The museum's aim is to show how Hugo's values of dignity, respect, fraternity, humanity, sharing and exchange are reflected in its work towards hosting and helping disabled visitors.
The presentation starts with a photograph by Auguste Vacquerie of Victor Hugo and his son Charles, circa 1855, in front of the Marine Terrace greenhouse in Jersey, where the Hugo family was exiled, as well as two fencing masks kept at Hauteville House.
The photograph and masks reflect both one of the rare leisure activities on the island of Jersey for the Hugo family and the link to a sport that was widely practiced at a time when political dueling was still commonplace. Part of this project highlights fencing duels that Victor Hugo evoked in his writings, notably in his plays. He often gave them a social or political backdrop. Victor Hugo's dueling swords act as a symbol of the poet's literary and political battles, showing them to be like duels.
Beggars and musketeers, drawings of capes and swords
In several of his drawings, Victor Hugo took an interest in musketeers and swordmen, This is shown with characters like that of Goulatromba, mentioned in Ruy Blas, who would become the protagonist of a number of his works.
Victor Hugo and duels: from fighting for art to fighting for ideals
The exhibition then turns to dueling and fencing in the work of Victor Hugo and his contemporaries.
The Romantics were as passionate about the 17th century as they were about the Middle Ages. Many authors chose this century, emblematic of the duel, as the setting of their plays. Traditionally, duels are not performed on stage, even if they play an important role in the plot.
Duel choreography is non-existent: Victor Hugo supervised the staging of his plays down to the last detail, but apparently not the dueling or fighting scenes. There are two duels in Marion de Lorme (Act I, Scene IV and Act II, Scene III), but the first takes place off-stage, and there's no record that Hugo was interested in staging the second. In Ruy Blas, the duel between Don César and Don Guritan also takes place off-stage.
In published editions, however, illustrators came closer to depicting the duel. Sets will evoke two emblematic plays: Marion de Lorme and Ruy Blas.
