Victor Hugo: The Man and His Work(a)|雨果和他的《悲惨世界》

Victor Hugo: The Man and His Work

by Rebecca A. Say

As one of the most well-known French writers from the Romantic period, Victor Hugo's literary impact has cemented his place in history.

As with most writers, Victor Hugo's life influenced his words. Born into a military family in France, Hugo saw many things while traveling as a child. His father took the family with him when he was stationed in different places in Europe, allowing Hugo to see the snowy Alps, the Mediterranean Sea, and festivals in Rome. His first works were created while he maintained a close relationship with his mother, and therefore reflected her royalist and Catholic values. Later on, however, Hugo began to form his own ideas about the world and expressed them much differently, especially in the novels he is most famous for writing, Les Mis廨ables (悲惨世界) and The Hunchback of Notre-Dame (钟楼怪人). After his mother's death, Hugo married his long-time love, Adele Foucher, and the couple had five children together.

Hugo saw much success and fame starting at the age of 20. His first novel was published in 1823, and every few years after that he published more novels or collections of poetry. His most famous poem is Demain, d鋊 l'aube (明天的黎明), in which Hugo describes visiting his favorite daughter's grave after hearing of her accidental death. Published in 1829, The Last Day of a Condemned Man (一个死囚的末日) showed Hugo's change in social opinion and became an important inspiration to later writers. Sparking major tourism in France and the need for preserving pre-Renaissance architecture, The Hunchback of Notre-Dame was Hugo's first full-length novel. Hugo took 17 years to complete Les Mis廨ables, a novel in which he speaks passionately about social injustice. Though criticized greatly at the time, Les Mis廨ables has remained Hugo's enduring work, being adapted for stage, film, and television and causing social change in his own time and beyond.

雨果和他的《悲惨世界》

身为浪漫时期最著名的法国作家之一，维克多．雨果在文学上的影响巩固了他在历史上的地位。

就像大多数的作家一样，维克多．雨果的人生影响了他的用字遣词。雨果出生于法国的一个军人家庭，他在孩提时代就在旅行中见识过许多事物。他父亲驻扎到欧洲不同的地方时都会带着家人同行，这让雨果见过白雪皑皑的阿尔卑斯山脉、地中海以及罗马的庆典。他最初的一些作品都是在他和他母亲保持着亲密的关系时所创作，因此作品中反映出他母亲的君主主义及天主教的价值观。然而，随后雨果塑造出自己对这个世界的看法，并用截然不同的方式表现出来，尤其是呈现在他最有名的小说《悲惨世界》及《钟楼怪人》中。在他母亲过世后，雨果娶了他这辈子始终不渝的爱人 Adele Foucher，这对夫妻共育有 5名子女。

雨果从 20岁起就开始功成名就。他的第一本小说在 1823年出版，之后每隔几年他就会出版更多的小说或诗集。他最有名的一首诗是《明天的黎明》，在这首诗中雨果描述了他在听到他的爱女意外身亡的消息后前往她的墓地探视。而在 1829 年出版的《一个死囚的末日》展现了雨果对社会看法的改变，这部作品也成了后来的作家很重要的灵感来源。《钟楼怪人》是雨果的第一本长篇小说，它大大振兴了法国的观光以及保护文艺复兴时期之前建筑物的必要性。雨果花了 17 年的时间完成了《悲惨世界》，在这本小说中他热切地讲述了社会不公的主题。虽然《悲惨世界》在当时饱受批评，但它一直是雨果一部持久的作品，曾被改编为舞台剧、电影及电视剧，也造成了当代及后代的社会变迁。