1. The ingenious combination of "ideal" and "truth" is a remarkable feature of positive romantic literature;
2. The contrast between beauty and ugliness is Hugo's most important principle of romantic creation;
3. The strange experience of the characters and the development of the story are unpredictable.
I will start with these three points and answer the questions with specific novel texts.
0 1 In Hugo's Cromwell, "ideal" and "truth" are skillfully combined: the preface clearly emphasizes that literature and art must be "true". He pointed out:
"Our era is first of all dramatic", "The feature of drama is truth."
Hugo's emphasis on artistic truth here is different from the reflection of reality. Realistic writers demand the concentration, generalization and typification of real life. Romantic writers demand to start from real life and create ideal pictures according to their romantic passion.
In Les Miserables, he skillfully combined "ideal" with "truth" and reached a perfect artistic realm. This is a prominent feature of positive romantic literature.
By describing the miserable life of the lower class, Les Miserables accused the unjust society and decadent laws at that time. He wrote in the "preface" of his work:
"As long as there is social oppression caused by laws and customs, in the heyday of civilization, the human world will be artificially turned into hell, and the inherent luck of mankind will suffer inevitable disasters; As long as the three problems of this century-poverty makes men poor, hunger makes women degenerate, and darkness makes children weak-remain unsolved; ..... As long as there is ignorance and suffering in this world, then works of the same nature as this book will not be useless. "
This preface not only shows the writer's creative intention, but also reflects his idea of sympathizing with the poor who have no way out, demanding to change the dark social reality and actively seeking a social way out. Because the work is created for serious social problems, it has profound practical significance.
Les Miserables is based on the historical stage from the Battle of Napoleon Waterloo to the barricade war against the July Dynasty, with the unusual life experience of the protagonist Jean Valjean as the main line, interspersed with typical stories of people from different classes, showing a broad picture of French social and political life in the first half of the19th century. This novel reflects the writer's ideal and passion based on real life.
Hugo expressed deep sympathy for the miserable situation of oppression, discrimination and humiliation of the lower classes. He observed from various complicated social phenomena:
"Among the members of society, the people who get the least wealth are also the people who need to be taken care of most, and society is only the one who demands the most from them."
He truly described the poverty and suffering of the working people through heartbreaking scenes; Ruthlessly exposed the hypocrisy and ruthlessness of the whole society.
Jean Valjean, a simple worker, stole a piece of bread to survive and was sentenced to hard labor 19 years. Although he has been doing things beneficial to the society and the suffering people all his life, he has always been the target of the judicial organs. Fantine, a kind working woman, was forced to sell herself and lead a miserable life in order to survive and raise her children. She was sentenced to six months' imprisonment by the police for offending a gentleman, and poor unemployed worker Shangmati was sentenced to life hard labor for picking up a branch with an apple. But those who caused suffering-ruling class, prodigal son and gentleman-disappeared from the law.
Hugo in the face of harsh social reality, often stand up in the novel to express their thoughts, he expressed indignation at the unequal laws:
"The provisions of the law are rigid. In our civilization, there are many chilling moments, which are moments when criminal law makes people feel desperate. What a tragic day it is for a thoughtful creature to be forced to stay away from society and be irretrievably abandoned! "
Hugo's oppression of society sighed:
"Fantine's story shows? Explain that society bought a slave. " "It is generally believed that slavery does not exist in European civilization. This is a misunderstanding. Slavery has always existed, only oppressing women, and that is the prostitution system. "
The novel profoundly exposes all kinds of social and legal abuses during the restoration of Bourbon Dynasty, and actively seeks ways to transform society.
Hugo fantasizes about transforming society and solving the living problems of working people with "love", "moral perfection" and "charity".
For example, Bishop Bienvenu's kindness and generosity changed Jean Valjean's life. Jean Valjean changed his name to Madeleine and became the mayor of Monterrey. Here, the author describes Monterey, an ideal harmonious and beautiful society, with unrestrained passion: everyone has plenty of food and clothing and everyone is happy. Everyone has a healthy working life. There is harmony between people, mutual understanding, mutual pity and mutual sympathy.
This ideal paradise for working people is obviously fictitious, and it is a blueprint of utopian socialism painted by the author with romantic passion for the people. The omnipotent thoughts of "goodness" and "kindness" occupy a dominant position in his works.
But Hugo saw that the violent revolution to transform society was developing, and he also believed that the violent revolution could promote social progress, so he focused on the revolutionary actions of the masses in the last two parts of Les Miserables.
1832 The scenes of the people's uprising and the barricade war in Paris are thrilling and inspiring. The scene of heroic fighting in St. Anthony Street is adapted from reality. On the eve of the uprising, the working people in St. Anthony's district were ready, and people's grievances were boiling and rumors were everywhere. When describing the scene of the uprising, the author showed fierce fighting enthusiasm.
He enthusiastically praised the heroes in the barricade war, and he wrote these ragged and scarred poor people into revolutionary giants who were brave and brave and died.
Father Mabeuf, who is 80 years old, bravely raised the red flag that was destroyed by dense bullets. Gavroche, a vagrant, faced the enemy's gun, picked up bullets and sang war songs, showing the spirit of revolutionary heroism and optimism. Androra, the leader of the mass revolution, made a speech during the barricade war crisis.
That solemn and infectious speech was full of revolutionary passion, heralding the hazy future and igniting the ideal.
In Hugo's works, the heroes of the people's uprising are all extraordinary ideals. Although they fell in a pool of blood, their tall images will live in the hearts of readers forever.
These descriptions, which are full of strong romantic colors, have achieved the artistic effect of "there is a big truth in the truth, and there is truth in the middle and large".
The application of beauty and ugliness contrast method is Hugo's most important romantic creation principle. Hugo realized from the observation and analysis of complex social contradictions that there are light and darkness, beauty and ugliness in the world. He pointed out:
"As a supporting role and contrast of nobility and beauty, absurdity and ugliness are the richest source of art endowed by nature."
This clearly points out that the purpose of comparison is to highlight "beauty" and "goodness". In Les Miserables, Hugo followed the creative principle of contrasting beauty and ugliness, and created two kinds of characters.
One kind is a kind person with ideal. They are sublime and graceful incarnations, such as Bishop Bienvenu, Jean Valjean, Fantine, the hero of the barricade war, the old horse Bev, and the street waif Gavroche. The other is the villain, a representative of meanness and ugliness, such as Javert and Thenardier.
These two typical characters, lifelike, set off each other in a very natural and harmonious way, making the characters stand out.
Hugo created according to his own literary theory, and distinguished the noble and beautiful characters from the funny and ugly characters more clearly through the mirror of poly-image, which produced a strong romantic artistic effect.
Jean Valjean, the hero of the novel, had a rough life. Behind him stood two shadows: one was police officer Javert, and the other was Bishop Bienvenu. They represent legal prejudice and religious morality respectively.
Javert and Bishop Bienvenu had completely different attitudes towards Jean Valjean.
Javert was born in prison. He is a wicked man and an eagle dog. The author outlined his five senses with a few strokes: "There is a flat nose, two deep nostrils, and a beard on both cheeks extends to the nostrils."
Hugo further expressed his thoughts and feelings of loving monks, praising and criticizing through discussion, and wrote in the novel:
Javert doesn't laugh very often. Javert is a hound when he is serious and a tiger when he cries.
He respects the government and hates rebellion. In front of the upper class and superiors, he is full of servility and flexibility, like a blind follower and a loyal running dog, but he is very determined, serious, cruel, cruel and heartless to the miserable lower class. He is a tiger with an open mouth. It was he who chased Jean Valjean like a poisonous snake. His image embodies the fierceness and cruelty of the law.
Bishop Bienvenu is the embodiment of kindness and fraternity. When he was young, he was a charming aristocrat who enjoyed the splendor. The storm of the Great Revolution made him see through the world of mortals and become a famous bishop. He voluntarily changed houses, gave alms to the poor and lived a simple life; He saves people from suffering, always forgives others, and never treats others maliciously. His large-scale action of kindness and justice shines with humanitarian brilliance everywhere.
Jean Valjean, an unemployed worker, was sentenced to five years' hard labor for stealing a loaf of bread for his hungry nephew, and his sentence was aggravated for trying to escape from prison. During this period, his "mind has ups and downs." He realized that he was wrong and hated the unfairness of social laws even more.
After he got out of prison, he continued to steal to get back at society. Jean Valjean stole a set of silver tableware from his bishop's house for the night and was sent back by the police. Instead of blaming him, the bishop covered up for him and gave him a silver candlestick worth 200 francs to encourage him to be an honest man.
Bishop Bienvenu's noble heart, compassionate heart and holy behavior influenced Jean Valjean. From then on, he converted to religion, devoted himself to goodness and became a "humane and generous" person. Embarked on a new life path.
By comparing Javert's and Bishop Bienvenu's influence on Jean Valjean's life, the work vividly shows that the secular bourgeois law makes people constantly degenerate, "benevolence" restores people's conscience, and preaches the humanitarian thought that religious morality is superior to legal prejudice, "love" is superior to "hate" and "goodness" is superior to "evil".
Jean Valjean is simple, sincere and kind, and he is an ideal figure that the author tries to beautify. His experience, standpoint and lifestyle are full of strange and romantic colors. Jean Valjean, a convict, appeared in a small town in Monterrey after changing his name to Madeleine. Through a technological innovation, he reduced the cost and became rich, becoming an industrial capitalist.
This rich but not proud, happy but not complacent man is praised as the mayor for his good deeds. He changed the poverty and backwardness of this city with his own efforts. He helped the weak and the poor, sympathized with Fantine, an unemployed female worker, and promised to help their mother and daughter reunite. He thinks:
"The highest virtue is to think of others."
In order to save an innocent worker, he resolutely surrendered himself to the court. He returned good for evil and released Javert, who was caught by revolutionary youth and executed. Ruthless Javert found Jean Valjean escaping through the maze of sewers with Marius on his back, and suddenly his conscience found that he had committed suicide by throwing himself into the river. Jean Valjean's "kindness" and "fraternity" have reached the level of perfection.
Jean Valjean's extraordinary talent is consistent with his noble character. His unusual experience from a convict to a philanthropist who became the mayor is in sharp contrast. It shows that the evil society alienated his humanity, and under the action of "goodness" and "love", once humanity returns, it will produce infinite power. A person who has been abandoned by society and is in a desperate situation can benefit mankind once he has the opportunity to serve the society.
In sharp contrast to Jean Valjean was Thenardier. They belong to a mixed class, including rude people who climb up and smart people who fail. They have some weaknesses of the lower class and most vices of the middle class.
This couple is thin and fat in appearance, but in contrast, their moral quality is equally selfish and vicious. In pursuit of money, they blackmail, rob, kill for money and listen to everything. The abominable image of Thenardier left over from the Napoleonic Wars played a more prominent role in the comparison, and set off the tall image of Jean Valjean.
Fantine and her daughter Cosette are negative examples of people suffering in a miserable world. Jean Valjean and Thenardier have a sharp contrast in their attitudes towards Fantine and Cosette, thus showing their different moral norms and personality characteristics.
Out of sympathy for Fantine, Jean Valjean rescued Cosette, brought her up and helped her get married. Here, we strongly attack egoism and praise the lofty social fashion of kindness and fraternity through the sharp contrast between driving people into despair and saving people from danger.
The strange experience of the characters and the development of the story are unpredictable. Most of the characters in Les Miserables are people with strange experiences and extraordinary abilities.
Bishop Bienvenu came from a just aristocratic family, and when he was young, he hung out in the communication places of the upper class. During the French bourgeois revolution, he fled to Italy to avoid danger and later returned to France to become a bishop. Since then, he has lived a poor life, giving most of his salary to the poor and the sick. He said:
"Living in this world is not for your own life, but to protect the hearts of the world."
It was the brilliance of Bishop Bienvenu that lit up Jean Valjean's heart and made him a savior with Bishop Bienvenu.
The hero Jean Valjean's experience is even more peculiar. He jumped from a poor worker and convict who cut branches to a factory owner and mayor, and has since devoted himself to doing good, helping the weak and helping the poor. He has superhuman wisdom and extraordinary ability, nicknamed "Jack".
Because of his appearance, it changed the face of a factory; Because he was acclaimed as mayor, the town prospered; Because of his appearance, Fantine was saved from humiliation and Cosette from slavery. After that, he took Cosette carefully and mysteriously to live in Paris. These unusual experiences show that Jean Valjean is different from ordinary people.
His living environment is also very strange. Jean Valjean spent most of his life being chased by the police, except for hard labor in prison. His activities are mainly at night, and his activities are mainly in prisons, courts, monasteries, sewers, cemeteries, etc., all of which show strange and romantic characteristics.
Extraordinary figures are not all perfect and beautiful images, and the extremely ugly images created by the author are also extraordinary. Thenardier was ugly in appearance and soul. Thenardier was a corpse thief in the Battle of Waterloo, and later opened a small hotel in Montfermeil. He was a liar. After bankruptcy, he went to Paris to continue stealing and doing evil, which is the representative of social evil forces. The author wrote an ordinary and ugly soul with exaggerated artistic techniques.
The plot of the novel is full of ups and downs, twists and turns, and full of drama. Jean Valjean's unusual experience is the main line of this novel. When she became mayor, she learned Fantine's unfortunate life experience and prepared to help her mother and daughter reunite. The Champmaté case appeared, and Jean Valjean surrendered himself and went to prison for the second time. At this time, the author arranged a scene to save sailors. Jean Valjean decisively broke the chain on his foot, flew on the ladder of the warship, and saved the sailors who circled around the crossbar and hung in the air.
Everyone was anxiously waiting for his safe return, when suddenly the sail bar shook and fell into the sea. This scene of intentionally falling into the water is novel and thrilling. It highlights Jean Valjean's extraordinary courage and superb skills, and shows that his actions are extraordinary.
Jean Valjean showed up in Paris with Cosette, and a spy disguised as a beggar found him. In spite of his wit and caution, he failed to escape the police. Once, he was cornered with Cosette, and Jean Valjean stood there like a wild animal caught in a snare. This is very dangerous. The police were only a few dozen paces away from him, and guns and knives jingled. He used his quick wits to jump over the high wall with a light rope and sneak into the monastery with a quick, steady and accurate action. At this time, he happened to meet the old man who had saved and protected their lives.
A wave of unrest, another wave. If you want to live in seclusion for a long time, you must escape from the monastery. With the help of the old man, the scene of hiding in the coffin and leaving the monastery is described as thrilling and ingenious, which makes readers marvel. The plan is that when we get to the cemetery, the old man will get the buried workers drunk, and then they can escape unnoticed.
However, as soon as he entered the cemetery, a strange burial worker appeared in front of him. The old man was shocked, but he took advantage of his surprise to get the card and forced the workers to leave the cemetery. Jean Valjean escaped.
These thrilling and moving plots are full of twists and turns, accidental coincidence and drama. Through exaggerated and bizarre plots, Jean Valjean was portrayed as an extraordinary figure with magical power, wisdom and courage.
In a word, in this novel, Hugo makes a strong contrast between good and evil, beauty and ugliness. In order to exaggerate the atmosphere, he used extremely exaggerated romantic artistic techniques to reveal sharp and complicated social contradictions and express his religious and humanitarian thoughts.
Answer over.