Victor Marie Hugo was a French poet, novelist, and dramatist of the Romantic movement. He is considered one of the greatest and best known French writers.
'The Last Day of a Condemned Man' is a one of Hugo's best-known works.
The action takes place in 19th century and represents the diary of a man who has been sentenced to death by the guillotine and writes down his cogitations, feelings and fears while awaiting his execution. He describes his life in prison and his writing traces the change in psychology. He does not betray his name or what he has done to the reader, though he vaguely hints that he has killed someone. On the day he is to be executed he sees his three-year-old daughter for the last time, but she no longer recognizes him, and she tells him that her father is dead. The author's message is - what crime could be assimilated with the awaiting of execution?