Victor Hugo has long been one of France’s most well-known writers. This Romantic poet, dramatist, and novelist, has remained significant since his publishing. Though his writing has a substantial variety of themes, some of his most famous works bring forth his increasingly radical ideas regarding social and political reform, which he developed during France’s most tumultuous eras, in a time of almost constant governmental revolution.
On February 26, 1802, Victor Marie Hugo was born, the third son to parents Léopold Hugo and Sophie Trébuchet in Besançon, France. His father was a general under Napoleon, allowing for travel to both Italy and Spain during Hugo’s childhood. These locations served as inspiration for some of his poems found in Les Orientales and Les Contemplations (Frey).
Hugo and his brothers were well-educated in a convent in Paris, where “his innate genius was enhanced by an exposure to classical languages and authors”. Hugo developed an interest in poetry and began writing (Frey). He also demonstrated a capacity for drawing, which continued to flourish as his life progressed. Even today, this remains his least-known talent, though he was quite gifted (Hughes).
While in Paris, young Hugo met Adéle Foucher and fell deeply in love. The two were married in 1822, after a 3 year engagement. During this time, Hugo began to question his religious beliefs, the start of his eventual renouncing of the Catholic Church. Unfortunately, the couple’s love soon diminished and would all but disappear as both partners found companionship with various lovers (Frey).
The same year, 1822, Hugo began his writing career with Odes, his first volume of poems. By 1827, he had published his first play, Cromwell. Even these early established...
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...is fight for social justice and political reform…(???) With authors like Hugo, the legacy is not often tangible or measureable, but remains in the ideals his books, poems, and plays to be leave behind to be shared with generations.
Works Cited
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Hughes, Robert. 1998. "Sublime windbag." Time 151, no. 16: 71. MAS Ultra - School Edition, EBSCOhost (accessed October 30, 2013).
Sachs, Murray. 1986. "VICTOR HUGO." Research Guide To Biography & Criticism 337-340. Book Collection Nonfiction: High School Edition, EBSCOhost (accessed October 30, 2013).
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Albert Camus, the second son of Lucien and Catherine Camus was born in Mondovi, French Algeria on November 7, 1913.
Lyons, Oliver, and Bill Bonnie. "An Interview with Tobias Wolff." Contemporary Literature. 31.1 (1990): 1-16. Web. 12 Feb. 2012.
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Victor Frankenstein finds himself exploring the world of science against his fathers wishes but he has an impulse to go forward in his education through university. During this time any form of science was little in knowledge especially the chemistry which was Victors area if study. Victor pursues to go farther than the normal human limits of society. “Learn from me, if not by my precepts, at least by my example, how dangerous is the acquirement of knowledge, and how much happier that man is who believes his native town to be the world, than he who aspires to become greater than his nature will allow” (Chapter 4). He soon finds the answer he was looking for, the answer of life. He becomes obsessed with creating a human being. With his knowledge he believes it should be a perfe...
“It is precisely of him that I wished to speak. Dispose of me as you please; but help me first to carry him home. I only ask that of you.” Upon examination of Les Miserables, it is clearly evident that the elements of Forgiveness, Self – Sacrifice, and Courage are only a few of the main themes Hugo wanted to develop.
Mays, Kelly J. “The Norton Introduction to Literature.” New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2013. Book. 592-638. October 27, 2013.
At the start of the revolution, in 1789, France’s class system changed dramatically (Giddens, 2014). Aristocrats lost wealth and status, while those who were at the bottom of the social ladder, rose in positions. The rise of sociology involved the unorthodox views regarding society and man which were once relevant during the Enlightenment (Nisbet, 2014). Medievalism in France during the eighteenth century was still prevalent in its “legal structures, powerful guilds, in its communes, in the Church, in universities, and in the patriarchal family” (Nisbet, 2014). Philosophers of that time’s had an objective to attempt to eliminate the natural law theory of society (Nisbet, 2014). The preferred outcome was a coherent order in which the mobility of individuals would be unrestricted by the autonomous state (French Revolution). According to Karl Marx, economic status is extremely important for social change. The peasants felt the excess decadence of the ancient regime was at the expense of their basic standards of living, thus fuelling Marx’s idea of class based revolutions and the transition of society (Katz, 2014). This can be observed, for example, in novels such as Les Liaisons Dangereuses, a novel that had a role for mobilizing the attitudes of the