Victor Hugo: Biography and Creativity

It is not necessary to be a great fan of literature to know who Victor Hugo is. His biography and work, however, are familiar to many of us only in general terms. And yet this is the author, without which it is impossible to imagine the French literature of the 19th century. Victor Hugo, whose brief biography and work are presented in this article, is one of the most outstanding romanticists of France, a theorist and leader of romanticism in his country. His work impresses with diversity and versatility. And the poet, and the playwright, and prose writer, and literary critic, and publicist - all this Victor Hugo. An interesting biography of it is offered to your attention.

Origin and childhood of Victor

The years of life of the author of interest to us are 1802-1885. In Besançon on February 26, 1802 Victor Victor Hugo appeared. A brief biography of him, therefore, begins on this date. His father was a master of carpentry. 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 family of Hugo 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 boy was brought up by his mother.

The first works

Victor's poetic talent woke up early. Even as a teenager began to write Victor Marie Hugo. His biography is marked by an early recognition of his poems and odes. They were seen back in 1815-16. During these years, Victor distinguished himself at the competitions held by the Toulouse Academy. Later his work was recognized by the royal government. In 1822, Victor Hugo's first poetic collection "Ode and different 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 rather early changed the classicism. As soon as Hugo left the stage of apprenticeship, he gradually began to move to the position of romantics, at first timidly, and after a while already decidedly. However, in the prosaic genres of Hugo from the beginning adhered to romanticism. "Gan Iceland", his first novel, created in 1821-22, is proof of this. Victor Hugo created his second novel in 1826. The work is called "Bug Jargal." It became evidence of further confirmation of the author's position on the positions of romanticism, such as Victor Hugo. The biography of his future years is marked by development in this direction. In the work "Bug Jargal" Victor described the rebellion of Negro slaves.

"Ode and Ballad"

Hugo's reform in the field of poetic style consisted in an attempt to replace the language of human feelings with the dominance of reason in the poems of classicism. Hugo decided to abandon jewelry, which is borrowed from the mythology of antiquity. Around the same time, he turned to a ballad, considered a romantic genre, very popular in those years. Hugo's collection "Ode and Ballad" appeared in 1826. The very title of the book speaks of its transitional nature. Ode, which is an exemplary genre of classicism poetry, combines in it with a ballad typical of a romantic tradition.

The first dramatic works of Hugo

Romantics in the late 1820s began to pay great attention to the theater, which at that time was still dominated by the prevailing classicism. Victor Hugo for this purpose wrote in 1827 his first drama "Cromwell". This romantic-historical work speaks of the bourgeois revolution in England in the 17th century. Cromwell, her leader, is shown by a strong personality. However, he is characterized by moral contradictions, unlike the whole characters created within 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 has gained great fame. Victor Hugo in it tried to connect with the course of history the development of world literature in order to show that the triumph of romanticism is historically conditioned. He presented the whole program of the new direction.

"Oriental"

At this time , Victor's multifaceted creative activity reaches an unprecedented intensity. Collection "Oriental", which appeared in 1829, was a particularly significant event. This is the first complete collection of romantic poetry, which created Hugo's reputation as an outstanding lyricist.

It should be said that the work of Hugo 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, indicates that he was primarily a poet.

New dramas

As for the drama of this author, her 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 . The romantic drama of Viktor echoed the socio-political problems. She defended the author's progressive aspirations and ideals.

The basis for the Hugo dramas, created in 1829-39. (Except for the "Lucrezia Borgia" in 1833), a common people clash with the monarchy and the feudal aristocracy (Marion Delorme, Maria Todor, The King is entertained, Rui Blaz, etc.).

"Notre Dame Cathedral" (Victor Hugo)

The biography of the following years of the author of interest to us is marked by the appearance of many new works. The second half of the 1820s in the history of French literature is the time of domination of such a genre as a historical novel. The work of Victor Hugo "Notre Dame Cathedral", created in 1831, is one of the highest achievements of this genre. The history of France was reflected in the novel. In the work there is also an actual problematic, connected with the situation in the country in the years of writing the book.

The works of the late 1820s-1840s

The end of 1820-early 1830-ies - a time of extraordinary creative activity, even for such a prolific author, as Victor Hugo. A brief biography of his time, as well as the period of exile (from 1851 to 1870) is marked by the creation of many different works. Hugo developed romantic dramatic art, worked in prose and poetry. In the 1830s and early 1840s, Hugo created four poetry collections. In 1836 appeared "Autumn Leaves", in 1837 - "Songs of Twilight", in 1841 - "Rays and Shadow" and "Inner Voices". And in 1856 he published a two-volume collection of Contemplation, which dates back to the period of exile.

Period of exile

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 the island, located in the English Channel. In order to convict the political adventurer Louis Bonaparte and his criminal regime before the whole world, he created the book "Napoleon the Small" already in the first year of exile. In 1877-78 appeared the work "The History of a Crime", which is a revealing chronicle of the coup d'etat, held in 1851.

The worldview of Victor Hugo 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 political poetry by Hugo. 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 tension. They combine heterogeneous material into a complete and orderly work.

Victor Hugo actively performed in prose genres during his stay on the island of Jersey. He created three novels. In 1862 appeared "Les Miserables", in 1866 - "The 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 activity

It should be said that Victor became famous not only as a poet and writer, but also as a public 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 has not faded. In the last period of his work there are the following poetic collections and poems: in 1877 - "The art of being a grandfather", in 1878 - "Papa", in 1880 - "Donkey", in 1888-83 - "All strings of lyre", etc.

The writer died in 1885, on May 22. The French public perceived his death as a national tragedy. Seeing Victor Hugo in the last way became a grand manifestation. Thousands of people participated in it.

The works created by Victor Hugo became firmly established in French and world literature. Biography, a brief content of his works, interesting facts about this author - all this is known to many of our contemporaries. It is not surprising, because Victor Hugo today is a recognized classic.