Victor Hugo, Ruy Blas

Matthew McMahan (Tufts University)

Ed. by Edward Forman, University of Bristol
The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.5.2.05: French Writing and Culture: The Nineteenth-Century , 1800-1900.
Vol. editors: Edward Forman (University of Bristol), Nigel Harkness (University of Newcastle upon Tyne), Tim Unwin (University of Bristol), David Williams (University of Sheffield), Jennifer Yee (University of Oxford)

Dates

First circulation or publication 1838

Places

France (Country of Origin)

Genres and Modes

Play

Resources

Victor Hugo’s Ruy Blas (1838) combines the high emotions and suspense of melodrama, the carefully plotted intrigue of the pièce bien faite (well-made play), and the philosophical inquiry of Romanticism. The play mixes comedy, romance, and political critique, all through the humble, low-class hero and would-be nobleman Ruy Blas. Punning with the sounds of the titular character’s name, Hugo combines the word roi for “king”, and bas for “low”, as well as las for “weary”, to indicate the conundrum facing Ruy Blas as an “earthworm in love with a star” (Ruy Blas, l. 798, Hugo, p. 1549). Receiving a lukewarm reception upon its première, the play is now one of the most oft-produced …

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3411 words

Citation: McMahan, Matthew. "Ruy Blas". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 05 July 2016 [https://staging.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=11221, accessed 26 April 2024.]

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