Hernani, by Victor Hugo

1091 Words3 Pages

Have you ever loved someone so much that you would be willing to die to be with them? No? Me neither, but that is just what Hernani did. During this time, the theatre was slowly changing from neo-classicalism to romanticism, which is one of the reasons why there were riots at certain plays. Gas lighting was also new to the theatre. Nineteenth century theatre had more of a change than previous theatres because there were new advancements in technology, changes to the theatre itself, and plays such as Hernani.
The 1800’s was a time of development in science. New and what seemed like crazy ideas were surfacing. These ideas were more easily accepted than in past years. There were new theories such as the Cell Theory by Mathias Schleiden and Theodor Schwann in 1838 (Farah 626) and the Atomic Theory by John Dalton (Farah 628).A little over a decade after the Cell Theory was proposed, Louis Pasteur discovered bacteria in 1850 (Farah 627).
During the nineteenth century, Charles Darwin wrote On the Origin of Species (Farah 627). For many years, this book has sparked controversy with a couple of religions. Nevertheless, Darwin’s theory of evolution is taught in many high school biology classes. Another advancement in science was the discovery of X-rays in 1895 by Wilhelm K. Roentgen (Farah 628). This development helped doctors look inside a person without having to make an incision.
There were also many inventions during this time. One of which is something most of us in the twenty-first century can’t live without, the telephone. It was invented in 1876 by Alexander Graham Bell (Farah 611). 69 years earlier, the first practical steamboat was designed by Robert Fulton (Farah 606). But there was more to the 1800’s than just science and inven...

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...s castle to find Hernani but forcibly takes Dona Sol when he leaves (Asher). Hernani and the Duke team up to get Dona Sol back and Hernani promises to repay his debt by killing himself whenever a certain horn blows (Asher). They rescue Dona Sol and Hernani reveals that he is of noble birth (Asher). Don Carlos, who was just crowned the holy emperor of Germany, marries Hernani and Dona Sol on the spot (Asher). That night, Hernani hears the horn and decides to poison himselh (Asher). Not being able to bear living without him, Dona Sol drinks half of the poison and they die together (Asher).
The changes in technology gave lighting to the theatres. The change in theatre brought around a new group of audiences. Its change from Neoclassicism to Romanticism paved the way for plays such as Hernani. It’s understandable that nineteenth century theatre has changed dramatically.

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