Archive for Musicals.Net Musicals.Net |
| Electricity24601 |
Hugo's beliefs?In English class, we have to right informal "journal" entries analyzing the literature we are reading outside of school.Since I am currently mid-way through the brick, I am in the middle of several Les Mis themed entries. I thought it would be interesting to compare some of the ideals Hugo presents in the novel to things he actually believed/did in real life (almost a "did he practice what he preached" sort of thing) I'm just focusing on the bishop section, because doing the entire 870 pages that I've read so far would be a bit daunting. So my question is... Does anyone have any info on Hugo's own personel beliefs? Topics such as religion, forgiveness/redemption, mysticism, are all fair game. Also if anyone has any good resources to look at. (I will also be doing my own google searches, of course.) I thought this might also make an interesting discussion, since Les Mis was such a canvas for Hugo to express his own ideals. So.. go for it! |
||
| bigR |
this may be useful for your project:
http://216.239.59.104/search?q=cache:Eog1IWoqXp8J:www.biblisem.net/etudes/baudmise.htm+hugo+atheisme&hl=es&ct=clnk&cd=9 It's 1862 Baudelaire's review on les mis�rables. it focuses a lot on the bishop and has a nice conclusion about hugo's beliefs. (I haven't tried myself, but if you don't understand french I think that it won't be too dificult for you to find a translation into english in google. after all the reviewer is no less than the best french poet ever (sorry monsieur hugo; at least he liked your book). |
||
| Orestes Fasting |
If it were me, I'd write about his political beliefs influencing his portrayal of the insurrection--but that's because I'm me and it irks my research-loving soul to no end that he used 1832 as an avatar for 1848 and it gets reflected in all sorts of anachronisms in the barricade scenes. | ||
| bigR |
o.k. now I am really curious about that. what do you mean about the anachronisms? are they about the republicanism of the insurrects being 48ish or something about barricades in 1848 being different than in 1830?
can you elaborate a little bit? please! 15 minutes later: wow, i've just visited your website for the 1st time and i've had a look at all the amazing stuff about the uprising and the book you've posted there. i think i love you right now, orestes! (and i wont' be able to read anything unil monday since I'm just about to leave for a weekend without internet access,  )
|
||
| Orestes Fasting |
Don't get me started.  The red flag, for example, dates from the 1840s--back in 1832 the republicans would've flown a tricolor flag. Which would be trifling except for the overtly communist overtones of the red flag, which Hugo sticks back into a time when communist ideas were still in their infancy. One of my (even more research-happy) friends gets irked by Feuilly's anachronistic internationalism, which doesn't really bother me as much; it hadn't quite caught on at that point, but Poland was definitely a cause c�l�bre among the revolutionaries in the 1830s.
And then there's the issue of Hugo's treatment the 1830 revolution. Or lack thereof. He gives us plenty of extra-narrative discourse on Louis-Philippe and the July Monarchy, but virtually nil in the actual plot. (Offhand all I remember is Gavroche asking for a gun "because I had one back in 1830 in that little tiff with Charles X," and one of the students saying in anticipation of the revolt, "Time we let out the revolution of 1830, it was getting a little tight in the armholes.") Which I find absolutely bizarre, since the real revolt of 1832 was a reaction to the outcome of 1830. Most of the republican groups of the time were thinking along the lines of fixing the botched 1830 revolution, "doing it right this time," and instituting a republican government instead of merely replacing one king with another. And yet, we never see the Friends of the ABC in action in 1830 or even reacting to it; we leave them in 1828 and don't see them again until 1832, where for some reason they aren't talking about it much at all. ...oh great, you got me started. XD I'll just shut up now. |
||
| Kragey |
Most schools have access to Ebscohost. Use the MLA filter and search for Hugo; you'll find a butt ton of stuff. | ||
| bigR |
Well, it IS bizarre. Maybe he though that if he started rambling about the big 1830 revolution his 1832 story would be less interesting? no idea... it is really weird that nobody says absolutely nothing about it. I've always wondered about marius in 1830, though. I think that it is pretty obvious that les amis were at the barricades, even if hugo does not say anything, but what about him? In 1830 he was still living with courfeyrac wasn't he? Well, maybe hugo though that since the habily for sumarizing was not one of his talents, talking about the july revolution would make the book 500 more pages long... |
||
| Orestes Fasting |
But he does ramble about 1830. He just... doesn't include it in the plot at all. He devotes entire chapters to what's practically a damn essay on Louis-Philippe (and there was a lot more originally--like thirty pages in the footnotes of my annotated version), but he doesn't tie it to the events or characters of the novel.
And I'm pretty sure that in 1830 Marius was already in the Gorbeau house. |
||
| bigR |
o.k.
I really have to get that book re-read as soon as possible. It is becoming pretty obvious that I can't trust my memories from 10 years ago 
|
||
| Orestes Fasting |
Yes, well, the reason you don't remember that essay is because I think even I slept through it.
|
||
| Electricity24601 |
I actually thought that that was one of Hugo's more interesting tangents (Far more sufferable than Marius's mopey love day-dreams- my but he does go on!)
But this might be due to the fact that I am slightly lacking on French history and found it quite helpful, and read it on a train during a horrible travel day when I was very much sleep deprived |