“The Hunchback of Notre-Dame”

(March 16, 1831)

Submitted to: Mr. Arjay Morete

Submitted by: Francine V. Odiamar

Vivienne Glendell B. Paule

October 19, 2019

Victor Marie Hugo (French: [viktɔʁ maʁi yɡo] (
listen); 26 February 1802 – 22 May 1885) was a
French poet, novelist, and dramatist of the Romantic
movement. Hugo is considered to be one of the
greatest and best-known French writers. Outside
France, his most famous works are the novels Les
Misérables, 1862, and The Hunchback of Notre-
Dame (French: Notre-Dame de Paris), 1831. In
France, Hugo is known primarily for his poetry
collections, such as Les Contemplations (The
Contemplations) and La Légende des siècles (The
Legend of the Ages).

Hugo was at the forefront of the Romantic literary movement with his
play Cromwell and drama Hernani. Many of his works have inspired music, both during
his lifetime and after his death, including the musicals Les Misérables and Notre-Dame
de Paris. He produced more than 4,000 drawings in his lifetime, and campaigned for
social causes such as the abolition of capital punishment.

Though a committed royalist when he was young, Hugo's views changed as the
decades passed, and he became a passionate supporter of republicanism; his work
touches upon most of the political and social issues and the artistic trends of his time.
He is buried in the Panthéon in Paris. His legacy has been honoured in many ways,
including his portrait being placed on French currency.

Hugo published his first novel the year following his marriage (Han d'Islande,
1823), and his second three years later (Bug-Jargal, 1826). Between 1829 and 1840, he
published five more volumes of poetry (Les Orientales, 1829; Les Feuilles d'automne,
1831; Les Chants du crépuscule, 1835; Les Voix intérieures, 1837; and Les Rayons et
les Ombres, 1840), cementing his reputation as one of the greatest elegiac and lyric
poets of his time.
Setting

The Hunchback of Notre-Dame’s takes place in the city of Paris at 15th century.
Most of the happenings were happened around the Cathedral of Notre-Dame.

Characters/ All about

Quasimodo- he is the main character of the story. Quasimodo is the hunchback of

Notre-Dame the story flows about his life. He lives alone, with his extraordinary
appearance that everyone looks down on him. He has a giant humpback, a protrusion
coming out of his chest, and a giant wart that covers one of his eyes. He is also deaf.
His heart is pure, and this purity is linked to the cathedral itself.

Archdeacon Claude Frollo- he is the priest at Notre-Dame, he is the antagonist of the

story, but unlike the usual antagonist who often brought sufferings and pain he is bright
and compassionate who really love his brother. He has love interest for La Esmeralda.

La Esmerelda- The lost daughter of Sister Gudule, La Esmerelda is a beautiful gypsy

street dancer. Along with her goat, Djali, she charms everyone she meets with her
stunning looks and magic tricks. She keeps an amulet and other trinkets around her
neck to help her find her parents.

Pierre Gringoire - A struggling playwright and philosopher. La Esmerelda saves him

from being hanged by a group of vagabonds and agrees to "marry" him for four years.
He later joins the vagabonds and unwittingly helps Frollo hand La Esmerelda over to the
authorities.

Phoebus De Chateaupers - The captain of the King's Archers, he saves La Esmerelda

from Quasimodo. He does not love her, but tries to seduce her and a number of other
women as well. Frollo stabs him and everyone leaves him for dead. He recovers but
fails to speak up when La Esmerelda is sentenced to death for his murder. He ends up
marrying Fleur-de-Lys de Gondelaurier. His first name is Greek for "the sun."

Sister Gudule - La Esmerelda's long lost mother. She is a miserable recluse living in
the Tour Roland, who hates to hear the sound of children playing. She is convinced that
gypsies ate her adoptive daughter, Agnes, fifteen years earlier. She hates La
Esmerelda and is convinced that she is a child thief, but when she learns that she is
actually her daughter, Gudule gives her life to save her.

Jehan Frollo - Claude Frollo's brother. Jehan is a horrible student who gambles and
drinks all his money away. He decides to join the vagabonds and Quasimodo kills him
as he attacks Notre Dame.

Clopin Trouillefou - Clopin disrupts Gringoire's play and later turns out to be not just a
simple beggar, but "King" of the vagabonds. He tries to save La Esmerelda from being
hanged but Quasimodo thinks that Clopin is trying to kill her.

Louis XI - The King of France in 1482. Louis XI is a heartless monarch who lives in the
Bastille instead of the Louvre. He pardons Gringoire for attacking Notre Dame but
orders La Esmerelda's execution.

Djali - La Esmerelda's goat. Djali can perform magic tricks and spell the name Phoebus
out of a group of letters. At La Esmerelda's trial Djali is accused of being possessed by
the devil.

Fleur-De-Lys De Gondelaurier - One of Phoebus's admirers, she later becomes his

wife. She also humiliates La Esmerelda by mocking her clothes.

Master Florian Barbedienne - The deaf judge who condemns Quasimodo to torture.

Master Jacques Charmolue - One of Claude Frollo's associates. Jacques prosecutes

and then tortures La Esmerelda to get her to confess to killing Phoebus. He later has
her executed.
Conflict
Archdeacon Dom Claude Frollo and Captain Phoebus De Chateaupers have
affection towards La Esmeralda. La Esmeralda hopelessly fallen in love with Captain
Phoebus. One night captain Phoebus asks La Esmeralda to come with him, latter
Esmeralda agrees. That night Captain Phoebus persuades La Esmeralda to sleep with
him. Frollo disguised and follow the both of them, as he sees Captain Phoebus kissing
the shoulder of Esmeralda he feels jealous, rage, and breakdown instantly stab Captain
Phoebus. After he stabbed Captain Phoebus he left and escapes and put the blame on
Esmeralda.

POV
The point of view of the story is a third person.

Plot
The Hunchback of Notre Dame is set in Paris during the 15th century. The story
centres on Quasimodo, the deformed bell ringer of Notre-Dame Cathedral, and his
unrequited love for the beautiful dancer La Esmeralda. Esmeralda, born Agnès, is
perceived to be a French Romagirl. Her biological mother is a former prostitute once
known as Paquette la Chantefleurie but now known as Sister Gudule; her paternity is
unknown. Fifteen years before the events of the novel, a group of Roma kidnapped the
infant Agnès from her mother’s room. Esmeralda has no knowledge of her kidnapping:
she lives and travels with the Roma as if she is one of them. Quasimodo first meets
Esmeralda at the Feast of Fools, an annual festival parodying ecclesiastical ritual and
cardinal elections. During the festival, Quasimodo is elected “Pope of the Fools” and
subsequently beaten by an angry mob. Esmeralda takes pity on him and offers him a
drink of water. Quasimodo thereafter falls in love with the dancer and decides to devote
himself to protecting her.
Unbeknownst to Quasimodo, two other men vie for Esmeralda’s affection: Quasimodo’s
adoptive father, Archdeacon Dom Claude Frollo, and the womanizing captain Phoebus
de Châteaupers. Esmeralda, for her part, has fallen hopelessly in love with Captain
Phoebus. When he asks her to meet him in secret late one night, she enthusiastically
agrees. That night Phoebus tries to persuade Esmeralda to sleep with him. From a
closet in Phoebus’s room, a disguised Frollo spies on the couple. After he sees
Phoebus kiss Esmeralda’s shoulder, the archdeacon, in a fit of jealous rage, breaks
down the closet door and stabs Phoebus in the back. Phoebus collapses before he can
see his assailant. Esmeralda too loses consciousness, and Frollo escapes, leaving
Esmeralda as the only suspect for the attempted murder.

Esmeralda is quickly captured by the king’s guard. Master Jacques Charmolue presides
over her trial. Charmolue sentences her to death after she falsely confesses to
witchcraft and to murdering Phoebus. (Esmeralda is unaware that Phoebus is alive.)
Quasimodo attempts to shelter Esmeralda in Notre-Dame, but he is ultimately unable to
save her. Frollo betrays Quasimodo and Esmeralda by taking Esmeralda from the
cathedral and releasing her to an angry mob of Parisians. Shortly thereafter Esmeralda
is hanged, and Quasimodo, in his grief and despair, pushes Frollo from the cathedral
tower. The novel ends many years’ later, when two skeletons—that of a hunchback and
that of a woman—are found embracing in Esmeralda’s tomb. Hugo reports that
Phoebus also came to a tragic end: “He married.”

Exposition

The story is set in Paris, 1482. Esmeralda, a lovely gypsy, caught the attention of
several people, including Captain Phoebus and the titular character; the hunchback,
Quasimodo. Archdeacon Frollo, Quasimodo's guardian, who lusts for Esmeralda,
despite his duties in the Notre Dame Cathedral, orders Quasimodo to kidnap her, which
failed when the hunchback was captured by Phoebus. Quasimodo was then sentenced
to be whipped and flogged, then put to the pillory as punishment for the 'kidnapping'.
Rising Action

Esmeralda was then arrested and charged with the attempted murder of
Phoebus, which Frollo set up out of jealousy of the blossoming relationship of
Esmeralda and Phoebus.

Climax

As Esmeralda is being taken to the gallows to wait for her execution by hanging,
Quasimodo comes to her rescue and takes her to the cathedral, protecting her with the
law of sanctuary. Frollo then voted to remove Esmeralda's right to the sanctuary so she
will not be safe in the cathedral. Clopin, a companion from Esmeralda's band of gypsies,
hears about the execution and charges the cathedral to rescue Esmeralda. However,
Quasimodo assumed that the gypsies are hostile, so he drives them off. Still unaware of
Frollo's ploy, Quasimodo informs him of Esmeralda's location. Frollo attempted to win
Esmeralda's heart once again. Once Esmeralda rejects his love for her, Frollo ordered
her to be hanged out of hatred.

Falling Action/ Denouement

Frollo was present during Esmeralda's execution, laughing while the gypsy
struggles and finally succumbs to her death. Quasimodo then pushes the Archdeacon
from the heights of Notre Dame to his death, avenging Esmeralda's untimely death. He
then goes to the graveyard in Paris the condemned lies, staying with Esmeralda's body
until death. Several months pass, the tomb was reopened, and both Quasimodo's and
Esmeralda's skeletons are found. As the men try to separate the skeletons from each
other, it crumbles to dust.

Symbols
Notre-Dame Cathedral

Notre-Dame Cathedral is the central symbol of the novel. It stands as a character—and

an extension of Quasimodo—as well as the "eye" of Paris and as architecture that can
be "read" in the same way as a book through its art and history. The narrator describes
the building as a living thing, noting it has been "cut," "attacked," and "killed." It is also
described as the "shell" that houses Quasimodo as though the two were inextricably
linked. He also notes, "each stone of this venerable monument is a page not only of our
country's history, but also of the history of science and architecture." The cathedral is a
fluid symbol, and it is connected to each main character in an intimate way—as a
prison, as a refuge, as a home, and as a friend.

Esmeralda's Baby Shoes

Esmeralda's baby shoes serve as an enduring symbol of hope for both Esmeralda and
her long-lost mother, the Recluse. Separated when Esmeralda was a baby, mother and
daughter each clung to one shoe in the hope of being reunited someday. For
Esmeralda, holding on to the shoe keeps her vision fixed on the possibility of a happy
future—and keeps her chaste and true to herself. For the Recluse, the shoe is an object
into which she can pour her grief. Given the tragic ending of Esmeralda's life not long
after she is reunited with her mother, the shoes take on a bittersweet symbolism. They
represent only a short-lived happiness.

The Spider and the Fly

Claude Frollo spies a spider luring a fly into its web, which sparks a philosophical
revelation he has already been contemplating: some things are destined and inevitable,
such as the spider catching and devouring the fly. By turn, he sees himself as the spider
and Esmeralda as the fly, but he always sees their fates as linked, entwined, and
doomed. Claude Frollo claims the spider and the fly "symbolize everything." Their roles
as predator and prey have been preordained, and neither can do anything to change
this course. And as much as Esmeralda is caught in Claude Frollo's web, he is also
caught in the web of lust he feels she has spun around him.