Hernani (drama)
Hernani (Full title: Hernani, ou l'Honneur Castillan) is a drama by the great French romantic author Victor Hugo.
The play opened in Paris on February 25, 1830. Today, the drama is more remembered for the demonstrations which accompanied the premiere, and for being the inspiration of Verdi's opera Ernani, than it is for its own merits.
Plot
The plot is extremely convoluted. Set in a fictitious version of the Spanish court of 1519, it is based on courtly romance and intrigues.
Act I
- In the very first scenes Hugo introduces Doña Sol, a young noblewoman of the court of the fictional Don Carlos, King of Spain. The King has come to her room to seduce her.
- They are interrupted by the arrival of Doña Sol's true love, the bandit Hernani, and the two argue over her and are about to duel.
- At this point, her Uncle (and fiancé) Don Ruy Gomez de Silva enters, and demands to know why both other men are in Doña Sol's private chambers.
- Don Carlos asserts that he had come hoping to meet Ruy Gomez to discuss affairs of state, and Hernani does not reveal the King's true intent.
- In return for the bandit's discretion, Don Carlos claims to Don Ruy that Hernani is a member of his entourage. Thus, each has given the other an honorable excuse for their presence in the quarters of Doña Sol.
So: three men; two noble and one a mysterious bandit, all in love with the same woman. What follows in the ensuing chaos of action prompted the biographer of Hugo, J.P. Houston, to write "... and a résumé [plot synopsis] will necessarily fail, as in the case of Notre-Dame de Paris, to suggest anything like the involution of its details" (Houston 1974:53).
Act II
- In Act II, Don Carlos learns of a midnight rendezvous between Doña Sol and Hernani. He decides to interrupt it in the hope of abducting the object of his lust.
- Hernani becomes aware of the plot and has his men surround the King's guards.
For the first time, the King (a bit thick) becomes aware of Hernani's true identity as a bandit, rather than a nobleman, and refuses a duel. Hernani, although he could charge the King with a crime, allows him to go free.
Act III
- The action in Act III takes place at the wedding of Doña Sol to Ruy Gomez.
- Hernani arrives in disguise, and confronts her for agreeing, however reluctantly, to marry.
- He admits his criminal past to Ruy Gomez, and the fact that he is being pursued by the King.
- On the King's arrival, Ruy Gomez hides Hernani and refuses to surrender him, citing laws of hospitality, which, he asserts, protect his guests, even from the King.
- While Ruy Gomez and Don Carlos argue, Doña Sol, alone with Hernani, reveals that she plans to commit suicide before her marriage can be consummated.
- The King, frustrated by Ruy Gomez' resistance, drops the pursuit of Hernani, and instead abducts Doña Sol.
This is only 3/5 of the play!! It is a 5 act play.
BRIEF Synopsis of acts 4-5
In the end, Ruy receives Doña Sol back from the king, and gives her to Hernani. The two are married, but as they enjoy their wedding feast, Hernani hears the distant call of the horn and kills himself to retain his honour...
Context and Themes
Trivia
Referenced in Edgar Allan Poe's short story, "The Masque of the Red Death".
References
- Easton, Malcolm. Artists and Writers in Paris: The Bohemian Idea, 1803-1867. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1964
- Houston, John Porter. Victor Hugo. New York: Twayne Publishers. 1974
- Houston, John Porter (1974). Victor Hugo, Revised Edition. New York: Twayne Publishers. 1988
- Miller, Richard. Bohemia; the Protoculture Then and Now. Chicago: Nelson-Hall, 1977.
- Porter, Laurence M.. Victor Hugo. Ed. David O'Connell. New York: Twayne Publishers, 1999.