The philosophy of Parisian gateways as opposed to the unlimited freedom of those in power. Victor Hugo wrote a wonderful book, the themes of which will last through the years and forever remain timeless.
The name of Victor Hugo rightfully ranks with the names of the best representatives of world culture. An outstanding writer and public figure, Hugo deservedly enjoys the love of millions of people. In his famous novels, he reflected both the dreams of utopian socialists and the revolutionary storm of the era, and showed the strength and weakness of the broad democratic movement that unfolded in France in the 19th century.
The writer treats the people with deep respect and love. He compares it to the ocean, which
...full of brute strength and powerful grace.
He sometimes smashes an age-old rock into sand,
He spares the blade of grass. And gray foam
He whips to the top, like you, sovereign people...
But he will not deceive with a wayward wave
The one who, without taking his eyes off the surface of the waters,
Stands with hope, waiting for the tide.
Hugo believed in this great tide, in the happy future of humanity. He took the side of the struggling people, sang their revolutionary heroism, their high moral qualities, hard work and creative talent.
Victor Hugo was born on February 26, 1802 in the city of Besançon, in eastern France. His father, a native of the common people, the son of a carpenter from Nancy, owed his rapid rise to the French Revolution. A participant in the suppression of the counter-revolutionary uprising in the Vendée, Captain Sigisbert Hugo a few years later became a brigadier general and inspector of the Napoleonic army.
Victor Hugo's childhood was spent in constant travel and wandering; Sigisbert Hugo took his family with him everywhere. Many vivid childhood impressions remained memorable for the writer throughout his life. Subsequently, in his odes, Hugo wrote about “a cradle placed on a drum,” about nights when he had to fall asleep “to the sound of cannonade.”
From Besançon, Hugo's family goes to Elba, from Elba to Genoa and Paris, then Rome and Madrid, where Sigisbert Hugo receives the high post of governor of the city. In Madrid, Victor Hugo studies at a college for young nobles, and in Paris, at a noble lyceum, he studies philosophy and mathematics. Fascinated by literature, he begins to write early and at the age of fifteen already receives an award from the French Academy for his youthful poems. Even in those years, Victor Hugo came to the firm conviction to devote his life to literature.
The revolution of 1848 had a fruitful impact on the work of V. Hugo.
The revolutionary movement of working people helped Hugo understand the great duty of a writer - serving the people.
“The fate of the worker everywhere, in America as in France,” Hugo wrote in 1870, “captures my deepest attention and worries me. It is necessary that the suffering classes become happy classes and that the man who until now worked in the dark - From now on I worked in the world." 
The writer passionately wanted to see the day when the evil of capitalist society would be destroyed: the worker would live in human conditions, the woman would not go out into the street to sell herself, children would not die from homelessness.
The writer also unfolds pictures of the difficult life of ordinary people in the novel “The Man Who Laughs.” With great expressiveness, the novel reproduces the life of England at the end of the 17th and beginning of the 18th centuries, presenting the misfortunes of the poor classes, luxury and decay at the top of society.
Real people are simple working people, but their lives are hard and hopeless.
Using documents and historical literature, Hugo gives a truthful portrayal of social inequality. Wealth and all privileges are concentrated in the hands of a small group of English society, the people are in poverty. State power is a bunch of people who have lost their conscience and honor.
Social inequality must be destroyed - a thought that permeates the entire novel. In Gwynplaine's speech in the House of Lords - this dramatic peak of the work - the voice of popular indignation is heard. The people are as mutilated as Gwynplaine, who was mutilated by the Comprachicos. Justice, truth, reason in this damned society are disfigured in the same way as the face of a traveling actor, turned into a monstrous mask of laughter. Gwynplaine speaks of life like death, of workers in the coal mines who chew coal dust in order to at least fill their stomachs and deceive hunger, of poverty that has no limit, of unemployment, of English cities where there are no beds in huts, where They dig holes in the earthen floor to put children in. The hour of reckoning is close and inexorable; the people will destroy the unjust world.
There is no happy ending in the cult novel. The only beloved woman of the protagonist dies in his arms from the mental suffering he endured, his adoptive father is completely ruined, miraculously surviving, Gwynplaine commits suicide... Moral? You will find the answer to this question yourself by reading the book.
Let me briefly recall the plot of the novel:
The heir to a wealthy family is kidnapped as a result of an intrigue in the struggle for power by his father's enemies, mutilated beyond recognition and sold to a gang of street criminals. Later, the bandits will abandon the boy on the seashore in winter to certain death. But against all odds, the main character manages to survive. Moreover, he unexpectedly finds a family, a home and a calling. The boy turns into a man and, unnoticed by himself, becomes happy.
He has a favorite job, which, due to his rare physical disability, brings good profit. But our hero’s ugliness is purely external. His soul is noble and beautiful. 
Only few people can see it. But there is a beautiful girl who is able to love the hero, despite his shortcomings. Two lovers seem made for each other. She is beautiful - he is ugly. She is blind, he is able to lead.
And here Providence appears on the scene. By chance, it turns out that Gwynplaine is a peer of England, a member of Parliament, a rich and powerful man. He faces a difficult choice: to devote himself to the fight for human rights, defending the poverty from which he emerged, or to continue to enjoy his own happiness.
It is simply impossible to talk about Victor Hugo’s book “The Man Who Laughs” in a few words. Just as it is impossible to describe two centuries of European history in a couple of sentences, just as it is impossible to define the horror of a 10-year-old child left completely alone on the threshold of a black, cold world, who met him with a gallows and a blind baby freezing in the snow. Oh, here is the wide, skillful brush of the great Hugo!
Critics note that the book “The Man Who Laughs,” which has become a world classic, opens up completely new horizons for the perception of what was previously known. What are discussions about history worth?
“...History is the same night. There is no background in it. Everything that is on the proscenium immediately disappears from view and drowns in darkness. When the scenery is removed, the memory of it disappears and oblivion sets in. The past and the unknown are synonyms.
Victor Hugo tries to teach his reader to distinguish between good and evil in the modern world, to see the true faces of people, and not the masks they wear. The immortal work of the French writer is a shining example of romanticism, like many of the works of the great master, which still has not lost its relevance and excites the hearts of millions of readers.
The novel "The Man Who Laughs" has been filmed several times:
The first time was in 1928, in the USA. The film was silent, the duration of the film was 1 hour 51 minutes.
Cast: Conrad Veidt, Olga Baklanova, Mary Philbin, Cesare Gravina
In the article we will talk about the summary of “The Man Who Laughs”. We will look at the main points of the plot, talk a little about the author and his idea, and also understand the essence of this work.
about the author
Victor Hugo is the author of The Man Who Laughs. He is a French writer, playwright and even prose writer. This man is rightfully considered a key figure in French romanticism. The future genius of the word was born in a city with the romantic name of Besançon. During his childhood, he often changed his place of residence due to his parents' moves. I visited Marseille, the Elbe, Italy, Corsica, and Madrid. In his youth he loved to study and organize various receptions. In his adult years he wrote and was interested in theatrical art.
The beginning of the story
By nature, Ursus is a very versatile personality. Hidden within him is a philosopher, healer, poet, street walker, speaker, etc. He travels from place to place with a wolf and a small cart. He uses homo not only as a draft force, but also as a full-fledged being. A homo can perform in front of guests, collect money with a mug in his mouth. Somehow Ursus writes a good play, thanks to which people trust him and begin to buy various drugs.
Character of the main character
Victor Hugo in “The Man Who Laughs” (we review a summary in the article) describes in detail the character of the hero. This man was a little gloomy and deep in thought. He had his own philosophy, which inspired negativity. Ursus laughed quite rarely, but even when he did, his laughter was bitter. He hated aristocrats, believing that their power was pure evil. Despite this, Ursus actively pretended to be an ardent admirer of this class. There were even inscriptions on his cart confirming this.
He always tried to avoid trouble, although it was a time of persecution of the Comprachicos. If previously every aristocrat had a dwarf or a jester, now it was not so easy to find one. Comprachicos were scoundrels whose conscience allowed them to buy healthy children and disfigure their appearance surgically. But they were also not averse to finding freaks from childhood, who were already ugly and funny. Very often these people were turned to in order to forget about the unwanted heir. At the same time, the scammers considered themselves Catholics and zealously defended their faith.
Boy
So, let's begin the summary of the book “The Man Who Laughs.” The events of the winter of 1690 unfold before us. It's a cold January evening outside. An ancient ship is moored in a small bay and people are being loaded onto it. Among all the figures, one is clearly different, since it belongs to a child. The boy in rags is about to follow the rest of the people, but at the last moment the leader throws off the plank that served as a ladder. The ship quickly departs, and the boy is left alone in the cold in Portland Bay.
He managed to crawl out of a deep bay with steep slopes. As a result, a huge territory stretched out in front of him, covered with snow-white snow. He didn't know what to do, so he took the first turn. This was the right decision, since he went towards the English Isles. He walked for a long time until he came across a gallows with a corpse. The deceased was covered with a thick layer of resin. This was done on purpose so that the body could survive longer and be a terrifying example for others. The child was very cold, and he saw that his shoes were lying near the corpse, but he did not dare take them.
He looked at the corpse for a long time, as it was impossible to take his eyes off this terrible sight. He was distracted by a strong gust of wind that shook his body sharply. This scared the boy, and he quickly ran away from there. He managed to safely cross a rather dangerous place, namely the Isthmus of Portland, represented by steep cliffs. Finally, the child saw smoke ahead, which meant that there were people nearby.
Fate of the ship
We continue our consideration of the summary of the chapters of “The Man Who Laughs” by the fact that the above-mentioned ship was overtaken by a snowstorm. People have been struggling with natural force for a long time, applying all their efforts. But this turned out to be in vain, since after the elements subsided, it turned out that most of the Comprachicos died, along with the captain. In addition, the ship was holed and was sinking. After the survivors realized that they could not get out on their own, since the land was far away and the ship was on the verge of a flood, they decided to write a confession. Everyone signed the document and put it in a bottle, the neck of which was carefully tarred. They threw the bottle into the sea with hope in their eyes.
On my way
So, the content of “The Man Who Laughs” is gradually revealed to us. The snow storm, by the way, raged not only at sea, but also on land. The boy wandered through the snow, trying to follow barely noticeable human footprints. What saved him was that he heard some sounds in the distance. While walking, he found a dead woman, next to whom a frozen but still alive baby was crying. The boy decided to take him with him, having previously wrapped him in his jacket.
Finally, from the content of the novel “The Man Who Laughs,” we learn that the boy finds a small town. He notices snow-covered roofs and light in the windows. A child enters a city that is still getting its last hours of sleep. He starts knocking on different doors, looking for warmth and a corner, but for some reason no one opens for him. The content of the book “The Man Who Laughs” continues with the fact that the child finds a wasteland where Ursus has settled with his wolf and cart.
Meeting
The boy knocked on the house, almost no longer hoping that someone would open for him. At this time, Ursus was getting ready to have dinner, and his food, by the way, was quite meager. He absolutely did not want to share with anyone else, but the advice did not allow him to leave the child in the cold. He let the boy in, then changed him into warm, dry clothes. He also gave him his dinner, hoping to at least get some milk. However, it turned out that the guy had a baby hidden under his jacket. Naturally, he got the milk.
The next morning, the man realized that the baby was a blind girl, and the boy was terribly disfigured - an expression of laughter was frozen on his face.
Meet Lord Clancharlie
We continue our consideration of the summary of “The Man Who Laughs” by Victor Hugo. The reader is introduced to Lord Linnaeus Clencharley, whom the author calls “a living fragment of the past.” Like many people, he recognized the rights of the republic, but did not go over to the side of the monarchy after Cromwell's death. At heart he remained an ardent republican, and therefore there was no place for him in society. He went into self-imposed exile on Lake Geneva. He still has a mistress in England. A beautiful girl who did not miss her goal and became the mistress of King Charles II. Her illegitimate son, David Derry-Moir, grew up and began to build a nest for himself at court. For some time they completely forgot about Lord Linnaeus.
Peripeteia
It is impossible to retell “The Man Who Laughs” without delving into the intrigues at court, so let’s delve a little deeper into this topic. Although they forgot about Clancharlie, they still left him the peerage and title. He got married in Switzerland. Soon a son was born, and therefore a legal heir. James II, after ascending the throne, decided to correct the mistake of the previous king. Clancharlie himself had already died of natural causes by that time. It's interesting that his rightful heir simply disappeared. At the same time, David became Lord Peer, who in addition received a beautiful bride and the king’s illegitimate daughter, Josiana.
We continue to retell the summary of “The Man Who Laughs” by Hugo. The plot of the novel takes us through several years. At this time, the king's legitimate daughter Anne becomes the Queen of England. It was known that David and Josiana were in love, and the whole court admired the sophistication of their relationship. But at the same time, none of them was in a hurry to get married, since both valued their freedom too much. Note that if the girl was 23 years old, then David was 43 years old by this time.
The Duchess was quite depraved, despite the fact that she remained a virgin. She would have long ago acquired lovers if she could find worthy ones. The only thing holding her back was her own pride. Josiana was proud to be Queen Anne's sister. But the stupid and not very beautiful queen could hardly stand the company of her beautiful sister.
David could have had more fun. He loved to take part in the cruel games of aristocrats, although he himself was not a cruel person by nature. Note that he was the first to begin compensating victims for damages. He also loved to watch boxing matches or cockfights. He often dressed as a commoner to walk around London and talk to ordinary people. He was even known there as Jim-Jack-Tom.
The work “The Man Who Laughs” by Victor Hugo in the second part of the book tells that the queen, Josiana and David were watching each other. To do this, they hired the same man, named Barkilphedro, who reported to each about the others. He was originally a servant of King James, but then gained access to the chambers thanks to Josiana. She later got him a job that actually existed in the English Admiralty. He had to uncork ocean bottles. However, Barkilphedro was very cunning, although he seemed to be a sweet and courteous person. He hated Josiana, who commanded him casually and coldly, and was preparing to deal her a crushing blow. As we know, any evil must be avenged.
Our old friends
We continue to retell the summary of “The Man Who Laughs” and return to Ursus and his children. So, one day David, in order to entertain his bride, decided to show her Gwynplaine - the same boy with a disfigured face. He also showed the girl Deya - that little girl wrapped in Gwynplaine's jacket. She grew up and turned into the most beautiful girl. Ursus adopted the children.
For more than 15 years they traveled the roads and amused the people, who paid very well for the ugliness of Gwynplaine. The guy was 24 years old and quite smart, since Ursus passed on all his knowledge to him. 16-year-old Deya and Gwynplaine were in love with each other. Their feelings were pure and immaculate. They have a new green van. The wolf was replaced by a donkey. Ursus was even able to hire two gypsies to take part in performances and help around the house.
London
Gwynplaine traveled with Ursus to London, where they continued to perform. They settled in a small hotel, the courtyard of which was turned into a stage. Very quickly they ruined the local booths. They even sued them, but Ursus managed to resolve everything even to his own benefit. Tom-Jim-Jack was a fan of these street actors.
One day, a very beautiful woman of noble origin came to see the “man who laughs” at a performance. Gwynplaine's ugliness truly struck her, and for some reason she decided that only he was worthy of becoming her first lover. Note that the young guy was also struck by the beauty of the woman. A few days later, while he was walking around the city, a page boy approached him with a letter from the Duchess. After reading it, Gwynplaine understood the impulse and desire of the duchess, but did not betray his beloved.
At the same time, Deya grew weaker every day. Ursus thought she had a heart problem. Any shock could destroy her. One day, a baton-bearer came to the actor, who performed the functions of a modern policeman. The person touched by the rod had to follow the rod-bearer meekly and without any questions. That day Gwynplaine was taken away, but Deya did not understand anything, since she was blind. Ursus decided to hide this from her, so that misfortune would not destroy her.
Jail
Ursus followed the “man who laughs.” He was taken to prison, but no one showed up there overnight. The young man was taken to the dungeon, where the man was tortured. He was crucified, and a lead plate pressed on top of him. Seeing the young man, the man began to laugh terribly. Immediately the judge rose and proclaimed that Gwynplaine was Lord Fermain of Clancharlie, peer, marquess and baron.
This all happened according to the plan of Barkilphedro, who received a bottle with a note. There the Comprachicos admitted what they had done to the boy and who he really was. The order for this was given by King James II. The child was mutilated by someone named Hardquanon. It was he who was tortured in the dungeon. The queen and the treacherous Barkilphedro realized that Josiana was engaged not to Lord Clancharlie himself, but to his title, which means she would need to marry this freak. The two accomplices were overjoyed that they were able to take revenge on the beautiful Josiana.
Castle
The next day the guy woke up in the palace. They explained to him how dramatically his life would change now. At first he wanted to visit Ursus and send him money, but he was not allowed. Barkilphedro said that he would take him the money himself. All night the young man reveled in the power and money he received, and only in the morning he remembered Dey.
Ursus returned home and decided to pretend that Gwynplaine was with them, but he failed to deceive Deia. Later Barkilphedro came and said that the young man was dead and they needed to leave England immediately.
Gwynplaine wandered around the palace, wanting to find a way out of it. As a result, he found a luxurious bathtub in which a beautiful woman was sleeping. She woke up and the guy recognized the duchess. She began to seduce “the man who laughs” in every possible way, and he gave in. But then a letter suddenly arrived that Josiana would have to become his wife. This cooled her ardor for the new toy, and she left.
Soon the lords were assembled, before whom Gwynplaine was to speak. However, in the end he was laughed at, even though he tried to talk about the unfortunate people of England. David received him well, but in his speeches the guy offended his mother, and David challenged him to a duel. Gwynplaine decided to flee London. He looked for Ursus and Deja, but they were nowhere to be found. Having decided to commit suicide, he felt that someone was licking his hand. It was Homo. He brought the guy to Deya and Ursus. The girl perked up a little, but died from shock in the guy’s arms. He got terribly angry. Beside himself with grief, he walked to the edge of the deck...
Having woken up, Ursus saw no one near him except Homo, who was looking at him with pitiful eyes.
490 rub.
Sample pages
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INTRODUCTION... 3
Chapter 1. Features of the novel “The Man Who Laughs” ... 6
1.1 Heroes of the work “The Man Who Laughs... 8”
Chapter 2. Romantic heroes in the works of Hugo... 10
2.1 Gwynplaine as a romantic hero... 11
2.2 The problem of the romantic hero in the novel “The Man Who Laughs” ... 14
CONCLUSION... 16
LIST OF SOURCES USED... 18
Introduction
Victor Marie Hugo is an amazingly versatile personality, a French poet, prose writer, and publicist, whose works arouse continued interest among readers all over the world. Researcher M.V. Tolmachev calls Hugo “a witness of the century” and this is indeed so: the work of this writer is inextricably linked with the events of which he was an eyewitness and direct participant. The historical, revolutionary events of those years had a significant impact on literature in general and romanticism in particular. The beginning of the nineteenth century was marked by the emergence of such a movement as the reactionary romantics. Their goal was to overthrow the ideals of the Enlightenment. Reactionary romantics advocated the establishment of a feudal monarchy, subordination to the church, denying freedom of conscience - a key concept in the activities of the Enlightenment. Authors who joined the reactionary romantics are represented by such names as Chateaubriand, Alfred de Vigny, Alfred de Musset, Germaine de Stael.
The second half of the twenties in France was marked by preparations for the July Revolution in response to the policies of Charles X of Bourbon. In light of these events, a movement in literature emerged opposite to the reactionary romantics: the progressive romantics. Progressive romantics opposed the stable, but largely outdated, norms of classicism, the observance of which was advocated by reactionary romantics. Striving for freedom of art, representatives of the new movement fought, first of all, against feudal-Catholic rule. The Globus magazine, published in 1824, became the mainstay of the activities of progressive romantics. The merit of the progressive romantics is that they paid attention to the importance of national art. In addition, their movement also influenced painting, represented by the work of artists such as Géricault and Delacroix, with his famous painting "The Revolution of the 1930s". In literature, the most prominent representatives of progressive romanticism were Aurora Dupin, known as Georges Sand, and Victor Hugo. In 1827, the writer created the drama "Cromwell", which is the beginning of his transition from the position of reactionary novelism to progressive. The revolutionary changes of 1848, as well as the coup d'etat in 1851, contributed to changes in the author's worldview and creativity. He becomes an MP and is determined to make his ideals known. The brutal suppression of the workers' uprising prompts him to change his views on the bourgeois revolution. From now on, all his speeches are aimed at protecting the poor and oppressed. On July 17, 1851, in one of his speeches, he calls Napoleon’s nephew, Bonaparte, “Napoleon the Little.” When this little Napoleon nevertheless comes to power on December 2, Hugo leads the republican resistance and, together with workers' organizations, makes an attempt to save the republic. There is a direct threat to the life of the writer. He leaves France, lives in Brussels, then on the islands of Jersey and Guernsey. The writer's exile lasted nineteen years. All this time he continued to write. Among the significant works of that period can be called "Retribution". Returning to Paris, he created poetry collections “The Terrible Year” and “Legends of the Ages”. Later, because of helping the Communards, he was again forced to leave his homeland. Despite all the difficulties, until the last moment in his works the call to fight for peace and the common people does not weaken. Under the influence of everything the writer experienced, in the second half of the 19th century, a new type of romanticism was formed in his work, inspiring Hugo to create new epic novels, including “Les Miserables” (1862), “Toilers of the Sea” (1866), “The Ninety-Third Year” (1874) and its predecessor, The Man Who Laughs (1869).
“The Man Who Laughs” is the problem of the romantic hero: this is how the theme of this work is formulated.
The relevance of the chosen topic is confirmed by the fact that...
Fragment of work for review
Chapter 1. Features of the novel “The Man Who Laughs”
“The Man Who Laughs” is one of Hugo’s most significant works, in which the protagonist’s life drama is fully and uniquely revealed under the influence of the surrounding reality.
The action of The Man Who Laughs takes place in England in the 18th century, but the author describes the events in such a way that it becomes clear that they take place in a period contemporary to the author. Some episodes and journalistic discussions included in the text of the novel make it possible to correlate what is happening with England in the 19th century. The novel was created on the eve of the fall of the Second Empire and is permeated with a sense of significant change.
1.1 Heroes of the work “The Man Who Laughs”
It is natural that a work is created by the characters of its characters. There are quite a lot of them in Victor Hugo’s novel, each endowed with specific features and symbolic meaning. Thus, heroes have their own opinion, place in life - social status, certain ideals. Nikolaev V.N. emphasizes: “In general, each of the heroes of the novel is an image, the meaning and meaning of which is revealed not only from his own words and actions, but also from the author’s digressions that precede or accompany further action.”
Chapter 2. Romantic heroes in the works of Hugo
Obviously, in the novel “The Man Who Laughs,” the author’s position is most fully and expressively embodied in the image of the main romantic hero, Gwynplaine.
The expression of one's views through the images of romantic heroes is characteristic of most of Hugo's works. His romantic heroes are people of unusual, often tragic fate. This is the ugly hunchback Quasimodo, persecuted by everyone, but possessing a truly exalted soul, Jean Valjean, forced to steal bread for his sister’s hungry children and sent to hard labor, Cosette, Fantine and many others. Gwynplaine, disfigured by a terrifying mask of laughter, represents humiliated people crippled by a ruthless and unprincipled social system. Extraordinary scale, expressiveness, elements of the grotesque, through which suffering and exposure clearly appear, are typical for the depiction of Hugo's heroes.
2.1 Gwynplaine as a romantic hero
The image of Gwynplaine was created by the author using the method of romantic contrast. He is a symbol of an oppressed people, which is repeatedly emphasized. In fact, all the images of the novel are in one way or another connected with Gwynplaine, harmonizing with him, or coming into conflict. Gwynplaine is of interest precisely as a romantic hero - a hero represented by the literature of Romanticism, most often expressing the author’s attitude to reality. Such a hero has certain characteristics: he is a person of strong feelings, with a special reaction to what is happening, restless, not susceptible to influence and subordination, and most often lonely. “These are exceptional characters in exceptional circumstances” He portrays his hero as extraordinary
2.2 The problem of the romantic hero in the novel “The Man Who Laughs”
The main problem inherent in the romantic hero is his inability to adapt, his reluctance to live in the contradictory surrounding reality. She is his antipode; to exist in harmony with her means dooming oneself to moral death. The romantic hero is an inflexible, inflexible person, or rather, unwilling to “bend” to the environment. The romantic hero differs from the masses, most often surpassing them in some qualities, but this is also his weakness, because he rarely finds his equal and, most often, fights for his ideals alone. In the novel, Gwynplaine is contrasted with the unprincipled Lady Josiana and Lord David - typical representatives of the high society of that time.
CONCLUSION
Victor Hugo lived a long, not always calm, but creatively rich life, inseparable from that turbulent era in French history when the bourgeois revolution of 1789 began. It was followed by revolutions and popular uprisings of 1830-1834 and 1848, the first proletarian revolution of the Paris Commune of 1871. As a witness to his century, Hugo experienced a lot with it, and painted much, if not all, from life.
The writer was a true innovator in many areas of French literature: poetry, prose, drama. This innovation followed the trend of progressive romanticism, which embraced not only literature, but also fine arts, music, theater, and influenced the renewal of the spiritual forces of European society. Hugo's ethics and aesthetics are romantic in essence, but this does not mean that the writer avoids reality or distorts it in his work. Hugo's romantic method, with its inclusion of realistic and symbolic details, helps to bring out many political and moral issues, as seen in The Man Who Laughs.
Bibliography
- V. Hugo. The man who laughs. M.: State Publishing House of Fiction, 1956.
- Evnina E. M. Victor Hugo (from the history of world culture) / E. M. Evnina. - M.: Nauka, 1976. -354 p.
- Elizarova M.E. and others, History of foreign literature of the 19th century. M.: Education, 1972. – 620 p.
- Muravyova N. I. Hugo / N. I. Muravyova. - 2nd ed. - M.: Young Guard (ZhZL), 1961. - 384 p.
- Nikolaev V. N. V. Hugo. Critical biographical essay / V. N. Nikolaev. - 2nd ed. - M.: Fiction, 1955. - 407 p.
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The year 1870 is harsh for France. On July 19, Napoleon III declared war on Prussia, which supported the candidacy of one of the German princes for the Spanish throne, which was objectionable to France. Hugo is a principled opponent of war. In his Guernsey garden he grew the "Oak of the United States of Europe" (it can still be seen there to this day). The events in which his homeland is involved cannot leave him indifferent. On August 15 he is on the mainland, in Brussels. Hugo formulated his position in one of his poems: “he wants Austerlitz for France, and Waterloo for the empire.” As you know, on September 2, as a result of the Sedan disaster, a hundred thousand French army capitulated, and the “Emperor of the French” became the prisoner of William I. This was the collapse of the empire. From September 3, persistent demands for the abolition of the monarchy began to be heard in Paris. On Sunday, September 4, people fill the Bourbon Palace, where the Chamber of Deputies meets, and soon the deputy from Paris Leon Gambetta proclaims the Republic in the city hall.
In May 1869, Hugo published the novel “The Man Who Laughs,” which takes place in England at the end of the 17th and early 18th centuries. In a letter to the publisher Lacroix dated December 1868, Hugo seemed to justify himself in the abuse of historical themes, to which the romantic fashion had accustomed him: “... I have never written either a historical drama or a historical novel. …My style is to write about the authentic through fictional characters.”
In Bordeaux, Hugo rises to the parliamentary tribune only three times, and each time he is greeted with boos. After the third speech in defense of Garibaldi, whom the National Assembly forced to resign from its ranks, where he was at the will of the French people, grateful to him for his participation in the war against the Germans, Hugo demonstratively resigns his parliamentary powers on March 8. On March 13, he suffered a terrible blow: his son, Charles Hugo, suddenly died. Shocked, Hugo returns to Paris with his son's coffin, where a funeral is to take place on March 18 at the Père Lachaise cemetery. On the morning of the same day, an uprising breaks out in Paris: the Commune is proclaimed. The funeral cortege moves through the city covered with barricades. The workers let the procession pass and pay their last respects to the deceased, seeing behind the coffin the famous gray-haired fighter against the empire. The National Guardsmen also salute, instinctively feeling the significance of what is happening.
The Man Who Laughs (1869) is chronologically the last of the novels written by Hugo during the period of exile, but in essence it is quite closely related to Les Misérables. In both of these works we are dealing with a similar concept: both here and here a person is opposed to an exploitative society hostile to him, and here and here Hugo develops democratic views on the past and on the contemporary era.
In the preface to Les Toilers of the Sea, Hugo defines his first three great novels as a trilogy depicting man's struggle with obstacles in the form of religious superstition (Notre Dame), social prejudice (Les Miserables) and the elements of nature (Toilers of the Sea). .
Likewise, in the preface to this novel, written after completing work on The Man Who Laughs, Hugo declares it the first part of his new trilogy - “Aristocracy”, “Monarchy”, “Republic”. ( This material will help you write competently on the topic of Review of the novel The Man Who Laughs. Part 1.. A summary does not make it possible to understand the whole meaning of the work, so this material will be useful for a deep understanding of the work of writers and poets, as well as their novels, novellas, short stories, plays, poems.) “This book,” says the preface, “should actually be entitled “Aristocracy.” The other, which will be its continuation, can be called “Monarchy”. Both of them, if only the author manages to complete this work, will precede the third book, which will close the entire cycle and will be entitled “The Ninety-third Year.”
As you know, the second part of the planned trilogy was not realized.
The concept of the second trilogy was more limited and historically more justified than the concept of the first. However, here too, Hugo, as is typical for him, proceeds from abstract ethical ideas about the unchangeable properties of human nature and society.
The metaphysical nature of these ideas is manifested in “The Man Who Laughs” primarily in the fact that the writer is unable to see the actual historical development, to understand the socio-economic nature of the English social system, which, despite all its inertia and attraction to feudal traditions, did not remain unchanged for a full hundred and fifty years. Hugo's romantic sociology constantly manifests itself in an overtly metaphysical approach to the English social order in its past and present. He tries to see, first of all, not the difference, but the similarity, strives to discover the complete supposed unity of England during the time of Queen Anne and the England of Palmerston and Glandstone. He rightly sees what is common and unchangeable between them in the anti-nationality, conservatism of the oligarchic order, in the casteism of the English aristocracy and its blind adherence to feudal antiquity.
However, limiting himself to denouncing the aristocracy alone - for, in his words, “nowhere was there a feudal system more illustrious, more terrible and more tenacious than the feudal system of England” - Hugo did not see in its history those processes that had already In the 18th century they turned England into a bourgeois state with a bourgeois aristocracy at its head, and in the 19th century they made it a powerful capitalist power.
Hugo turns to the historical past and paints the English aristocracy of the 17th-18th centuries in an unattractive light, wanting to show that the contemporary British oligarchy, having inherited all the worst from its past, remains a force hostile to the people, civilization, and progress.
At the end of the 17th century, the English oligarchy emerged on the basis of a class compromise between the bourgeoisie and the nobility. Hugo was far from understanding the real nature of that class compromise of 1689, which English liberal historians usually call the “Glorious Revolution.” Engels revealed the true nature of the relations established in England when he wrote: “... the aristocratic oligarchy understood only too well that its own economic well-being was inextricably linked with the prosperity of the industrial and commercial bourgeoisie. From this time on, the bourgeoisie became a modest but recognized part of the ruling classes of England. Together with them, she was interested in suppressing the huge working masses of the people.”
Wanting to consider in “The Man Who Laughs” only one side of political reality, namely, the oppression of the people by the aristocracy, Hugo deliberately narrowed the scope of his novel, eliminating from view everything that interfered with the sharpening of the central problem of the novel. In this approach to specific historical material, Hugo’s romanticism, which was still developing, was manifested, forcing the great defender of rights to show, in terms of revolutionary symbolism, the unbearable oppression of the people, on the one hand, and “the rebellion of the spirit of the people, on the other. To pose and resolve such a theme, revolutionary symbolism, of course, organically approached Hugo’s system of artistic principles.
The critical pathos of “The Man Who Laughs,” like some of Hugo’s other works, is based on the writer’s deep conviction about the incompatibility of the exploitative system with social progress and the achievement of real well-being for the majority of people. In the author's lengthy journalistic discussions that accompany various episodes of the novel, Hugo constantly emphasizes his hatred of the monarchy, aristocracy, feudalism and the oligarchic system as a whole.
Bourgeois critics have repeatedly argued that the overload of Hugo's novels with digressions comes to the detriment of their artistic harmony. Such a statement reveals a misunderstanding of the writer’s creative method.
One of the features of Hugo as an artist is the organic connection of the digressions he introduces with the theme, plot and images of the novel. The author's reasoning is always closely related to the content of the episodes, and the images created by the novelist cannot be correctly understood in isolation from journalistic excursions, which contain many valuable thoughts, observations, information and facts that clarify for the reader the intrigue and characters of the heroes of the work.
Each of the main characters of the novel is an image, the meaning and meaning of which is revealed not only from their own words and actions, but also from the author’s digressions that precede or accompany further action, delaying the progress of the plot, directing and orienting the reader’s attention, enhancing the artistic perception of the subsequent episode .
If you look at “The Man Who Laughs” from this point of view, it turns out that Hugo’s sharpest, most topical and accusatory tirades are concentrated mainly in digressions, and the action of the novel, which is reduced here almost to a minimum, serves as an illustration and artistic confirmation those thoughts expressed in journalistic passages.
So, for example, in the first part of the novel, which makes up one third of its total volume, the plot does not advance beyond the beginning: Gwynplaine, abandoned by the Comprachicos, saves little Deya and, together with her, finds shelter with the philosophizing vagabond Ursus. The Comprachicos, who abandoned Gwynplaine to his fate, perish during a sea storm. But in the digressions that occupy the main place here, the historical and social background is outlined, a poetic description of a sea storm is given (already at the very beginning, giving the novel a harsh and gloomy flavor), human trafficking and the predatory activities of the Comprachicos, whose gangs were for a long time almost legally situation, about harsh laws against vagrants, which included all the poor people without shelter, about the tarred corpse of a man on the gallows as an ominous symbol of feudal England, etc. And, finally, to contrast with all this, a list of wealth, privileges, titles given to the highest circles of the English nobility.
In the second, most extensive part of the novel, aristocratic England of the beginning of the 18th century is depicted, which is opposed as the embodiment of a truly noble moral principle living among the people, the main characters are Gwynplaine, Dea, etc.
The development of the plot is determined, on the one hand, by Gwynplaine’s pure love for Dea and the base attraction of the demonic beauty aristocrat Josiana to Gwynplaine, and on the other hand, by the revelation of the secret of Gwynplaine’s origin. his introduction into the House of Lords and the accusatory speech he made in Parliament.
In contrast to this repulsive picture of wild unbridledness and disgusting revelry of the merry secular mob, the novel introduces episodes from the ordinary life of positive heroes - traveling actors who are in constant communication with the people and make up flesh of their flesh.
“The Man Who Laughs” is addressed by the author to modern times. Many episodes and journalistic discussions force the reader to draw analogies and parallels with England in the 19th century. At every opportunity, Hugo makes it clear that this is not about “the legends of deep antiquity,” but about contemporary reality.
The spectacle of popular disasters seen by Gwynplaine is not only the past of England, but also a gloomy picture of bourgeois-aristocratic England of the 19th century.
“From the height of his stage, Gwynplaine reviewed this gloomy crowd of people. Images of endless poverty penetrated his consciousness one after another... In this crowd there were hands that knew how to work, but were deprived of tools; these people wanted to work, but there was no work... Here Gwynplaine guessed unemployment, there - exploitation, and there - slavery. This heartbreaking picture of universal disasters made his heart clench painfully.”
The text of the novel is constantly interjected with reminders of events that happened a year or two before the appearance of the novel.
Describing one of the most reactionary institutions of 18th-century England - the church court, which called to account and severely punished people suspected of freethinking, Hugo reminds readers that this feudal institution, with its deadened formulas and absurd medieval title, has not at all sunk into oblivion: “ These theological courts still exist in England to this day and mercilessly deal with the guilty. On December 23, 1868, by a decision of the Arch Court, approved by the Lords Privy Council, the Reverend Maconochie was sentenced to censure and costs for lighting candles on a simple table. The liturgy doesn’t like to joke.”
With caustic sarcasm, Hugo denounces the barbarity of English legislation, masked by antediluvian casuistic formulas and references to laws of the 12th and 14th centuries, aimed at protecting the interests of the propertied classes. He notes that Gwynplaine's "silent" arrest was a typical case of violation of established laws, and provides numerous examples of judicial authorities - both in the 18th century and in England of his time - violating legal norms at every turn. “It was a disgusting mode of action to which England returns to this day, thereby presenting to the whole world an extremely strange spectacle: in search of the best, this great power chooses the worst and, faced with a choice between the past, on the one hand, and progress, on the other “makes a cruel mistake, mistaking night for day.”
Hugo glorifies in his novel the revolution of the 17th century, which destroyed absolutism in England and established a republic. He speaks sarcastically about the restorers of the feudal order, who “mocked the republic and that amazing time when the great words Right, Freedom, Progress never left their lips.”
Without a doubt, the strongest side of the work and in many ways retains its social and political relevance to this day.
The barbaric amusements of young aristocrats in the quarters inhabited by the London poor give the writer a reason to note that the vile tricks of the nobles
Synkov, even in the second half of the 19th century, differed little in cruelty and cynicism from those “jokes” that their great-grandfathers allowed themselves at the beginning of the 18th century. “If poor people did this,” Hugo writes, “they would be sent to hard labor, but this is what the “golden youth” do.”
Not limiting himself to describing the moral monstrosities that reign in the so-called “higher circles” of society, Hugo shows that by its very social nature the aristocracy is hostile to the people and national progress. In this regard, the scenes depicting parliamentary debates on the introduction of new taxes and increasing the maintenance of the prince-husband are especially expressive.
