Introduction to Victor Hugo's *Hernani* Study Guide
📌 The session introduces a comprehensive guide/handout on Victor Hugo's Romantic drama, _Hernani_, designed for Semester 4 exam preparation.
🎭 The focus is not on biographical details of Victor Hugo, emphasizing the "death of the author" concept in literary analysis.
📚 The material includes both theoretical background (intertexts) and practical analysis examples related to the play.

Intertextuality and Theoretical Framework
📌 Hugo’s works must be read through intertexts like the prefaces to _Les Contemplations_, where he states: "My life is yours, your life is mine," highlighting universal human experience.
📜 The preface to _Cromwell_ is crucial, signaling Hugo's revolt against classical Alexandrine monotony and his blending of the sublime and grotesque.
📢 Hugo’s poem "Réponse à un acte d'accusation" illustrates his revolutionary intent to give voice to the marginalized, challenging classical poetic rules.

Rhythm and Poetic Analysis of *Hernani*
📌 A primary focus for exam analysis is the rhythm of the Alexandrine verse, which Hugo purposefully disrupts to convey specific themes and emotions.
✂️ Analysis must examine the nature of the cæsura (cuts), the use of enjambment (rejet) versus end-stopping (contre-rejet), and how these break the traditional 6+6 structure.
🗣️ Anaphora, repetition, alliteration, and assonance contribute rhythmically to the thematic content, often underscoring a hushed or doubting voice, as seen in the Emperor’s tirades.

Stylistic Devices and Romantic Drama
📌 Stylistic figures (tropes) reinforce the rhythmic structure; students must move beyond simple listing to interpretation—showing *how* they underscore the theme.
🎭 Double enunciation must always be considered: the character speaks not only for themselves but also transmits Hugo's universal humanistic lesson to the audience.
⚖️ *Hernani* operates between the tragic register (the weight of fate) and the pathetic register (human vulnerability and suffering).

Key Points & Insights
➡️ Do not recount the author's biography in analyses; focus instead on intertexts (prefaces, related poems) to corroborate your reading of the text.
➡️ Analyze the play’s verses as a long poem first, prioritizing the study of rhythm and versification over mere vocabulary or style listing.
➡️ Hugo intentionally disrupts the Alexandrine (e.g., using unusual cuts like 3+3+3+3) to convey the fragility and humanity of characters like the Emperor, contrasting the classical 'marble' tragedy.
➡️ The blend of high and low, sublime and vulgar, as seen in titles like *Odes et Ballades*, is a deliberate Romantic strategy to capture the totality of human experience.

📸 Video summarized with SummaryTube.com on Nov 29, 2025, 12:14 UTC