Victor Hugo’s Forgotten Masterpiece

Hugo was a masterful storyteller with a keen insight into human nature, but he was also determined to tackle epic themes. In his three greatest works — The Hunchback of Notre-Dame (1831), Les Misérables (1862) and Toilers of the Sea (1866) — he addresses what he describes, from the Greek, as the triple ananke of humankind: the necessities of religion, society and nature. The Hunchback of Notre-Dame denounces the folly of dogmas. Les Misérables depicts the injustice of an oppressive state. Toilers of the Sea explores our eternal conflict with the natural world.