Hernani

Verse drama by Victor Hugo set in 16th-c. Spain. The plot hinges on the conflict between honour and passion that emerges from the rivalry for the noble Doña Sol between an outlawed noble (Hernani), the king of Spain, and a grandee representing the values of old Spain. Written to reflect the anti-classical principles of the Preface to Cromwell, the play became a cause célèbre that established Hugo as the leading Romantic dramatist when it was presented at the Comédie-Française on 25 February 1830. In his Histoire du romantisme Gautier describes the fighting that broke out at the opening line between Hugo's followers and defenders of classicism.

[Suzanne Nash]