Deliberative persuasive discourse in the oratory and narrative works of Victor Hugo

The texts published in the volume 'Politique' demonstrate Victor Hugo's familiarity with the three genres (deliberative, forensic, epideictic) which together form, since Aristotle, persuasive discourse. In his political speeches he tried among other things: to abolish the death penalty, to prevent revision of the French Constitution of 1851, to improve the living standards of the poor, to guarantee the liberty of the press and the theatre, to demand "revenge" against the Prussians, victorious in 1871, or to urge the offer of a general amnesty to the deported Communards. To answer the question: "Was Hugo's oratory persuasive?", this article studies his knowledge of classical rhetoric, and analyses some of the figures and arguments he favored in his political interventions.