Sartre's second century
Sartre's second century
Sartre's second century
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124 Chapter Nine<br />
one long-term mistress, and countless sexual encounters that amazingly<br />
escalated in number the older he got. He became an inspiration to Dickens,<br />
Tolstoy, Van Gogh and Tennyson, to name but a handful, and some two<br />
million people descended upon Paris for his funeral in 1885, itself a State<br />
event attended by dignitaries and drunks alike. Death did little to slow<br />
down Hugo's ascent to superstardom as the "Elvis or Madonna" of his<br />
day. 3 His enduring universal appeal is perhaps best indicated by the<br />
unprecedented popularity of the stage version of Les Miserables, which<br />
became the first Western musical to be granted performance in communist<br />
China in June 2002.<br />
Such impressive credentials are not unfamiliar to Sartre. From 1945<br />
onwards, he graced the pages of Vogue, Time, even Playboy, becoming so<br />
internationally recognised that Charles de Gaulle famously refused to<br />
place him under arrest. Revealing the indeterminate and Godless nature of<br />
existence, Sartrean Existentialism articulated not only the despair of an<br />
entire generation forced to live in the age of the atomic bomb, but also its<br />
hope that human creativity could be used more positively to remake a<br />
better world. Criss-crossing the world, he met with Castro, drank with<br />
Cocteau, and dined with Chaplin, refusing to conform to any social status<br />
quo. Long before the summer of love sizzled in 1967, he made no secret of<br />
his virtual open marriage with Simone de Beauvoir, nor of his affairs. 4 At<br />
least 50,000 people followed his coffin in 1980, with the Left Bank today<br />
remaining the breeding ground for aspiring intellectuals. His willingness to<br />
philosophise every corner of modern living, from politics to jazz, has since<br />
helped thinkers broaden both their subject matter and their audience,<br />
"opening-out" rather than "dumbing-down".<br />
Faced with such immense cultural standing, it is hardly surprising that<br />
references thus far to Hugo within Sartre studies have been more anecdotal<br />
than analytical. The brightness of their respective stars seems to blind the<br />
critical eye and prevent scholars from looking any closer. These giants are<br />
frequently linked only by their place in history and their will to speak out,<br />
without questioning whether their thinking or writing could be connected<br />
in a more substantial way. What has arguably hindered any attempt to<br />
pursue this matter is the unease and even resentment that many writers and<br />
academics have displayed towards Hugo since his death. Andre Gide's<br />
notorious "Helas!" ("Alas!"), when confirming Hugo as his choice of the<br />
greatest French poet of the nineteenth <strong>century</strong>, 5 reflects a discomfort<br />
3<br />
Grossman, "From Classic to Pop Icon".<br />
4<br />
Both <strong>Sartre's</strong> and Hugo's galanterie is notorious: see Rowley, Tete-a-Tete, and<br />
Decker, Hugo.<br />
5<br />
Replying to a survey in L'Ermitage, February 1902,109.