Ruy Blas

“Ruy Blas” is a romantic drama by Victor Hugo in five acts, written in alexandrine verse. The work was created in August 1838 and was published a few months after it was completed.

Which is more valuable—high rank or true nobility? Can an ordinary person govern a country more wisely than noble statesmen? And can love justify deception? In this famous play, Hugo invites the reader to seek the answers themselves. The main character is a servant who, for a brief time, finds himself in power and becomes one of the best ministers of Spain because he thinks not of personal gain, but of the good of the state and its people. However, his success rests on a substitution of identities: he is forced to hide under someone else’s name and live not his own life. And when the truth comes to light, the world he has created falls apart.