Beauty and ugliness, good and evil, upper-class aristocrats and lower-class commoners
What is wrapped under the beautiful skin may be rotten meat that already smells bad. Under the ugly appearance, What cannot be hidden is the kindness of people's hearts; the holy priest holds a butcher's knife in his hand, and the humble beggar upholds kindness. This is an extremely ironic contrasting relationship, which is also the edge of French writer Victor Hugo's writing.
Victor Hugo, the leader of the Four French Romantics. He made significant achievements in novels, poems, dramas, essays and literary theory. He is one of the most famous writers in French literature. 1. Rather than saying that he loves writing, it is better to say that he is keen to use his pen as a weapon to fight back for those who are bullied and treated unfairly in society. He is keen to criticize those so-called inhumane behaviors and seek justice and justice for this society. Fairy, just like Mr. Lu Xun during the revolutionary period, is good at using the pen as a weapon to awaken numb people, to expose cold-blooded human nature, and to satirize people's ignorance.
The technique of contrast is his common writing technique, and he is a master of using contrast techniques. The contrast between good and evil, beauty and ugliness is reflected in all aspects of his works, both in the plot and in the characters; between characters and in the characters themselves.
In his writing, it is not difficult to find that he is good at shaping the images of lower-class characters to contrast with the images of upper-class characters. On the one hand, the protagonists of his novels are almost all people at the bottom of society. They are simple, kind, and passionate about justice. Although some have changed their social status, they still maintain excellent qualities. On the other hand, his novels always feature upper-class nobles who are ugly and self-righteous. For example: in "The Hunchback of Notre Dame", there is the Hunchback of Notre Dame, Quasimodo, who is extremely ugly but has a pure and kind heart, and there is also the completely opposite, sanctimonious Archdeacon Claude; in "The Man Who Laughs," there is also a character with the same appearance. The ugly but kind-hearted Wengoplan also has a group of upper-class nobles who are brightly dressed and showy on the outside but ugly on the inside. Hugo used this extreme contrast to create characters and expose human nature.
He believes: "Ugliness exists next to beauty, deformity exists next to beauty, comedy and grotesqueness exist behind the sublime, evil and good coexist, and darkness and light accompany each other." 3 Therefore, the principle of contrast always runs through Hugo's literary works.
NOTES:
1. When something is tightly packaged, you will never know whether its truth will make you tempted or disgusting. Just like when people bet on stones, you can never predict whether the gemstone or stone contained in the rough stone is still a stone before it is cut. Only after it is cut can you know its true identity!
2. In this world, justice will favor you not just because of your so-called noble birth or being in the upper class!
3. Perhaps, Victor Hugo, this great writer should not be classified as a Frenchman. Of course, he cannot be classified as a British or German... but should be classified as a universal writer. National people, because he always represents the interests of a group of people who are human beings but suffer unequal treatment.
4. Hugo: Ugliness exists next to beauty, deformity exists next to beauty, comedy and grotesqueness exist behind the sublime, evil and good coexist, darkness and light accompany each other.
1. "Notre Dame de Paris" by Victor Hugo, translated by Guan Zhenhu, Shanghai: Shanghai Translation Publishing House, 2016 Preface to Hugo's Collected Works, page 1, line 1.
2. Written by Victor Hugo, translated by Guan Zhenhu: "Notre Dame de Paris", Shanghai: Shanghai Translation Publishing House, 2016 Preface to Hugo's Collected Works, page 12, line 2.
3. "Notre Dame de Paris" by Victor Hugo, translated by Guan Zhenhu, Shanghai: Shanghai Translation Publishing House, 2016 Preface to Hugo's Collected Works, page 2, line 2.