Summary
Summary of William Shakespeare
Key ideas
Key idea 1
Shakespeare becomes an argument for freedom
Victor Hugo’s William Shakespeare begins with one poet writing about another, but its subject reaches beyond the plays. What started as a preface to his son François-Victor’s French translation became a book about genius, art, history and freedom.
Hugo places Shakespeare among the greatest minds and defends art that is bold, uneven and excessive. His tribute also asks what artists owe to ordinary people. Shakespeare becomes the figure through whom Hugo explores his own deepest beliefs about creation and public life.
Key idea 2
Exile shapes Hugo’s tribute
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Key idea 3
Genius does not become obsolete
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Key idea 4
Shakespeare makes room for human contradictions
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Key idea 5
Genius cannot be trimmed into neatness
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Key idea 6
Art owes something to ordinary people
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Key idea 7
The tribute also reveals Hugo
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Key idea 8
Boldness matters more than neatness
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The rest of the summary, written and spoken, and the whole book: free to start.
Read the rest freeWho it’s for
For readers who love Shakespeare, Romantic literature or big ideas about art, and who enjoy a passionate, rhetorical voice.
What this book is
William Shakespeare is a long essay by Victor Hugo, published in 1864. Hugo wrote it while living in exile on the Channel island of Guernsey, after he left France under Napoleon III. It began as a preface to a French translation of Shakespeare's plays made by his son, François-Victor Hugo. The preface grew far beyond its purpose and became a book about genius, art, history and freedom.
If you pick it up, you will not find a neat biography or a scene-by-scene study of the plays. You will find a poet writing about another poet, and using him to argue for his own beliefs. Hugo places Shakespeare beside a small company of the greatest minds in history. He defends bold, uneven, excessive art against the demand for tidy rules. And he asks what art owes to ordinary people. Let us begin with how the book came to be written, because the circumstances shape every page.
In this summary
- 1A preface that grew into a bookFree
- 2Genius stands apart from progress
- 3Shakespeare holds the whole of human nature
- 4The faults of genius belong to its greatness
- 5Art has a duty to the people
- 6A tribute that tells us about Hugo too
Key point 1 of 6
A preface that grew into a book
Hugo left France after Napoleon III seized power in 1851. He spent years first on Jersey and then on Guernsey, where he lived at Hauteville House above the sea. Exile gave him time, anger and a wide view of the water, and all three leave their mark on this book. His son François-Victor was working there on a full French translation of Shakespeare, and Hugo agreed to write the preface.
The preface did not stay short. Hugo kept writing until it became a book in its own right, published in 1864 around the time of the three hundredth anniversary of Shakespeare's birth. It opens partly with the life of the English poet and partly with Hugo's own life, and the two are never quite separate. Hugo sees an exile in his subject, a man shaped by hard times and a harsh age.
The book is divided into sections that move from the man to the mind, from the mind to the work, and from the work to its effect on the world. Along the way Hugo wanders freely. He praises other writers, scolds critics, attacks tyrants and speaks of progress. The structure is less an argument built brick by brick than a wave that rises, falls and rises again.
This matters for how you read it. Hugo is not trying to teach you facts about Shakespeare's life, which were thin even then. He is trying to make you feel what genius is, and why it should matter to a free people. The book is a tribute, but it is also a manifesto. Keep both purposes in mind and its swerves make more sense.
That’s 1 of 6 key points.
The rest of the summary, written and spoken, and the whole book: free to start.
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Check yourself
How does Hugo distinguish great art from scientific progress?
Right. “Nobody has improved on Homer, and nobody has replaced Shakespeare.”Not quite. “Nobody has improved on Homer, and nobody has replaced Shakespeare.”
Why does Hugo defend Shakespeare’s excesses and rough edges?
Right. “His argument is that you cannot cut away the faults of a genius and keep the rest.”Not quite. “His argument is that you cannot cut away the faults of a genius and keep the rest.”
What responsibility does Hugo give to art?
Right. “Hugo believes that art should serve human progress and that the poet has a mission toward the crowd.”Not quite. “Hugo believes that art should serve human progress and that the poet has a mission toward the crowd.”
Questions about William Shakespeare
What is William Shakespeare by Victor Hugo about?
It is an essay on genius and art. Hugo praises Shakespeare as one of the supreme minds in history, defends his boldness against strict rules, and argues that art should serve progress and the people.
Why did Victor Hugo write about Shakespeare?
He first wrote it as a preface to his son François-Victor's French translation of Shakespeare's plays. It grew into a full book, published in 1864 while Hugo was in exile on Guernsey.
Is it a biography of Shakespeare?
No. It touches on the poet's life, but it is mainly a passionate essay on genius, the plays and the role of art. It tells you as much about Hugo's beliefs as about Shakespeare.
Is Hugo's William Shakespeare hard to read?
It is not technical, and the style is rhetorical, with lists, big images and sudden turns.
What is the main message of the book?
Hugo's main message is that true genius cannot be ranked or improved upon, that its faults belong to its strength, and that great art should lift and free ordinary people.
