Notre-Dame de Paris : an exemplification of Victor Hugo’s romantic vision.

Abstract

Victor Hugo’s Notre-Dame de Paris is an exemplification of his ideas on Romanticism. Hugo illustrates the ideas that he presents in his “Preface to Cromwell” – his manifesto for Romanticism – through the characters and plots in Notre-Dame. As Hugo firmly believes that art should express life in a comprehensible and interesting manner for people from all walks of life, this belief leads him to envision a work of literary art that would incorporate all these ideas. So, Hugo’s Romantic vision is made up of these envisioned ideas. Hence, by understanding the ideas that are embedded in Notre-Dame de Paris, it is clear that Notre-Dame de Paris depicts Hugo’s vision and exemplifies Romanticism in his terms. Therefore, the aim of this paper is to discuss Hugo’s usage of the plots and characterisation of characters in Notre-Dame de Paris as a means to illustrate the use and purpose of his Romantic vision. This paper will discuss the dramatised portrayal of characters and plots in chapter one, the creation of a ‘concentrated’ reflection of nature in chapter two, and the depiction of the grotesque and the sublime in chapter three. All in all, this paper would present Notre-Dame de Paris as a work of literary art that embodies Hugo’s Romantic vision.