The Hunchback of Notre-Dame

“Coppenole bowed proudly to His Eminence, who bowed back to this all-powerful burgher so feared by Louis XI.”

Coppenole is a man ahead of his time. By his own insistence, he is little more than a wealthy merchant. Because of the size of his fortune, however, he socializes with the aristocracy and even the King of France. Coppenole operates on the boundaries between social classes, which during this era of social change are in flux. Coppenole and his upstart attitude herald a riotous future of social change. That the king fears him and the Cardinal bows before him as an equal illustrates the coming power of wealth to flatten traditional social classes.

“([F]or a female pope might be chosen)”

The Festival of Fools is the one day of the Medieval calendar in which traditional social roles are inverted. The poor, working class are free to defy their rich, powerful counterparts without fear of reprisal. This celebration functions as a release valve for social tensions, indulging egalitarian ideas for a single day to ease the inherent anxieties of a rigidly structured class society. The potential election of a female Fool’s Pope is further evidence of this willingness to indulge egalitarian ideas, which persist to the point that female admittance to the Catholic clergy is still prohibited.

“They were for all that a people, and he was their sovereign.”

Parisians elect Quasimodo as the Fool’s Pope and—for one night only—celebrate him. Their adoration is facetious and mocking, but to the reclusive bell-ringer, even the mocking performance of friendship is novel enough. Quasimodo knows that his status as Fool’s Pope is absurd yet allows himself to feel empowered, even if slightly. Lacking any love or affection in his life, he revels in even this slight imitation of social interaction, taking what he can from the situation even if the friendship is not sincere.

“I can only love a man able to protect me.”

Esmeralda grew up as a poor orphan. Abused by society’s prejudice against the Romany people, she craves love in the form of protection. This desire for protection manifests in her love for Phoebus. Tragically, however, her unrequited love is misplaced. Physically, Phoebus can protect her, but he abandons her emotionally, offering little and viewing her only as an object to satisfy his lust. Her misplaced love for him leads to her death, illustrating how she tragically misunderstands her own maxim. She loves Phoebus for his potential to protect her, even though he abdicates any responsibility for her safety.

“Each face, each stone of the venerable monument is a page not only of the history of France, but also of the history of science and art.”

The novel venerates Notre-Dame because the cathedral is more than a mere assemblage of construction materials. In its design and aesthetics, the text suggests, an observer can read the history of France, as well as the technological and artistic innovations which permitted the construction of such a vast structure. The idea of Notre-Dame as a biography of Medieval Paris bolsters the novel’s view of architecture as a social means of conveying information, one that died out after the Medieval era.

“Such was the Paris which crows living in 1482 could see from the top of the towers of Notre-Dame.”

By describing the view from the top of Notre-Dame, the text subtly emphasizes the cathedral’s importance in Medieval Paris. The cathedral, in this deception, is central to understanding the city. As the novel describes Paris, Notre-Dame is at its very center. The cathedral’s geographic and visual centering reinforces the idea that the cathedral represents the era.

“From then on, feeling he had a burden to bear, he took life very seriously.”

Frollo’s feverish dedication to expanding his knowledge closely relates to his desire to provide for his brother, Jehan. After their parents die, he takes on Jehan as his adoptive son. He makes Jehan his responsibility, which is why each of Jehan’s debaucheries hurts him so much but also why he always forgives his brother. Through his caring relationship with his brother, he seeks redemption and moral validation. To condemn or abandon his brother would be to condemn himself. Frollo takes his life seriously, while Jehan does not. Jehan’s failure to do so, however, only makes Frollo even more serious.

“It was further remarked that for some little time his horror of gypsy women and Zingari seemed to have intensified.”

Frollo secretly prides himself on his capacity for denial. Through sheer force of will, he has learned to overcome sexual desires. When he sees Esmeralda, however, he cannot deny his passion for her. He hates her so much because she shatters his egotistical belief in his brilliance. Her existence proves that he is fallible. This is why Frollo hates Esmeralda so much; he seeks to punish her for his own failings.

“The King of France would be called Claude and not Louis.”

Frollo is unwittingly in the presence of the King of France. When he speaks offhandedly about his interest in alchemy, however, he reveals the threat that the art poses to the kingdom. Alchemy could potentially make Frollo the richest man in the kingdom. Frollo isn’t alone in taking alchemy’s potential seriously; everyone else takes it seriously too. As such, this threat—issued by a man seemingly on the cusp of achieving a breakthrough—is a significant issue for the king. Luckily for the king, however, Frollo’s sorcery never works. He may consider himself capable of turning lead into gold, but the results of his experiments are demonstrable failures.

“The printing press will kill the Church.”

The novel delves into the belief that the printing press will cause the downfall of the Church. Rather than an ideological difference, however, the text is specifically referring to a church’s physical structure as a means of conveying knowledge and information. A church’s existence is a document, a blueprint for the human knowledge that underlies its construction. The widespread availability of easily printed books, however, will render this unnecessary. The printing press will kill the Church by being much more efficient at conveying information.

“Many women had come there to weep, until they died, for parents, lovers, sins.”

The rathole is nearly always populated by women who come to show their penitence before God. Significantly, the text points out that only women have occupied such cells and that society has forced many women into them. While society expects women to be innocent, pure, and virginal, it does not demand this level of penitence from men, as the debauchery of Jehan and other male characters demonstrates. The rare emptiness of the rathole illustrates the society’s patriarchal nature.

“Bah! what’s that, your pillory at Reims? A wretched cage where they only turn peasants. That’s not up to much!”

As they chat before the instruments of public justice, the women note the different entertainment options in their respective cities. Punishment is such a common form of social entertainment that the women of Paris look down on the provincial punishments in Reims. Parisians are arrogant and snooty about the quality of public justice available in the big city.

“This mass of people, well trained in waiting for public executions, were not showing signs of undue impatience.”

The public stand as witness to the punishment of the condemned. The people are not there to solemnly watch justice done, however. They become unruly when the punishment is delayed, suggesting that the Parisian crowd has a sense of entitlement regarding public punishment. They crave the spectacle of it and become angry when their cravings are denied.

“Unable to carp at her beauty, they pounced on her attire.”

The wealthy women gathered beside Fleur-de-Lys have a level of privilege and comfort that Esmeralda, poor and the subject of harsh discrimination, could never enjoy. Although she is much poorer than them, however, they envy her beauty. Bitter, they criticize her clothing—all that she can afford—to attack and diminish her and thereby make themselves feel better. She is brought before them for this spectacle of public humiliation, in which the rich insult a poor girl to emphasize their status and deemphasize what they lack.

“I need money.”

Confronting the reality of his brother’s office, filled with apparently magical items, Jehan sets about getting what he wants. He states his desire simply and then repeats the phrase. In such a magical surrounding, the phrase functions like a spell, trying to puncture Frollo’s mind and implant an idea. Ironically, Jehan’s simple spell (a plea for brotherly assistance) is more successful than any of Frollo’s apparent attempts at sorcery.

“Alas! Claude, you are the spider. Claude, you are the fly too!”

Frollo uses the metaphor of the spider and the fly to describe his relationship with fate. He ignores the reality of the situation, in which he is a powerful priest and she is a poor girl, to excuse his desire. He is just as much a victim of her, his changing metaphor suggests. By throwing himself on the mercy of fate, framing himself as the fly, Frollo absolves himself of his sins.

“He reckoned that there is nothing like the spectacle of a criminal trial for driving away melancholy, entertaining as the judges’ stupidity usually is.”

Early in the novel, Gringoire criticized the public for being more interested in spectacle than in his art. Now, however, even he admits that he cannot resist the spectacle of public punishment. He seeks out a seemingly random trial, hoping to find comfort from his melancholy, to derive some joy in witnessing the suffering of others. The way that this supposedly learned man treats the criminal justice system signifies the extent to which the appearance and the spectacle of justice are more important than justice itself.

“It was two extremes of wretchedness, of nature and of society, meeting and helping each other.”

Quasimodo rescues Esmeralda from an unjust execution. In saving her, he is returning the gift of pity that she gave him during his own public punishment. He feels bound to her through his sympathy for their shared suffering. That he understands this sympathy suggests that he is capable of far more profound emotion than the people outside the cathedral, who simply view him as a monster.

“It was the abuse of impunity side by side with the abuse of punishment, two evils each trying to correct one another.”

Esmeralda claims asylum by remaining in Notre-Dame. If she steps outside, she will be arrested and hanged. The right of asylum is a corrective measure against an unjust justice system, a makeshift way in which society seeks to counter the regular miscarriage of justice by placing faith in God to protect the truly innocent. Like so much regarding justice in Medieval France, however, the right of asylum is more concerned with spectacle than actual justice. In place of a fair and just system is a balance between “two evils.”

“It’s out of pity that you don’t turn your eyes away.”

After a lifetime of mistreatment by society, Quasimodo has developed a keen sense of sincere acceptance about how other people see him. He loves Esmeralda but has internalized society’s loathing to such an extent that he does not believe she could ever love him. When she looks at him, he can tell that only pity allows her to make eye contact with him or gaze at him. He accepts that even the woman whose life he saved denies him affection.

“The captain’s one thing, but him!”

Jealousy consumes Frollo so completely that he cannot distinguish Esmeralda’s pity for Quasimodo from genuine affection. He envies the time that Quasimodo spends with her. While he could tolerate her love for the handsome Phoebus (to the extent that he could tolerate it), he cannot tolerate the idea that she might prefer Quasimodo over him. This jealousy causes him to lose his mental faculties, abandoning the intellect of which he was once so proud.

“The immense multitude seemed to be forming itself into a column.”

The Court of Miracles inhabitants are the dregs of Parisian society. They are thieves and castoffs, those who have been abandoned by everyone else and have thus abandoned any claim to morality. This disorganized and disparate group, however, is so motivated to save Esmeralda that they seem to unconsciously form into a drilled military unit. This happens without training and without orders being issued, suggesting that the innate desire to rescue the innocent girl turns this gang of thieves into veteran soldiers.

“God’s great thunderbolts are not for bombarding lettuces.”

Faced with the prospect of being hanged (again), Gringoire throws himself at the king’s mercy. He is given the chance to plead for his life, putting his skills of writing and rhetoric to the ultimate test. Ironically, the man who has sought the right audience ever since his play was abandoned now has a chance to show off for the king. He has the audience he always felt that he deserved. As a result, that Gringoire’s life is spared, but the king is barely moved. Gringoire succeeds yet still fails to impress anyone. He is allowed to live but forced to live with the knowledge of his own mediocrity.