"93", Hugo: summary, main characters, analysis. Novel "Ninety-third year"

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

After the publication of the famous novel Les Misérables in 1862, Victor Hugo decided to write another, no less ambitious work. This book has been in the making for ten years. Hugo touched upon the topical issues of his time in the novel "93". A summary of the last work of the great French writer is presented in this article.

History of Creation

What did Hugo tell in the novel "93"? A summary of the work is presented below. However, before proceeding to it, a few words should be said about the history of writing the novel. It was based on important historical events of 1793. However, they were presented under the author's impression of what was happening in France in the second half of the nineteenth century, namely, the Franco-Prussian war and the Paris Commune. Thus, in the work of fiction "The Ninety-Third Year" Victor Hugopartly expressed his views on the political situation that developed in his homeland in 1870-1871.

What happened while the writer was completing his last historical novel? After the conclusion of a peace treaty with Prussia, unrest began, which resulted in a revolution and led to the establishment of self-government. This went on for seventy-two days. As already mentioned, the idea of the novel "The Ninety-Third Year" came to the mind of the writer ten years before the above events. Perhaps, it was precisely because of the difficult situation in the country that the creation of another creation was delayed for a long time. The idea of the novel, which at the initial stage did not have a clear outline, was finally formed after the social and political upheavals of 1870-1872.

A masterpiece of historical prose

When it comes to such a category as books about the Great French Revolution, first of all, not only the work of the patriarch of French romanticism is mentioned. Alexandre Dumas once wrote about these events. Many foreign and Russian researchers devoted their works to them. However, the book "93" by Hugo is of great historical and literary value. The summary of this work is, of course, not only a listing of important political events that served as material for creating the plot. It is also a concise story about the fates of the main characters. So where does Hugo's '93 begin?

Summary: Sodreyan Forest

The action of the novel takes place at the end of May 1793. Parisianthe battalion, conducting reconnaissance in the Sodrey forest, was ready for any surprises. After all, these places have acquired a tragic glory. The author called the Sodra forest the most terrible place in the world. Because it was here, six months before the events described in the novel "The Ninety-Third Year", that the first atrocity of the civil war took place. Once upon a time, quite peaceful bird hunting was organized in the Sodreyan forest. In connection with the political events in Paris, everything changed. The novel "The Ninety-Third Year" depicts a time when a brutal hunt for people was carried out in these picturesque places.

The soldiers and the chick accompanying them heard a suspicious rustle in the bushes. They were already ready to fire. However, it turned out that a woman of peasant origin and her three young children were hiding in the bushes. According to the laws of wartime, the unfortunate woman was interrogated. It was necessary to find out what political beliefs a single mother adheres to. Not all questions could be clearly answered by a stranger. The soldiers nevertheless found out that the husband of Michel Flechart - and that was the name of the woman - died. And the hut where they lived was burned down. As a result, the peasant woman found herself in a distressed situation. Since then, she has wandered through the woods wherever her eyes look, not realizing how great the danger to which she exposes herself and her children.

Hearing the sad story of a peasant woman, a battalion sergeant named Raduba proposed to adopt Rene-Jean, Gros-Alain and Georgette.

Corvette Claymore

Writing a novelwas preceded by a deep study by the author of the history of the counter-revolutionary movement of the Chouans. The writer studied a number of historical works. And the events that took place in Paris at the time when he was creating a historical work had an impact on the plot and images of the main characters.

The novel shows Hugo's attitude to the revolutionary movement. The writer sincerely sympathized with the defeated Communards, but at the same time he was critical of their methods of struggle. This contradictory attitude towards the revolutionary movement shaped the attitude towards the events reflected in the novel "The Ninety-Third Year". Heroes of Hugo are people of action. However, they are devoted to ideals and sacrifice their lives for a higher cause. Sometimes the price of such sacrifices is too high.

On the first of June, a frigate disguised as a merchant ship sails off the coast of England. In fact, there is a very important passenger on board the Claymore. The author describes him as follows: "a tall old man, dressed in peasant attire, but possessing the posture of a prince." The frigate dies in battle with the French squadron. The gunner is to blame for everything, who, on the orders of a man dressed in simple peasant clothes, is then shot. The majestic old man, rescued by the royalists, is the future leader of the rebellious Vendée. However, one of the sailors - a young man named Galmalo - decides to take revenge on the old man for killing the gunner. After all, he was his brother. However, Galmalo refuses to commit this murder in time.

Marquis de Lantenac

This isthe name of a mysterious old man who miraculously escaped while traveling on a frigate. On land, he learns the news of the destroyed Republican detachment. Lantenac orders the execution of all prisoners. However, he does not make an exception even for two women. He orders to take three children about whom he is informed, without having a clear plan for their future fate. One of the women, meanwhile, turns out to be alive: she was only shot through the collarbone.

Revolutionary spirit

There is an atmosphere of struggle in Paris. Hugo portrays the French capital as a city where even children smile heroically. Everything here breathes revolution. Among the preachers these days, the priest Cimourdain stands out. He is fierce and cold-blooded. After the revolution broke out, Cimourdain renounced his dignity and devoted his life to the liberation movement. This man, appreciated by Robespierre, subsequently becomes the Commissioner of the Vendée Convention.

In the first days of July, a lone traveler stops near the city of Dole, at one of the inns. From the owner of the inn, this man, who later turns out to be none other than Cimourdain, learns about the battles taking place nearby. Gauvin and the Marquis de Lantenac are fighting. Moreover, the battles could not have been so bloody, if not for the act of the leader of the royalists. Lantenac allegedly ordered the execution of the woman, and her children are being held somewhere in the fortress. Cimourdain goes to the battlefield, where he almost dies from the sword, the blow of which is intended for Gauvin. This young man is a descendant of a noble family. Cimourdain has known him since childhood.

Terror and Mercy

Govin was once a pupil of Cimourdain. In addition, he is the only person to whom this middle-aged and cruel man feels affection. Both Cimourdain and Gauvin dream of the triumph of the Republic. However, the former believes that the only way to achieve the goal is terror. The second prefers to be guided by mercy. Gauvin, however, in relation to Lantenac is very uncompromisingly disposed. He is ready to destroy the Marquis at all costs.

Children of Michel Flechard

Lantenac is doomed. In order to save his life, he uses the children of the peasant woman Fleshar as hostages. But the fact is that in the castle where Lantenac is hiding, there is an underground exit. The royalists free their leader, and he, before leaving the shelter, starts a fire, thereby dooming the children to certain death. However, at the last moment, Lantenac, having heard the cry of his mother, returns and saves his little prisoners.

Execution

Gowen is a character personifying justice and mercy. And so he frees Lantenac. The republic, according to Gauvin, should not stain itself with the murder of a person who went to self-sacrifice. For a generous act, the young commander is sentenced to death. A cruel sentence is passed by none other than Cimourdain. But as soon as Gauvin loses his head from a guillotine blow, the former priest commits suicide. With such a tragic outcome, Hugo ended the Ninety-Third Year.

Analysis

This piece of history testifies tothe author's contradictory attitude to the revolution in the broadest sense of the word. The novel was written during the events of the Paris Commune and could not but become a response to the situation that developed in the French capital in 1871-1872. The writer sang the meaning of the revolution that swept not only over his homeland, but also over the whole world. But at the same time, the author remained true to his previous idea, according to which society can change for the better only as a result of the rebirth of the inner world of a person. It is no coincidence that in the novel there is an opposition of such images as Cimourdain and Gauvin. Terror and mercy are the features of the revolutionary movement, according to Hugo.

"The ninety-third year": reviews

One of the literary critics called this creation a wide artistic canvas, which depicts the greatest events of the late nineteenth century. Of course, critics of the Soviet era saw in Hugo's novel what censorship demanded, namely: the struggle of the working people of Paris, the glorification of the revolutionaries and angry attacks against the emigrant nobles. In fact, the novel discussed in this article is not only the greatest work of classical prose, but also Hugo's most controversial work.

The creativity of the French writer was highly appreciated by the geniuses of Russian literature Tolstoy and Dostoevsky. The most famous work outside of France was Les Misérables. However, the essay, dedicated to the contradictory spirit of the revolution, also did not go unnoticed by readers. This novel, according tofans of Victor Hugo, is the best work of historical prose of the nineteenth century.

Translation from French into Russian was first made at the end of the nineteenth century. Revolutionary ideas, as you know, occupied the minds of students and intellectuals at that time. However, this topic is always relevant. After more than a hundred years, interest in the novel has not faded. To date, the best translation from French into Russian, according to readers and critics, belongs to Nadezhda Zharkova.

The disastrous consequences of the revolution are an important part of Russian history. That is why Victor Hugo's great novel is popular with readers in our country today.