Four Works for the Theatre Book

I can't read in French. A terrible pity, since my favorite book (Les Misérables) was written in French. And because I love that book so much, I've tried to read as much as possible written by M. Hugo. Not easy. Hernani in particular was a challenge, since it hasn't been translated much. But it was important to me to read it, because it had been so important both in Hugo's career in for Romanticism in general. Opening night sounds like it must have been very exciting, and fun if you were a Romantic.

All that said, how does the play itself stand today? Let me just say that I can see what it's seldom staged now. It's very dramatic, with lots of exclamations and emotional speeches. I'd say that it's very much of its time. For me, it was a fairly exciting read, but I think I can safely say that I'm probably in the minority on that one. Many others would see it as overwrought, and would find the plot too predictable. And maybe it is is a little high strung, and maybe the plot is a little predictable. All the same, I really enjoyed reading it, and don't doubt that I would have liked it even better in French. Alas.