Hernani Character Analysis

Extract

[...] Hernani is a true hero of the romantic drama: he is not solely responsible for what happens to him, his nobility, his greatness and his love make him an exceptional being who must fight to the death." Evolution of the character in the play The character of Hernani evolves throughout the play. We can first see him with his different costumes: at the beginning, he wears a mountain dweller's costume with a leather cuirass, then, in Act III, he disguises himself as a pilgrim before revealing his splendor. He loves to hide, whether it's through his clothes or his movements. [...]

[...] He inhabits the stage. Representative Passages The two most representative lines of the character can be those in Act III, scene IV. "Where am I going? I don't know. But I feel driven / By an impetuous breath, a senseless fate" (v. 995-996). There are many others that are cited, but these two lines highlight Hernani's heroism: he is a man of action, driven by his generosity, that is to say by his virtue and his sense of honor, to accomplish something great. [...]

[...] He is an ambivalent hero because everything depends on violent and bloody acts and not on moral rectitude. Without the protection of Don Ruiz, he would remain in that state, but thanks to the latter, he has time to reveal his true identity: his passage from the state of commoner to noble allows him to embrace his tragic destiny but also to claim a marriage with Doña Sol, who is herself a noble. He is no longer condemned to flight, but it is not for that reason that he will be able to live because, despite everything, he remains bound by the pact he made with Don Ruiz. [...]

[...] But Doña Sol is almost absent from Act IV and is only there on three scenes of the final act, the future separation with the hero is somehow announced. Victor Hugo makes the hero speak as much as the heroine, only designated as the hero's mistress. However, she has no monologue while Hernani can be alone on stage several times. In the theater, the more a character speaks, the more powerful they are, the omnipresence of Hernani shows his power. [...]

[...] His love for Doña Sol does not waver throughout the play; it is perhaps the only constant in him. b. Actional Changes. Hernani gradually gains importance in his role as a marginal: while at the beginning he is taken for a simple and poor exile by Don Carlos, he reveals himself to be the leader of the bandits. The conspirators will make him a major figure of the political rival in electing him as the future murderer of the king. [...]