The darkness and claustrophobia of the city: Victor Hugo and the myth of Paris

Abstract

Dark, mysterious, and dangerous: The representation of Paris in 19thcentury French literature contrasts sharply with the ideals and expectations of a society that dreamt of progress and modernity. Through his symbolism, Victor Hugo recaptures the dark side of Balzac's Paris, and turns the capital into a gigantic spider's web that symbolises the power of Fate upon individuals, and underlines the carceral oppression of the city. In this article, a reading is proposed of some of Hugo's major prose (Notre-Dame de Paris , Les Misérables) illustrating his claustrophobia: Paris, the capital of 'materiality', is represented metaphorically in Hugo's writings as a huge prison, and ultimately as a dreadful monster, swallowing and literally digesting its prey. This image of Paris connects Hugo's work to that of several other major 19th-century French writers, notably Balzac, Zola and-less obviously-Baudelaire.