While Victor Hugo's lasting appeal as a novelist can in large part be attributed to the unforgettable characters that he created, character has been paradoxically the most criticized and least understood element of his fiction. Character and Meaning in the Novels of Victor Hugo provides readers with a deeper understanding of the complexities and nuances that characterize both Hugo's novel writing and the nineteenth-century French novel, and will thus appeal to the specialist and non-specialist alike.
List of Abbreviations
Acknowledgments
Introduction
Part 1: Appearance
Chapter One: The Archetype Transformed
Chapter Two: Hugo Novelist
Part 2: Reappearance
Chapter Three: Hugo and Type Character
Chapter Four: Character as Template
Chapter Five: Reconfigurations
Part 3: Disappearance
Chapter Six: The Poetics of Death
Chapter Seven: Decoding Social Exclusion
Conclusion
Notes
Works Cited
Index
Isabel Roche, of Bennington College, specializes in the nineteenth-century French novel. She has published articles on Hugo's Notre-Dame de Paris and Les Miserables.