“the

Hunchback of
Notre-dame”
By:vinctor hugo
About the Author
VICTOR MARIE HUGO- 26 February 1802 – 22 may
1885) was a French poet novelist, and dramatist of the
Romantic movement .
Hugo is considered to be one of the greatest and best
known French. Outside France, his most famous
works are the novels Les Miserables, 1862, and the
Hunchback of Notre-Dame (French: Notre-Dame de
Paris),1831 .
In France, Hugo is known primarily for his poetry
collections, such as Les Contemplation ( The
contemplations) and Legende des Siescles ( The
Legend of the Ages).
 CHARACTERS
Quasimodo - Quasimodo is an abandoned child left at Notre Dame
and adopted by Archdeacon Claude Frollo. Hideously deformed, he
has a giant humpback, a protrusion coming out of his chest, and a
giant wart that covers one of his eyes. He is also deaf. His heart is
pure, and this purity is linked to the cathedral itself. Indeed, his love
for Notre Dame's bells and for the beautiful sound of their ringing
represents his only form of communication. The whole of Paris
ironically enjoys Quasimodo's singing while at the same time
detesting him for his ugliness. His name literally means "half-made."
Archdeacon Claude Frollo - A priest at Notre Dame, Frollo is also
the novel's antagonist. However, he is not a typical evil character
bent on causing pain and suffering; instead, he is very bright and
compassionate. He dearly loves his brother, Jehan and does
everything in his power to make Jehan happy after their parents
die.

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

beautiful gypsy street dancer. Along with her goat, Djali, she charms
everyone she meets with her stunning looks and magic tricks.

Clopin Trouillefou - Clopin disrupts Gringoire's play and later turns

out to be not just a simple beggar, but "King" of the vagabonds.
Pierre Gringoire - A struggling playwright and philosopher. La
Esmerelda saves him from being hanged by a group of vagabonds
and agrees to "marry" him for four years.

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

saves La Esmerelda from Quasimodo. He does not love her, but tries
to seduce her and a number of other women as well.

Sister Gudule - La Esmerelda's long lost mother. She is a

miserable recluse living in the Tour Roland, who hates to hear the
sound of children playing. She is convinced that gypsies ate her
adoptive daughter, Agnes, fifteen years earlier.

Jehan Frollo - Claude Frollo's brother. Jehan is a horrible student

who gambles and drinks all his money away.
Louis XI - The King of France in 1482. Louis XI is a heartless monarch
who lives in the Bastille instead of the Louvre.

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

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

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

Master Florian Barbedienne - The deaf judge who condemns

Quasimodo to torture.

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

Jacques prosecutes and then tortures La Esmerelda to get her to
confess to killing Phoebus.
 SETTING
The main setting of the novel, is presented in
detail. Quasimodo, Claude Frollo, La
Esmeralda, and Gringoire are introduced, and
their development begins. The conflict is also
defined, as Quasimodo becomes the
protagonist fighting against his ugliness and
seeking a purpose in life beyond the ringing of
the bells.
 PLOT
The story is set in Paris in 1482 during the reign of Louis
XI .The gypsy Esmeralda (born as Agnes) captures the
heart of many men, including those of Captain Phoebus
and Pierre Gringoire , but especially Quasimodo and his
guardian Archdeacon Claude Frollo. Frollo is turn
between his obsessive lust for Esmeralda and the rules
of Notre-Dame Cathedral. He orders Quasimodo is
captured by Phoebus and his guards who save
Esmeralda. Gringoire, who attempted to help
Esmeralda saves him by agreeing to marry him for four
years.
 EXPOSITION
In most stories, we expect to meet the important people
right away, but in The Hunchback of Notre-Dame, there
are quite a few important people—and it's not
immediately apparent how they're all related. The episode
with Pierre Gringoire going to the Cour des Miracles and
marrying Esmeralda helps line up all of the players and
show us their roles.
In Book II, we get some backstory that also gives us a
sense of who's who and what everyone's motivations are.
In fact, all the way up until Book V, we're still being shown
insights into the characters' lives before we get back to
the actual meat of the plot.
 Rising Action

Quasimodo is publicly humiliated, the old Sack

Woman is crazy, everyone wants to get into
Esmeralda's pants… you know, typical drama. All of
these events end up being related, and they move
the plot forward to Phœbus's stabbing, Esmeralda's
imprisonment and condemnation, and her rescue
by Quasimodo.
 Climax

All of these events set us up for the climax. This is when

things start to get really messy in front of Notre-Dame.
Remember how the Tramps attack in Book X? Think of that
as the moment when things finally boil over and the
tension hits its absolute peak. A lot of people are going to
die, and fate is going to finally run its course and do all the
things we've been waiting for it to do. When Esmeralda
and Frollo meet their deaths, we know the story can't go
on much longer.
 Falling action

Now, the novel doesn't just end right there.

After all, Esmeralda and Frollo
aren't everything, right? Victor Hugo treats us
to a "What happens to the other characters?"
section in Book XI. It's like a moment to re-
group after all of that tension.
 Resolution
But of course, you can't just end a novel with
side characters, either. We need to know what
happens to our other main character,
Quasimodo, and we need some closure with the
major plot. This comes later in Book XI, when
we see Quasimodo and Esmeralda "wedded"
together.
 Frollo is therefore, indirectly
responsible for the death of
the hunchback of Notre Dame,
as well as the death La
Esmeralda. The climax of the
novel occurs when Quasimodo
realizes he has lost La
Esmeralda, in spite of the fact
that he has tried to save her by
fighting the mob of gypsies
from the Court of Miracles.
 The real theme of Victor
Hugo's Notre-Dame de Paris, as
The Hunchback of Notre
Dame was originally entitled,
was to bring attention to the
beauty, grandeur, and history of
Gothic architecture so that the
Parisians would be made aware
of the necessity of preserving
this architecture.
 The entire story makes
the mood of the setting and
events of Gothic Paris out to be
very eerie and dark. There is
the town hall, and the pope at
the main cathedral, but those
on the out-skirts of Notre
Dame fall victim to murder,
torture, and social injustices.