COMPOSITION
V. Hugo’s FriendSHIP & First Love
She was brunette with large, bright, soft eyes, with a straight, littlenose and a beautifully formed mouth. As a young 16-year-old lady, she wassweet and pretty. She was Adele Foucher, the source of young Victor Hugo’sidolatry, and his first love. He was a writer growing in talent and fame,growing before her beauty and shyness. Their friendship can be described asthe ideal romantic tragedy.
Victor had known Adele when they were children. She was a part ofbourgeoisie in Paris and the daughter of the pro-French Marques deMontehermosa. Their two families, the Hugos and the Fouchers, had beenintimate friends before their birth. Their children grew up together.
Parental resistance created the ideal tragic situation for the two lovers.Adele’s father, Pierre Foucher was Hugo friend. Although Mr.Foucher wassecretly excited about Victor’s rising literary success. But Adele waswarned that young Victor was a boaster, that he was inconstant and lazy. Inspite of that, they sent letters into each other and began a long and riskyjourney of emotional correspondence, which in Hugo’s mind, undoubtedlywould end in marriage. So sure was he, that he boldly signed his firstletter to her “your husband”. After 2 years and 200 love letters exchangedbetween the lovers, Victor and Adele got married.
Hugo loved Adele truly and deeply, and perhaps for a time, she believed sheloved him as much. In the early years of their friendship, when her motherwas out, Adele would make her escape from the house, run swiftlydownstairs, and glide along a shady path to meet Victor, who was expectingher, “under the chestnut trees”. Such relationship between Hugo and Adelemade them emotionally irresistible. But they were too young to know the
true meaning of love, they didn’t understand its needs. It was a childishlove, without thought to its responsibilities or its sacrifice. Even whenthey made the supreme confession, they were mere children playing the gameof love. On the day of April 26, 1819 Victor (19 year old boy) and Adele(16 year old lady) declared their love.Adele was young and naive, and felt Victor had placed her too high on hispedestal. And perhaps she was right. He loved her with all the passion oftwo people have never fallen in love, and assured her that “It is our soulswhich love each other, not our bodies”. For ten years, that is, practicallythe whole of their marriage, Madame Adele Hugo had behaved in such a mannerand it was no surprise when the day of betrayal came.
Mr. Charles Saint Beuve worked closely with Hugo and Hugo considered him afriend. Hugo helped the young Saint Beuve explore the realms of poetry.Meanwhile, Saint Beuve had been secretly meeting Adele in churches andrented rooms. When Hugo found out that Adele was unfaithful, his pain wasendless.
The life with Adele passed through Hugo’s eyes, he remembered all thewonderful days spent together. Hugo was forced to seek happiness inJuliette Drouet’s arms; it was the easiest way to forget his first truelove – Adele.