Victor Hugo to Adele Foucher

The French Revolution was made poignantly memorable by the literary works of Victor Hugo (1802-1885). Such works as Les Miserables and The Hunchback of Notre Dame forever memorialized the plight of the unfortunate working class. Adele Foucher grew up with Victor Hugo and at the age of 17, Hugo fell madly in love with her.

Although both families were opposed to their union, the couple became secretly engaged, determined to marry.

My dearest,
When two souls, which have sought each other for,
however long in the throng, have finally found each other ...a union, fiery and pure as they themselves are... begins on earth and continues forever in heaven.

This union is love, true love, ... a religion, which deifies the loved one, whose life comes from devotion and passion, and for which the greatest sacrifices are the sweetest delights.

This is the love which you inspire in me... Your soul is made to love with the purity and passion of angels; but perhaps it can only love another angel, in which case I must tremble with apprehension.

Yours forever,
Victor Hugo (1821)