Writer Hugo's life

First of all, there is no doubt that Hugo is undoubtedly one of the giants and the brightest stars in the history of French literature. His works are still unforgettable to me (of course I read the Chinese version, thank you teachers for the translation), he is brilliant , and passionate and good at moving people with intense storylines, is one of my favorite foreign writers.

But beyond these labelled accolades, Hugo has a mortal side. He's also had a rough life, made many mistakes, and has the same human foibles as everyone else. He was as dissolute as a man in the upper class of that time, was not faithful to his wife, had several mistresses, one of whom even stayed by his side for thirty years—perhaps this dissoluteness was cast aside by the talent of a writer. Layered powder, but there is no doubt that this infidelity deeply hurts his wife and sets an imperfect example for his children. (But in the end, which of the 19th century writers is not like that? It can only be said that he indulges his desires like everyone else)

If under the circumstances at the time, the profligate life was just a small moral flaw, then his political swings in his early years made people who like or dislike him even more critical of him.

Here we must talk about the political background of France at that time - since the Great Revolution, France has always been caught in a kind of political schizophrenia, various political factions are constantly fighting, often cold war and occasionally hot war, so the collapse of the government occurs frequently, sometimes It will even develop into a revolution that will overturn the entire country. From 1789 to 1871, France experienced three kingdoms, three republics and two empires. In this turmoil, the republican faction, the imperial faction, and the factions that supported the dynasty (there were also the orthodox faction that supported the Bourbon royal family and the party of order that supported the July dynasty) refused to give in to each other, attacked and bit each other, and hated each other. It can be said that one of the three royal families in France at that time was always on stage, one was forced to go into exile, and the other was under surveillance or imprisoned, reincarnating with each other.

However, Hugo changed his family many times. At first, under the influence of his mother who was an extreme royalist, Hugo was an orthodox member who supported the Bourbon Restoration Dynasty. He became famous at this stage, and at the end of the Restoration Dynasty, Instead, he became a republican, calling for the overthrow of the crown.

However, after the establishment of the July Dynasty in 1830, he soon changed his position and became the party of Order, which supported the royal family of Orleans, and accepted the position of a member of the House of Lords offered by the king, becoming one of the core supporters of the July Dynasty. No matter how many personal reasons he has for doing this, in the eyes of many people, his actions are undoubtedly abandoning his personal position for the sake of high-ranking officials and wealth, and he is a "slave of three surnames". It was an extremely unacceptable behavior, so many friends had a bad relationship with him, and his status in the literary and theatrical circles was greatly damaged. During this period, his screenplay began to be unpopular and failed several times, so that he was left with the ridicule of "Hugo is finished!".

If there were no subsequent changes, Hugo's literary achievements and fame would probably have ended here, becoming a new annotation for the saying "The article hates fate". But in the end, fate finally played him again. In 1848, the French revolution broke out again, and the July Dynasty fell. At this time, Hugo became a republican again (again changed his affiliation) and supported the republic. But Louis Bonaparte soon usurped the power of the state through the presidency of the republic, and turned the republic into an empire, and the Napoleonic Empire began to gain power.

This time, Hugo finally did not change his position. He was extremely disgusted with the Bonaparte regime and fought, and then was exiled by the Bonaparte regime - he lived in Belgium, and after repeated persuasion by the imperial government, he still did not. Choose to return home. And in this period of time, in the embarrassing life, he wrote classic works like "Les Miserables", and really established his status. And this time, his political persistence has finally wiped out all the stains on politics before, and he has become a person widely recognized by the French (almost every French is a born anti-governmentist, regardless of whether he is on stage). who it is). Hugo's works are full of passion, but like Tolstoy, he likes to regard his works as a platform for his outlook on life and the world, so there will be a lot of analysis and explanation (see "War and Peace"). " and "Les Miserables" people will definitely be impressed), sometimes these comments can make people feel boring, sometimes they can make people resonate, in any case, Hugo's control of words is beyond For ordinary people, it is also admirable.

At the same time, Hugo was also the only one among the famous European writers at that time who spoke out against the European invasion of China, and even accused the British and French forces of looting and burning the Yuanmingyuan. He did this not just out of love for China or the Chinese. But out of simple humanistic thinking, he believes that Europeans go to China to kill and loot, which is an immoral act in itself. His statement made me, a Chinese, even more towards him. A good feeling. This kind of thinking is also reflected in his work "93 Years". He believes that "in all political disputes, only humanitarianism surpasses everything and should not be violated." Even if it seems naive to say that, I still think it would be good to have more people like this in the world. Therefore, throughout his life, even with all kinds of problems, Hugo was still a great writer, a man who was at least loyal to his humanitarian beliefs. In the long river of time, political disputes, the glory of kings and emperors , Personal honor and disgrace will go away with the wind, but his works will last forever, and his passion will cross the barrier of time, infecting everyone who studies him attentively.