The Hunchback of Notre Dame
Author Victor Hugo (1802–1885)
First Published
Notre-Dame de Paris, 1831 (English translation, 1833)
Type of Work
Novel Type of Plot Allegory, historical fiction, and social realism
Time of Work January-July, 1482
Locale The neighborhood around the Paris
cathedral of Notre Dame
Subjects Death, love and romance, politics and law, and social issues
Recommended Ages 13-18
Despite his horrible face and a misshapen body, Quasimodo ultimately shows that ugliness can coexist with a beautiful soul.
Principal characters: QUASIMODO, the hunchbacked bell-ringer of Notre Dame Cathedral
CLAUDE FROLLO, the archdeacon of the cathedral and the epitome of the intellectual
ESMERALDA, a beautiful sixteen-year-old gypsy dancer and nanny goat trainer
PIERRE GRINGOIRE, a poet and playwright
PHOEBUS DE CHÂTEAUPERS, the handsome captain of the Royal Archers
LOUIS XI, the king of France
Form and Content Set in France during the reign of Louis XI,
The Hunchback of Notre Dame is a historical novel of epic proportions that appeals to a broad readership. Victor Hugo vividly re-creates the teeming Paris of the late Middle Ages, with its sharp roofs and narrow, muddy streets, as well as the people, customs, and pageantry of fifteenth century France. He also presents conflicts and themes that resonate with adults both young and old because they are at the core of the human condition.
The novel’s action is divided among a number of crucial days spread over six months (January to July), enhanced by fascinating short essays on various subjects ranging from alchemy to the future of architecture. If at first the narrative concentrates on Pierre Gringoire walking around Paris, it soon shifts to the other characters as Hugo describes in omniscient fashion or through authorial intrusions their thoughts and movements, which he often explains and compares in the light of modern events and ways of thinking, such as the Revolution of 1830 or the need to abolish the
Death penalty.
Claude Frollo, the archdeacon of Notre Dame, had adopted some twenty years before an ugly and deformed infant found on Quasimodo Sunday (hence his name), whom he had reared within the confines of the cathedral. Now, in 1482, Frollo is involved in transforming base metals into gold through alchemy, and the hunchback has become the official bell-ringer. When the priest sees the gypsy girl Esmeralda dance on the public square, he is so struck by her beauty, gracefulness, and innocent sensuality that he has Quasimodo kidnap her. After she is rescued by the handsome Captain Phoebus, she falls in love with him, while Quasimodo is publicly punished, much to the crowd’s enjoyment. Only Esmeralda takes pity on the young wretch and gives him water to drink, awakening eternal feelings of gratitude and adoration in Quasimodo.
Unable to overcome his obsession with Esmeralda, Frollo follows her to a tryst with Phoebus and wounds him—a crime for which Esmeralda is accused and sentenced to death. Frollo promises to save her, however, if she agrees to love him, but she refuses. Rescued at the last minute by Quasimodo, she is whisked inside the cathedral (a medieval sanctuary) and devotedly watched over by him. During the night, in an exciting chapter, her friends—the seething, frightening underclass of thieves and cutthroats—attack the cathedral in a vain attempt to free her, in a scene reminiscent of the storming of the Bastille in 1789. After Frollo tricks Esmeralda into leaving her refuge, he again offers her the choice between himself and death, and again she chooses death. She is therefore turned over to the authorities and hanged. Quasimodo, realizing at last his protector’s involvement, hurls Frollo off a tower of the cathedral and then, observing the bodies of both Esmeralda and his master, cries, "Oh, all that I ever loved!"
In a few paragraphs, Hugo mentions King Louis’ death the following year, Gringoire’s literary success, and Phoebus’ marriage.
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