The Hunchback

of Notre Dame
Study Guide by Course Hero

present tense.
What's Inside
ABOUT THE TITLE
The Hunchback of Notre Dame was first published in 1831 in
j Book Basics ................................................................................................. 1 French as Notre-Dame de Paris: 1482. The English edition
published in 1833 was named for its main character and does
d In Context ..................................................................................................... 1 not hyphenate Notre Dame in the title. The name of the French
cathedral, however, is hyphenated as Notre-Dame in the text
a Author Biography ..................................................................................... 3
of the English editions.
h Characters .................................................................................................. 4

k Plot Summary ............................................................................................. 7

c Book Summaries ..................................................................................... 11

d In Context
g Quotes ........................................................................................................ 27

l Symbols ..................................................................................................... 29
Architecture
m Themes ...................................................................................................... 30 The architecture of medieval Paris—Notre-Dame Cathedral in
particular—occupies a central role in The Hunchback of Notre
e Suggested Reading ............................................................................. 30 Dame. Notre-Dame Cathedral is depicted as the all-seeing
central eye of Paris, as Quasimodo and Claude Frollo are able
to observe the entire city from its towers. Hugo takes great
pains to romanticize the architecture of the medieval era,
j Book Basics seeing the buildings as reflections of a culture and era that will
be swept away with the modernism to come, as well as with
AUTHOR the reliance on books for information rather than buildings. Not
Victor Hugo long after The Hunchback of Notre Dame was published,
Hugo's fears came true—many of the buildings referenced in
YEAR PUBLISHED the novel were torn down to make boulevards for the ever-
1831 growing city.

GENRE Hugo saw the Gothic style of architecture, with its pointed
Tragedy arches and vast heights, as a mirror for the opening of
humanity's minds. Notre-Dame Cathedral is as magnificent as it
PERSPECTIVE AND NARRATOR
is grotesque, full of gargoyles and massive stones. For Hugo,
The Hunchback of Notre Dame is told by a third-person
this contrast is mirrored in the character of Quasimodo, a
omniscient narrator.
hunchback with deformities who hides a beautiful soul beneath
TENSE his fearsome appearance.
The Hunchback of Notre Dame features a mix of past and
The Hunchback of Notre Dame Study Guide In Context 2

their stories up as reflections of current society and their

Politics unleashed emotions. They fought against the Industrial
Revolution's effects on the landscape, and lashed out at the
Hugo wrote much of The Hunchback of Notre Dame during the worship of reason and materialism embraced by their peers in
July 1830 Revolution, a political event that had a great impact the Age of Enlightenment. They looked back at medievalism
on him and on the novel. The 1830 Revolution excited Hugo, as and glorified it, establishing the Gothic Romanticism Movement
he hoped to witness a broader sense of liberty and democracy and its fascination with the dark, macabre, and supernatural.
in France. Yet much of the novel is also influenced by the Goethe kicked off this movement in Germany with his drama
medieval politics and church of the 15th century. Hugo Faust, about a doctor who gives his soul to the devil in
subtitled the novel "1482," a nod to the fact that it takes place exchange for knowledge.
the year before the death of Louis X, a king who, like his father
before him, helped unify and strengthen France following the Hugo set The Hunchback of Notre Dame 200 years in the past,
Hundred Years' War. Hugo wanted to depict what daily life as a suggestion that France's history had a wealth of stories
would have looked like for all the different social classes of and resonance for Romantic writers to mine. In many ways, the
Paris in that era, and so he gives views from a wide variety of novel can be considered a "historical novel" for its depiction of
characters—truants to kings—in order to capture a diffuse medieval history, architecture, and politics. Hugo was also
society. interested in the English Romantics' concept of "the noble
outlaw," but he took their idea further with the character
He was a huge supporter of the French Republic, and a Quasimodo, who can't fit in with society due to his appearance.
champion of equality on both the political and social scale.
Much of Hugo's criticism of the inequality he witnessed shows
up in The Hunchback of Notre Dame through its bungling
courtroom scenes, inept officials, and gruesome spectacles of
Alchemy and Witchcraft
public punishment. Throughout the novel, Hugo parallels his
Alchemy and witchcraft played a notable role during the Middle
own time with that of the late medieval period, when the black
Ages, and even more so in the late medieval period when the
plague, wars, and famine raged, and the Inquisition, firmly
novel takes place. Scapegoats for famine and plague were
established by the church by 1184, had become an institutional
sought out among "heretics," and individuals were blamed,
structure. For a century, the Roman Catholic Church hunted
burned, and tortured for natural events. Hugo makes a point to
the general population and aristocrats. The church accused
have the novel's priest, Claude Frollo, fail at the dark arts of
people at random of heresy or witchcraft and took their land,
sorcery and alchemy behind the secretive doors of his
money, and property, tortured them, and burned them at the
chambers, while accusing Esmeralda of witchcraft all the while.
stake.
This sort of suspicion was commonplace, and alchemy was
considered an occult practice, dating back thousands of years.
It can be considered an early version of chemistry, but it was
Romanticism considered by those who didn't understand the science to be
"magic," and therefore the devil's work. Alchemists in the
Hugo is one of the most recognized names in the French Middle Ages were looking for a way to transform lead into gold,
Romantic era. Romanticism, in general, was marked by a and they believed there was a spiritual, mysterious component
reliance on imagination, freedom of expression, and an affinity found in material objects, as well as symbols, diagrams, and
with the natural world. For Hugo and the French Romantics, imagery such as the kind that Claude Frollo etched into the
freedom of expression particularly meant liberty—they rebelled walls of his chambers that played a role in the process of
against conservative politics and applauded revolutionary releasing spirits from objects. The Philosopher's stone Claude
movements. They were interested in nationalism and drawing Frollo seeks supposedly would give him the power to
social classes together to create a more egalitarian society. In understand the alchemical process.
many ways, Romanticism was a reaction against Classicism,
particularly neoclassicism, a movement that espoused the Superstition abounded during the Middle Ages, and mixed with
superiority of Greek and Roman classics. Romantics, by an extremely religious culture, it led people to blame witchcraft
contrast, wrote about the present and the individual, offering for phenomena they didn't understand—blighted crops or

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The Hunchback of Notre Dame Study Guide Author Biography 3

strange illnesses. There was particularly a great deal of fear novelists, and playwrights during the Romantic era. Although
and superstition surrounding gypsies, traveling bands of Hugo originally studied to become a lawyer, his passion for
immigrants from India and South Asia who made their living as writing overtook him, and he published his first novel, Han
itinerant workers and fortune tellers. They weren't actually d'Islande, when he was 21. Hugo clearly sided with the new
practitioners of witchcraft, but because they were viewed as Romantic movement, which emphasized the individual, the
"outsiders," they became easy scapegoats when things went subjective, and the emotional over the older Classicism, which
wrong, which made it easy to tie them to witchcraft. In the prized order, rationality, and balance. After one of his first
novel, Claude Frollo harasses Esmeralda often for what he plays—Marion de Lorme—was censored, he responded with
believes are her ties to witchcraft, believing she has seduced another anti-Classical play, Hernani. Backed by a host of
him with her powers. Also, animals were held in suspicion. Romantic artists, he won over the theatergoers' approval and
Goats, such as Esmeralda's goat, Djali, were thought to be gained a foothold for the movement. His publication of Notre-
communicators with the devil. And like toads and cats, they Dame de Paris: 1482 eight years later cemented his fame as a
were also thought to be the animal familiars of witches. notable French Romantic writer, and he went on to greater
celebrity later in life with the novel Les Misérables.

Religion Much of Hugo's writing is a reflection of the political turmoil he

saw during his lifetime—The Hunchback of Notre Dame was
written during the July Revolution of 1830, when angry
Religion provides a major backdrop for The Hunchback of
protesters forced King Charles X to abdicate the throne and
Notre Dame—much of its action takes place inside Paris's most
Louis-Philippe was proclaimed the new king. Hugo campaigned
famous cathedral, and one of its main characters, Claude
against causes such as capital punishment, a belief that can be
Frollo, is an archdeacon. An archdeacon is someone who is a
seen in the tragic fates of characters in The Hunchback of
senior cleric in the church, with greater responsibilities.
Notre Dame. Hugo was also inspired to write The Hunchback of
Claude's position would mean few people would question his
Notre Dame by his awe and reverence for Gothic architecture
motives or decisions, and so he is "safe" within the church to
in Paris, much of which had been destroyed by the time he
do as he pleases.
wrote the novel. When Notre-Dame de Paris was published in
Religion is interwoven into the novel from the very opening, English in 1833, the English translation bore the title The
which takes place on the annual Feast of Fools, a religious Hunchback of Notre Dame. Hugo disliked the translated title for
holiday. Yet Victor Hugo uses the scene to poke fun at the placing Quasimodo at the novel's center instead of the Notre-
seriousness with which religious officials took themselves and Dame Cathedral as he intended.
their ceremonies. Hugo himself was in the process of changing
The Hunchback of Notre Dame was met with much excitement
his religious beliefs—born a Catholic, he renounced his faith
upon its publication and became widely popular in France. Its
and deemed himself a "freethinker." Although Hugo venerates
fervent descriptions of Notre-Dame Cathedral led to the
the cathedral itself, he seems to use Claude Frollo as a vehicle
development of a historical preservation society, as well as the
for his disdain against what he saw as the hypocrisy of the
restoration of the cathedral. However, by 1851 Hugo was
church—though Claude accuses Esmeralda of witchcraft, it is
forced to flee the country for Brussels after a coup by a
he who is practicing sorcery in his tower. He is also arguably
political group that espoused authoritarianism. Hugo remained
the most corrupt character in the novel. Religious persecution
in Brussels for nearly 20 years, finally returning to Paris to
also played a large role in the medieval trend of torturing
become a deputy in the National Assembly. He died on May 22,
people in order to get them to confess to crimes, such as the
1885. He was preceded in death by his wife and two sons. His
scene of Esmeralda's torture in which she falsely confesses.
body was buried in the Pantheon, a former church dedicated to
the memory of great French citizens.

a Author Biography
Victor Hugo was born on February 26, 1802, in Besançon,
France, and became one of the country's most famous poets,

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The Hunchback of Notre Dame Study Guide Characters 4

h Characters Phoebus de Châteaupers

Phoebus saves Esmeralda from being kidnapped by
Quasimodo and Claude Frollo, and she falls deeply in love with
Quasimodo him as a result. Phoebus is engaged to Fleur-de-Lys de
Gondelaurier but does not care for her. When Esmeralda is
Quasimodo has lived at Notre-Dame Cathedral since he was wrongly arrested for attempting to murder Phoebus, he does
abandoned as an infant and adopted by the archdeacon, not tell the truth or try to help her. He indifferently goes back to
Claude Frollo. He is deaf and disfigured, reviled by the public his own life and leaves Esmeralda to die unjustly.
for his appearance. Yet he has a kind and compassionate soul
and a deep loyalty to the church.

The Recluse
Claude Frollo The Recluse is known by a few different names—Sister Gudule,
the Sachette, and Paquette la Chantefleurie. Esmeralda was
Claude Frollo is the antagonist of many characters in the novel. stolen from her as a baby by gypsies, and the Recluse has
Though he is smart and shows some compassion toward mourned in self-imposed exile ever since. She doesn't realize
Quasimodo and toward his brother, Jehan, his obsession with that the grown-up Esmeralda is her daughter until they are
Esmeralda tortures him to the point of madness, and he lets reunited just before she is hanged. The Recluse dies trying to
nothing and no one stand in his way. protect her daughter from the executioner.

Esmeralda Jehan Frollo

Esmeralda is a gypsy dancer whose beauty dazzles nearly Jehan Frollo has been spoiled all his life by his older brother,
everyone she meets. She performs with her clever goat, Djali, Claude Frollo, and he is lazy and greedy as a result. He
whom she loves dearly. Kidnapped as a baby, she yearns to be constantly gets in trouble, stirs up crowds, and asks Claude
reunited with her parents. She has a kind and compassionate Frollo for money whenever he runs out. He eventually gives up
soul yet is blinded by her love for Phoebus. Pursued by an his studies to join the truants and live a life of debauchery. He
obsessive priest, she is sentenced to death for a crime she did storms Notre-Dame Cathedral with the truants, and
not commit, rescued from Quasimodo, and then led back to her Quasimodo, not recognizing Jehan, throws him from the
death by the cruel priest. church to his death.

Pierre Gringoire
After his play flops, poet and philosopher Pierre Gringoire finds
himself wandering the Paris streets, following the beautiful
Esmeralda out of instinct. His meanderings lead him into the
Court of Miracles, where he is accosted by thieves and
becomes a truant himself. After Esmeralda saves his life, they
are forced into a platonic marriage. Easily manipulated, Pierre
Gringoire helps Claude Frollo kidnap Esmeralda, believing he is
helping to rescue her. Pierre Gringoire leaves her with Claude
Frollo, who turns Esmeralda in to the police for execution.

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The Hunchback of Notre Dame Study Guide Characters 5

Character Map

Love interests

Quasimodo
Half-blind bell-ringer
Love
of Notre-Dame
interest

Phoebus de Esmeralda
Châteaupers Beautiful, compassionate
Captain of the King's Archers dancer
Adoptive
father

Enemies

Stalker
Engaged Mother

Claude Frollo
Archdeacon of Notre-Dame

Friends Fleur-de-Lys de Spouses

The Recluse
Gondelaurier Mourner; lives in penitent's
Wealthy socialite cell

Brothers Student

Jehan Frollo Pierre Gringoire

Spoiled, rowdy student Struggling poet

Main Character

Other Major Character

Minor Character

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The Hunchback of Notre Dame Study Guide Characters 6

Full Character List Jehan Frollo is Claude Frollo's

younger brother and a rowdy,
spoiled student who later gives up
Jehan Frollo his studies and becomes a truant.
Character Description
He dies one night while storming
Notre-​Dame Cathedral with the
Quasimodo is the half-​blind, truants.
disfigured bell-​ringer of Notre-
Dame Cathedral. Having lived a
Maître Florian Barbedienne is the
solitary life separate from society,
Quasimodo Maître Florian deaf judge who sentences
he finds compassion and human
Barbedienne Quasimodo to be beaten in the
connection with a sensitive dancer
public square.
who has also been wronged by
society.
Marc Cenaine is a magician
Jacques Charmolue and Claude
The archdeacon of Notre-​Dame, Marc Cenaine Frollo torture for practicing
Claude Frollo spirals ever deeper witchcraft while they try to pry
into his intellectual endeavors, alchemy secrets from him.
Claude Frollo
dark arts, and obsessive lust for a
young dancer, which ultimately
destroy him. Bérangère de Champchevrier is
Bérangère de
Fleur-​de-​Lys de Gondelaurier's
Champchevrier
friend.
Esmeralda is a loving and kind
dancer who is adored by the public
until a Catholic priest, who is Jacques Charmolue is Crown
Esmeralda
obsessed with her, turns society Jacques Prosecutor in the Ecclesiastical
against her, and she is sentenced Charmolue Court; thus, he is Esmeralda's
to death. prosecutor and torturer.

A frustrated poet and floundering Jacques Coictier is King Louis XI's

playwright, Pierre Gringoire Jacques Coictier
physician.
becomes a friend of Esmeralda
Pierre Gringoire
and a truant in the Court of
Miracles, living ultimately for Diane de Christeuil is Fleur-​de-​Lys
Diane de Christeuil
balance, philosophy, and pleasure. Gondelaurier's friend.

Phoebus de Châteaupers is a Maître Jacques Coppenole is the

high-​ranking captain of the king's ambassador from the town of
Phoebus de Maître Jacques
officers. He appears outwardly Ghent and part of the visiting
Châteaupers Coppenole
honorable but proves to be a Flemish embassy who attends the
coward and a rogue. mystery play.

Esmeralda's long-​lost mother, the Djali Djali is Esmeralda's talented goat.

Recluse, lives in self-​imposed exile
in a cell under the street in the Robert d'Estouteville is
The Recluse public square. She is also known chamberlain to the king. He is in a
as Sister Gudule, the Sachette, Robert bad temper the day Quasimodo is
and Paquette la Chantefleurie (the d'Estouteville pilloried, and he does not realize
flowersong). Quasimodo and the judge on duty
are both deaf.

Eustache is Demoiselle Mahiette's

Eustache young son, who eats the Recluse's
maize cake.

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The Hunchback of Notre Dame Study Guide Plot Summary 7

La Falourdel is the innkeeper of Robin Poussepain is a student and

Robin Poussepain
La Falourdel the hotel where Phoebus and Jehan Frollo's friend.
Esmeralda meet.

Pierrat Torterue is a sworn

Colombe de Colombe is Fleur-​de-​Lys Pierrat Torterue torturer at the Châtelet who
Gaillefontaine Gondelaurier's friend. pillories Quasimodo.

Demoiselle Demoiselle Gervaise is Demoiselle Clopin Trouillefou is the "king" of

Gervaise Mahiette's friend. Clopin Trouillefou the truants at the Court of
Miracles.

Aloïse de Aloïse is Fleur-​de-​Lys

Gondelaurier Gondelaurier's mother.

Fleur-​de-​Lys de Gondelaurier is an k Plot Summary

Fleur-​de-​Lys de
aristocrat who is engaged to
Gondelaurier
Phoebus.
The Hunchback of Notre Dame opens in the middle of a public
celebration called the Feast of Fools, which ends at nightfall in
Guillaume de Harancourt is a an election of the "Pope of Fools," where the winner with the
Guillaume de
prisoner who begs King Louis XI
Harancourt ugliest face is chosen by the crowd and paraded through the
for mercy.
streets of Paris. Earlier in the day, most of the citizens attend

The king of France, Louis XI, goes the mystery play in the great hall of the Palais de Justice
King Louis XI by the name Compère Tourangeau (Palace of Justice). The audience heckles the actors, egged on
when he meets Claude Frollo. by a student named Jehan Frollo and his rowdy friends. The
play also is constantly interrupted by the arrival of visiting
Demoiselle Mahiette is a young Flemish ambassadors, while the play's frustrated director,
Demoiselle woman who brings a cake to the
Pierre Gringoire, shouts at the actors to continue. The play
Mahiette Recluse of Tour Rolande and tells
her story along the way. finally stops altogether when one of the ambassadors calls for
an early election of the Pope of Fools. Quasimodo, the deaf,
Amelotte de Amelotte de Montmichel is Fleur- hunchbacked bell-ringer of Notre-Dame Cathedral, wins—his
Montmichel de-​Lys Gondelaurier's friend. face has been disfigured since birth.

Demoiselle Demoiselle Oudarde Musnier is After his play is a total flop, Gringoire makes his way to the
Oudarde Musnier Demoiselle Mahiette's friend. public bonfire, where a large crowd is watching a beautiful
gypsy girl named Esmeralda dance with her goat, Djali. The
Maître Olivier is King Louis XI's archdeacon of Notre-Dame Cathedral, Claude Frollo, interrupts
Maître Olivier
barber. Esmeralda's performance, shouting out above the noisy crowd,
accusing her of practicing witchcraft. The priest spies his
Gieffroy Pincebourde is one of the adopted child, Quasimodo, being paraded by and angrily
Gieffroy
truants who is arrested and ushers him back to the church. Gringoire follows Esmeralda
Pincebourde
brought before King Louis XI.
after her performance and watches with horror as Claude
Frollo and Quasimodo attempt to abduct her. The king's
Mathias Hunyadi Spicali is one of
Mathias Hunyadi the leaders of the truants and is officers arrive just in time, arresting Quasimodo, while Claude
Spicali known as the duke of Egypt and escapes into the night. Gringoire gets lost finding his way
Bohemia. home and finds himself in the dangerous Court of Miracles—a
slum—where he is almost robbed by thieves posing as beggars.
Guillaume Rym is the Flemish However, Gringoire doesn't have any money. The thieves bring
Guillaume Rym ambassador, Pensioner of Ghent,
Gringoire back to their "king of truants" who will decide
who meets with King Louis XI.
whether to hang him. Gringoire barters his way out of death by

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The Hunchback of Notre Dame Study Guide Plot Summary 8

agreeing to become a truant himself. But he fails the truants' threaten to crush her leg, she falsely confesses and is
pickpocket test, so they again decide to hang him. At the last sentenced to death. Her goat, Djali, is sentenced to death for
minute, Esmeralda saves him by agreeing to marry him. Back in practicing witchcraft, too.
her room she makes Gringoire promise never to touch her; she
only married him to save his life. Claude Frollo visits Esmeralda in her dungeon cell. She
recognizes him as the man who always insults her. She knows
The morning after his arrest, Quasimodo is brought before the he is the one who tried to kill Phoebus. Claude confesses his
court and interrogated by an auditor who also happens to be love for her, and he begs her to run away with him. She
deaf and is keeping it secret from everyone. Neither of them refuses, choosing death. The next day, she is carried into the
can understand the other, which leads to a misunderstanding square at Notre-Dame Cathedral. Just before she is put to
and a brutal punishment. Quasimodo will be whipped on the death, Quasimodo rescues her by swinging into the square on
pillories in the Place de Grève—a public square. While a dangling rope, scooping her up and carrying her swiftly away,
Quasimodo is whipped, the crowd jeers and throws stones at yelling "asylum" as the crowd goes wild. He brings her inside
him. He does not resist much, quickly learning it is futile. He the church, which was considered a sanctuary for criminals.
finally begs for water, and when none is offered, Esmeralda Inside he keeps her safe, even though she is repelled by his
steps forward and gives him some. He is taken aback by her appearance. Claude discovers she is in the church and grows
kindness. Nearby, a recluse lives alone in a small cell built for enraged and jealous about Quasimodo and Esmeralda's
penitents. She was once known as Paquette la Chantefleurie, relationship. One night he attempts to rape her, but Quasimodo
but she is now known as the Recluse. Long ago, she locked comes to her rescue.
herself in the cell to mourn day and night after her daughter
was kidnapped by gypsies, and she has harbored a hatred for On a later night, Quasimodo notices a crowd flood into the

gypsies ever since—particularly for Esmeralda, at whom the square. It is a plan hatched by Claude Frollo to have truants

Recluse constantly hurls insults when she sees her dancing. All attack the church so that he and Gringoire can kidnap

the Recluse has with her in the cell is a tiny baby shoe left Esmeralda. He wants to set up Gringoire and get Esmeralda

behind the day the gypsies took her baby. out of the cathedral so she will be hanged for leaving her
asylum. Quasimodo defends the church, unknowingly killing his
Phoebus, the officer who rescued Esmeralda from Quasimodo adoptive brother, Jehan, in his fury. When Quasimodo returns
and Claude Frollo, the archdeacon of Notre-Dame who to Esmeralda's room, she is gone—kidnapped by Gringoire and
attempted to kidnap her, is set to marry Fleur-de-Lys de Claude. Gringoire chooses to save Esmeralda's goat, Djali, and
Gondelaurier—a prospect that does not excite him. One abandons Esmeralda. Left alone with Esmeralda, Claude leads
afternoon, Phoebus, Fleur-de-Lys, and her friends see her to the Place de Grève, telling her she will be hanged unless
Esmeralda performing on the street below their balcony, and she runs away with him, but she still refuses. He then brings
they invite her up to dance for them. When Phoebus is awed by her to the Recluse's cell to let the Recluse get revenge on all
Esmeralda's natural beauty, Fleur-de-Lys and her friends grow gypsies by holding Esmeralda prisoner until the king's officers
jealous and treat her cruelly. Djali, Esmeralda's clever goat, return. When Esmeralda and the Recluse discover that they
spells P-H-O-E-B-U-S with blocks of wood—a trick Esmeralda each carry one baby shoe from a matching pair, they realize
taught the goat—and Esmeralda's secret crush on Phoebus is that the Recluse is Esmeralda's long-lost mother. Before they
exposed. Esmeralda flees, and Phoebus follows her. They can fully enjoy their reunion, Esmeralda is carried off to be
make arrangements to meet later. Claude Frollo overhears hanged, and the Recluse is killed trying to protect her.
Phoebus telling Jehan (Claude Frollo's younger brother) about
his meeting with Esmeralda. Claude Frollo follows Phoebus on At Notre-Dame Cathedral, Quasimodo and Claude Frollo watch

his way to meet Esmeralda at a hotel, and he intimidates Esmeralda hanging from the rooftop. When Claude begins

Phoebus into letting him watch them secretly from a nearby laughing, Quasimodo pushes him off the ledge. Quasimodo

room. When Esmeralda and Phoebus grow intimate, Claude disappears after that, but his skeleton is found embracing

stabs Phoebus and flees out the window. The officers arrive Esmeralda's in the burial pit for victims of the gallows.

and arrest Esmeralda for Phoebus's attempted murder and for

practicing witchcraft. At her hearing she denies everything, but
when the officials bring her into the torture chamber and

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The Hunchback of Notre Dame Study Guide Plot Summary 9

Plot Diagram

Climax

7
Falling Action
6
Rising Action
5 8

4
9
3
Resolution
2
1

Introduction

7. Quasimodo rescues Esmeralda and gives her asylum.

Introduction

1. Quasimodo is crowned the Pope of Fools.

Falling Action

8. Esmeralda is hanged after being reunited with her mother.

Rising Action

2. Quasimodo and Claude Frollo attempt to kidnap Esmeralda.

Resolution
3. Esmeralda falls in love with Phoebus.
9. Claude Frollo dies and Quasimodo disappears.
4. Quasimodo is pilloried for kidnapping Esmeralda.

5. Claude attempts to murder Phoebus; Esmeralda is framed.

6. Esmeralda is tortured into a false confession.

Climax

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The Hunchback of Notre Dame Study Guide Plot Summary 10

Timeline of Events

1465

Claude Frollo's parents die; he adopts Jehan and

Quasimodo.

January 6, 1482

Quasimodo is crowned the Pope of Fools.

January 7, 1482

Quasimodo is pilloried for kidnapping Esmeralda.

Early March 1482

Esmeralda meets Phoebus.

March 29, 1482

Claude attempts to murder Phoebus; Esmeralda is

framed.

One month later

Esmeralda is tortured into a false confession.

May 1482

Quasimodo rescues Esmeralda and gives her asylum.

A few weeks later

Esmeralda is kidnapped by Claude.

A few hours later

Esmeralda is hanged after being reunited with her

mother.

The next morning

Claude Frollo dies and Quasimodo disappears.

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The Hunchback of Notre Dame Study Guide Book Summaries 11

c Book Summaries Summary

The book begins with a reference to a day that happened 348
Victor Hugo organized The Hunchback of Notre Dame into 11
years, 6 months, and 19 days ago. The narrator says nothing
books, each of which has 2–8 chapters. This study guide
"noteworthy" happened on this day, and nothing has been
analyzes the text at the book level for the purpose of summary
written of its history. Church bells rang all over the city on this
and analysis.
day because it was the twin celebration of Twelfth Night
(which takes place on January 6th) and the Feast of Fools,
which ends in an election of the "Pope of Fools." Shopkeepers
Preface close up shop in celebration, and people make their way to one
of three events happening in the city: a bonfire, a maypole, and
a mystery play. Most of the people flock to the mystery play at
Summary the great hall of the Palais de Justice (Palace of Justice), which
was believed to be the largest covered enclosure in the world
Victor Hugo tells the reader how he came to be inspired to at the time. Still, people had a hard time getting in because the
write the book. He visited Notre-Dame Cathedral, where he palace square was "packed with people, resembling a sea into
found the word fatality carved in Greek into the walls of one of which, like so many river-mouths, five or six streets were
its towers. He was struck by how medieval and Gothic the constantly disgorging fresh torrents of heads." The inside was
carved word looked, and by its sentiment as well. Hugo tried to even more crowded with onlookers, "content merely to gaze at
guess who might have been tormented enough to carve it. Yet the gazers."
upon his return to see it again, it had vanished, and Hugo
laments this erasure is all too common in the "marvelous In Chapter 1, the narrator tries to capture the impression the
churches of the Middle Ages." He blames not only the priests reader might experience upon crossing the threshold of the
but the architects and the populace as well. great hall, and describes in detail the architecture with Gothic
vaulted ceilings, enormous pillars, rows of statues of all the
kings of France, and marble floors. The narrator describes the
Analysis staging for the mystery play that is to take place on a platform,
and the special private entrance that has been prepared for
"This book was written about that word," Hugo comments visiting Flemish envoys and other important people. King Louis
about the word fatality he once glimpsed carved into the wall XIV's son is marrying a Flemish princess, so Paris is full of
at Notre-Dame Cathedral. Hugo's preface sets the stage and visiting envoys.
tone for the tragedy to come, a tragedy that is personal,
Most of the crowd have been waiting since morning, shivering
political, and historical. For Hugo, all these elements are
in the cold palace in front of the stage waiting for the play to
inextricably linked to the erasure of the past through its
begin. They've grown tired and bored and uncomfortable, and
architecture—he notes the man who carved the word is long
fights are beginning to break out. One group of young men is
forgotten, as is the word itself; possibly the church itself will be
causing mischief for their own amusement, harassing the
demolished some day. Hugo sees this erasure as a tragedy
master-furrier to the king and a university bookseller. The
because he believed his modern France had much to learn
master-furrier and the bookseller commiserate about the
about its present by studying its past.
behavior from the young men, and the master-furrier notes,
"It's all those accursed new inventions that are ruining

Book 1, Chapters 1–6 everything."

The clock finally strikes noon, the appointed time for the play
to begin, but nothing happens and the crowd begins to grow
angry. One of the students, Jehan, begins to incite the crowd,
suggesting the execution of the palace bailiff and serjeants.
The crowd moves toward them, and the serjeants look visibly

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The Hunchback of Notre Dame Study Guide Book Summaries 12

nervous. But at that moment, an actor steps forward and reassembled." The audience recognizes him instantly as
calmness is restored. But the actor only announces the delay Quasimodo the bell-ringer and hunchback of Notre-Dame.
of the play because they are waiting for the Lord Cardinal to Insults and rumors are shouted about him all throughout the
arrive before they can begin. hall. Quasimodo is finally lifted into a litter and carried
throughout the palace before parading the streets.
The audience begins heckling the actor in Chapter 2,
demanding the play begin right away. A figure in black appears Gringoire attempts to continue the play, relieved when
on the stage and instructs the actor to begin the play, and the Quasimodo and the noisy crowd leave the hall to parade the
audience cheers. The figure identifies himself to a few curious streets. However, the hall is now mostly empty, and even his
women in the audience as Pierre Gringoire, the author of the orchestra has left to accompany the parade. Suddenly one of
play. The play begins, an allegory about nobility, clergy, the remaining youths shouts that "La Esmeralda" has arrived in
commerce, and tillage, but it is soon interrupted by one of the the square to dance. At the end of Chapter 6, one of them
students shouting to point out a beggar perched on top of a absconds with the play's ladder in order to better see
nearby pillar. They play continues after Gringoire, seething, Esmeralda, effectively ending the play.
shouts at the actors to continue. But it is interrupted once
more by the arrival of the Lord Cardinal of Bourbon in Chapter
3. Analysis
In Chapter 4, a hosier, Maître Jacques Coppenole, arrives to Victor Hugo had already written a number of successful plays
join the cardinal and Flemish assembly, and begins speaking to before he wrote The Hunchback of Notre Dame. Some of the
the homeless man nearby, begging for alms. The cardinal, not effects of his playwriting are evident in the opening of the
understanding the commotion but seeing the beggar, instructs novel—he introduces his main characters on the periphery,
the palace bailiff to "throw this scoundrel into the river." letting us see them in action rather than inside of their
Coppenole defends the beggar, claiming that he is a friend of thoughts. The reader's introduction to Quasimodo focuses on
his, which wins Coppenole respect from the crowd. his appearance, as well as how the crowd reacts to it, telling us
in detail how "his whole person was a grimace." Yet the reader
Meanwhile, Gringoire is urging his actors—who have
is given a glimpse into Quasimodo's emotions through the
paused—to start the play over from the beginning, but the
description of his face—a "crowning mixture of malice,
audience's attention is held by the cardinal and the Flemish
astonishment, and sadness." It's significant that Hugo chose to
assembly. The cardinal instructs them to pick up where they
make Quasimodo the "tragic hero" of the novel. Because he is
left off, but Flemish envoys continue to arrive, with the usher
not from the upper class of Parisian society, Hugo breaks
interrupting the play to introduce each one by name. The play
tradition by making the protagonist a disfigured, poor, church-
now seems doomed because the audience is paying more
bell-ringing commoner.
attention to the new arrivals.
With Quasimodo—as well as Pierre Gringoire, the playwright,
Finally, Maître Coppenole stands up and announces that the
and Jehan Frollo, a student in the crowd—Hugo gives a bird's-
play is horrible, boring, and not what he was promised. He
eye view, similar to a camera panning over a large setting and
proposes, instead, a "face-pulling" (making ugly faces) contest
zooming in on certain individuals in the crowd at will, letting
to elect the next fools' pope instead. In an instant, Coppenole's
readers know where to direct their focus. In 1826, just a few
proposal is put into effect, and the competition is held in a
years before Hugo wrote The Hunchback of Notre Dame, the
small chapel across from the stage.
first record of movement in pictures took place thanks to the
The contest begins in Chapter 5, drawing laughter at all the camera obscura; this may have influenced Hugo's writing style.
bizarre faces being made by the contestants who appear one Hugo also introduces the reader to the ceremonies and public
by one in the window to be judged, resembling "a human festivals of 15th-century France, with an emphasis on the
kaleidoscope." The fools' pope is elected, one man having delight and anticipation of citizens surrounding them.
given the ugliest face in the contest. But when the contestant Ceremony and ritual play a large part in these celebrations, as
emerges, the audience realizes that, in fact, his entire face and witnessed by the incessant bell ringing and ceaseless
body are deformed, "like a giant broken in pieces and badly announcements of arriving envoys. The narrator depicts the

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The Hunchback of Notre Dame Study Guide Book Summaries 13

crowd as rowdy, impatient, and boisterous, as well as easily weren't so cold. He decides instead to go to the Place de
distracted. Grève, in the city center, which is holding a bonfire.

Many scholars consider The Hunchback of Notre Dame to be a Gringoire makes his way to the bonfire, which is ringed by so
historical novel because Hugo makes great strides to keep large a crowd that he cannot get close to it. He realizes that
everything from dates to architectural details historically they are there to watch a young girl dancing, and to Gringoire
accurate. Even the dialogue, phrases, and references the she looks like a heavenly vision. A coin falls from her hair, and
characters make resemble the way people in the medieval era Gringoire realizes that she is a gypsy girl, shattering his illusion.
would have spoken. Hugo's detailed architectural description The girl begins to perform some magic tricks with her goat,
of the Palace of Justice introduces the theme of architecture Djali. A man in the crowd who has been solemnly watching
that plays a large role in the novel. This focus on architecture accuses her of witchcraft, which causes an old woman to
also symbolizes the nostalgia that Hugo felt for not only Gothic begin heckling her as well. The girl's performance is
art but for the bygone historical era as well. As the university interrupted yet again by the procession of the fools' pope.
bookseller laments to the king's master-furrier, "It's all those Quasimodo is still being held aloft, looking "both proud and
accursed new inventions that are ruining everything." self-satisfied."

Hugo was greatly interested in France's contemporary politics, Suddenly, the same man who had heckled the gypsy girl darts
having witnessed a recent revolution. In many ways, he uses out and angrily snatches Quasimodo's gilded Fools' Pope
France's medieval past to comment on the pressing issues of badge. Gringoire recognizes the man as Claude Frollo, the
his time, such as the church and the king. In Hugo's time, archdeacon of Notre-Dame Cathedral. Quasimodo leaps from
medieval history was largely scoffed at and considered his litter after the man, but instead of taking his badge back, he
barbaric, and through The Hunchback of Notre Dame, he falls to his knees and bows his head. Quasimodo stands,
wished to disabuse his contemporaries of that notion and warding off the protesters pestering the archdeacon, and
consider the merits of its art, society, and architecture. Hugo is follows him away from the crowd at the end of Chapter 3.
slowly adding the elements needed to build the layered
context in the novel. He weaves together an appreciation for At the beginning of Chapter 4, Gringoire, in turn, begins to

the High Middle Age's accomplishment of the cathedral, follow the gypsy girl, even though he doesn't know why. The

unsurpassed in modern times, and also the loss of the streets grow dark and empty, and the girl begins to grow

cathedral's religious significance and the parallel with French anxious, realizing she is being followed. Gringoire slows down,

society, religion, and politics of his contemporary time. but then hears her give a sharp cry around the bend. He
quickens his pace and sees her struggling with two men trying
to muffle her sounds. Gringoire realizes that one of the men is

Book 2, Chapters 1–7 Quasimodo, who flings him away and takes off, carrying the
girl. Just then a captain of archers of the King's Ordnance
appears, commanding Quasimodo to halt. He snatches the girl
from Quasimodo, who is captured. The girl thanks the captain,
Summary then slides off his horse and runs away.

Gringoire leaves the palace in a bad mood and wanders the Gringoire's wits slowly return after he realizes he has been
streets of Paris alone in Chapter 1. For a while, he stands on shoved into the gutter. At the beginning of Chapter 5, he
the western edge of the city, gazing across the river at an ponders the fact that he believes he also glimpsed the
island across the way where a cow ferryman sleeps at night. archdeacon with Quasimodo and the gypsy girl. Gringoire has
He considers the ferryman lucky because he has no difficulty navigating his way out of the alleys and streets and is
understanding or inclination of what has transpired back in the accosted by beggars and cripples. By Chapter 6, he is
city, nor does he care. But then Gringoire notices the ferryman cornered by a few of them in the Court of Miracles, a city
setting off fireworks in his hut, joining in the city's celebration. square, which is a dangerous place to be at night. The beggars
This upsets Gringoire, who feels he can't get any peace. who have chased him there attempt to rob him, but realizing he
Gazing at the river, he considers drowning himself if only it has no money, they elect to take him to their "king." They bring

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The Hunchback of Notre Dame Study Guide Book Summaries 14

him to a beggar perched atop a barrel in front of a bonfire, who shows the control and power that his master (the archdeacon
asks Gringoire his name. He recognizes the beggar as the of Notre-Dame Cathedral) has over him. Though everyone is
same one who disrupted his play in the Palais de Justice earlier afraid of and intimidated by Quasimodo's appearance, he uses
that day, and he knows him as a man named Clopin Trouillefou. their fear to protect Claude Frollo from the angry crowd. There
Before Gringoire can properly name or defend himself, is a sense of foreboding when Gringoire recognizes Claude
Trouillefou announces that he will be hanged. Gringoire pleads Frollo at the bonfire accusing Esmeralda of witchcraft,
with him, and Trouillefou says that if Gringoire agrees to join because the reader has already sensed that he is a powerful
their kind, he will spare him. Gringoire hastily agrees, swearing and influential man. Although it is unconfirmed, Gringoire hints
to become a cutpurse and truant. Trouillefou says he must it was Claude Frollo who accosted Esmeralda with Quasimodo.
pass a test by pickpocketing a dummy's pocket without any of These glimpses of Claude Frollo are meant to leave the reader
the attached bells ringing. If he doesn't, he'll be hanged. with an uneasy impression of him.
Gringoire fails miserably. Trouillefou makes as if to hang him
but pauses to announce that it is customary "not to hang a man Book 2 also focuses more closely on the characters of Pierre

without asking whether there's a woman who wants him." A Gringoire and Esmeralda, who are thrown together in an

few women turn the prospect down, but Gringoire recognizes unexpected way. The reader only learns about Gringoire's past

the gypsy girl from earlier and shouts her name—Esmeralda. after he is married to Esmeralda—that he was orphaned and

She tells Trouillefou she will take him as her husband. poor for much of his life, and finding himself talented only with
words. Esmeralda is less forthcoming in her history, revealing
Gringoire follows Esmeralda back to her room, watching her only that she has recently come to Paris and that she is also an
closely all the while. In Chapter 7, he marvels at the fact that orphan. She believes in magic, as evidenced by the emerald
"she dealt my mystery its death-glow this morning, she saved amulet she wears around her neck, and she also believes in
my life this evening," and convinces himself she must be madly love. Her rescue of Gringoire at the Court of Miracles also
in love with him. He reaches for her but she pulls out a dagger shows her to be a sympathetic person. Gringoire remains
to defend herself and tells Gringoire that she only married him fascinated by her because her influence on him in the span of a
to save his life. Gringoire promises not to touch her and asks day has changed the course of his life. He notes, "She dealt my
her questions about herself and her life, but Esmeralda's mystery its death-glow this morning, she saved my life this
answers are vague and elusive. Gringoire instead offers her the evening." The description of Esmeralda's physical beauty
story of his past, including how Claude Frollo, the archdeacon stands in stark contrast to the earlier description of
of Notre-Dame Cathedral, taught him to become a scholar. Quasimodo, as she is, by turns, described as a fairy and angel
Esmeralda suddenly drops her bracelet, and as Gringoire leans and her beauty is recounted in great detail.
down to pick it up, she disappears and locks him in the room
from the outside. The scene that takes place at the Court of Miracles reveals
Hugo's fascination with the different levels of Parisian society,
particularly those that live below the surface of society. His
Analysis description of the Court of Miracles seems mythical and
otherworldly, "like some new world, unknown, unprecedented,
The narrator devotes a great deal of Book 2 to describing shapeless, reptilian, teeming, fantastic." The people here are
monuments and the square in Paris that no longer exist in outcasts, struggling to survive by any means possible. Here,
those incarnations, both in order to give the reader history but Hugo shows a "criminal society" with its own courts and laws,
also to ground the setting in its medieval, Gothic era. His "where the boundaries between races and species seemed to
description of the Place de Grève, where the bonfire takes have been abolished, as in a pandemonium." It's important to
place, is significant because it was the site of many public note Gringoire's trial by an underground "king" for trespassing
executions by guillotine. Hugo wants to remind the reader here because he is not one of them; the only alternative he is
about what can happen during political revolutions, because in presented besides being hanged is to become one of them.
the years before Hugo wrote The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Gringoire is ultimately shown compassion by the "king" of the
Paris witnessed a revolution. Court of Miracles, who gives freedom its own set of rules. Even
though the picture that Hugo paints of this society is dark, he
Quasimodo's immediate reaction to seeing Claude Frollo describes it with compassion for their plight as the people on

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The Hunchback of Notre Dame Study Guide Book Summaries 15

the bottom of society. condemning the ways in which architecture has changed since
the 15th century, arguing that the hodgepodge of styles that
have fallen in and out of fashion since then have diluted the
Book 3, Chapters 1–2 beauty of both the city and the church. When Hugo wrote The
Hunchback of Notre Dame in the mid-19th century, the church
of Notre-Dame had fallen into disrepair due to damage inflicted

Summary from the recent revolutions. But Hugo, writing as a Romantic,

took up the cathedral as a symbol of France's forgotten
history. For him, Notre-Dame symbolized the entirety of the
The narrator describes the church of Notre-Dame in great
country's long history, and "each stone of this venerable
detail in Chapter 1, and he conveys feelings of indignation at
monument is a page not only of our country's history, but also
the "numberless degradations and mutilations which time and
of the history of science and architecture." In this light, it can
men have wrought ... on this venerable monument." His praise
be seen as a symbol of the country's unity. The Hunchback of
of its architecture and style extends beyond the church itself
Notre Dame had a profound influence on the way Hugo's
and on to medieval Gothic architecture as a whole, "which
contemporaries saw the forgotten cathedral, sparking a full-
originated in itself." The narrator also describes the church as
scale restoration in the years after the book was published.
being so large and overwhelming as to inspire terror in its
visitors.
Hugo's detailed description of the city of Paris as seen from
the long-gone medieval towers of Notre-Dame places the
According to the narrator, the "ruin" of the church can be
cathedral not only in a central character role but a
attributed to three things: time, political and religious
geographical one as well. To stand in the tower was to be able
revolutions, and architectural fashions—the last of which he
to see every aspect of the city from a bird's-eye view, and even
believes has done the most damage. It is also "a building of
though Hugo's details are exhaustive, he manages to cast the
transition," documenting the changes between Roman and
city into a living, breathing role as well. His description of the
Gothic architecture; it can be read as a reflection of France's
sounds of its ringing church bells paints the city as one pulsing
history, science, and art. The narrator points out that buildings
organism, the sound of "the town singing." Yet for all of his
like the church of Notre-Dame take centuries to complete, and
praise of the history of the city and Notre-Dame, Hugo's
their architecture is often transformed while they are still being
descriptions also serve as a cautionary tale for the future,
constructed.
because "since then, this great town has gone on being
One of the biggest changes in the cathedral from the 15th to disfigured day by day." The Paris that Hugo paints is
the 19th century was its view of Paris from the top of its disappearing quickly, he warns, and future generations will
towers, from which one could see "the big, the small, the likely never even know of its existence.
massive, and the ethereal." Paris at that time was already large
in size, and the narrator uses this information in Chapter 2 to
offer a detailed history of the evolution and growth of the city Book 4, Chapters 1–6
since its beginnings. The narrator describes how the city was
laid out during the 15th century, with three distinct parts—the
city, the university, and the town. The architecture of the city
Summary
was mainly set in the Roman and Gothic styles, which later
gave way to the Renaissance style, which the narrator laments Chapter 1 recounts the story of how Quasimodo came to be at
"is being erased every day." Notre-Dame Cathedral—he was virtually left on its doorstep as
a small child, in a bed that the church allowed people to leave
"foundling" children in to be adopted by the public. Four nuns
Analysis crowd around the bed, commenting on Quasimodo's ugly
appearance; one claims he "ought to be thrown into the water
Book 3 finds Hugo developing both the church of Notre-Dame
or on a fire." The priest Claude Frollo is standing nearby,
and the city of Paris into settings every bit as rich as the book's
listening to the women. He leans over, picks up Quasimodo,
characters. The narrator doesn't shy away from critiquing and

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The Hunchback of Notre Dame Study Guide Book Summaries 16

and announces, "I adopt this child." The women whisper among Claude only grows more austere and strict over the years,
themselves the rumor that Claude Frollo is a sorcerer. forbidding women to enter the church, and his reticent and
cloistered ways lead people to gossip that he is a sorcerer who
The narrator offers some background on Claude Frollo, who practices black magic.
comes from a bourgeoisie, or middle class, family. Chapter 2
explores how his family expected him to become a priest,
teaching him to read Latin, and the narrator offers that he was Analysis
a "sad, serious, and solemn child." By age 16, he had as much
theological knowledge as priests twice his age. When Claude is The citizens of Paris's fixation on Quasimodo's deformed
18, his parents succumb to the plague, leaving his baby brother appearance reveals the medieval belief and suspicion that the
Jehan as his only surviving family member, who he quickly way a person looks reflects something about the state of their
grows attached to and protective of. Claude vows never to inner soul. This belief was examined in Romanticism,
marry or have children but to devote himself to God and his particularly in its Gothic form. The English Romantics would
little brother, and by age 20, he becomes a priest. have appreciated Hugo's using Quasimodo to break from the
view that inward beauty reflects outwardly. People like
In Chapter 3, the novel skips ahead to its present day, in 1482,
Quasimodo in the late Middle Ages were rejected by the
and shows Quasimodo grown up. He is the bell ringer at Notre-
general population, but they were somewhat respected, too,
Dame, and Claude Frollo has become archdeacon. Quasimodo
because it was believed they had taken the sins of society into
knows little of the world outside Notre-Dame, cut off by his
their bodies, drawing the wrath of God to them instead of their
lack of outside family as well as public reactions to his
peers. Groups of lepers went from town to town ringing bells. It
deformity. The narrator also notes that there was "a sort of
was important to offer them alms as they passed through,
mysterious harmony" between Quasimodo and the church, as
drawing with them the corruptions of sins. For the modern
when he was small he resembled a "native reptile" as he
reader, their treatment of Quasimodo calls into question the
crawled all over the floors. As he grows up, the church begins
issue of nature versus nurture—does Quasimodo become
to feel like a shell that encases him, and there is no corner of it
vicious because of the way he is treated and seen, or was he
that he doesn't know intimately. The church affects his hearing;
born with that temperament? The narrator remarks that "the
he goes completely deaf by the age of 14 from his bell ringing.
spirit must atrophy in a misbegotten body." Yet he also notes
His deafness causes him even more isolation and depression.
that Quasimodo "had picked up the weapon with which he had
He decides to never speak so that others won't have another
been wounded." Hugo seems to bring up the idea that, in a
reason to ridicule him. The narrator observes that his
way, Quasimodo is only mirroring back to people the way that
deformities and afflictions affect him in other ways as well—he
they treat him, and in this way, he is a product of society's
has a hard time accurately perceiving the outside world, and it
influence and fears. The narrator paints Quasimodo in a
makes him respond viciously to society's cruelty.
sympathetic light as well, given how deeply he loves the
Quasimodo's only friends and confidantes are the church's architecture of the church and its bells. The only way he is able
statues, with whom he spends hours in solitary conversation. to communicate freely and without judgment is through his bell
His only true love is the church bells, even though they are the ringing—even though the citizens treat him horribly, he is a part
cause of his deafness. For the churchgoers, Quasimodo's of their lives all the same and provides them with this particular
presence has the effect of making "the vast edifice breathe," pleasure in their lives.
as though he alone was bringing it to life. The narrator notes
The narrator also presents Claude Frollo in a more complex
that after Quasimodo's death, the church felt as though "the
light. His compassion and caring for both Quasimodo and
spirit had left it." The only person he truly loves more than the
Jehan reveal that he does feel love and responsibility, but he
church is Claude Frollo, who raised him.
has no real outlets other than prayer for his frustrations and
In Chapter 5, the narrator explains how Claude Frollo's other worries about Jehan, which leads him to dabble in alchemy out
charge, his young brother Jehan, is a different story. Whereas of fascination and curiosity, a pull to the dark side. It's notable
Quasimodo is obedient and loyal to Claude, Jehan is "a real that the two people Frollo cares for most in the world are very
devil and quite unruly," much to Claude's disappointment. different—Quasimodo is loyal and obedient, whereas Jehan is
rebellious and disobedient. This sets up an interesting tension

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The Hunchback of Notre Dame Study Guide Book Summaries 17

between his two "sons" that will find him failing each of them in The narrator pauses the story in Chapter 2 to examine
some way. With Jehan, Claude has spoiled him greatly out of Claude's claim that "the book will kill the building." He believes
guilt over their parents' death, paving the way for Jehan to take that Claude is alarmed by the development of the printing
advantage of Claude. With Quasimodo, Claude is partly press, meaning that people will no longer need to go through
responsible for the fact that Quasimodo becomes deaf from priests in order to access information and a path to God. It
bell ringing, adding to his alienation from the world. means for Claude "the press will kill the church." Yet in another
sense, Claude also seems to believe that the art of the book
The passage about Quasimodo's relationship with the church will kill the art of architecture, because up until this point
shows the harmony between him and the building and the "architecture was the great book of mankind," able to express
ways in which they are inextricably linked, becoming one in all of a civilization's beliefs, and it evolved alongside the human
both form and nature. The narrator notes that "so deep was mind, mirroring its breakthroughs and deaths. The narrator
the instinctive sympathy between the old church and himself, believes that this is because each generation wants "to move
so numerous the magnetic and material affinities, that he others, and to leave some trace," or influence. Buildings are
somehow adhered to it like the tortoise to its shell." It's a sad also harder to destroy than books, and so their influence can
irony that it is the very bells that bring him so much joy to ring be more enduring. But in the 15th century, everything changed,
have stolen his hearing from him, rendering him even more because humans discovered a way to disseminate information
isolated from the world outside. They are his only way to and influence on a wider scale—with books—and so
communicate, yet his deafness from them also protects him "architecture was dethroned." The invention of books also
from having to hear the cruel remarks passersby throw at him. changed the way that humans expressed themselves. With
books, information was now ubiquitous, or ever-present, a
living thing. Because of the ease of creating a book, the
Book 5, Chapters 1–2 narrator finds it no surprise that humans have abandoned
architecture for the printing press, which has produced a new
"Tower of Babel" of human knowledge.
Summary
At the beginning of Chapter 1, Claude Frollo receives an Analysis
unexpected visit one evening from the king's physician,
Jacques Coictier, and his companion, a stranger. Claude It's not surprising that Claude Frollo would have established a
humors the physician with compliments and pleasantries, and reputation among other scholars and physicians for his wealth
finally Coictier introduces his companion as a colleague, of knowledge, but it is surprising that the king himself would
Compère Tourangeau, who wished to meet Claude and ask pay him a visit in order to seek medical advice. The king's
him for medical advice. Claude dismisses his request, as he physician clearly sees Claude's ideas as far-fetched and crazy,
doesn't believe in medicine, and Coictier whispers to his calling him a "madman." But his dismissal of Claude reveals
companion that he warned him Claude was "a madman." that the physician may be jealous of Claude's knowledge,
Tourangeau asks Claude what he does believe in, and Claude particularly because the king is so impressed by his ideas and
replies in Latin that he believes in God. Claude admits that takes him on as an adviser.
when it comes to science, he only believes in alchemy.
The interaction between Claude, the king, and the king's
Tourangeau asks Claude which books he studies from, and
physician serves in large part to introduce the author's ideas
Claude gestures to the church itself and says, "here is one of
about the history and influence of architecture and its death at
them." Finally, he points to a book on his table and sighs, saying
the hands of the printing press. Through Claude, the narrator
books will "kill" the church someday. With this, Coictier and
expresses the anxiety that goes with change; books having
Tourangeau agree that Claude is indeed mad. But Tourangeau
replaced architecture as the main form of human expression
is impressed by Claude and reveals himself to be none other
and influence. Once upon a time, a building expressed the
than King Louis XI. He asks Claude to come visit him, which
story of its particular civilization and other arts grew alongside
expands Claude's influence over the king.
to support it, such as painting and sculpture, so "during the
world's first six thousand years ... architecture was the great

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The Hunchback of Notre Dame Study Guide Book Summaries 18

script of the human race." And though a building is as merely gives his name, causing the audience to laugh again.
immovable as a mountain, its size is also its downfall; it can be Quasimodo continues to give the right answers to the wrong
destroyed and doesn't have far-reaching effects. Books, on the questions, now infuriating the provost. He demands that the
other hand, are easy to make and easy to spread from one serjeants take Quasimodo to the Place de Grève to beat him as
place to the next, so their influence is greater. punishment. Finally, a lone clerk speaks up to inform the
auditor that Quasimodo is deaf—but the auditor, of course,
Hugo uses this chapter to establish the novel as a history as cannot hear him. The auditor thinks the clerk is complaining
much as it is fiction, providing philosophical commentary at about Quasimodo's behavior, so he assigns him an extra hour
length on the architecture of different civilizations and how of punishment.
they mirrored the growth of each particular society. And while
the narrator laments the loss of architecture as the main form At the Place de Grève, trash from the holiday is strewn about
of communication through art, he acknowledges that the birth the square. In Chapter 2, the narrator describes the cell that
of the printing press ushered the world and humanity into a occupies a corner of the square, which had been erected 300
new, modern era in which information and ideas are easier to years earlier as a sort of "living tomb" by a woman in mourning
access. He notes that "the human mind discovered a means of who chose to spend the rest of her days praying in it. This kind
perpetuating itself which was ... more lasting and resistant than of confinement was common in medieval cities, and most of
architecture." the cells were occupied at all times by penitents or lepers.
Near the cell at the Place de Grève in Chapter 3, three women
and a boy pass by, hurrying in order to make it to Quasimodo's
Book 6, Chapters 1–5 public punishment in time. The women gossip about the
pillories they have seen and about the visiting Flemish
ambassadors who attended the mystery play. They are

Summary interrupted by the sight of a crowd gathered around

Esmeralda, who is dancing. The boy's mother, Mahiette, is
afraid she will steal her child, and the other woman observes
The narrator notes that the year 1842 found many
that the Recluse who lives in the cell now holds the same belief
appointments and dismissals of posts by the king, Louis XI,
about gypsies.
who was "intent on preserving the elasticity of his power." The
narrator describes in detail one such appointment, that of
Mahiette tells the story of Paquette La Chantefleurie, a young
Robert d'Estouteville, who became the king's Provost of Paris.
woman who fell into disrepute as a girl by becoming a
The action in Chapter 1 focuses on this particular January
prostitute. She gave birth to a daughter, whom she adored and
morning, the day after the festivals, when Robert found himself
lavished with attention. Not long after, a band of gypsies
in an awful mood that the narrator hints is because he is an ill-
arrived near the outskirts of town, and Chantefleurie paid them
tempered man in general. He is also meant to preside as a
a visit to get her fortune told. After she returned home, her
judge over Quasimodo's hearing at the Grand Châtelet, which
daughter was stolen from her bed while Chantefleurie visited
has begun without him. In the audience is Jehan Frollo, who
with a neighbor. After searching the town all day, Chantefleurie
provides a running commentary on the action to his friend.
returned home to find a different child in her bed—a disfigured
boy with one eye—which her neighbors claim the gypsies had
Quasimodo finally enters the courtroom under heavy guard,
left. By the time Chantefleurie returned to the gypsies'
silent and calm. The auditor—who happens to also be deaf and
encampment, they were gone. Days later, a search party only
trying to keep it secret—begins to interrogate Quasimodo. But
found a fire, ribbons from Chantefleurie's baby, and drops of
Quasimodo can't hear the questions being asked of him and
blood. Soon after, her hair turned gray and she vanished from
the auditor can't hear his silence, and he continues questioning
the town. One of the women asks Mahiette what became of
Quasimodo as though he were providing answers. The
the little boy who was left by the gypsies, and Mahiette tells
audience begins to whisper and laugh, infuriating the auditor,
them that the archbishop took him in and sent him to Paris to
who is convinced Quasimodo has said something insulting.
be left as a foundling at Notre-Dame—a story very similar to
Finally, the provost, Robert, enters and takes over the
Quasimodo's.
questioning. Quasimodo still doesn't understand, and so he

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The Hunchback of Notre Dame Study Guide Book Summaries 19

The women make their way to the Recluse's cell to leave her a indication that he is alone.
cake they brought. The sight of the Recluse in her freezing cell
moves and repulses the women, though she seems unaware of The author doesn't spare the crowd in his critique of medieval

them. Mahiette moves her head into the window to take a punishment and torture because they only attend it as a

closer look, and when she sees the Recluse's eyes are fixed on spectacle and vehicle for their own hatred for Quasimodo's

a baby shoe, she begins to cry; she suddenly recognizes her as difference. The narrator points out that "he was being pilloried

Paquette la Chantefleurie. The women offer her the cake but on the self-same square where the day before he had been

she refuses it. Then the Recluse hears the sounds of saluted," showing how fickle the crowd's attention is before

Esmeralda dancing nearby, and she curses her for being a any kind of spectacle. Quasimodo's torture by whipping is

gypsy. hardly over before the crowd begins to stone him with rocks,
and not even Claude comes to his aid or defense—even though
Chapter 4 begins at the pillory, where a crowd continues to Quasimodo's hope when he sees him in the crowd is
gather in anticipation of Quasimodo's punishment. Quasimodo heartbreaking, and more so because Claude is likely just as
arrives, bound with ropes, and the narrator observes how only guilty as Quasimodo. It's easy for the reader to forget at this
the day before he had been carried through the square, lauded point that Quasimodo was put on trial for attempting to kidnap
as the Fools' Pope. Quasimodo is stripped of his shirt, and the Esmeralda, but for the reader who remembers the fact that
crowd laughs at his misshapen body. The torturer arrives and she seems to be the only person to offer him any compassion
lashes him with a whip. Quasimodo remains impassive despite reinforces the depth of her character. Esmeralda, the much-
the fact that he begins to bleed from his wounds. The crowd maligned gypsy, is the only person in the crowd who
hurls insults at him, led by Jehan and his friends. demonstrates any kindness, forgiveness, or sympathy—and
she extends it to a man who society shuns and someone who,
Suddenly Claude Frollo arrives, and Quasimodo's expression from her perspective, tried to harm her. Hugo intends to induce
changes to one of tenderness. But once Claude comes close the same sympathy for Quasimodo from the reader because,
enough to see that it is Quasimodo who is being punished, he at this point, Quasimodo begins to take on the qualities of a
turns around and leaves. Quasimodo then begs for a drink of tragic hero, suffering his unjust punishment in silence.
water, but the crowd only renews their hatred, pelting him with
stones. Esmeralda suddenly appears with her goat. She climbs Hugo links Esmeralda and Quasimodo in more than one way in
the ladder to the platform of the pillory. She leans over this chapter, thanks to the story that Mahiette tells about
Quasimodo and raises a cup of water to his lips, and he sheds Paquette La Chantefleurie. It seems a strange coincidence that
a tear at her kindness. Quasimodo tries to kiss her hand but the Recluse, with her hatred for gypsies, would be the same
she withdraws, frightened; Quasimodo stares at her with Paquette La Chantefleurie who discovered the child
sadness. From the cell nearby, the Recluse continues to shout Quasimodo in her bed to replace her daughter, but it heightens
curses at Esmeralda, who leaves quickly. the sense of fate in the novel. The narrator also seems to hint
that her missing daughter may, in fact, be Esmeralda, making it
a tragic irony that Chantefleurie detests gypsies.
Analysis
The author uses Quasimodo's trial to provide a sarcastic, Book 7, Chapters 1–8
darkly funny commentary on the medieval justice system. The
judge can hardly be bothered to show up, and the auditor is a
deaf man—who pretends he can hear—who sentences another
deaf man for a crime he did not commit. If the outcome were
Summary
not so tragic as to lead to Quasimodo's torture, it would be
Several weeks later, a group of girls can be seen across from
comical. The auditor's treatment of Quasimodo only goes to
Notre-Dame Cathedral in an ornate house. They laugh and talk
show that he is judged harshly by his appearance and is hardly
while they work on needlepoint. One of the girls, Demoiselle
afforded a fair trial. Here, Quasimodo is not only condemned
Fleur-de-Lys de Gondelaurier, is engaged to be married to a
for his appearance by individuals but by the government as
young man named Phoebus, who is also on the balcony. He
well. The fact that no one comes to his defense is only further

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The Hunchback of Notre Dame Study Guide Book Summaries 20

does not appear to be in love with his betrothed. While Fleur- this information, and Pierre tells him that they have not
de-Lys's mother doesn't seem to pick up on that fact, Fleur-de- consummated their marriage due to a superstition that
Lys seems to understand that he doesn't have feelings for her. Esmeralda believes. She must remain virtuous in order to be
reunited with her parents. She wears an amulet around her
Outside on the street, the girls hear the sound of Esmeralda's neck to remind her of the prophecy.
tambourine, and they run to the balcony to watch her dance in
the street. Fleur-de-Lys asks Phoebus if Esmeralda is the Chapter 4 begins a few weeks later, when Jehan sets out to
same gypsy girl he rescued from being kidnapped by visit his brother, Claude Frollo, at the church. When he arrives,
Quasimodo, and he recognizes Esmeralda immediately Claude is in his secret room in the tower that no one is ever
because of her goat companion, Djali. One of the other girls allowed to enter. Jehan is excited by the prospect of catching
notices a man in black at the top of the Notre-Dame Cathedral his brother in the secret room. Jehan has heard many rumors
tower who is watching Esmeralda intently, and Fleur-de-Lys about Claude practicing sorcery. Jehan enters the tower and
recognizes him as the archdeacon Claude Frollo. spies on Claude, who is talking aloud to himself, clearly
preoccupied by thoughts of Esmeralda. Jehan is surprised to
Fleur-de-Lys asks Phoebus to invite Esmeralda up. He calls see Claude behaving so emotionally because he has only ever
down to her, and she recognizes him as the officer who witnessed his brother's "austere and icy exterior." Jehan then
rescued her and who she fell in love with in that moment. When pretends he is entering the room for the first time. Claude
she comes upstairs, the girls are in awe of her because of her launches into a disapproving lecture about Jehan's recent
uncommon beauty, but they also feel intimidated by her, behavior, even though Jehan tries to impress him with his
sensing she is a threat to them in their bid for Phoebus's scholarly knowledge in order to squeeze money from him. The
attention. Phoebus relaxes around Esmeralda, which makes brothers bicker back and forth until another visitor arrives, and
Fleur-de-Lys jealous. The other girls begin to make fun of her Claude demands Jehan hide under the stove and promise to
clothes. Esmeralda doesn't react but gazes tenderly at "never speak about what [he's] seen and heard here." The
Phoebus instead. visitor is revealed in Chapter 5. He is Maître Jacques
Charmolue, and it becomes clear that he and Claude are
Esmeralda's goat enters the apartment, distracting the girls
practicing sorcery together, working on experiments to make
who want it to perform. Fleur-de-Lys notices the leather sachet
gold. Charmolue and Claude are in cahoots politically. They are
hanging from the goat's neck, and she asks Esmeralda what it
both on the Ecclesiastical Court, and Claude has asked
contains, but Esmeralda tells her it is her secret. Phoebus
Charmolue to arrest Esmeralda for witchcraft. But right now,
implores Esmeralda to stay, and while she is distracted, Fleur-
he wants Charmolue to hold off on their plan. While they
de-Lys's friend empties the sachet, which has blocks inside
discuss the magician they are torturing, Marc Cenaine, really to
with letters of the alphabet painted on them. The clever goat
wheedle his magic secrets, Claude becomes fixated on
arranges them into the name P-h-o-e-b-u-s—a trick Esmeralda
watching a spider in the window kill a fly. He sees himself as
taught the goat. Fleur-de-Lys faints, and Esmeralda runs out
the spider and Esmeralda as the fly, and he believes they share
with Djali. Phoebus follows her, and Chapter 1 ends.
the same fate as the insects. Claude and Charmolue leave the
Chapter 2 circles back to the north tower of Notre-Dame, tower, and Jehan follows not long after.
where Claude watches Esmeralda intently from his vantage
Back in the square, Jehan encounters Phoebus, and Claude
point. He notices a man in the crowd who seems to be her
overhears them, recognizing Phoebus's name from his
companion and grows curious, making his way down to the
conversation with Gringoire about Esmeralda's preoccupation
square to investigate. He passes Quasimodo, who is also
with him. Claude follows them at a distance and overhears
gazing at Esmeralda down below. Down in the square, Claude
Phoebus bragging about how Esmeralda is meeting him for a
recognizes Esmeralda's companion to be none other than
tryst that evening. Phoebus and Jehan enter a tavern, and
Pierre Gringoire, the director of the mystery play. Claude asks
Claude disguises himself so he can hover outside and follow
Pierre how he has come to be a street performer, and Pierre
them once they leave. He overhears Phoebus say he plans to
tells him he is just trying to make a living. Claude also asks him
take Esmeralda to a hotel room. Jehan passes out drunk in a
how he has come to know Esmeralda, and Pierre reveals that
bush, and Claude continues to follow Phoebus, finally
they are husband and wife. Claude grows agitated with him at
approaching him. Phoebus wonders at first if he is being

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The Hunchback of Notre Dame Study Guide Book Summaries 21

robbed and attempts to dissuade Claude Frollo. Claude glimpse into Claude's inner life. It reveals how different he is
startles Phoebus by saying his name and how he knows of his out of the public eye—he believes in sorcery and fate rather
plans with Esmeralda. Then he accuses Phoebus of lying about than the God he professes to preach for. His belief that his fate
Esmeralda, offering Phoebus money to prove he is telling the is intertwined with Esmeralda's in the same way a spider's is
truth by hiding him in a room next to their hotel room so Claude with a fly's shows he believes it his destiny to be with her no
Frollo can see it is truly Esmeralda with Phoebus. matter what, and therefore he feels justified in doing whatever
it takes to "trap" her in his web. His writing the Greek word
In Chapter 8, Phoebus hides Claude in an adjacent room with a anatkh on the wall reintroduces the concept of fatality, begun
hole in the wall, and Claude watches Phoebus and Esmeralda in the novel's preface, and hints that Claude is already plotting
enter. Esmeralda tells Phoebus she feels what she is doing is a way to get rid of Phoebus. Even though Hugo hints at the
wrong but she loves him. Phoebus reassures her he loves her, workings of sorcery and black magic, every "spell" Claude
too, but he can hardly even pronounce her name. Phoebus attempts seems to be a failure—but they add to his sense of
begins to undress her, but Esmeralda panics when her amulet mystery and intrigue.
reminds her she must remain chaste if she is to be reunited
with her parents one day. Finally, she relents, longing to feel Esmeralda's professed love for Phoebus shows itself to be
loved by Phoebus. But then she sees Claude's face and his misguided because he can hardly pronounce her name and is
dagger, for he has broken down the door and begins to stab clearly only telling her what she wants to hear so that she will
Phoebus. Esmeralda faints, and when she comes to, Phoebus sleep with him. It also reveals how childlike she remains,
is dead and Claude is gone. Police now fill the room, accusing innocent to Phoebus's true intentions. In many ways, Phoebus
her of stabbing Phoebus because Claude's dagger remains. is a foil to Quasimodo—he is physically and socially his
opposite—full of good looks and charm; but a closer look at his
personality reveals Phoebus for the manipulative and cruel
Analysis man he really is.

Esmeralda's interactions with Fleur-de-Lys and her friends

reinforces the theme of appearances in the novel, because Book 8, Chapters 1–6
Fleur-de Lys and her friends are from the upper-class,
aristocratic part of society. They use their position and status
to try to intimidate Esmeralda, whose beauty they feel
threatened by. The only weapon they have to wield is to treat
Summary
her as an object instead of a real person with feelings, and so
Back at the Court of Miracles, a month has passed, and no one
they set out to humiliate her.
has seen Esmeralda. Gringoire is thrown into sadness, missing

In many ways, Claude reveals himself to be the silent, all- Esmeralda and her goat, Djali. One day, he happens across the

seeing "eye" of Paris as he spies on Esmeralda from his tower Palais de Justice while a case is being tried against a woman

and listens in on Jehan and Phoebus's conversation. This for murdering an officer. Gringoire makes his way to the

chapter fleshes out Claude's role as the possible villain of the chamber, hoping to distract himself. An old woman, La

novel, particularly the way in which he hides behind his Falourdel, is offering her testimony. She is the old woman who

priesthood in order not to be caught or judged. His attempts to owns the boarding room where Phoebus and Esmeralda met

use religious ideologies to get information about Esmeralda out the night he was stabbed. She describes how that evening she

of Pierre shows he is willing to abandon his ideals in order to heard a scream not long after letting them in, and saw a

manipulate people for information. He pretends he is "phantom monk" jump out the window and into the river.

concerned for the state of Pierre's soul, telling him that

Hearing Phoebus's name mentioned, Esmeralda suddenly
touching Esmeralda will "make [him] into Satan's vassal," but it
stands up in the court and Gringoire is shocked. She asks the
becomes clear that Claude, in fact, wants sole possession of
court desperately whether Phoebus is still alive. The president
Esmeralda.
of the court informs her that he is dying. The court brings in

Jehan's intrusion into Claude's secret tower gives the reader a Djali the goat as the "second accused" and proceeds to

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The Hunchback of Notre Dame Study Guide Book Summaries 22

interrogate the animal by testing its prowess for magic tricks. ends.
The narrator observes, "Nothing was simpler in those days
than to bring an animal to trial for witchcraft." Esmeralda hardly Chapter 6 begins with the narrator mentioning that Phoebus

pays attention, bereft at the news of Phoebus, but when has not, in fact, died. He is alive and recovering nearby and

questioned, she vehemently denies having stabbed him and confused as to what actually transpired with Esmeralda and

says the attacker was a priest who has pursued her. the phantom monk who followed him there. After a few
months, he has returned to Fleur-de-Lys's house, where she
In Chapter 2, Esmeralda is led from the courtroom into a small scolds him and questions him about his long absence from her.
chamber filled with torture instruments. Charmolue informs her He lies and says he was wounded in a fight. Phoebus notices a
that if she continues to deny her guilt, they will have to crowd gathering at Notre-Dame, and Fleur-de-Lys informs him
question her "more insistently." She denies their accusations, a witch is going to make amends in the square before she is
though she is clearly terrified. They have placed a boot on her hanged. A wagon carrying Esmeralda makes its way through
and threaten to crush her leg with it. Charmolue signals for the the crowd, and upon seeing her Phoebus grows pale. Claude,
torture to begin, and Esmeralda cries out, confessing to part of the service and prayers, approaches Esmeralda. While
everything they accuse her of. Charmolue regretfully informs he loudly asks her if she has asked for God's pardon, he
her that, by confessing, she will be sentenced to death. whispers to her that he can still save her if she will have him.
Esmeralda is brought back into the court and she weeps, She curses him, and he repeats that Phoebus is dead. But at
begging the court to kill her quickly. In Chapter 3, the judges the same moment he lifts his gaze to Fleur-de-Lys's balcony
hand her a sentence—to be publicly hanged. and sees Phoebus standing there. Moments later as she is
being carted away, Esmeralda catches a glimpse of Phoebus,
The narrator begins Chapter 4 by explaining how dark and she cries out his name.
dungeons were in the Middle Ages. Then Esmeralda is brought
to a dungeon jail cell below the Palais de Justice, and her Up in the gallery of statues, no one has noticed Quasimodo has
isolation causes her to lose all sense of time passing. One day, hung a rope over the entrance steps, which he uses to slide
she wakes to find a hooded man standing in front of her, and down, knock the executioners over, and swiftly grab Esmeralda
he tells her he is a priest. He tells her that she is to die and swing back inside the church with her in his arms, shouting
tomorrow and instructs her to follow him. The priest removes "Asylum!" The crowd begins to chant along with him while the
his hood—it is Claude Frollo, who she recognizes as Phoebus's executioners stand helplessly by—the church is indeed a place
killer. Esmeralda begins weeping and asks him why he has of refuge that they cannot cross to retrieve her. The crowd
tortured her for so long. Claude replies that he loves her, and cheers Quasimodo on, "for at that moment Quasimodo was
tells her the story of how he came to love her after seeing her genuinely beautiful ... as he stood facing the society from which
dance in the church square. He explains that this is why he he had been banished."
attempted to abduct her with Quasimodo, and why he had her
arrested by the official—in prison, she could not escape him.
He begs her to have pity on him and to run away with him, even Analysis
if she hates him. Esmeralda asks him what has become of
Phoebus, and Claude tells her that he is dead. She screams at Esmeralda's trial mirrors Quasimodo's in many ways—she is
him to leave, cursing him. Slowly Claude leaves her in the not given an opportunity to defend herself, only to admit her
dungeon, shocked. guilt. The system of judges and officials seems rigged in much
the same way, and geared toward providing a public display of
Back at the Recluse's cell in the Place de Grève, she continues punishment. The prosecutors have no evidence of Esmeralda's
to fixate on the shoe of her lost baby. She overhears a boy guilt, and so they focus on charges of witchcraft involving her
outside exclaim that a gypsy is going to be hanged today, and goat. It is tragic that the very magic tricks that dazzled the
she asks a priest standing near her cell if that is true. He crowds are condemned as sorcery and used against her for a
confirms that it is, and she tells him how much she hates one crime she didn't commit. Their method of torture to extract
particular gypsy, a girl who would be her daughter's age if she information is also barbaric—the only information they get is a
had lived, and the priest tells her that it is that girl who is to be lie. Between the two trials, Hugo seems to be offering a
hanged—Esmeralda. The Recluse is delighted, and Chapter 5 commentary on medieval punishments as savage, cruel, and

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The Hunchback of Notre Dame Study Guide Book Summaries 23

inept at yielding the true facts. vows, chastity, and belief in science and religion are useless
and futile. When he thinks about how the crowd in front of the
The symbolic imagery of the spider and the fly continues in this cathedral was able to see Esmeralda nearly naked, he feels
chapter as Esmeralda is ensnared in a trap set in motion by crazed with jealousy. He ponders what their lives would have
Claude to get closer to her, even if she is tortured in the been like if he wasn't a priest and she wasn't a gypsy, and feels
process. Hugo shows how believing in fate leads Claude to despair over what could have been.
avoid taking responsibility for his actions. Claude feels that he
is "fated" to ensnare Esmeralda in his web, so he is blinded to Wandering the streets of Paris distracted and tormented,
the fact that he is causing everything to happen. Claude peers into the lit window of a house and sees his
brother Jehan laughing with a prostitute. He hides from Jehan
Hugo is building the tragic irony to come: the Recluse looks to avoid being seen, then returns to the cathedral.
forward to watching Esmeralda be hanged publicly because of Overwhelmed by grief at the thought that Esmeralda is now
her hatred of gypsies and her projection of the loss of her dead, he collapses inside, until he gathers the strength to look
daughter (who is, in fact, Esmeralda) onto her. Both mother for Quasimodo. His lamp goes out and he sees a shadow
and daughter are locked inside of prison cells so near to each appear, a woman, and beside her, a goat. It's Esmeralda, but
other—one by her own making and one by mistake. Both seem Claude believes he is seeing her spirit.
to be victims of fated "traps" in this way.
In Chapter 2, the narrator provides some background on the
The loophole that Quasimodo finds in order to rescue concept of asylum in the Middle Ages—nearly every town in
Esmeralda from execution comes as a surprise to most France had such a place of refuge from the law. The asylum
modern readers—the notion that the sanctuary of the church becomes "just as much a prison as the other," because if the
could overpower the rule of law. The separation of church and offender leaves, they will be caught. At Notre-Dame Cathedral,
state were complete in this era as the church held its own a cell was built for the purpose of housing a refugee from the
jurisdiction over its property. Many convicts sought refuge in law, and this is where Quasimodo leads Esmeralda. Esmeralda,
churches, with many never leaving the building until their death. frightened and confused, asks Quasimodo why he rescued her,
but he can't understand her because he is deaf. He brings her
Quasimodo and Esmeralda are once again thrown together,
his own mattress to sleep on and his own dinner for her to eat.
and in their contrast the reader also finds a great deal of
He realizes his appearance frightens her so he tells her not to
similarity in their sense of compassion and kindness. The
look at him but to listen to him: don't ever leave the church or
narrator notes that "at that moment Quasimodo was genuinely
they will both be killed. Then he vanishes.
beautiful ... as he stood facing the society from which he had
been banished." The contradiction is not lost on the reader. Esmeralda wakes the next morning to Quasimodo watching
Quasimodo once again finds himself in the good graces of the over her, but she is still frightened by his appearance. He
fickle crowd despite the fact only weeks earlier they were moves behind a wall, sad that she can't bear to look at him. She
egging on his public torture. They have also treated Esmeralda grabs him by the arm to reassure him he can stay, moved by
in much the same way, seeing her plight as a spectacle rather his gentleness. He tells her he is deaf and that he has never felt
than the suffering of a real human being. so ugly as right now before her. He also tells her that he
rescued her because she showed him kindness that day at the
pillory, despite the fact that he was her attacker. He gives her a
Book 9, Chapters 1–6 whistle and tells her to blow into it if she needs him.

Days go by and Esmeralda begins to feel hopeful and safe. In

Summary Chapter 4, the narrator explains she still thinks of Phoebus and
mourns that they can't be together—she naively believes he
loves her. One day, she spies Phoebus in the cathedral square
Claude doesn't witness Quasimodo's rescue of Esmeralda, as
and calls out his name, heartbroken to see him. Quasimodo
he has escaped to get away from the spectacle and his
tells Esmeralda he will go fetch him for her if she wishes. He
emotions. But he can't escape his thoughts and is haunted by
goes down to the square but Phoebus has disappeared into
the idea of what he has done to Esmeralda. He feels that his

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The Hunchback of Notre Dame Study Guide Book Summaries 24

Fleur-de-Lys's house, so he waits. Finally, Phoebus and Fleur- and so his obsession with her continues even beyond her
de-Lys emerge on the balcony above, and Quasimodo is struck supposed death and leads him to the brink of insanity, laughing
with bitterness as he watches their romance because he feels to himself as he roams the streets. Rather than grieve for her
doomed to never experience it. Phoebus leaves, and as he or feel shame at what his actions have brought about, he is
does Quasimodo gets his attention and asks him to follow him. more tortured by the fact that the spectators may have seen
When Phoebus resists, Quasimodo tells him it is Esmeralda her naked, which makes him jealous.
who wants to see him. Phoebus is startled and unsettled
because he assumed Esmeralda had been hanged, and he The slowly budding kinship between Quasimodo and

rides away from Quasimodo into the night. Esmeralda continues to demonstrate that while they may be
physical opposites, they share a similar kindness and
Quasimodo returns to the cathedral and tells Esmeralda he gentleness in their souls. Even though Quasimodo's
couldn't find Phoebus. She is disappointed and Quasimodo appearance repulses Esmeralda, she recognizes in him a
ceases to visit her, yet he still continues to do small acts of similar spirit of friendliness and compassion, and this makes
kindness for her when she's not looking. He leaves her flowers her contemplate him in a new light. Sadly, Esmeralda's
and sings to her, and one night she discovers him sleeping just yearning for Phoebus when she spies him in the square only
outside her door. Meanwhile in Chapter 5, Claude discovers reinforces Quasimodo's belief that he can only be lovable if he
that Esmeralda has lived, and in shock he cloisters himself in is not deformed.
his tower for weeks. From his tower he can see Esmeralda and
Quasimodo and grows jealous of their relationship. One night, The tense scene between Esmeralda, Claude, and Quasimodo

feeling particularly tortured, he breaks into her cell and slips shows the conflict that Quasimodo must face in defending

into her bed, begging her to love him and forcing himself upon her—he is too deferential to Claude due to his upbringing and

her. Desperate and frantic Esmeralda gropes for Quasimodo's so he is unable to hurt him or punish him in any way.

whistle on the floor and blows it. Instantly Quasimodo is upon

Claude, but when he recognizes him he lets him go, deferent.
He tells Claude he can do what he wants but he will have to kill Book 10, Chapters 1–7
Quasimodo first, and hands him his knife. Claude escapes back
to his tower, more determined than ever that no one will have
Esmeralda. Summary
Back at his tower, Claude finds Jehan waiting for him. Jehan
Analysis tells him he wants to begin leading a better and more honest,
honorable life—but in order to do that, he once again needs
Much of Hugo's description of Paris in the 16th century would money. When Claude refuses, Jehan tells him that he will make
have been surprising to his 19th-century readers, who could money by becoming a criminal. Jehan begins to leave, but
hardly envision their city as farmland and pastures. Along with Claude runs after him and throws him a purse full of money.
Hugo's criticism of the decline of medieval architecture, he also
wants to make clear the impact of the Industrial Revolution on In Chapter 1 at the Court of Miracles, Gringoire learns that
the landscape of Paris with its advent of factories and Esmeralda was rescued and has taken asylum at Notre-Dame
smokestacks and wider streets. The French (and English) Cathedral, and though he is glad to hear it, he is not tempted to
Romantics were repulsed by the effects of the Industrial visit her. One day, he is astonished when he receives a visit
Revolution: its impacts on nature, its ruin of beautiful buildings, from Claude, who looks dramatically different—his hair has
and its degradation of human laborers. In some ways, the turned white and his eyes are sunken. As they speak, Claude
Industrial Revolution subsumed Romanticism's ideals with its catches a glimpse of Phoebus riding by and asks Gringoire if
focus on materialism. he feels envious of men like him. Gringoire replies that he'd
rather be philosophical and independent, even if he were
Claude's reaction to believing that Esmeralda is dead further dressed in rags. Claude abruptly informs Gringoire that
indicates his selfish, sadistic behavior. He believes that destiny Esmeralda is to be hanged in three days, but he thinks
"smashed them together mercilessly one against the other," Gringoire can help save her by coming to the church and

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The Hunchback of Notre Dame Study Guide Book Summaries 25

disguising Esmeralda in his clothes so that she can be before the king—one is Pierre Gringoire. Gringoire begs for
smuggled out. Gringoire worries that he will be hanged in her mercy from the king, who would have him hanged. The king
place, but Claude reminds him that he owes Esmeralda his life, agrees that he can be let go. When it is revealed to the king
which she once saved. Gringoire considers it but offers an that the uprising is against him on account of the sentencing of
alternative: they will have the gypsies and truants who Esmeralda, he grows furious. He orders the rebels
congregate at the Court of Miracles help them kidnap her. In "exterminated" and Esmeralda hanged, even if it means
Chapter 3, which takes place later that evening, the truants breaking the laws of asylum.
combine their weapons and prepare to march, accompanied by
Jehan. Gringoire scurries away to meet with Claude, and they go over
their plan to kidnap Esmeralda while the church is under siege.
Chapter 4 begins at Notre-Dame Cathedral, where Quasimodo In Chapter 7, the king's officers arrive in the square, led by
makes his final rounds for the night. He climbs up to the top of Phoebus. The truants are outnumbered and outpowered, so
the north tower and sits watching Paris below him, feeling those still left alive flee. Quasimodo, triumphant, climbs to
anxious because he has noticed in recent days men prowling Esmeralda's tower only to find her room empty.
around the church. Suddenly, he notices a crowd flood into the
square under the cloak of darkness. He resolves to defend the
church to his death against whatever they are planning. The Analysis
narrator notes that in medieval times police didn't exist, and
chaos reigned among competing forces of lordships, so it was Claude's manipulation of Gringoire in his plan to kidnap
not unheard of for parts of the population to rise up in protest. Esmeralda shows yet again how Claude only operates for his
The crowd suddenly lights their torches, revealing their own interests. With Gringoire's help he'll be able to rescue
numbers. Their leader, Clopin, addresses the church, Esmeralda, yet he'll also be able to dispose of Gringoire, who
demanding Esmeralda's return or else they will sack the will be hanged in her place—and then Esmeralda will be in his
church. An enormous wooden beam drops on the crowd, and hands alone.
those who aren't wounded attempt to break down the door.
The narrator's insight that police forces didn't exist in medieval
Stones begin to rain down around them, thrown by Quasimodo.
times reveals the interesting social classes at play in the
Jehan finds a long ladder to lean against the balcony, where he truants' siege of the cathedral. Because Paris lived under a
knows a door is always left unlatched. He reaches the top, with feudal system, there was no central governing force that could
many truants scaling the ladder below him. Suddenly, control such matters. Rather, it was akin to a city having a
Quasimodo emerges and shoves the ladder away from the hundred different police departments with different rules and
balcony, sending all who were climbing it to their deaths. Jehan laws. It's clear that the truant army doesn't know what it is
hides behind a statue, terrified. Quasimodo finally notices him, fighting for, as witnessed by the man who is captured
and Jehan shoots an arrow at him with his crossbow, which alongside Gringoire, who thinks that they are merely "going to
sticks in his left arm. Quasimodo pulls out the arrow and take something from someone's house." Even though Clopin
breaks it over his knee like it's a stick. He pounces on Jehan attempts to rally them around the idea of saving Esmeralda,
and throws him off the building to a swift and terrifying death. many of the truants seem more interested in ransacking the
The truants redouble their efforts, furiously attacking and cathedral for its silver.
scaling the church.
Through the narrator and the king's conversation with his
In Chapter 5, the narrator says King Louis XI is staying at the attendants, Hugo reveals his interest in the role played by class
Bastille across the city, holding a meeting with some noblemen differences in revolutions. Many of his readers would have
and Flemish ambassadors. The men go to look at a prisoner remembered the French Revolution that occurred in the late
cage that has been built to punish offenders. A voice calls out 18th century. The attack on Notre-Dame in 1482, during which
from the cage, begging for mercy, claiming to have been left in King Louis XI hid in the Bastille, alludes to the storming of the
the cage for 14 years. The men are interrupted with an Bastille in 1789, which kicked off the revolution. Throughout the
announcement that there is currently an uprising in Paris. Two novel, Hugo uses the past to echo the present, as though time
men they captured from the band of truants are brought resounds in both directions. The reader hears the past

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The Hunchback of Notre Dame Study Guide Book Summaries 26

echoing, but the characters in the novel are unaware of the He begins speaking to Esmeralda, telling her "destiny has
future and do not hear it. The reader knows what is ahead for delivered us up to one another." He says he can save her from
them and hears the sounds of the future for them. During the the pursuing crowd and points to the nearby gallows, asking
French Revolution, tensions between the nobility, the church, her to choose between it and him. Esmeralda says the gallows
and the lower class came to a head that resulted in the don't terrify her as much as he does. Claude is heartbroken
monarchy being overthrown and a new form of government and begins weeping. He begs her to say something kind and
established—one that didn't recognize the former powers of reminds her that he holds their "two destinies" in his hands.
the nobility and the church. The king shows himself to be Esmeralda calls him a murderer. Enraged, Claude drags her
arrogant and full of his own self-interest, as evidenced by his toward the Recluse's nearby cell and cries out to her that he
lack of compassion for the man who has been locked up and has brought her the gypsy to take her revenge. The Recluse
begs him for mercy—the king can only comment on the price of grabs her through the window and won't let go, and she begins
the cage. It's telling that the doctor is able to take advantage of raving, telling her the story of her lost daughter and how she
the king's fears about his health because it shows that the only has come to despise gypsies. She shows Esmeralda the little
man he can trust is just as self-serving and ambitious. shoe, and Esmeralda gasps—and pulls its twin out of the
sachet around her neck. The Recluse also gasps, "My
Quasimodo defends the church and Esmeralda, which again daughter!" She breaks the bars of her cell and pulls Esmeralda
shows his close kinship with both of them, and he treats them inside, gushing and apologizing.
with the same fervent loyalty and protectiveness. The
cathedral at times seems like an extension of his own body and Officers led by Phoebus enter the square in pursuit of
soul, though he is unaware that the people he is attacking are Esmeralda. The Recluse tells her to stay still and be quiet; she
there to help Esmeralda escape. His assault on them, will tell them she escaped. The officers interrogate her closely
particularly Jehan, who is his adopted brother, seems horrific, and she is able to distract them by offering to come with them
but it also shows his singular motive—to keep Esmeralda safe. for questioning. But just before they are to leave, Esmeralda
hears Phoebus's voice and shouts his name. The closest
officers hear her and begin to tear down the cell, which doesn't
Book 11, Chapters 1–4 have a door or a wide window. The Recluse beseeches them,
moving even the coldest officer to tears with her story of being
reunited with her long-lost daughter. But the officers take

Summary Esmeralda, who faints. They pull her and the Recluse, who has
attached herself to Esmeralda's legs, up and out of the cell.
They drag Esmeralda to the gallows, and the Recluse bites the
While the truants launch their attack in Chapter 1, Esmeralda
hand of the hangman—then dies when he pushes her violently
sleeps, but the uproar eventually wakes her. Upon seeing the
away.
crowd down below, she believes she is having a nightmare.
Frightened, she returns to bed to pray. Suddenly she hears
Chapter 2 brings the reader back to Notre-Dame Cathedral.
footsteps—it is Pierre Gringoire, who reassures her not to be
Quasimodo despairs over Esmeralda's disappearance. The
afraid. A second person accompanies him, hidden by a cloak,
king's archers enter the cathedral looking for Esmeralda to
who Gringoire calls "a friend of mine." Gringoire tells her they
hang, and Quasimodo helps them, not understanding that they
have come to rescue her from the crowd. They help her out of
are her real enemies, not the truants. The narrator notes, "if the
the church through a side door and take her to where a boat is
poor girl had still been there, it was he who would have
hidden nearby. As the stranger rows them away he gives a
betrayed her." As Quasimodo paces and searches the castle,
sigh, which Esmeralda recognizes, and it makes her shudder.
he becomes convinced that Claude has taken Esmeralda, a
After they disembark, Esmeralda finds herself alone with
thought that torments him due to his devotion to Claude.
Claude Frollo, as Gringoire has slipped away with her goat,
Suddenly, he spies Claude walking along the north tower and
Djali. The man takes her hand and begins to lead her toward
begins to follow him. He looks toward what Claude is fixated
the Place de Grève, finally lowering his cowl to reveal that it is
on: the Place de Grève and its gallows. They both see
Claude.
Esmeralda being dragged up its ladder, and then they see her
be hanged. Claude begins to laugh, and Quasimodo charges

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The Hunchback of Notre Dame Study Guide Quotes 27

him from behind, pushing him off the tower. Claude is able to The final tragedy is Quasimodo's fate; he loses everyone and
cling to a ledge briefly, but then falls to his death. Quasimodo everything he loves in the blink of an eye: the church, Claude,
looks at him and at Esmeralda's body in the distance and and Esmeralda. The narrator notes that "the archdeacon and
weeps, because the only two people he has ever loved are the gypsy had collided in his heart," for everything he loves is
dead. inextricably linked.

The narrator explains in Chapter 4 that Quasimodo vanished

g Quotes
shortly after and was never seen again. But a few years later,
two skeletons locked in an embrace are found in the burial pit
for victims of the gallows. One is wearing a necklace with an
empty sachet, and one has a deformed spine and leg—yet the
latter showed no signs of being hanged. He had come there to
"This was the first taste he had
die, and when they try to remove his skeleton, it crumbles into ever had of the delights of vanity.
dust.
Hitherto, he had known only
humiliation, contempt for his
Analysis
condition and disgust for his
Gringoire remains more of a philosopher than someone of
person."
action until his final act of the novel, disappearing into the night
with Djali rather than help Esmeralda avoid her terrible fate.
This is a fatal error, which sets Esmeralda's demise in motion. — Narrator, Book 2, Chapter 3

Yet even at this juncture, Esmeralda begins to feel that her fate
has been set. When Claude leads her off, she weakly resists The narrator describes Quasimodo's experience of being
but ultimately realizes that "destiny was an irresistible force." paraded through the streets as the newly crowned Pope of
Fools, and contrasts this brief moment of joy and celebration
The ultimate tragedy of the novel is highlighted by the brief and
with the misery, scorn, and shame Quasimodo experienced at
heartbreaking reunion between Esmeralda and her mother.
the hands of the same people who are now exalting him.
Nearly every main character is an orphan, and so their
revelation is particularly bittersweet for its dashed promise.
Even though Claude becomes a reviled and horrific character,
there is some redemption to be had in the fact that he adopted
"It is hard not to regret, not to feel
his brother and Quasimodo to raise and take care of. Yet every indignation at the numberless
family in the novel is destroyed or broken up, and so there is no
redemption. degradations and mutilations,

The theme of fate looms large over the last book of the novel,
which time and men have wrought
evidenced by Claude's obsession with forcing Esmeralda to simultaneously on this venerable
choose between him and death, because "destiny has
delivered us up to one another." Claude's fixation on the spider
monument."
and the fly and their resemblance to him and Esmeralda plays
out to its foregone conclusion. He reminds her, "I shall — Narrator, Book 3, Chapter 1
determine your life, you my soul." And yet his unwavering belief
in their paired destinies also helps him to feel absolved of any
The narrator describes Notre-Dame Cathedral in great detail
guilt or remorse for the actions and grief he has caused. Hugo
and takes care to characterize it as a living, breathing thing
uses Claude to warn about the danger of believing too little in
early in the novel. The narrator feels the building has been
free will.
disrespected and torn apart over the centuries, tarnishing what
should be revered.

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The Hunchback of Notre Dame Study Guide Quotes 28

suspicious of the outside world that taunts him for his

"Great buildings, like great
appearance. Their viciousness makes him vicious as well.
mountains, are the work of Because he has been treated only with cruelty and mocking, he
returns the same attitude to the world.
centuries."

— Narrator, Book 3, Chapter 1

"The book will kill the building!"

Here, the narrator continues an extended metaphor in which — Claude Frollo, Book 5, Chapter 1
architecture is something that reflects the innovations and
transformations of cultures. Notre-Dame Cathedral was built
over a period of centuries, and so it is a building of "transition." Claude Frollo utters this sentiment as a response to a question

It is meant to endure and catalog history much in the same way about what books he studies. The narrator further reveals the

that a mountain will endure and reflect the changing climate belief that before the advent of the printing press,

around it. architecture—particularly churches— expressed ideas and

stories about humanity. Claude's way of life as a priest is
threatened by this new invention. Because information is
spread more easily through books, architecture is slowly
"So deep was the instinctive
eroding.
sympathy between the old church
and himself ... that he somehow
"He was being pilloried on the self-
adhered to it like the tortoise to its
same square where the day before
shell."
he had been saluted, acclaimed
— Narrator, Book 4, Chapter 3 and conclaimed Pope and prince
of fools."
The relationship between Quasimodo and the cathedral is an
intimate one, and this quote continues to portray the cathedral — Narrator, Book 6, Chapter 4
as a living, breathing character. Quasimodo has known no
other home, and due to his isolation, the cathedral becomes
more than a home—it becomes a friend and a necessary Here, the narrator observes how quickly the crowd has turned

protection against the world. yet again on Quasimodo, "victor and victim." He notes that
nobody in the crowd seems to notice the irony of the contrast
because they are merely hungry for the spectacle of it. This
fickle crowd is a constant presence throughout the novel.
"He had picked up the weapon
with which he had been wounded."
"Poor dancer, poor predestined
— Narrator, Book 4, Chapter 3
fly!"

Here, the narrator describes Quasimodo's mutually — Claude Frollo, Book 7, Chapter 5
antagonistic relationship with "the external world" and how it
shaped his temperament. He has no friendly relationships
outside of Claude Frollo and the cathedral, and so he is Claude is gripped by a revelation when he observes a spider
entrap a helpless fly in its web. He sees a parallel to himself

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The Hunchback of Notre Dame Study Guide Symbols 29

and Esmeralda, in which he is the spider who has ensnared her

in his web and she is the "predestined fly." He feels their fates l Symbols
are intertwined, and neither can do anything to prevent it.

Notre-Dame Cathedral
"That protection for a creature so
unfortunate should have come
Notre-Dame Cathedral is the central symbol of the novel. It
from another creature so
stands as a character—and an extension of Quasimodo—as
deformed, that a condemned girl 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
should have been saved by narrator describes the building as a living thing, noting it has
Quasimodo, this too had its been "cut," "attacked," and "killed." It is also described as the
"shell" that houses Quasimodo as though the two were
poignancy." inextricably linked. He also notes, "each stone of this venerable
monument is a page not only of our country's history, but also
— Narrator, Book 8, Chapter 6 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
The novel is grounded in contrasts, juxtapositions, and tragic
friend.
ironies, and the relationship between Esmeralda and
Quasimodo is no exception. Though they are opposites
physically, they both share kind, compassionate natures and an
orphaned past. In this way, they seem fundamentally linked to
each other despite their physical contrasts, as Hugo
Esmeralda's Baby Shoes
emphasizes.

Esmeralda's baby shoes serve as an enduring symbol of hope

"And what is inexplicable is that for both Esmeralda and her long-lost mother, the Recluse.
Separated when Esmeralda was a baby, mother and daughter
the blinder the passion, the more each clung to one shoe in the hope of being reunited someday.
For Esmeralda, holding on to the shoe keeps her vision fixed
tenacious it is."
on the possibility of a happy future—and keeps her chaste and
true to herself. For the Recluse, the shoe is an object into
— Narrator, Book 9, Chapter 4 which she can pour her grief. Given the tragic ending of
Esmeralda's life not long after she is reunited with her mother,
Although the narrator applies this statement to Esmeralda's the shoes take on a bittersweet symbolism. They represent
love of Phoebus, it could be applied to nearly any main only a short-lived happiness.
character in the novel. Esmeralda falls in love with Phoebus
without knowing him, and she can't bring herself to see that he
has merely used her for his own ends. Claude Frollo has a
tenacious passion for Esmeralda that causes him to be blind to The Spider and the Fly
its consequences.

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

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The Hunchback of Notre Dame Study Guide Themes 30

as the spider catching and devouring the fly. By turn, he sees Phoebus, who only feels lust for her (though he deceives her
himself as the spider and Esmeralda as the fly, but he always into thinking that he loves her). Claude Frollo is also driven by
sees their fates as linked, entwined, and doomed. Claude Frollo an obsessive lust for Esmeralda that compels him to attempt
claims the spider and the fly "symbolize everything." Their roles kidnapping, murder, and rape—all of which he justifies based
as predator and prey have been preordained, and neither can on his belief in fate. Pierre Gringoire also loves Esmeralda, and
do anything to change this course. And as much as Esmeralda though he respects her enough not to take advantage of her,
is caught in Claude Frollo's web, he is also caught in the web of he fails to protect her from Claude Frollo. Hugo is careful in the
lust he feels she has spun around him. novel to separate love and lust and to show the frustration that
accompanies unrequited emotions.

m Themes
Fate versus Free Will

Appearance versus Reality

In the novel's preface, Hugo mentions that his story is inspired
by the notion of fate, and many of his characters do seem
preoccupied by it. Claude Frollo sees fate as a web in which
Many of the characters and settings in the novel are not as individuals are caught, with the outcome already determined.
they appear at first glance. Quasimodo is depicted as But fate also becomes an excuse for Claude to deny
terrifyingly disfigured, striking fear and revulsion in most who responsibility for his actions. He reminds Esmeralda more than
look upon him. But his appearance hides a gentle, once that fate brought them together, so she might as well
compassionate, protective soul who is misunderstood by the submit to it—despite the fact he terrifies and tortures her.
world. Claude Frollo is the esteemed archdeacon of Notre- Hugo uses Claude to demonstrate that not believing in free will
Dame Cathedral, so no one suspects the horrors he is capable can lead one to excuse terrible things in the name of fate and
of—murder, attempted kidnapping and rape, and manipulation. destiny.
Phoebus is another character whose appearance does not
mirror reality—Esmeralda falls in love with him because he is an
officer who rescues her, but she can't see that he is
manipulative and shallow and doesn't love her back. The theme e Suggested Reading
extends to relationships as well, particularly that between
Esmeralda and the Recluse. The Recluse initially despises and
Novikoff, Alex J. "Medievalism and Modernity in Victor Hugo's
heckles Esmeralda because she is a gypsy, but they eventually
Hunchback of Notre Dame." Fiction and Film for French
discover they are mother and daughter, and their reunion is
Historians. Rhodes College, 2013. Web.
bittersweet.
Rebello, Stephen. The Art of The Hunchback of Notre Dame.
New York: Hyperion, 1996. Print.

Love versus Lust Robb, Graham. Victor Hugo. New York: Norton, 1997. Print.

Love and lust are not equal in the novel, though feelings of
either one or the other center around Esmeralda and drive
much of the action. Quasimodo has perhaps the purest love for
Esmeralda, and he protects her and respects her boundaries
and wishes. Still, his love for her leads him to feel tortured
because she cannot return it. Esmeralda, in turn, is in love with

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