Victor-Marie Hugo (26 February 1802 – 22 May 1885) was a French Romantic writer and politician. During a literary career that spanned more than sixty years, he wrote in a variety of genres and forms. He is considered to be one of the greatest French writers of all time. His most famous works are the novels The Hunchback of Notre-Dame (1831) and Les Misérables (1862). In France, Hugo is renowned for his poetry collections, such as The Contemplations and The Legend of the Ages. Hugo was at the forefront of the Romantic literary movement with his play Cromwell and drama Hernani. Many of his works have inspired music, both during his lifetime and after his death, including the opera Rigoletto and the musicals Les Misérables and Notre-Dame de Paris. He produced more than 4,000 drawings in his lifetime, and campaigned for social causes such as the abolition of capital punishment. Though he was a committed royalist when young, Hugo's views changed as the decades passed, and he became a passionate supporter of republicanism, serving in politics as both deputy and senator. His work touched upon most of the political and social issues and the artistic trends of his time. His opposition to absolutism and his literary stature established him as a national hero. He was honoured by interment in the Panthéon.
A prisoner named Jean Valjean is released from prison after nineteen years. He is turned away and shunned from every door in a town before he finds refuge in a Bishops house. But he steals from the Bishop who forgives him. Jean Valjean mends his ways to become a rich man but is recognized by Inspector Javert. Javerts sole aim is to put him behind bars again. Javert tries to capture Jean Valjean but it results in the death of Fantine, a working-class mother whose child Valjean rescues from the evil innkeeper and his wife. He raises Cosette like his own and his life is transformed by love for the child. But Jean Valjeans life changes when Cosette falls for Marius and the French Revolution breaks out. Set in 19th century Paris, Les Misrables is arguably the best classic of French literature.
