Hernani

Hernani is a 1830 drama set in a Spanish court in 1519. The plot begins with the introduction of a love triangle between Don Carlos, the king of Spain, Dona Sol, a young noblewoman and Don Ruy Gomex de Silva, Dona Sol's uncle and fiance. The plot thickens with the introduction of Hernani, a bandit who is Dona Sol's true love. After a series of underhanded scenarios by the male characters to win over Dona Sol, the play ends with Hernani and Dona Sol drinking poison and dying together. Although the play was successful and later inspired the opera Emani by Giuseppe Verdi, Hernani was remembered more for the occurrences on its opening night than any plot twists or characters. A few years before Hernani's debut, Hugo wrote a preface to his Cromwell, a drama that was never performed on stage due to its excessive length. In the preface, Hugo made a call to arms for young artists and writers of France to work outside of the Classicist boundaries being enforced at the time. This preface, paired with the earlier censorship of another of Hugo's plays, called for the demonstrations that would be remembered more than the play itself. On opening night, a group of young artists and writers, now called the "Romantic Army," rioted in the theatre, causing damage and being in such numbers they could not be stopped. Hernani ran for 100 performances, with each one accompanied by a demonstration.