The Hunchback of Notre-Dame

In Paris, prisoners are held in the complex network of tunnels beneath the city. Esmeralda’s cell is dark and contains only a pile of straw for bedding. Food is delivered through a trapdoor in the ceiling. She cannot keep track of time and struggles to retain her sanity without the things she loves most. After several weeks, a man dressed entirely in black visits her cell. Once she shakes off her apathy, Esmeralda pleads with him to free her. He pulls back his hood, revealing that he is Frollo.

Esmeralda is horrified, recognizing him as the cause of her problems. As she pleads for death or an explanation for his hatred of her, Frollo realizes that he horrifies her. When he tells Esmeralda that he loves her, she recoils in disgust. He recalls the first time he saw her dance, feeling as though the Devil was tempting him. The sight of Djali confirmed his suspicions that Satan sent Esmeralda to tempt a god-fearing man. Nevertheless, he could not stop himself from becoming obsessed with her. After several failed solutions, he decided that executing her for witchcraft was the only remedy. When he recalls overhearing Phoebus on the street, hearing the captain’s name rouses Esmeralda. Frollo is incensed, warning her never to say Phoebus’s name. He blames fate for what has happened to them, claiming that he has suffered even more than she has. As proof, he reveals an open wound on his body: He cut himself while Esmeralda was undergoing torture. He begs her for pity, but she can only repeat Phoebus’s name. If Esmeralda loves Frollo, even for a moment, he believes that he can free her; if not, she will be hanged. As she repeats the name of the man she loves, Frollo emotionlessly tells her that Phoebus is dead. This infuriates Esmeralda. She rejects and curses Frollo, who exits the cell, reiterating that Phoebus is dead.

Paquette mourns the loss of her daughter. In the rathole, she cradles the pink shoe, which is all she has left of her beloved child. In the square, a boy talks of plans to execute the Romany woman the following day. She calls out to a passing priest, beckoning Frollo to her cell. Distractedly, Frollo confirms the news. Paquette is pleased, since she still blames Romany people for stealing her child.

Phoebus survived the attack. His wound was serious, but he has already recovered. He leaves Paris to avoid the scandal associated with Esmeralda. Although he is alive, Esmeralda is still charged with murder because people do not care about the facts. They simply want to see someone executed. Unable to remember exactly what happened, Phoebus convinces himself that Esmeralda used witchcraft on him. After some time away, he misses Fleur-de-Lys and returns to Paris. His absence and his association with Esmeralda upset Fleur-de-Lys, but she accepts Phoebus’s lie that he was injured in a duel. She insists that he watch Esmeralda’s execution with her from the balcony.

A crowd gathers to watch the hanging. Esmeralda and Djali are brought to the scaffold in a cart. Priests recite a Mass for the dead. Frollo, deathly pale, stands among them. Quietly, he reiterates his offer to Esmeralda. She rejects him. Spotting Phoebus on the balcony, Frollo is infuriated once again and calls for Esmeralda to be executed right away. Esmeralda faints as Fleur-de-Lys drags Phoebus inside. Quasimodo watches the scene from the cathedral. When Esmeralda reaches the gallows, he swings down and grabs her. Quasimodo carries Esmeralda into Notre-Dame, calling out “asylum” and invoking the historic laws of protection for those on church grounds. The fickle crowd, shocked but intrigued, changes its allegiance, cheering for Quasimodo, who carries Esmeralda up the tower of Notre-Dame. From the rathole, Paquette watches in confusion.

Even before Quasimodo rescues Esmeralda, Frollo cannot remain in the square. He runs until he is outside the city walls, in a passionate delirium. He fears that Esmeralda has completely destroyed him, revealing a deep passion that the priesthood cannot hide. He starts laughing as his mind fills with evil thoughts. He curses everyone but Esmeralda, though he regrets ordering her execution. Since he trusts in fate, however, he knows that he would do the same again. He flees Paris until, at nightfall, he seizes hold of his nerves and resolves to return. He realizes that rather than fleeing the city, he has been walking along the city walls. Taking a boat, he returns to Notre-Dame. He stumbles through the streets, seeing his brother in a brothel. Beneath the white towers of Notre-Dame, he hallucinates that the building is swaying and rocking. Reaching his office, he tries to read his Bible, but Esmeralda consumes his thoughts. Still believing that she is dead, he seeks out Quasimodo. As he ascends the bell tower, however, he sees Esmeralda and Djali. Believing that they are ghosts, he leaps into the shadows.

The right of sanctuary is important in the Medieval era, since cruel punishments are so common. Those who claim sanctuary on holy ground, however, must remain there until the matter is resolved, so the sanctuary can become a prison. Quasimodo rescues Esmeralda and hides her in the tower. At first, she feels as though she has died and become a ghost. When she comes to her senses, she realizes that Phoebus is not only alive but has rejected her. Esmeralda speaks to Quasimodo, asking why he saved her, but he cannot hear her and scuttles away despondently. When he returns, he indicates that she can leave the room only at night. Esmeralda appreciates his concern but feels increasingly as though she is in a prison, though Djali’s presence helps relieve this sense of imprisonment. She wanders through Notre-Dame during the night, gazing out at the moonlit city.

In the morning, Esmeralda wakes with the sun on her face. Quasimodo appears, frightening her, but tries to assure her that he means no harm. As she beckons him into her room, he indicates that he is deaf. Although his appearance horrifies her, Esmeralda strives to see the goodness in his character. Quasimodo feels her pity. Her beauty, meanwhile, only reminds him of his ugliness. He pledges his service and his life to her, handing her a whistle tuned to a pitch audible only to him. If she needs him, she can blow the whistle. He hurries away before Esmeralda can thank him.

Despite her sense of imprisonment, Esmeralda’s appreciation for life slowly returns. The cathedral’s pealing bells soothe her. She regrets only that she confessed to the crime under torture, allowing Phoebus to think she stabbed him. She again assures herself that he must love her as she loves him. Quasimodo avoids her, aware that his appearance terrifies her even though she tries to be kind. One morning, she sees Phoebus ride by the cathedral. As she cries out, Quasimodo watches Phoebus enter Fleur-de-Lys’s house and laments that he will never be handsome enough to win a beautiful woman’s love. He offers to bring Phoebus to the weeping Esmeralda, and she asks him to do so. He crosses the square and watches as Fleur-de-Lys, up on the balcony, rejects Phoebus’s kiss. When Phoebus leaves the house, Quasimodo tries to drag him to the cathedral. Believing that Quasimodo is a demon or a phantom, Phoebus fights him off and leaves. Quasimodo fails in his mission, and the lovelorn Esmeralda criticizes him. He stops visiting her. At night, Esmeralda hears him singing sad songs. On one occasion, he gifts her flowers: a beautiful but cracked vase holding wilted flowers and a plain clay pot with a flourishing bouquet. Esmeralda appreciates the flowers. She discovers that Quasimodo guards her door each night while she is asleep.

Frollo hears that Quasimodo saved Esmeralda from the gallows. Despondent, he locks himself in his office. From there, he can see Quasimodo and Esmeralda. He convinces himself that they are lovers and becomes furious that she could choose Quasimodo over him. Overcome with jealousy, Frollo dreams of torturing Esmeralda. Finding his key to the bell tower, he seeks out her room.

When Esmeralda wakes, Frollo is standing over her. She screams as he climbs into her bed. As he tries to caress her, begging her to love him, she fights him off. She blows her whistle, and Quasimodo appears, dragging Frollo away with ease. Quasimodo cannot hear Frollo’s demands that he stop. Frollo is certain that Quasimodo (unable to recognize him in the dark) will kill him. When the moonlight illuminates Frollo’s face, however, Quasimodo stops, dropping to his knees in apology. Shocked, Esmeralda grabs a sword and, as Frollo advances on her, reveals that Phoebus is alive. Frollo stumbles away, leaving Esmeralda with the terrible knowledge that he still loves her.