Mérimée was an important figure in the Romantic movement of French literature in the 19th century. Like the other Romantics, he used picturesque and exotic settings (particularly Spain and Corsica) to create an atmosphere, and looked more often at the Middle Ages than to classical Greece or Rome for his inspiration. He also frequently used themes of fantasy and the supernatural in his stories, or, like Victor Hugo, used the Middle Ages as his setting. He used a careful selection of details, often noted during his travels, to create the setting. He often wrote about the rapport of force between is characters; man and woman, slave and master, father and son, and his stories often featured extreme passions, violence, cruelty and horror, and usually ended abruptly in a death or tragedy. He told his stories with a certain distance and ironic tone that was particularly his own.