Victor Hugo's exploration of romantic themes in Odes et Ballades and Ruy Blas

Victor Hugo

Romantic Writings of Victor Hugo

The romantic period was partly in reaction to the impact that the industrial revolution had on the psyches of artists of all stripes. The move toward an industrial culture had moved many people from the pastoral scenes of the country into the grungy hearts of the cities. Many of the people worked in the factories six days a week for many hours a day, or they worked in mines and other industries to support the industry in the cities. The response from the artistic community was to remind the public of two things. They wanted people to remember where they came from and they wanted to help people see the true emotion of life.

One of the most influential writers of the period was a young Frenchman who was known for his poetry early in his career (Halsall x), but who gained international fame for his novels was Victor Hugo. Most now know him as the writer of Les Miserables and The Hunchback of Notre Dame, but early on his first literary success was a chap book of poems called Odes et Ballades. He was an iconic member of the romantic movement because his characters displayed the emotions that the humanistic wrtiers of the time wanted the public reminded of. This research paper looks at the writings of Victor Hugo, specifically Ruy Blas and Odes et Ballades, for romantic themes with a pointed look at how Hugo dealt with dreams.

Odes and Ballads

Victor Hugo wrote these poems when he was in his early twenties and he had already been recognized by the crown in France as a worthy author. From the age of 22 he had been receiving a regular pension from the king (Hugo, 2001, 1). His poems were well liked by the general public and offered them something different than they had had in the past. They are passionate and full of deep expression. However, Hugo, in his later life, would tell others that they were not his greatest work. In the introduction to Selected Poems of Victor Hugo, the translators said

"The Odes and Ballads are definitely the work of a poet still feeling his way. Hugo never disowned them: but in his later years he displayed them mainly to show how shabby his beginnings had been much as (to his own analogy) a famous king or general might point to the humble cottage of his childhood" (2001, 1).

But, though he may not have been as proud of these poems in his later years as he was when they were published, they started him on a journey that would end in his being regarded as one of the greatest French writer of all time. They were also an early example of his romantic style.

The first poem to examine in Odes et Ballades is titled "Epitaph." The theme is a popular one with romantic poets. One of the best known from the romantic period, Edgar Allen Poe, made his living from this theme as did many who wrote at the same time. Death was a theme that had been lost when people moved to the cities from the country to a large extent. The poor in the cities were not even given the time to mourn their dead before they had to return to work. The problem was that if a person was to go to a funeral for a family member or a friend they could very easily lose their job. There were plenty of people who were lined up to take the jobs of those who missed even one day or were terminated for some other reason. It was not uncommon also for people to see dead bodies lying in the gutter until someone came to claim them. This diluting of the importance of death was one of the regrets that the romantics were trying to quell. In an agrarian community, people spent a great deal of time honoring the person who had died and then they had specific ceremonies for them. But, much of this ceremony had been lost. Thus, the romantic poets wrote about how death affected people.

The primary message in the poem "Epitaph" is that every person will be in the same predicament. Death is a constant, and it is both a curse and a relief. One stanza says reminds the reader of the curse of death by saying;

"Death whose triumphant foot is everywhere,

Has veiled my glories in atoning gloom.

My very name endured its cruel doom,

And if my void holds something rich or fair,

Dismal oblivion hides it from your curious stare!" (Hugo, 2001, 5).

The gist of the verse is that a visitor has come to an old graveyard and the dream is that the person who lies within the tomb can speak to him or her. The ghost wants to remind the person of their own mortality, and it sounds like a kind of taunt. Although you may be alive and strong and vibrant now, he seems to be saying, you will soon be hidden from the living world as I am.

On the other side, the ghost of the epitaph is saying to the person that he (or she) is glad that they do not have the daily toil to deal with anymore because the rest of death is better than the constant worry of life. The ghost says;

"If you want shade or shelter, come; your bed

Waits; you will sleep here, far from all commotion.

If your frail barque is battling the black ocean,

Here are both reef and harbor -- straight ahead!" (Hugo, 2001, 6)

The dichotomy of death and the detailing of this fact is what makes Hugo a romantic. He wants to show the reader the deep emotion and the terror that is involved in the contemplation of death.

Many of the poems offer a glimmer of light only to be doused in the cold rain of death. He wrote one of the poems to praise the glorious morning that he was seeing, but then he took that pleasant feeling away by reminding the reader that life is fleeting.

"Dawn's veils are parting on the mountain height.

Look: newborn light is whitening old spires;

Already in the heavens glory and delight

Lovingly unite,

The forest's first song and the day's first fires.

Smile at those skies dressed in their radiant bloom!

Tomorrow, if the grave drags me away,

Shine from the fraudulent terrain," (Hugo, 2001, 11)

The water soaked air is seen as a veil through which the reader looks at the hazy background. Again, Hugo is describing a dreamy landscape that would have been familiar to his readers, but that might have been impossible for them to see in the cities. The poem goes on to describe the effects that the scene has on the author, such as making him want to spend time with his love. This was also a feature of the romantic, but it was often regarding lost love. Much of Poe's and Shelley's writing offered a look at unrequited love. The love theme may be what people most associate with this period of writing and painting, but the authors did not often share happy scenes of love. The realist in them wanted to show what they believed was the true nature of love. Much like death, it could be restful or damning. The romantics were unafraid of showing what they believed was true emotional turmoil.

Ruy Blas

Hugo was not a person who enjoyed inactivity, so he delved into all genre within his art form. He was first a poet, then a novelist, but he was also a dramatist. Because he was one of the best known and well respected authors of this time period, he was often asked to take on projects that needed a solid endorsement. Such a project was the opening of a new theater in Paris. The Renaissance Theater was to open soon and Hugo's friend Dumas needed a drama that would draw Paris to its opening (Halsall 154). Since Victor Hugo had worn out his welcome at some of the other theater venues in the city, he was willing to help Dumas open this new venture. To open the theater, a new play was needed, so Hugo wrote Ruy Blas which was to become his most famous dramatic work.

Ruy Blas follows many of the same principles that Hugo had become famous for. It is set in a time when kings and queens completely ruled a country, before France became a Republic, but there was always intrigue at court. The principle character in the play is Ruy Blas who is the slave of a typically despicable villain who wishes to perpetrate revenge upon the young queen.

The story is one of a dream that Ruy has with regard to the queen. He realizes his own folly when he tells a friend;

"Oh, I would consign my future to perdition, to gaze into her eyes and speak one word of love to her! Yes; I would sell my soul to approach the Queen in some garb which would not make me blush and burn with shame! But, to be thus in her sight -- in livery -- to be known to her as a lacquey! Oh, God!" (Hugo, 1888, 5).

For a commoner to love the queen is overly ambitious, but for a servant and a slave to feel as he does toward her is more than anyone could reasonably expect t achieve. This is the trap that the romantic likes to set in his plays. It is a dream sequence for Ruy. There is no way that he can even dream of finding himself as the lover of the Queen in the story, but he does dream about it, and he even leaves her roses at a place where she often reposes during the day. He has now, prior to the above soliloquy, written a note which he has placed in the flowers he left. His love is so bad that he says that she is not actually the Queen yet because she does not wed the King for another six months. Even though he realizes the folly of his dream, he still dreams it and hopes for its success.

This is again a particular vein of storytelling that is common among the romantics. An impossible situation is imagined, and it is brought to some manner of conclusion that satisfies the crowd. American cinema during the, so called, "Golden Age" can be seen to have many of the same features. Characters were often seen to be unable to reach a desired station or situation, but they did because fate was kind to them. In the case of Ruy Blas, he is the object of derision because of the state he has in life, and he is the puppet of a man who is false. Salluste, the antagonist in the play, is evil and conniving. He has lost his place at court, and much of his fortune, because he had a dalliance with one of the future Queen's maids. He was asked to wed her, but in typical prideful manner, he told the Queen that the maid was beneath him. For this offense, the King banished him. This sets up the action.

Salluste seeks a way to avenge himself on the Queen. He overhears that Ruy Blas loves the Queen "madly" (Hugo, 1888, 6) and he sets in motion a scheme that will exact his revenge. Blas is introduced at court as a cousin of Salluste and several other prominent men, and he is the perfect gentleman. He becomes beloved by the court. The King writes him a letter which begins "Our trusty and well beloved" (Hugo, 1888, 10). He has ingratiated himself at court and now he does the same with the Queen.

The thing to remember of course is that Ruy Blas, like many of the foils in like works, is seeing his dream come true, and he is not the evil author of the ruse. He does not understand why Salluste has raised him up to such a level, but he is willing to do whatever it takes to be near the object of his love. It is always important to remember the dream that Hugo, and writers like him, is attempting to foist upon the reader or watcher. The dream is the central theme in the entire play. As with his poetry in which one would imagine what a ghost would say to a traveler who looked upon the ghost's long-untended grave, the watching crowd is supposed to share in the dream that Blas has in which he can seek, and win, the love of the Queen. This ideal is amazingly like the "American Dream" which tells people that they can achieve anything they wish.

The romantics wished to remind people of themselves and the wonder that they contained. He industrial revolution produced such amazing advances (and continues to do so) that many had begun to accept a sort of servitude to these wonders. One of the chief aims of the painters, sculptors, writer, and songsters of the romantic period was to cause people to recollect their own wonderful being and that of nature. Also, they wanted people to dream the way they used to before the advent of the machines.

Ruy Blas and the Queen fall in love, but one day Salluste returns from his exile to proclaim that Blas is not who the court thinks he is. He states truthfully that Blas is but a servant, and Salluste's servant to boot. This is supposed to be such a devastating blow to the Queen that she will retreat in shame. But, it actually takes a turn, as these things often do, that Salluste does not expect. When Salluste returns to tell the Queen who Blas is, Ruy understands the treachery and, after some dramatic dialogue, throws Salluste over the balcony (Hugo, 1888, 14). The Queen pardons Ruy and exclaims her love for him. It is and ending in which the dream is finished trimunphantly, which usually happens for romantic era heroes.

Conclusion

The romantic school of thought was not just one that entrenched itself in the artistic fields because it was the belief of many in society that they last a part of their soul when the industrial revolution became full force. Realism was too stark; the writers, such as Hugo, enjoyed the dream of what life was like before the machines, and they wanted to return to it. But, the dream could not stop the force of progress.

One gift that the romantics did give to the world was a return to deep, intense drama. Poems, paintings, novels, plays, songs were all swirling with strong emotion that provided the characters with depth. This period gave the world some of the most creative works of psychological terror and mad love that have ever been written. The romantic period was meant to return people to their basest selves, and it seems that it accomplished its task.