1822

ODES AND VARIOUS POEMS. Early poetry.

1823

HAN OF ICELAND. Historical romance. Hugo is just warming up.

1826

BUG-JARGAL. A forgotten novel about a slave revolt in Santo Domingo. Hugo wrote the first edition when he was 16 years old.

ODES AND BALLADS. More poetry.

1827

CROMWELL. This verse play is too lengthy to stage. Its preface, however, makes Hugo famous. In it, he argues for a romantic rebirth of drama.

1829

MARION de LORME. Outraged censors ban this shocking drama. The lead character is a loose woman. The role of King Louis XIII is deemed crude and offensive.

THE LAST DAY OF A CONDEMNED MAN. A novel protesting the death penalty. Hugo's first "mature" novel.

ORIENTAL POEMS. Echoes the era's popular romantic themes.

1830

HERNANI. The literary establishment is scandalized by this play's unabashed romanticism. The opening night audience splits between ardent fans and violent detractors. Fistfights break out. But when the dust settles, Hugo's romantic ideas dominate French theater.

1831

THE HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME. The art of the novel is never the same after this bold, groundbreaking effort. The book results in the restoration of the cathedral of Notre Dame de Paris.

AUTUMN LEAVES. Intimate poetry.

1832

THE KING TAKES HIS AMUSEMENT. A play about womanizing King Francis I and his noble jester. Banned by the authorities. Guiseppe Verdi uses the plot for his opera, RIGOLETTO.

1833

LUCRECE BORGIA and MARIA TUDOR. Hugo writes these two dramas for the actress Juliette Drouet.

1834

LITERATURE AND PHILOSOPHY MINGLED. Essays.

CLAUDE GUEUX. Another novel denouncing the death penalty.

1835

SONGS AT DAYBREAK. Political poetry. Increasingly, Hugo involves himself in partisan disputes.

ANGELO. A drama of passion and revenge in the sixteenth century.

1837

INNER VOICES. Vivid verse.

1838

RUY BLAS. A play about a princess loved by a poor poet. A barely-veiled cry for political reform.

1840

SUNBEAMS AND SHADOWS. Ambitious poetry on religion, social problems, politics and philosophy.

1842

THE RHINE. A travel book.

1843

THE BURGRAVES. A melodrama set in medieval Germany. It flops big time.

1848

THE EVENT. A newspaper begun by Hugo to advance his political views. Within three years, he is forced into exile.

1852

NAPOLEON THE LITTLE. Satirical comparison between Napoleon III (Hugo's political nemesis) and Napoleon I.

1853

PUNISHMENTS. Political satire in poetic form. Here, Hugo completely abandons classical patterns and discovers a freer, fully-formed poetic voice.

1856

CONTEMPLATIONS. Poignant poetry inspired by the death of Hugo's daughter Leopoldine.

1859

THE LEGEND OF THE CENTURIES. In verse, Hugo develops a complex vision of a universe shaped by man's imperfection. He will wrestle with this theme throughout the rest of his life.

1862

LES MISERABLES. A smashing international success. A huge novel, plotted like a detective story, with unforgettable depictions of life in Paris. Ultimately, it details man's search for true justice.

1864

WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE. A celebration of poetic imagination and human genius.

1865

SONGS OF LANE AND WOOD. Light, lyric, pastoral poetry.

1866

TOILERS OF THE SEA. A novel dedicated to the sailors of Guernsey, the island where Hugo endures much of his nineteen-year exile from France.

1869

THE LAUGHING MAN. An anti-feudalism novel set in 17th-century England. The hero's deformed face is twisted into a permanent smile.

1872

THE TERRIBLE YEAR. An account of the siege of Paris and the rise of the Commune during the Franco-Prussian War of 1870.

1873

"1793." A novel on the French Revolution.

1875

BEFORE EXILE and DURING EXILE. Collections of Hugo's political speeches and essays.

1876

SINCE EXILE. More political material.

1877

THE ART OF BEING A GRANDFATHER. Light verse inspired by grandchildren Georges and Jeanne.

THE LEGEND OF THE CENTURIES, SECOND SERIES. More phantasmagoric poetry exploring the secrets of creation.

STORY OF A CRIME. Written in exile, this recounts the coup that put Napoleon III on the throne of France.

1878

Victor Hugo suffers a stroke. Although no longer writing, he continues publishing previously written manuscripts.

1879

THE SUPREME PITY. A long poem arguing that a criminal deserves pity because his first victim is himself.

1880

THE ASS. A donkey narrates this poem about human thought.

RELIGION AND RELIGIONS. A poetic attack on materialism and established sects.

1881

THE FOUR WINDS OF THE SPIRIT. Dramatic, epic, lyric and satiric poetry.

1882

TORQUEMADA. A scathing play about Spain's inquisitor general.

1883

THE LEGEND OF THE CENTURIES. Once again, Hugo uses verse to muse on metaphysics and mankind.

1885

Victor Hugo dies. An enormous backlog of work remains, to be published posthumously.

1886

THE END OF SATAN. An epic poem of heaven and earth, light and shadow.

FREE PLAYS. Dramatic work from 1854 onward.

1888

THE WHOLE LYRE, part one. More poetry.

1891

GOD. Another theological poem. Hugo summarizes his own religion in one word -- Love.

1893

THE WHOLE LYRE, part two. Even more poetry.

1898

THE FATAL YEARS. Poetical politics.

1902

LAST GLEANINGS. Bits and pieces of poetry stitched together by Hugo's literary executor.

1942

OCEAN and HEAP OF STONES. Fragments collected from all stages of Hugo's career.

I got most of this list from a Disney website that I found many months ago, but I'm pretty sure that it's disabled now.


Comments? Questions? Want to add something? Mail me at:

gaworth@nmsu.edu