The Hunchback of Notre Dame

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This article is about the Victor Hugo novel. For other uses, see The Hunchback of Notre Dame (disambiguation).

The Hunchback of Notre-Dame (French: Notre-Dame de Paris, "Notre-Dame of Paris") is a novel by Victor Hugo published in 1831.

The Hunchback of Notre Dame  

1831 illustration from the
first edition of Hunchback
Author Victor Hugo
Original title Notre-Dame de Paris
Illustrator Alfred Barbou (original)
Country France
Language French
Genre(s) Romanticism
Publisher Gosselin
Publication date January 14, 1831

Contents

[edit] Background

Hugo began to write Hunchback in 1829. The agreement with his original publisher, Gosselin, was that the book would be finished that same year. However, Hugo was constantly delayed due to the demands of other projects. By the summer of 1830, Gosselin demanded the book to be completed by February 1831. And so beginning in September 1830, Hugo worked non-stop on the project; he bought a new bottle of ink, a woolen cloak, and cloistered himself in his room refusing to be bothered or to leave his house (except for nightly visits to the cathedral). The book was finished six months later.

[edit] Plot

The story begins during the Renaissance in 1482, the day of the Festival of Fools in Paris. Quasimodo, the deformed bell ringer, is introduced by his crowning as Pope of Fools.

Esméralda, a beautiful 16-year-old gypsy with a kind and generous heart, captures the hearts of many men but especially those of Quasimodo and his adopted father, Claude Frollo. Frollo is torn between his lust and the rules of the church. He orders Quasimodo to get her. Quasimodo is caught and whipped and ordered to be tied down in the heat. Esméralda seeing his thirst, offers him water. It saves her, for she captures the heart of the hunchback.

She is later accused of the attempted murder of Phœbus, whom Frollo attempted to kill in jealousy, and is sentenced to death by hanging. Quasimodo saves her by bringing her to the cathedral under the law of sanctuary. Clopin rallies the truands (criminals of Paris) to charge the cathedral and rescue Esméralda. The king, seeing the chaos, vetoes the law of sanctuary and commands his troops to take Esméralda out and kill her. When Quasimodo sees the truands, he assumes they are there to hurt Esméralda, so he drives them off. Frollo betrays Esméralda by handing her to the troops and watches while she is hanged. Quasimodo pushes him from Notre-Dame to his death. He then goes to where hanged dead bodies are thrown, lies next to her corpse and eventually dies of starvation. Two years later, excavationists find the skeletons of Esméralda with a broken neck and Quasimodo locked in an embrace.

[edit] Characters in The Hunchback of Notre Dame

  • Pierre Gringoire is a struggling poet. He mistakenly finds his way into the "Court of Miracles", the secret lair of the Gypsies. In order to preserve the secrecy, Gringoire must either be killed by hanging, or marry a Gypsy. Although Esméralda does not love him, and in fact believes him a coward rather than a true man (he, unlike Phœbus, failed in his attempt to rescue her from Quasimodo), she takes pity on his plight and marries him—although, much to his disappointment, she refuses to let him touch her.
  • Esméralda is a beautiful young barefoot Gypsy dancer, innocent, close to nature, and naturally compassionate and kind. She is the center of the human drama within the story. A popular focus of the citizens' attentions, she experiences their changeable attitudes, being first adored as an entertainer, then hated as a witch, before being lauded again for her dramatic rescue by Quasimodo; when the King finally decides to put her to death, he does so in the belief that the Parisian mob want her dead. She is loved by both Quasimodo and Claude Frollo, but falls deeply in love with Captain Phœbus, a handsome military man who only has a passing infatuation with her.
  • Djali (Dal-ya) is Esméralda's pet goat. She performs tricks such as writing the word "Phœbus" in moveable letter-blocks, and tapping the number of beats to indicate the month and hour of the day. These tricks delight the citizens at first, but later horrify them, causing them to believe Esméralda is a witch.
  • Quasimodo is the hunchback of Notre Dame. He lives in the bell tower of Notre Dame and rings the bells, which has made him deaf. When he was a hideous and abandoned baby, he was adopted by Claude Frollo. Quasimodo's life within the confines of the cathedral and his only two outlets—ringing the bells and his love and devotion for Frollo—are described. He ventures outside the Cathedral rarely, since people despise and shun him for his appearance. The notable occasions when he does leave include his taking part in the Festival of Fools—during which he is elected Fools'-Pope due to his perfect hideousness—and his subsequent attempt to kidnap Esméralda, his rescue of Esméralda from the gallows, his attempt to bring Phœbus to Esméralda, and his final abandonment of the cathedral at the end of the novel. It is revealed in the story that the baby Quasimodo was left by the gypsies in place of Esméralda, whom they abducted.
  • Claude Frollo is the Archdeacon of Notre Dame. Despite his celibacy vows as a priest, he finds himself madly in love with Esméralda. He nearly murders Phœbus in a jealous rage from seeing Phœbus on top of Esméralda. He is killed when Quasimodo pushes him off the cathedral. His dour attitude and his alchemical experiments scared and alienated him from the Parisians, who believed him a sorcerer, and so he lived without family, save for Quasimodo and his spoiled brother Jehan.
  • Jehan Frollo is Claude Frollo's over-indulged younger brother. He is a troublemaker and a student at the university. He is dependent on his brother for money, which he then proceeds to squander on alcohol. Quasimodo kills him during the attack on the cathedral.
  • Phœbus de Châteaupers is the Captain of the King's Archers. After he saves Esméralda from abduction, she becomes infatuated with him, and he himself is intrigued by her. He is already bethrothed, but just wants to lay with her. As he continues talking and kissing her, Frollo comes from behind and stabs him. Esméralda runs away but is framed with killing him. After the events of the novel, he suffers the 'tragedy' of marriage to the beautiful but spiteful Fleur-de-Lys de Gondelaurier.
  • Fleur-de-Lys de Gondelaurier is a beautiful and wealthy socialite engaged to Phœbus. Phœbus's attentions to Esméralda make her insecure and jealous, and she and her friends respond by treating Esméralda with contempt and spite. Fleur-de-Lys later neglects to inform Phœbus that Esméralda has not been executed, which serves to deprive the pair of any further contact. Phoebus and Fleur-de-Lys marry at the end of the novel.
  • Sister Gudule, formerly named Paquette la Chantefleurie, is an anchorite, who lives in seclusion in an exposed cell in central Paris. She is tormented by the loss of her daughter Agnes, whom she believes to have been cannibalised by gypsies as a baby, and devotes her life to mourning her. Her long-lost daughter turns out to be Esméralda.
  • Louis XI is the King of France. Appears briefly when he is brought the news of the rioting at Notre Dame.
  • Tristan L'Hermite is a friend of King Louis XI. He leads the band that goes to capture Esméralda.
  • Henriet Cousin is the city executioner.
  • Florian Barbedienne is the judge who sentences Quasimodo to be tortured. He is also deaf.
  • Jacques Charmolue gets Esméralda to falsely confess to killing Phoebus. He then has her executed.
  • Clopin Trouillefou is the King of Truands. He rallies the Court of Miracles to rescue Esméralda from Notre Dame after the idea is suggested by Gringoire. He is eventually killed during the attack by the King's soldiers.

[edit] Major themes

As stated by many critics and scholars, the Cathedral of Notre Dame appears to be the main setting, which is almost elevated to the status of a character. Indeed, the original French title of the book, Notre-Dame de Paris (the formal title of the Cathedral) shows that the cathedral (and not Quasimodo) is the subject of the story. The book portrays the Gothic era as one of extremes of architecture, passion, and religion. Like many of his other works, Hugo is also very concerned with social justice, and his descriptions of religious fanaticism are also examined. Strikingly, Hugo shifts his focus between characters, and assigns the roles of hero and villain to different characters at different points in the novel.

[edit] Literary significance and reception

The enormous popularity of the book in France spurred the nascent historical preservation movement in that country and strongly encouraged Gothic revival architecture. Ultimately it led to major renovations at Notre-Dame in the 19th century led by Eugène Viollet-le-Duc. Much of the cathedral's present appearance is a result of this renovation.

[edit] Allusions and references

[edit] Allusions to actual history, geography and current science

In The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Victor Hugo makes frequent reference to the architecture of the Cathedral of Notre Dame in Paris.

He also mentions the invention of the printing press, when the bookmaker near the beginning of the work speaks of "the German pest."

Victor Hugo lived a few homes away from Victor of Aveyron, the first well-documented feral child,[1] although the inspiration for Quasimodo's character is not directly linked to him.

[edit] Allusions in other works

The name Quasimodo has become synonymous with "a courageous heart beneath a grotesque exterior." [2]

[edit] Film, TV or theatrical adaptations

To date, all of the film and TV adaptations have strayed somewhat from the original plot, some going as far as to give it a happy ending.

The Hunchback of Notre Dame has had a number of film adaptations:

It has also appeared on TV numerous occasions:

Music:

Musical theatre:

Ballet:

  • "The Hunchback of Notre Dame" 1998 Choreography and Direction Michael Pink. Original Music Score Philip Feeney. First performance in the United Kingdom. Currently in the repertoire of MIlwaukee Ballet, Boston Ballet, The Royal New Zealand Ballet, Atlanta Ballet and Colorado Ballet.

Radio:

The book was twice adapted and broadcast by BBC Radio 4 as its Classic Serial:

  • in 5 parts from 6 January to 3 February 1989, with Jack Klaff as Quasimodo
  • in 2 parts on 30 November and 7 December 2008, with deaf actor David Bower playing Quasimodo.

[edit] Publication history

The Hunchback of Notre Dame is widely available in English language editions.

  • 1978, USA, Penguin Classics ISBN 0140443533, Pub date 26 October 1978, paperback
  • 2001, USA, Signet Classics ISBN 0451527887, Pub date 10 April 2001, paperback
  • 2002, USA, Modern Library Classics ISBN 0679642579, Pub date 8 October 2002
  • 2006, USA, Ann Arbor Media ISBN 1587264021, Pub date 14 July 2006, hard cover

[edit] Quotations

  • A description of Quasimodo upon his election as the fool's pope: "We shall not attempt to give the reader an idea of that tetrahedron nose- that horse-shoe mouth- that small left eye over-shadowed by a red bushy brow, while the right eye disappeared entirely under an enormous wart- of those straggling teeth with breaches here and there like the battlements of a fortress- of that horny lip, over which one of those teeth projected like the tusk of an elephant- of that forked chin- and, above all, of the expression spread over all this-that expression of mingled malice, amazement and sadness." (p. 62)
  • On the connection between architecture and culture: "When a man understands the art of seeing, he can trace the spirit of an age and the features of a king even in the knocker on a door." (p. 184)
  • Quasimodo's reaction to Esméralda's gift of a drink of water while he is being heckled on the pillory: "Then from that eye, hitherto so dry and burning, was seen to roll a big tear, which fell slowly down that deformed visage so long contracted by despair. Perhaps it was the first that the unfortunate creature had ever shed." (p. 322)
  • Quasimodo, explaining why he won't enter Esméralda's cell: "The owl goes not into the nest of the lark." (p. 502)
  • After Esméralda's execution: "Quasimodo then lifted his eye to look upon the gypsy girl, whose body, suspended from the gibbet, he beheld quivering afar, under its white robes, in the last struggles of death; then again he dropped it upon the archdeacon, stretched a shapeless mass at the foot of the tower, and he said with a sob that heaved his deep breast to the bottom, 'Oh-all that I've ever loved!" (p. 678)

[edit] References

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ Shattuck, R. (1980). The forbidden experiment: The story of the wild boy of aveyron. New York: Farrar Straus Giroux.
  2. ^ Webber, Elizabeth; Mike Feinsilber (1999). Merriam-Webster's Dictionary of Allusions. Merriam-Webster. pp. 592. ISBN 0877796289. 
  3. ^ The Hunchback of Notre Dame
  4. ^ MAINSTAGE 1997 - NICHOLAS DeBEAUBIEN'S THE HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME
  5. ^ http://www.amazon.com/Disneys-Gloeckner-Notre-German-Version/dp/B00002DFMR
  6. ^ Hunchback
  7. ^ Playbill News: Hunchback of Notre Dame Musical By Styx Front-Man to Play Chicago's Bailiwick

[edit] Bibliography

[edit] External links

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