The Hunchback of Notre-Dame is a French Romantic/Gothic novel by Victor

Hugo published in1831. The title refers to the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, on which the story is
centered. The story is set in the Late Middle Ages, during the reign of Louis XI (1461-1483).
Victor Hugo
Author, Poet, Playwright (1802–1885) was a French poet, novelist, and dramatist of the Romantic
movement. He is considered one of the greatest and best known French writers. In France, Hugo's
literary fame comes first from his poetry but also rests upon his novels and his dramatic
achievements. Among many volumes of poetry, Les Contemplations and La Légende des siècles
stand particularly high in critical esteem. Outside France, his best-known works are the acclaimed
novels Les Misérables, 1862, and Notre-Dame de Paris, 1831 (known in English as The Hunchback
of Notre-Dame). He also produced more than 4,000 drawings, which have since been admired for
their beauty, and earned widespread respect as a campaigner for social causes such as the abolition
of the death penalty.

Synopsis
Victor Hugo was born on February 26, 1802, in Besançon, France. After training as a lawyer, Hugo
embarked on the literary career. He became one of the most important French Romantic poets,
novelists and dramatists of his time, having assembled a massive body of work while living in Paris,
Brussels and the Channel Islands. Hugo died on May 22, 1885, in Paris.

In 1831, he published one of his most enduring works, Notre-Dame de Paris (The Hunchback of
Notre Dame). Set in the medieval period, the novel presents a harsh criticism of the society that
degrades and shuns the hunchback Quasimodo. This was Hugo's most celebrated work to date, and
paved the way for his subsequent political writing.

Characters
Quasimodo His name literally means "half-made." The deformed Quasimodo is described as
"hideous" and a "creation of the devil." He was born with a severe hunchback, and a giant wart that
covers his left eye. He was born to a Gypsy tribe, but due to his monstrous appearance he was
switched during infancy with a physically normal baby girl (the infant Esmeralda.) After being
discovered, Quasimodo is exorcised and taken to Paris, where he is found abandoned in Notre Dame
(on the foundlings' bed, where orphans and unwanted children are left to public charity) on
Quasimodo Sunday, the first Sunday after Easter, by Claude Frollo, the Archdeacon of Notre Dame,
who adopts the baby, names him after the day the baby was found, and brings him up to be the bell-
ringer of the Cathedral. Due to the loud ringing of the bells, Quasimodo also becomes deaf. Although
he is hated for his deformity, it is revealed that he is fairly kind at heart. Though Quasimodo commits
acts of violence in the novel, these are only undertaken when he is instructed by others.
Esmeralda She is a French Roma girl (near the end of the book, it is revealed that her biological
mother was a French woman). She constantly attracts men with her seductive dances, and is rarely
seen without her clever goat Djali. She is around 16 years old and has a kind and generous heart.
shown to be a kind, caring, independent and witty gypsy who is willing to help others in need.
Esmeralda's greatest wish is to see outcasts like Quasimodo and her fellow gypsies be accepted to
society and be treated as people.
Claude Frollo he is racist towards the gypsies because he sees them as "impure commoners". He is
genocidal towards them and wants nothing more than to wipe them out of Paris. Also, Disney's Frollo
is depicted as the real ruler of Paris and effectively above every law in the city outside of the
Cathedral. However, in the Disney version, he has his very own army of thugs who dress up as
soldiers to enforce his will, and lacks much of the original character's compassion and deep emotion,
becoming more of an evil villain than a tragic anti-hero. Regardless, he still has lustful feelings for
Esmeralda, and plans to have her executed if she refuses to love him. In the Disney film, he is
presented as a coldly intelligent, vindictive, and arrogant sadist. Also, Disney's Frollo has little to no
compassion or understanding for anyone or anything except himself. The opening song notes that he
"longs to purge the world of vice and sin" and sees "corruption everywhere" except in himself. Frollo
is also symbolic of religious hypocrisy, which was also an enduring theme in the novel. (According to
the Archdeacon, "it would be unwise to arouse Frollo's anger further.") This film also omits Frollo's
capacity for compassion present in Hugo's original novel, instead adding a selfish interpretation to his
adoption of Quasimodo. However, Frollo is also perceived as a tragic figure, tormented by his
maddening self-righteousness and narrow views. In the final verse of "Hellfire", he asks God to have
mercy on him and Esmeralda, implying that he ultimately knows that his actions are against God's
will.
Captain Phoebus returns to Paris to be Captain of the Guard under Judge Claude Frollo because his
predecessor was a "bit of a disappointment" to Frollo. Unlike his original counterpart from the novel,
Phoebus' feelings for Esmeralda are genuine. He first meets Esmeralda when he sees her dancing in
the streets for money. He also watches her dance at the Festival of Fools. Both times, he shows a
marked interest in her with an approving grin. But both events entail for Phoebus a greater vested
interest in Esmeralda's well-being, and not only in her dancing and her beauty, in that he assists her
escape from city authorities both times, unbidden by her. Particularly, after observing two soldiers
harassing Esmeralda over her (honestly obtained) earnings when he first arrives in the city, Phoebus
blocks their way with his horse, Achilles, when they pursue her, and stall them long enough for her to
escape. The second time, he follows her into the cathedral after Frollo issues an order to arrest her
for her defiant acts against him at the Feast of Fools, and when Frollo and a handful of soldiers arrive
to arrest Esmeralda, Phoebus takes the initiative and claims sanctuary for her. Notably, his first real
encounter with Esmeralda in the cathedral involved an impromptu sword vs. candleholder fight when
she thinks he intends to arrest her: he flirts the entire time, if awkwardly, and they eventually reach a
place of discourse before Frollo barges in.

Clopin Trouillefou in which he is a more jovial and less sinister gypsy than in the novel. However, he
is much darker, in clothing and humor, when Quasimodo and Captain Phoebus arrive in the Court of
Miracles, suggesting his personality during the day to have been something of a façade. However, he
shows to have a gentle nature at the end of the film when he picks a little girl up and entertains her
with a puppet resembling Judge Claude Frollo. Clopin's ending pitch of the song "The Bells of Notre
Dame" has garnered incredible acclaim for its high D-note singing. He is voiced by Paul Kandel.
As well as narrating the whole film, Clopin introduces the film and begins the story with the song "The
Bells of Notre Dame", where he introduces the audience to the story by explaining how Quasimodo,
the bell ringer from Notre Dame, ended up there. He also sings "Topsy Turvy" about the traditional
Parisian "Feast of Fools", also known as Twelfth Night (holiday) held every year on January 6.