Hugo romanticism

Also, that a character was defined by their actions and therefore should not act out of character (i.e. a King or Queen would not behave in an undignified manner). The play should follow a hierarchy of appropriate characters for a drama (gods on top, slaves at the bottom). Next, only proper subject matter should be in the play. This meant there were to be nothing fantastical, no myths, and no actions of gods. Proper subject matter did not only refer to fantastical events, but to only focus on "important subjects'. The actions of a Prince in choosing a bride had consequences for the whole kingdom and were considered important, while the love life of a baker was mere sentimental twaddle of interest only to him. The rules of Classicism also strictly demanded that tragedy and comedy must be separate and never combined within one play. Above all else the Classicists believed that art had rules which must be followed, art is for the good of all, and art must uplift and depict life as it can be, not as it is. Evil must be punished and virtue must be rewarded. Hugo disagreed.
             In the preface to Cromwell, Hugo demanded a freedom from the restrictions imposed by the classical style. This preface was taken to heart as a call to arms for all the young struggling writers in Paris. The piece seemed to sum up the irresistible desire for liberty he and other "Romantics- held in their hearts and quills. He felt that true genius should not be fettered by rules and systems of creation, such as those found in Classicism. Hugo declared, "We are constructing no systems' here. God protect us from systems- (http://www.bartleby.com/39/40.html). He continues by saying that the "grotesque- and the "sublime-, the tragic and the comic, the human beast and the human soul "all exist at the same time; therefore, to separate comedy and tragedy on the stage, again another ardent belief of the Classicists, is not real life, it is not "drama- (Degen "Romanticism-).