Victor-Marie Hugo

Victor-Marie Hugo26 Feb 1802 22 May 1885

Historical Events prior to Hugos birth King Louis XVI (1774-1792)Marie AntoinetteM

King Louis XVI of the house of Bourbon ruled France from 1774-1792. He was married to Marie Antoinette. What are the benefits of a monarchy? 2French Revolution 1789

The storming of the Bastille, 14 July 1789What is bad about a monarchy? The Bastille was a political prison.3Historical Events in HugosEarly ChildhoodFirst French Republic(1792-1804)

What kind of government is most preferred? Why? What does it look like?4First French Empire (1804-1814)

What happens when a military hero gains too much popularity? How does power corrupt? Dictator Napoleon Bonaparte crowned 2 years after Hugos birth. He initiated the Napoleonic Wars. The Bourbon dynasty was restored by his 18th birthday.

5Family InfluecesFatherMother

(Left) Hugo's father was an officer who ranked very high in Napoleon's army. He was an atheist republican who considered Napolon a hero; (Right) his mother was an extreme Catholic Royalist who is believed to have taken as her lover General Victor Lahorie, who was executed in 1812 for plotting against Napolon. Contrast Hugos mother and father.6Early Life EventsTravel

Separation and to Paris

Since Hugo's father, Joseph, was an officer, they moved frequently and Hugo learned much from these travels. On his family's journey to Naples, he saw the vast Alpine passes and the snowy peaks, the magnificently blue Mediterranean, and Rome during its festivities. Though he was only nearly six at the time, he remembered the half-year-long trip vividly. They stayed in Naples for a few months and then headed back to Paris.Sophie followed her husband to posts in Italy (where Lopold served as a governor of a province near Naples) and Spain (where he took charge of three Spanish provinces). Weary of the constant moving required by military life, and at odds with her unfaithful husband, Sophie separated temporarily from Lopold in 1803 and settled in Paris. Thereafter she dominated Hugo's education and upbringing. As a result, Hugo's early work in poetry and fiction reflect a passionate devotion to both King and Faith. It was only later, during the events leading up to France's 1848 Revolution, that he would begin to rebel against his Catholic Royalist education and instead champion Republicanism and Freethought.

7House of Bourbon Restored (1815-1848)Louis XVII (1815-1824)Charles X (1824-1830)

Upon Louis XVIII's death, his brother, the Count of Artois, ascended to the throne in 1824, as Charles X. Supported by the ultra-royalists, Charles X was an extremely unpopular reactionary monarch whose aspirations were far more grand than those of his deceased brother. He had no desire to rule as a constitutional monarch, taking various steps to strengthen his own authority as monarch and weaken that of the lower house.In 1830, Charles, presumably instigated by one of his chief advisors Jules, prince de Polignac, issued the Four Ordinances of St. Cloud. These ordinances abolished freedom of the press, reduced the electorate by 75%, and dissolved the lower house. This action provoked an immediate reaction from the citizenry, who revolted against the monarchy during the Three Glorious Days of July 1830. 8Early Poetry

Precocious passion and eloquence of Hugo's early work brought success and fame at an early age. His first collection of poetry (Odes et posies diverses) was published in 1822, when Hugo was only twenty years old, and earned him a royal pension from Louis XVIII. Though the poems were admired for their spontaneous fervor and fluency, it was the collection that followed four years later in 1826 (Odes et Ballades) that revealed Hugo to be a great poet, a natural master of lyric and creative song.9Secret Engagement

Young Victor fell in love and against his mother's wishes, became secretly engaged to his childhood friend Adle Foucher (1803-1868).Unusually close to his mother, he felt free to marry Adle (in 1822) only after his mother's death in 1821. They had their first child Lopold in 1823, but the boy died in infancy. Hugo's other children were Lopoldine (28 August 1824), Charles (4 November 1826), Franois-Victor (28 October 1828) and Adle (24 August 1830).

10Personal TragedyHlas! vers le pass tournant un oeil d'envie,Sans que rien ici-bas puisse m'en consoler,Je regarde toujours ce moment de ma vieO je l'ai vue ouvrir son aile et s'envoler!Je verrai cet instant jusqu' ce que je meure,L'instant, pleurs superflus!O je criai: L'enfant que j'avais tout l'heure,Quoi donc! je ne l'ai plus!

Alas! turning an envious eye towards the past,inconsolable by anything on earth,I keep looking at that moment of my lifewhen I saw her open her wings and fly away!I will see that instant until I die,that instant-- too much for tears!when I cried out: "The child that I had just now--what! I don't have her any more!"

Victor Hugo was devastated when his oldest and favorite daughter, Lopoldine, died at age 19 in 1843, shortly after her marriage. She was drowned in the Seine at Villequier, pulled down by her heavy skirts, when a boat overturned. Her young husband died trying to save her. Victor Hugo was traveling with his mistress at the time in the south of France, and learned about Lopoldine's death from a newspaper as he sat in a cafe.[1] He describes his shock and grief in his poem Villequier:

11 Tenants of RomanticismIntuition Over Reason

Imagination

Emotion

Nature teaches truth

Individual is more important than society

The movement of Romanticism heavily influenced Hugos writings. Romanticism is a reaction to the Age of Enlightenment and the Industrial Revolution. 12Intuition Over Reason

Turner, J. M. W. - The Fighting Tmraire tugged to her last Berth to be broken. Can things be true that you cant see? Why? 13Imagination

John Henry Fuseli - The Nightmare. What in this picture has been imagined? What kind of story telling became popular?14 Lack of Emotion Pre-Romanticism

The Oath of Horatii by Jacques-louis David?. What is non-emotional about this picture? How doe the shapes contribute to the lack of emotion in this picture?15

Emotion - RomanticismTheodore Gericault Raft of the Medusa. What is emotional about this picture? How does the shape contribute to the emotion?16 Nature Pre-Romanticism

Pierre Patels A Birds Eye View of the Palace and Gardens of Versailles. In what way is nature not free in this picture?17Nature-Romanticism

John Constables The Hay Wain. How is nature free in this picture? What truths does nature have to teach?18 Individual Over Society

Liberty Leading the People by Eugene Delacroix. Political Poster depicting the people celebrating July 28 1830, the day the people rose and dethroned a Bourbon King. The flag colors stand for liberty, equality, and fraternity. The man with the top hat is the painter. The boy holding the gun is thought to be the inspiration for Gavroche. Why was it okay for Jean Valjean to break the law and steal bread? Why do we sympathize with Jean Valjean when he tries to break out of jail?19Famous Novels

Hunchback of Notre Dame was Hugos 1st novel published in 1831. It led to the preservation of the much-neglected Cathedral of Notre Dame. Hugo began planning a major novel about social misery and injustice as early as the 1830s, but it would take a full 17 years for Les Misrables, to be realized and finally published in 1862. 20Historical Context for Les MiserableThe book begins in theyear of Napoleon Bonapartes final defeatat Waterloo

21It spans the next 20 years leading up to The June Rebellion

The June Rebellion or the Republican Insurrection in Paris in June 1832 was an unsuccessful, anti-monarchist uprising of Parisian students from June 5 to June 6, 1832.

22Events Leading up to TheJune RebellionLouis-Philippe I, The Citizen King(1830-1848)

Charles was forced to abdicate the throne and to flee Paris for England. As a result, Louis Philippe took over. He was the last French Monorch.Nicknamed the "Bourgeois Monarchthe Citizen King", Louis Philippe sat at the head of a moderately liberal state controlled mainly by educated elites. He was opposed on his right by the Legitimists (former ultra-royalists) and on his left by the Republicans and Socialists.

Under his rule, privileged groups were favored, and elitism resulted in the disenfranchisement of much of the middle and working classes.

23Economic ChallengesPortrait of "Cosetteby mile Bayardfrom the original editionof Les Misrables (1862)

Leading up to the rebellion, there were significant economic problems, particularly acute in the period from 1827 to 1832; the years were marked by harvest failures, food shortages, and increases in the cost of living, creating malcontent throughout the classes.

How is the description of conditions in Paris like London in Great Expectations?

24Cholera and the death of General Lamarque

Additionally, the spring of 1832 saw Paris ravaged by a Europe-wide outbreak of cholera, which ended with a death toll of 18,402 in the city. The poor neighborhoods were particularly devastated by the disease, arousing suspicion of the government poisoning wells.[1] The epidemic soon claimed two famous victims. Casimir Perier fell sick and died on May 16, and General Lamarque died on June 2nd. Perier was given a grand state funeral, and the funeral of the benevolent Lamarque, who showed sympathy toward the lower class, was decided to demonstrate the strength of the opposition.[1]

n 1832, during the Legitimist uprising in Marseilles, on the occasion of the funeral of General Lamarque, the Republicans, re-enforced by Polish, Italian, and German refugees, gathered around the platform on which the body rested and proposed to proclaim a republic. An insurrection began which for one night made them masters of the east of Paris. They were then gradually driven back by the national guard and 25,000 soldiers and surrounded in the Saint-Martin quarter, where the movement was crushed by the Battle of Saint-Merry Cloister (June 5-6)[2] at the cost of some 800 killed and wounded. After this, it was clear that the revolutionary movement was over.[3]25After the June RebellionSecond Republic(1848-1852)Second Empire (1852-1870)Napoleon III

Hugo lived until 1885. Louis Philippe ruled until the French Revolution of 1848. In 1848, the 2nd Republic began followed by another Empire in 1852. After 1871, they tried various forms of republican governments. 26Politics and Exile

An outspoken republican activist in the 19th century, Victor Hugos work was unquestionably biased toward the revolutionaries.[4] Scenes of the Parisian students and poor planning the rebellion upon the eve of the benevolent General Lamarques death are displayed throughout the novel.

After three unsuccessful attempts, Hugo was finally elected to the Acadmie franaise in 1841. Thereafter he became increasingly involved in French politics. He spoke against the death penalty and social injustice, and in favour of freedom of the press and self-government for Poland. However, he was also becoming more supportive of the Republican form of government. When Louis Napoleon (Napoleon III) seized complete power in 1851, establishing an anti-parliamentary constitution, Hugo openly declared him a traitor to France. He relocated to Brussels, then Jersey, and finally settled with his family on the channel island of Guernsey at Hauteville House, where he would live in exile until 1870.

27Declining Years

When Hugo returned to Paris in 1870, the country hailed him as a national hero. Despite his popularity Hugo lost his bid for reelection to the National Assembly in 1872. Within a brief period, he suffered a mild stroke, his daughter Adles internment in an insane asylum, and the death of his two sons. (Adle's biography inspired the movie The Story of Adele H.) His wife Adle had died in 1868. His faithful mistress, Juliette Drouet, died in 1883, only two years before his own death.

In February 1881 Hugo celebrated his 79th birthday. To honor the fact that he was entering his eightieth year, one of the greatest tributes to a living writer was held. The celebrations began on the 25th when Hugo was presented with a Svres vase, the traditional gift for sovereigns. On the 27th one of the largest parades in French history was held. Marchers stretched from Avenue d'Eylau, down the Champs-lyses, and all the way to the center of Paris. The paraders marched for six hours to pass Hugo as he sat in the window at his house.

Victor Hugo's death on 22 May 1885, at the age of 83, generated intense national mourning. He was not only revered as a towering figure in literature, he was a statesman who shaped the Third Republic and democracy in France. More than two million people joined his funeral procession in Paris from the Arc de Triumphe to the Panthon, where he was buried. He shares a crypt within the Panthon with Alexandre Dumas and mile Zola. Most large French towns and cities have a street named for him. The avenue where he died, in Paris, now bears his name.

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