Victor Hugo
法兰西的莎士比亚——维克多·雨果

Victor Marie Hugo (1802-1885) was a French poet, novelist, and dramatist of the Romantic Movement. He is considered one of the greatest and best-known French writers. Because of his tremendous contribution to the French literature, he is widely acclaimed as the “French Shakespeare”. He was buried in the Panthéon 注 . His legacy has been honored in many ways, including being placed on francs. In France, Hugo's literary fame comes first from his poetry but also rests upon his novels and his dramatic achievements. Among many volumes of poetry, Les Contemplations and La Légende des siècles stand particularly high in critical esteem. Outside France, his best-known works are the acclaimed novels Les Misérables (1862)and Notre-Dame de Paris (1831) (known in English as The Hunchback of Notre-Dame).
维克多·雨果(1802—1885) ,法国浪漫主义时期诗人、小说家和戏剧家，被认为是法国最伟大、最著名的文学家之一。因其对法国文学史做出的丰功伟绩被人们称为“法兰西的莎士比亚”。雨果死后葬在巴黎的先贤祠，后人以多种形式缅怀他的贡献，包括将他的头像印在法郎上。雨果在国内的文学声誉起于诗歌创作，但在小说和戏剧方面的成就也是盛誉有加。众多诗集中，数《静观集》和《历代传说》文学评价最高。在国外，雨果最为人所知的是著名的《悲惨世界》(1862)以及《巴黎圣母院》(1831)(英译标题为《钟楼怪人》)。

Despite the variety of Hugo's literary forms and the respectable number of his works, a common theme is reverberating within: loud-heard eulogy 注 for whatever is true and beautiful and harsh condemnation against evils, corruption and brutality. Most of them take painful efforts to depict the panorama of society and life with a combined touch of realism and romanticism. A distinct quality of Hugo's works is his artistic handling of often exaggerated thus extraordinary characters and plots. His protagonists are often either extremely heroic or disproportionately cruel and wicked. The story line is full of twist and turn and every coincidence may lead readers into a suspended and exciting reading experience.
尽管雨果的文学创作形式丰富，作品浩瀚，但共同的创作主题是赞颂真善美，鞭挞黑暗、丑恶和残暴，多半以细致的笔触描写社会人生百态，融合了现实主义与浪漫主义特色。他在艺术手法上的一个特点是描写夸张的、非凡的人物和情节。他的主人公或者是做出了极其英雄的行为，或者是做出了极其残暴、卑劣的行为。故事主线充斥着接踵而来的矛盾，且充分运用巧合、偶遇等手法，读来曲折有致，引人入胜。