The Hunchback of Notre Dame

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The Victor Hugo novel The Hunchback of Notre-Dame written in 1831 can be classified as either as a romantic love story or a beautiful tragedy. The novel is set in and around Paris France in the late fifteenth century, with it’s main attraction being the Cathedral of Notre-Dame. Hugo’s characters show great love and loyalty to each other but then at the same time, they judge each other and use each other for personal benefits.
Novel:
Characters
Quasimodo- He gives the title of this novel it meaning. He was born a disfigured hunchback, with one useful eye and the other covered by a wart. His mother abandoned him as a baby, then adopted by Claude Frollo. He grew up in Notre-Dame and at fourteen; he received the title of bell ringer. He considers this a high honor and he took his position very seriously. Unfortunately, the bells are what have taken his hearing from him. He very rarely ventures out of the cathedral because the people are cruel and despise him. The rare occasion that his does live the cathedral; he is elected as the Pope of Fools. His undying loyalty to Frollo gets him into trouble with the law and this starts a series of events that lead to love and death.
Esmeralda- A young gypsy street dancer who is a caring, passionate person, is the center of the drama that is displayed throughout the novel. Her kindness towards Quasimodo in his time of need shows the reader how good of a person she can be. Quasimodo and Frollo share a love for her that she does not return. She is in love with another man that does not love her. Charged with a murder and then sentenced to death by hanging, she is rescue thanks to her admirer Quasimodo. In the end, her hate for Claude Frollo seals her fate and she dies on the gallows.
Claude Fro...

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... novel. Even though the series of events differ from the novel, the film really bring to life the atmosphere of the festival and how Esmeralda is introduced to the viewer. Hugo goes into great detail about the bells in Notre Dame and I believe that Disney did not address the bells as much in the movie. It seems as if they focused more on the characters and their story and less on the architect of Norte Dame. Both the novel and the movie are both well executed in their own aspects and are both enjoyable.

Works Cited

Hugo, Victor. The Hunchback of Notre Dame. Golgotha Press, 2010. Apple iBooks.
Kirk Wise, Gary Trousdale. Dir. Buena Vista Pictures. Perf. Tom Hulce, Demi Moore, Jason Alexander, Tony Jay. Walt Disney Pictures. 1996. Netflix.
Olin H. Moore. How Victor Hugo Created the Characters of Notre-Dame de Paris.
PMLA , Vol. 57, No. 1 (Mar., 1942), pp. 255-274

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