Et nox facta est, written by Victor Hugo (1802-1885) in the mid nineteenth century, is the first part of an epic poem called The End of Satan. What is being illustrated in Hugo’s piece of writing is Satan’s fall from heaven which demonstrates the morals and historical values of religion; specifically Christianity. Hugo wanted to present “both psychological acuity and powerful identification with the figure of a rebel” (Hugo 780), the rebel being the Devil himself. The importance of this piece is derived from Hugo’s writing style and diction, the depiction of a major part of Christian history, and the arguments that challenge religious beliefs. Hugo wrote in many different genres and this influenced the Romanticism era that he was a part of.
Hugo’s Et nox facta est “depicts the fallen angel’s defiant plunge from heaven” (Hugo 780), in an illustrated and imaginative manner. The English name for this poem is, And there was night, which “contrasts with the biblical ‘And there was light (Genesis 1:3)’” (Hugo 781). Hugo begins the poem by Lucifer being thrown down from Heaven in which he proceeds to fall in the “abyss some four thousand years” (Line 1). The poem’s tone symbolizes fear, terror, and anxiety due to the obstacles the Devil goes through and the amount of time that these chains of events happen in. The scenery throughout the poem is dark and relates to Satan’s attitude toward God for damning him to hell. Much of the poem exemplifies death, such as the “lightning from far a thousand deathly forms” (Line 194), and when Satan crosses “the first lakes of dead immensity” (Line 103). This poem focuses on death to exaggerate the pain of Lucifer and the punishment that he has to go through for his devilish actions. Hugo’s word choic...
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...f the educational system ignored Hugo’s pieces, the world would be lacking on some of the most basic philosophical ideas and there is always something new to learn from each of his pieces. As much as he did during his lifetime, “it would be futile to try and sum up Hugo’s poetry “(Gervais 117).
Works Cited
Gervais, David. “ Hugo and Victor Hugo.” Cambridge Quarterly 28.2 (1999): 116-49. Literary Reference Center Plus EBSCO. Web.
Hugo, Victor. “Et nox facta est” The Norton Anthology: Western Literature. 2.8. Ed. Sarah Lawall and Peter Simon. New York City: Norton. 2006. 347-68. Print.
Larson, Victoria. “‘Scribbling’ to Victor Hugo: The Letters of Juliette Drouet.” Romance Studies 27.2 (2009): 106-20. Academic Search Complete EBSCO. Web.
Riffaterre, Michael. “Victor Hugo’s Poetics.” The Romantic Review 93(2003): 151-60. Academic Search Complete EBSCO. Web.
While literature often follows some pattern and can be predictable, it is often evolving and can change in an instant depending on the author. In most Gothic literature, a derivative of Romanticism, there is a gothic space in the work – a limited space in which anything can happen in contrast to the normal world in the work. In addition, normally, order is restored at the end of Gothic literature – the good is rewarded and the bad is punished. In his Gothic novella, The Terrible Vengeance (1981), Nicolai Gogol decided to expand the ‘normal’ idea of Gothic literature by, in the work, transforming the traditional Gothic space to encompass anything and everything; in addition to the use of space, through the ending in which there is no reward, Gogol conveyed the idea that evil is prevalent everywhere and in everyone.
Tennyson, Alfred Lord. "In Memoriam A. H. H." The Norton Anthology of English Literature, 3rd ed., Vol. 2. New York: Norton, 1974. 1042-84.
Long, Ryan F. "A Conversation With Juan Villoro." World Literature Today 85.1 (2011): 16-19.Literary Reference Center. Web. 13 May 2014.
Disney’s The Hunchback of Notre Damn is an animated film based upon Victor Hugo’s novel of the same name. The main characters Quasimodo, the hunchback who lives in the bell tower of Notre Damn, Esmeralda, the gypsie girl, Claude Frollo, the cruel Archdeacon of Notre Damn, and Captain Phoebus, the antagonist who defies Frollos’ orders, are all representative of the social classes and turmoil that occurred throughout the early 19th century in France. The original novel was written during the July 1830 Revolution, with strong influences from Hugo’s personal beliefs in social and political equality for all people as well as his opposition to the monarchy that begun after Napoleon Bonaparte’s defeat at Waterloo. This film is accurate in the sense that it shows the class struggle of the time in a way that both honors the novel and its historical context but is also appropriate for its younger
Bierhorst, John, et al. The Norton Anthology: World Literature. Vol I. New York: W.W. Norton & Co.,
...her temptation had accomplished this; therefore her cruel effect must have been fate. As she awaited death, one character noticed the incidence of destiny when she remarked that “‘God has it all written down in His book'” (182). One aspect of Victor Hugo's work, his revelations of themes, philosophies, and morals through humorous characters, seems reminiscent of Sir Walter Scott's usage of a comparable pretext. Through the philosopher/poet, Gringoire, Hugo presents a moral that “‘the temptations of the flesh are pernicious and malignant'” (276). Certainly there exists some truth to this supposition on a central idea of the novel, the animosity stirred by mortal sensitivity, that during man's eternal search for affection--even when he possesses it, he still craves more.
As the era of literature slowly declines, the expert critiques and praise for literature are lost. Previously, novels were bursting at the seams with metaphors, symbolism, and themes. In current times, “novels” are simply short stories that have been elaborated on with basic plot elements that attempt to make the story more interesting. Instead of having expert critical analysis written about them, they will, most likely, never see that, as recent novels have nothing to analyze. Even books are beginning to collect dust, hidden away and forgotten, attributing to the rise of companies such as Spark Notes. An author deserves to have his work praised, no matter how meager and the masses should have the right to embrace it or to reject it. As much of this has already been considered, concerning Les Misérables, the purpose of this paper is to compare, contrast, and evaluate Victor Hugo’s use of themes and characterization in his novel, Les Misérables.
History is the story and knowledge of the past. There are individuals that are interested by history and wish to study it by learning more. It is very informative to know what has happened in the past for self-knowledge. An individual cannot be naïve to the past including but not limited to how literature came to. One can understand literature more when they understand the time period the author wrote during and the way they wrote. There are several time periods different authors have been through with each period having specific beliefs. Romanticism is the time period that interests me the most; it was a time during the eighteenth century and focused on nature along with the individual’s expression of imagination and emotion.
M.H. Abrams, et al; ed., The Norton Anthology of English Literature, Sixth Edition, Volume I. W.W. Norton & Company, New York/London, 1993.
Abrams, M.H., ed. The Norton Anthology of English Literature. 6th ed. Vol. 2. New York: Norton, 1993.
Abrams, M. H., et al., The Norton Anthology of English Literature. Vol. 1. New York: Norton, 1986.
Discuss Milton’s presentation of Satan in Paradise Lost. There has been considerable critical interest in the figure of Satan in Paradise Lost. and in the possibility that he may be the true hero of the epic poem. The opening of The poem finds Milton in a tough spot: writing an epic poem without an epic hero in sight. The sand is a sand.
The question of whether Satan is the hero or the villain of John Milton’s Paradise Lost has been largely debated by scholars over the centuries. The ones who believe Satan is the villain of the epic, more commonly known as the Anti-Satanists, tend to argue that Satan is too foolish to be considered a hero, as his “hostility to Almighty power” is ultimately a futile endeavour (as God’s power is omnipotent) (Carey, 135). C. W. Lewis, also an anti-Satanist, goes as far as to claim that to “admire Satan, then, is to give one’s vote not only for a world of misery, but also for a world of lies and propaganda, of wishful thinking” (Lewis, 203). The ones who claim Satan is the hero of the epic, the Satanists, perceive him as the rebellious angel who rises up and defies God’s monarchy and “the tyranny of Heav’n” (174).They choose to focus on Satan’s “nobler qualities, his loyalty in leadership, fortitude in adversity, unflinching courage and splendid recklessness” (Satan/Promo, 3). While these two positions are both valid, this paper will be focusing on a third position: the individuals who believe that Satan is neither the hero nor the villain of the epic.
Abrams, M. & Greenblatt, S. 2000. The Norton Anthology of English Literature 7th ed. Vol. 2. London: Norton.