#cartouche's brother was not executed for being the brother of cartouche | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

vivelareine · 1 year ago

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I have rambled about this on Twitter but reading Victor Hugo's poem "Capet, éveille-toi!" (usually printed in English as "King Louis XVIII: An Ode") which was written and published in 1822, and then reading The Bishop in the Presence of an Unknown Light chapter ["I will weep with you over the children of kings, provided that you will weep with me over the children of the people"] from Les Miserables, written decades later, is fascinating in a lot of respects.

But especially in terms of analyzing Hugo's personal political and moralistic development. The chapter reads in some ways as a rebuke against himself, with the Bishop standing in for his decades-older self.

#victor hugo #french history #les miserables #also interesting in that it's a milder example of 19th century reframing of ancien regime events #cartouche's brother was not executed for being the brother of cartouche #he was part of the infamous gang and sentenced to hard labor #but died during a punishment that likely caused cerebral hypoxia #which is still horrific but the way Hugo contrasts it against Louis Charles is unusual. Rather than Hugo bringing up that Louison had been #groomed by his 12+ older elder brother and how the lack of opportunity and severe punishments led to this teenage boy being brutally killed #Hugo also includes the claim in Les Mis that Louis XV had countless children kidnapped and killed so he could bathe in their blood to cure #leprosy #so this is definitely a milder thing

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