Classic drama first performed and published in 1830. The play itself is in French, but the introduction is in English. According to Wikipedia: "Hernani is a drama by the French romantic author Victor Hugo. The play opened in Paris on February 25, 1830. Today, the drama is more remembered for the demonstrations which accompanied the premiere, and for being the inspiration of Verdi's opera Ernani, than it is for its own merits... Victor-Marie Hugo (26 February 1802 - 22 May 1885) was a French poet, playwright, novelist, essayist, visual artist, statesman, human rights activist and exponent of the Romantic movement in France. In France, Hugo's literary fame comes first from his poetry but also rests upon his novels and his dramatic achievements. Among many volumes of poetry, Les Contemplations and La Légende des siècles stand particularly high in critical esteem, and Hugo is sometimes identified as the greatest French poet. Outside France, his best-known works are the novels Les Misérables and Notre-Dame de Paris (known in English also as The Hunchback of Notre Dame). Though a committed conservative royalist when he was young, Hugo grew more liberal as the decades passed; he became a passionate supporter of republicanism, and his work touches upon most of the political and social issues and artistic trends of his time. He is buried in the Panthéon."
