Victor+Hugo

=Victor Hugo=

Paige Bjerke - Paris
Victor Marie Hugo was born in France on February 26, 1802 and spent most of his life there until he passed at 83 on May 22, 1885. He is buried in the Pantheon, which was once a church but now is a secular mausoleum for distinguished French citizens. During his life he was a writer, an artist, a poet and a politician. He campaigned for social causes such as the abolishment of capital punishment. Though he had completed more than 4,000 drawings, he was most known for being a writer. He was married once to Adele Foucher and had 5 children. His works were considered part of the Romantic Movement in France and over the years some of them are still highly revered and remembered. For some time, Victor Hugo’s portrait was used on some French Franc banknotes.

Though Victor Hugo wrote many things over his life, the two I would consider most famous are //The Hunchback of Notre Dame// and //Les Miserables//. Both of which I have seen. Not knowing before that they had the same author I now can find some unique similarities in these two works. They are very different stories but with very similar meanings. They start with a man that is being punished for things beyond his control and follow the story of his life as he fights for freedom and respect amongst the people of France. Both main characters never lose sight of their moral compass and go as far as to sacrifice themselves in the name of love and honor. Thinking about these two stories side by side has given me a better understanding of what the Romantic period was all about.

I don’t know that his works had an impact on France any more than the hundreds of other writers and artists of his time but they do make me want to go see some specific places like the Notre Dame Cathedral, which stands in the exact center of Paris. In //the Hunchback of Notre Dame// it is used as a sanctuary and a prison for the main character. It is believed that Victor Hugo began writing that story to make people aware of the beauty and value of Gothic architecture. I can’t wait to see the engraved artwork on the outside of the building and the infamous stained glass window