold of the world as a common archetype in which the good is defined as freedom, and the bad is the absence of the good. Les Misérablesthoroughly achieves this goal and communicates a message that can best be simply summed up in two words, “Live Free.”
How his work shaped literature of his time and now
At a young age, Victor Hugo became a well-respected author. His works are said to have set the tone, subjects, and style of his period. Hugo paved the way as he shed light on grotesque, strange, and fantastic topics. Hugo wasn’t concerned with restrictions. After his play Cromwell was published, Victor was thought to be head of the romantic movement and was called the “romantic master” by some after the publishing of Notre Dame de Paris. Many admired his works.
Trivia Section
Hugo admired Napoleon.
His daughter drowned.
Hugo grew up Catholic but gradually grew to hate the Church very strongly, but still greatly respected God.
The shortest correspondence in history is credited to Hugo and his editor upon the
release of Les Misérables. Hugo was on vacation during the time the book was published and was curious as to its success.
A member of the Great Cénacle and friend of Hugo, Sainte-Beuve, had strong feelings for Hugo’s wife Adéle, and had an affair with her.
When Les Misérables was first published in Paris, it sold out in just a few hours.
The house where he stayed in Vianden, Luxembourg, in 1871 has also become a commemorative museum.
Hugo produced more than 4,000 drawings.
He was in Paris during the siege by the Prussian army in 1870, famously eating animals given to him by the Paris zoo.
Final words "I leave 50,000 francs to the poor. I want to be buried in their hearse. I refuse funeral orations of all churches. I beg a prayer to all souls. I believe in God."
Table of Contents
Google DocGlog
BIOGRAPHY
Victor Hugo world renowned for being a outstanding author is best known for his work in writing The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1831) and Les Misérables (1862).
Victor Hugo was born in Besançon 1802. His father was a army General. When he was a child his parents separated and Hugo was sent to live with his mother. Hugo grew up and went to school in Paris. From 1815 to 1818 he was enrolled in the Lycée Louis-le Grand in Paris. Hugo's first claim to fame was his collection of poems called the Odes Et Poesies Diverses, which was so popular King Louis XVIII gave him money for it.
In 1822 Victor Hugo married his childhood friend Adèle Foucher who happened to be the daughter of an officer at the ministry of war. Victor and Adèle’s first child, Léopold, a boy died in infancy shortly after he was born in 1823. On 28 August 1824 Léopoldine their second child was born. They kept having children which resulted in Charles in 1826, François-Victor in 1828, and Adèle in 1830.
After he had had enough of children, his next work was one of action and romance called Han D'Islande which he debuted in 1823. A few years later in 1826 he followed up by writing Bug-Jargal which reflects on friendship between people of different social classes. Victor Hugo kept trying his hand at writing and gained more fame with his presentation in 1830 of Hernani. By the 1830s he had continued and created multiple volumes of lyric poetry. One of his incomplete works which was never finished turns out to be a more interesting piece called "Et nox facta est," ("And There Was Night") which was a study of Satan's fall.
Somewhere along the line Victor Hugo become involved heavily with politics. He was a strong advocate of a republican form of government. Victor Hugo tried three times to get elected but all were unsuccessful. In 1841 he was finally elected to the Académie Francaise. Two years later his eldest daughter Léopoldine died in 1843 when her boat capsized on the Seine.
Victor Hugo was elected to the Constitutional Assembly and Legislative Assembly after the 1848 revolution. When the coup d'état by Louis Napoleon (Napoleon III) took place 1851, Victor believed his life was in danger. He ended up fleeing to Brussels then to Jersey and Guernsey on the English Channel. This voluntary exile lasted 20 years. During this exile he wrote at Hauteville House some his best works, including Les Chatimets (1853) and Les Misérables (1862) The rise of the Third Republic made Hugo return to France.
Victor Hugo died in Paris on May 22, 1885. He received a national funeral which was attended by two million people. Victor Hugo now rests in the Panthéon where he was buried with great honor.
Why “We” Relate to Hugo’s Works
For more than fifty years Victor Hugo defined romantic poetry, drama and literature. For forty years he was the liberal conscious of France, his ideas and his work living today as vividly as they did when he created them. We all relate to Hugo’s work for many of the same reasons people relate to any piece of classic literature, The timeless themes of love, hope, loss, sadness, and triumph of humanity. Victor Hugo was a major factor in the event of his time, a great political activist and he espoused the virtues of Romanticism—liberty, individualism, spirit, and nature—which would become the tenets of high art for generations. Hugo also does not belong to any religion, so his works are relatable to those of all faiths and backgrounds. Unlike his critics Hugo took his fate as well as his country’s in his sturdy hands and tried to make the best of both. His mistakes were made with good intention, and his successes have stood the test of time.
Other Works by Victor Hugo
Although Les Misérables is Victor’s most famous work, he was a fairly prolific artist, writing novels, poetry, and plays as well as doing some paintings and sketches. Another of his more famous works is Notre-Dame de Paris or more commonly known as the Hunchback of Notre-Dame which was his first published full-length novel and was enormously successful. . But, early on, it wasn’t his novels that gained Hugo his fame but rather his poetry. His first collection of poetry, Odes et Poesies Diverses, earned him a royal pension! Some of his other poetry works are Les Châtiments, Les Contemplations, and La Légende des siècles. However his most ambitious poem was La Fin de Satan. He is often referred to as the greatest French, and the most influential Romantic writer of the 19th century. Many of Hugo’s works address social and political issues, not just Les Mis, but, L’Homme Qui Rit, Quatrevingt-Trieze, and Le Demier jour d’un condamné. A list of Hugo’s works could go on for pages and pages, because there is no one work that completely defines him. There is no one work that if removed would take away Hugo’s influence, he has no master work. All of Hugo’s pieces add something to the way we remember him.
How culture and personal life shaped Hugo’s literature
Victor Hugo wrote much of his literature based on the events taking place around him, both culturally and personally. A few of these connections can be found in his famous play Les Misérables. This story is set in a bleak time, depicting the poor working class of France during the early 1800’s. Some events mirror the French Revolution and life under the rule of the Napoleonic Empire. Similarities can be found surrounding the characters as well. Parts of Hugo’s own childhood can be seen reflected in the character Marius. A leading character, Jean Valjean, shows much dedication to the young girl Cossette. This is said to be a representation of the devotion shown by Juliette Drouets, Hugo’s love. In the play, Marius’ father is insulted in a way similar to that of three marshals who were humiliated by Napoleon. Hugo also uses this story as inspiration for the poem “Ode a la Colonne de la Place Vendome”. After watching an executioner seem indifferent while going through his regular tasks to prepare for an execution, Victor addressed his humanitarian side by sharing his views on the popular capital punishment in Dernier jour d’un Condemn. Another of Hugo’s most famous works “The Hunchback of Notre Dame” described the medieval society under the rule of Louis XI. This is something society responded to very well. Hugo also wrote Les Chatements, Napoleon le Petit, and Histoire d’un Crime attacking Napoleon III for becoming a tyrant after Hugo once supported him. Showing a softer side, Victor published many poems in Les Contemplations about his daughter’s drowning. Later in life, he published L’art d’têre grand-pere sharing his observations of his beloved grandchildren. In almost every work of Victor Hugo, there is some connection to his life or to the world he lived in.
Les Misérables: The Book that Has Shaped Generations.
Les Misérables was and is a book written for those who are oppressed. Almost everyone can relate to the book because the theme is (as the title suggests) about the misery experienced by many of the time. We can each relate to this with times in our lives when the world has not been as kind as we would wish.
The book begins with the struggles of a man named Jean Valjean. He is convicted of stealing bread so that his sisters family may live. He did commit the crime and confesses to it. He is sentenced first five years for stealing bread and an additional fourteen for trying to escape. In all, he serves nineteen years hard labor for a meager crime.
As the story progresses, readers can see Valjean turn his life around. He tries very hard to find work, but cannot. Eventually he breaks parole, steals from a priest, and is then saved by the priest from gendarmes trying to apprehend him for stealing. In this saving action, the priest re affirms the ideals of a just God and gives Valjean the second chance he needs, at life.
The book then skips ahead six years and we see that M. Valjean has become a wealthy businessman under the name Monsieur Madeleine. He owns the factory in town and is gives jobs to the poor who work to better themselves. He has also become the mayor of a town that is unidentified in the book.
A woman by the name of Fantine works in the factory in order to feed the child that she had out of wedlock (Cosette) who is living with cruel innkeepers, the Thenardiers. They treat the little girl miserably, but Fantine does what she must for her child to live. Fantine becomes very ill and dies. Valjean promises to take care of the child, but is confronted by Javert, who was one of the prison guards when Valjean was in prison. Javert has since become a police inspector and is tracking Valjean. Valjean takes Cosette from the Thenardiers and escapes Javert.
The book then skips ahead several more years. Cosette and Valjean have been hiding in the church these past years. It is revealed that Cosette has grown into a fine young woman. She catches the eye of one of the revolutionaries, Marius. His family is rich, but he opposes the ruling class structure of France.
Eventually, a large battle is fought, the rebels lose, Marius and Cosette end up together, Javert commits suicide, and Valjean dies as a happy old man. This summary is rough, but the book is almost 1,900 pages in its original French edition, while most English translations are over 1,500.
The influence of this work is not truly measurable. It has been the backing of many speeches, revolutions, and ideologies. The idea that someone could turn around their life was somewhat revolutionary in Hugo’s era. It is indeed a testament to both his legacy and his outright forethought that this work has lasted over 150 years.
One characteristic of the book that Hugo is both praised and ridiculed for is his tendency to go off topic into little narrations of his own. Of the original book’s 2,700 pages, almost 900 are dedicated to his digressions. Many critics say that these asides detract from the story, but others would argue that it is part of Hugo’s genius, and should therefore be embraced and appreciated.
In whatever form the struggle of the human soul has taken, it has grabbed hold of the world as a common archetype in which the good is defined as freedom, and the bad is the absence of the good. Les Misérablesthoroughly achieves this goal and communicates a message that can best be simply summed up in two words, “Live Free.”
How his work shaped literature of his time and now
At a young age, Victor Hugo became a well-respected author. His works are said to have set the tone, subjects, and style of his period. Hugo paved the way as he shed light on grotesque, strange, and fantastic topics. Hugo wasn’t concerned with restrictions. After his play Cromwell was published, Victor was thought to be head of the romantic movement and was called the “romantic master” by some after the publishing of Notre Dame de Paris. Many admired his works.
Trivia Section
Final words "I leave 50,000 francs to the poor. I want to be buried in their hearse.
I refuse funeral orations of all churches. I beg a prayer to all souls.
I believe in God."