You don’t have to be a big fan of literature to know who Victor Hugo is. His biography and work, however, are familiar to many of us only in general terms. Meanwhile, this is the author, without whom it is impossible to imagine French literature of the 19th century. Victor Hugo, whose brief biography and work is presented in this article, is one of the most outstanding romantics in France, theorist and leader of romanticism in his country. His work is striking in its diversity and versatility. And the poet, and playwright, and prose writer, and literary critic, and publicist - all this is Victor Hugo. An interesting biography of it is brought to your attention.
The origin and childhood of Victor
The years of life of the author we are interested in are 1802-1885. In Besancon on February 26, 1802, Victor Hugo was born. A brief biography of him thus begins on this date. His father was a master of the carpentry workshop. During the reign of Napoleon, he rose to the rank of general. The boy's mother, on the contrary, hated Bonaparte and was a zealous royalist. It is known that the Hugo family often moved from place to place. Victor and his parents lived in Spain for a while. The family broke up in Madrid after the fall of Napoleon. In this city, Victor's father was the governor. After the divorce, the mother raised her boy.
First works
Victor's poetic talent woke up early. Victor Marie Hugo began to write as a teenager . His biography is marked by an early recognition of the poems created by him and od. They were seen back in 1815-16. During these years, Victor excelled at competitions held by the Toulouse Academy. Later, his work was recognized by the royal government. In 1822, the first poetry collection of Victor Hugo's "Odes and Various Poems" appeared. It was created in the style of classicism.
The development of romanticism in the work of Hugo
It should be said that Victor Hugo quite early changed classicism. As soon as Hugo left the stage of apprenticeship, he began to gradually move to the position of romantics, at first timidly, and after a while already decisively. However, in prose genres, Hugo adhered to romanticism from the very beginning. "Gan Icelander", his first novel, created in 1821-22, is proof of this. Victor Hugo created his second novel in 1826. The work is called "Bug Zhargal". It became the evidence of further affirmation on the positions of romanticism of such an author as Victor Hugo. The biography of his subsequent years was marked by development in this direction. In Bug Jargal, Victor described the rebellion of black slaves.
"Odes and ballads"
Hugo's reform in the field of poetic style consisted in an attempt to replace the dominance of reason in the poems of classicism with the language of human feelings. Hugo decided to abandon jewelry, which are borrowings from the mythology of antiquity. Around the same time, he turned to the ballad, which was considered a romantic genre, very popular in those years. The collection of Hugo's "Odes and Ballads" appeared in 1826. The very name of the book speaks of its transitional nature. Ode, which is an exemplary genre of poetry of classicism, combines in it with a ballad inherent in the romantic tradition.
The first dramatic works of Hugo
The romantics in the late 1820s began to pay great attention to the theater, which at that time remained under the rule of dominant classicism. Victor Hugo wrote his first drama Cromwell in 1827 for this purpose. This romantic-historical work speaks of a bourgeois revolution in England in the 17th century. Cromwell, her leader, is shown by a strong personality. However, it is characterized by moral contradictions, in contrast to solid characters created in the framework of classicism. Cromwell, having overthrown the king, wants to change the revolution and become a monarch. Not only the work itself, but also the preface to this drama gained great fame. Victor Hugo in it tried to connect the development of world literature with the course of history to show that the triumph of romanticism is historically determined. He presented a whole program of a new direction.
Orientals
At this time , Victor's multifaceted creative activity reaches unprecedented intensity. The collection Orientalia, which appeared in 1829, became a particularly significant event. This is the first complete collection of romantic poetry that created Hugo a reputation for outstanding poetry.
It should be said that Hugo's art as a whole is characterized by a rare variety of genres. Equally successfully performed in prose, and in poetry, and in drama Victor Hugo. His biography, however, suggests that he was primarily a poet.
New dramas
As for the drama of this author, its ideological content goes back to the battle of ideologies of the late 1820s, as well as to the July Revolution that took place in 1830. Victor’s romantic drama resonated with socio-political issues. She defended the advanced aspirations and ideals of the author.
The basis of the Hugo dramas created in 1829-39. (except for Lucrezia Borgia in 1833), a clash of commoners with the monarchy and feudal aristocracy was laid (Marion Delorm, Maria Todor, King has fun, Ruy Blaz, etc.).
"Notre Dame Cathedral" (Victor Hugo)
The biography of the next years of the author we are interested in is marked by the appearance of many new works. The second half of the 1820s in the history of French literature was the time of the dominance of such a genre as a historical novel. The work of Victor Hugo "Notre Dame de Paris", created in 1831, is one of the highest achievements of this genre. The story of France is reflected in the novel. The work also has topical issues related to the situation in the country during the years of writing the book.
Works of the late 1820-1840s
The end of the 1820s and the beginning of the 1830s was a time of extraordinary creative activity even for such a prolific author as Victor Hugo. A brief biography of him of this time, as well as the period of exile (from 1851 to 1870) is marked by the creation of many different works. Hugo developed romantic drama, worked in prose and poetry. In the 1830s and early 1840s, Hugo created 4 poetry collections. In 1836, "Autumn Leaves" appeared, in 1837 - "Songs of Twilight", in 1841 - "Rays and Shadow" and "Inner Voices". And in 1856 a two-volume collection of "Contemplation" was published, which dates back to the period of exile.
Exile period
Victor Hugo decided to leave France after the February Revolution took place in 1848, after which Louis Bonaparte became a dictator. Hugo went into exile. Victor settled on an island located in the English Channel. In order to denounce the political adventurer Louis Bonaparte and his criminal regime before the whole world, already in the first year of exile he created the book Napoleon the Small. In 1877-78, the work "The History of a Crime" appeared, which is a revealing chronicle of the coup d'etat that took place in 1851.
Victor Hugo's worldview was finally formed precisely in the years of exile. Here, on the island of Jersey, he created in 1853 a collection of Maps, considered the best in Hugo’s political poetry. At first glance, this is a kind of kaleidoscope of caricature portraits and scenes from life. However, the collection has its own semantic line, as well as a high level of emotional stress. They combine dissimilar material into a complete and orderly work.
Victor Hugo actively performed in prosaic genres during his stay on the island of Jersey. He created three novels. In 1862, "Les Miserables" appeared, in 1866 - "Workers of the Sea", and in 1869 - "The Man Who Laughs." The main theme of all these works is the theme of the people.
Social and political activities
It should be said that Victor became famous not only as a poet and writer, but also as a socio-political figure. He actively sought to change the course of events in the life of his country. In 1872, Victor Hugo created a collection called The Terrible Year. This is a kind of poetic chronicle of the tragic events of 1870-71, when France participated in the Franco-Prussian war.
last years of life
Until the last years of life, the activity of this author did not fade. In the last period of his work, the following poetic collections and poems appeared: in 1877 - "The Art of Grandfather", in 1878 - "Papa", in 1880 - "Donkey", in 1888-83 - "All Lyre Strings", etc.
The writer died in 1885, May 22. The public of France took his death as a national tragedy. Seeing Victor Hugo on the last journey became a grand manifestation. Thousands of people participated in it.
The works created by Victor Hugo firmly entered French and world literature. Biography, a summary of his creations, interesting facts about this author - all this is known to many of our contemporaries. It is not surprising, because Victor Hugo is today a recognized classic.