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Wisdom

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Paris au XIX eme siècle
Contexte politique :

Victor Hugo (en tant qu'auteur) a vu se succéder plusieurs régimes politiques en France:1815-1824 : Louis XVIII1824-1830 : Charles X1830-1848 : Louis Philippe1848-1852 : Louis Napoléon Bonaparte1852-1870 : Napoléon IIIAinsi, l’écriture du Dernier jour d’un condamné (en 1829) a lieu durant le règne de Charles X. A cette date, la peine de mort à la guillotine est appliquée en France (elle ne sera abolie qu’en 1981), chose contre laquelle Victor Hugo va se révolter par le biais de deux œuvres principalement : le Dernier jour d’un condamné (qu’il décide d’écrire après avoir assisté à plusieurs exécutions et surtout au lendemain de son passage devant l’Hôtel de Ville où il voit le bourreau graisser la guillotine pour une exécution proche) et Claude Gueux publié en 1834. Attention, le fait que Victor Hugo se révolte contre la peine de mort ne veut pas automatiquement dire qu’il est un opposant au pouvoir à savoir Charles X. Ce n’est qu’à partir de 1851 que Victor Hugo s’oppose à Louis Napoléon Bonaparte, ce qui conduira l’écrivain à vivre en exil jusqu’en 1870.

Avec environ 1 million d'habitants au milieu du siècle, mais la structure de la ville est restée cependant moyenâgeuse et par conséquence surpeuplée, insalubre et en proie aux épidémies. C'est sous le second Empire et sous l'impulsion de Napoléon III, que seront réalisés les grands travaux qui feront rentrer Paris dans une ère de modernité.

Avec l'avènement du Second Empire, Paris se transforme radicalement ; d'une ville à la structure médiévale et aux constructions anciennes et insalubres, quasiment dépourvue de grands axes de circulation, elle devient en moins de vingt ans une ville moderne.

Napoléon III a des idées précises sur l'urbanisme, le logement, l'aménagement urbain, mûries par de longues années d'exil à Londres. S'entourant d'hommes d'action, il engage dans Paris de gigantesques travaux de modernisation dont la rapidité est surprenante. Cette transformation est permise par la richesse des classes dirigeantes et les puissances économiques en pleine expansion.

Contexte culturel

Le dernier quart du XIXème siècle voit la France s'équiper en industries lourdes, en moyens de communication (chemin de fer) et continue de construire des écoles, collèges et lycées à la suite de la promulgation des lois sur l'enseignement public.
De nombreux monuments historiques se restaurent et le pays prend conscience que son patrimoine monumental mais aussi artistique, ethnographique et historique doit être pris en compte. De nombreux musées se construisent ou s'aménagent en province et l'Etat leur envoie à titre de dépôt les peintures, sculptures et objets d'art acquis dans les Salons et Expositions Nationales. Le développement de la musique est également très important : création d'harmonies, fanfares, orphéons qui se produisent dans les théâtres et jardins publics.

Contexte social
Les changements de société sont extrêmement importants tout aux longs du siècle avec par exemple l'instruction publique qui finit par devenir générale et qui, accompagnée par de remarquables progrès scientifiques et techniques, participe à l'évolution des mentalités. L'aristocratie et l'Église perdent peu à peu leurs positions de force et une société laïque s'installe à la fin du siècle, marquée aussi par le poids croissant de la bourgeoisie et de la classe ouvrière qui s'affrontent. La République s'impose finalement à tous et vote des lois sociales tout en organisant les conquêtes coloniales et en préparant la revanche contre l'Allemagne. Les auteurs rendent compte de ces transformations dans leurs œuvres et pour une part d'entre eux s'engagent dans les camps politiques, progressistes (comme Lamartine, Hugo ou Zola) ou parfois réactionnaires comme Maurice Barrès, ou Léon Daudet (Le Stupide XIXe siècle)

AVANT LE SECOND EMPIRE (je considère que ce qui est en rouge ne doit pas etre fait mais a toi de voir )
• le centre de Paris est très congestionné, il est pauvre et dangereux: Paris est une vile malade
• les bâtiments sont trop hauts par rapport à la largeur des rues : pas de soleil et pas de lumière; d'où des immeubles humides et insalubres
• de nombreux "bidonvilles" parsèment Paris, des baraques et des masures, des ruelles recouvertes de boue et de fumier
• l'île de la Cité est particulièrement insalubre. Napoléon 1er voulait déjà sa destruction : "ce n'est qu'une vaste ruine, tout au plus bonne à loger les rats de l'ancienne Lutèce"
• la ville est malsaine.
• pas d'égouts et pas d'eau courante. Le manque d'eau est un problème important de Paris.
• une ville sans arbres, il n'y a pratiquement pas d'arbres le long des voies et de jardins ou squares publics pour accueillir les parisiens
• la circulation est difficile. Le réseau de circulation est peu adapté à l'augmentation de l'activité économique et pas du tout au trafic généré par les nouvelles gares
• la population parisienne est en forte croissance. La révolution industrielle exige une main d'œuvre puisée dans un exode rural massif. De 1845 à 1848, la population parisienne passe de 600.000 à 950.000 habitants.

DURANT LE SECOND EMPIRE

Il développe le réseau des égouts, fait disparaître de nombreux quartiers insalubres et donne à Paris de larges avenues palliant les importants problèmes de circulation ainsi que de somptueux monuments tels que l'Opéra Garnier, le Louvre dans son aspect actuel et enfin de nombreux parcs et jardins. Haussmann coupe dans le vieux Paris et fait disparaître de nombreux quartiers insalubres, l'île de la Cité est quasiment vidée de ses habitants et laisse la place à de vastes bâtiments administratifs. Un nouveau style architectural apparaît avec les nouveaux immeubles en pierre de taille au décor sculpté qui seront qualifiés plus tard d'« haussmanniens » dont l'avenue de l'Opéra est une des plus caractéristiques. Sur les terrains libérés par l'expropriation, les prix montent en flèche et la population ouvrière est chassée des nouveaux quartiers en construction.
Le réseau d'égouts passe de 150 à 500 kilomètres. Alphand crée de vastes parcs sur des terrains libérés, les bois de Boulogne et de Vincennes sont aménagés. Le Paris d'aujourd'hui est donc avant tout celui de Napoléon III et d'Haussmann.

Victor Hugo

Introduction
Victor Hugo est un poète, dramaturge et prosateur romantique considéré comme l'un des plus importants écrivains de langue française. Il est aussi une personnalité politique et un intellectuel engagé qui a compté dans l'Histoire du XIXe siècle. h

Enfance :
Victor Marie Hugo est né le 26 février 1802 à Besançon, fils d’un général d’Empire, Léopold Hugo, et d’une mère royaliste et catholique, Sophie Trébuchet. Il est le benjamin d’une famille qui compte déjà deux fils, Abel et Eugène. y En raison de la carrière paternelle, la famille Hugo est amenée à beaucoup se déplacer, mais en 1803, Sophie décide de s’installer à Paris avec ses trois fils. y

Cette période va être pour lui la découverte des livres et de la lecture. Sa mère, femme cultivée inculque à ses enfants l’ouverture intellectuelle, le goût des lettres. Victor dira de cette période :« j’ai passé mon enfance à plat ventre sur les livres ! » C’est dans ce petit paradis que Victor Hugo rencontre aussi Adèle Foucher, sa voisine. Il a 8 ans, ils sont amoureux, ils se marieront en 1822 ! Ils voyagent entre Paris, l’Espagne et l’Italie où le père réside. Les époux finiront par divorcer en 1818. h

en France, Victor a 14 ans, il écrit dans son journal la phrase célèbre :« Je veux être Chateaubriand ou rien ».
Dès 15 ans, il participe à des concours de poésie organisés par l’Académie française. Il suivra ses études dans le célèbre lycée Louis Le Grand, qui compte Molière parmi ses anciens élèves. y

Une dote en récompense
En 1819, les trois frères décident de créer une revue appelée Le Conservateur littéraire, en l’honneur de Chateaubriand, dont le journal s’appelait «Le Conservateur».
Odes et poésies diverses paraissent en 1821 et lui valent de percevoir une dote royale, ce qui lui permettra d'épouser Adèle, son amour d’enfance.
La carrière de Victor Hugo commence à décoller entre littérature, poésie, journalisme et politique. h

Littérature et politique yasmine
Enfant précoce, qui obtient de nombreux prix littéraires dès son adolescence, Victor Hugo est surtout connu pour ses romans, ses œuvres théâtrales et ses poèmes. Toutefois la carrière de Victor Hugo ne se limite pas à la littérature.
Il était en effet très impliqué politiquement, et fut élu député conservateur en 1848. Pourtant, il rompt très vite avec ses anciens amis politiques dont il réprouve les idées, et s'exile volontairement après le coup d'Etat du 2 décembre 1851. C'est d'ailleurs pendant ces années loin de la France que Hugo écrivit de nombreux recueils de poésie, dont les Contemplations, en souvenir de sa fille décédée Léopoldine.
Victor Hugo ne rejoindra la France qu'en 1870, soit 20 ans après son départ. Il restera jusqu'à sa mort une figure reconnue de la littérature et de la République.
L'auteur décéda le 22 mai 1885, et fut enterré au Panthéon .

Victor Hugo était par ailleurs très engagé, notamment contre la peine de mort, l'esclavage et le travail des enfants. Ses idées se retrouvent dans ses œuvres, surtout dans Le dernier jour d'un condamné, et les Misérables avec le personnage de Jean Valjean.

Les talents de dessinateurs de Victor Hugo sont moins connus, et pourtant bien réels. Il illustrait d'ailleurs très souvent lui-même ses écrits.
De nombreuses expostions internationales permettent aujourd'hui de découvrir les dessins de l'auteur.

Combat contre la peine de mort : hanane
« Que vous l’appeliez république ou que vous l’appeliez monarchie, le peuple souffre, ceci est un fait. Le peuple a faim ; le peuple a froid. La misère le pousse au crime ou au vice, selon le sexe. Ayez pitié du peuple, à qui le bagne prend ses fils, et le lupanar ses filles. Vous avez trop de forçats, vous avez trop de prostituées. »

Le premier de tous les combats de Victor Hugo le plus long, le plus constant, est sans doute celui qu'il mène contre la peine de mort.
Dès l'enfance, il est fortement impressionné par la vision d'un condamné conduit à l'échafaud, sur une place de Burgos, puis, à l'adolescence, par les préparatifs du bourreau dressant la guillotine en place de Grève. Hanté par ce "meurtre judiciaire", il va tenter toute sa vie d'infléchir l'opinion en décrivant l'horreur de l'exécution, sa barbarie, en démontrant l'injustice et l'inefficacité du châtiment.
Utilisant tour à tour sa notoriété d'écrivain et son statut d'homme politique, il met son éloquence au service de cette cause, à travers romans, poèmes, témoignages devant les tribunaux, plaidoiries, discours et votes à la Chambre des pairs, à l'Assemblée puis au Sénat, articles dans la presse européenne et lettres d'intervention en faveur de condamnés.

Le Dernier Jour d’un condamné
Mémo

Nom de l’œuvre :
Nom de l’auteur :
Date de naissance :
Date de mort :
Date de parution :

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