Character Analysis
(Avoiding Spoilers)
Living… free-spirited on the streets of Paris, dancing and performing.
Profession… gypsy. Esmeralda's street wisdom is unparalleled and, although she might be jaded from living a less-than-perfect life, she's able to see the good within people. At Paris' Festival of Fools ceremony, she defends the unfair humiliation of the hunchbacked bell ringer of Notre Dame, Quasimodo, but ends up making an enemy out of Quasi's evil master, Judge Frollo.
Interests… getting justice for all those who are outcasts of society. Like the Hunchback himself, Esmeralda wants to be accepted by the people of Paris rather than treated as an outsider. Growing up amongst gypsies exposed Esmeralda to the harshness of reality; she and the other gypsies are often looked down upon or mistreated. When she criticizes Frollo for his treatment of Quasi, she makes it clear that she wants acceptance for everyone: "You mistreat this poor boy the same way you mistreat my people. You speak of justice, yet you are cruel to those most in need of your help!"
Relationship Status… interested in Phoebus, the captain of Frollo's guard. Though she initially dislikes him, Esmeralda starts to fall for Phoebus when she learns that he’s actually an honorable guy. Unfortunately, the attractive Esmeralda also captures the attention of the obsessive Frollo, who gives her the choice of becoming his wife — or dying at the stake.
Challenge… escaping Frollo and his men, while making sure that Quasi and Phoebus stay out of harm’s way. Not one to play it safe, she risks life and limb to rescue both of them, knowing they'd do the same for her.
Personality… brave, feisty, witty and loyal. Esmeralda’s outward beauty is matched only by her inner beauty. She's not afraid to stand up to authority, especially in the defense of those who are less fortunate or who can’t or won’t speak up for themselves. Esmeralda has a kind heart and is nonjudgmental; she accepts everyone the way they are and can’t understand why others are so cruel and intolerant.
Get to Know her in...
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When Quasi defies the evil Frollo and ventures out to the Festival of Fools, the cruel crowd jeers him. Rescued by fellow outcast the gypsy Esmeralda, Quasi soon finds himself battling to save the people and the city he loves.
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The story and characters in Victor Hugo's The Hunchback of Notre-Dame have resonated with succeeding generations since its publication in 1831. It has tempted filmmakers, and most recently animators, who have exploited its dramatic content to good effect but have inevitably lost some of the grays that make the original text so compelling.
From Victor Hugo's flamboyant imagination came Quasimodo, the grotesque bell ringer; La Esmeralda, the sensuous gypsy dancer; and the haunted archdeacon Claude Frollo. Hugo set his epic tale in the Paris of 1482 under Louis XI and meticulously re-created the
day-to-day life of its highest and lowest inhabitants. Written at a time of perennial political upheaval in France, The Hunchback of Notre-Dame is the product of an emerging democratic sensibility and prefigures the teeming masterpiece Les Misérables, which Hugo would write thirty years later.
He made the cathedral the centerpiece of the novel and called it Notre-Dame de Paris. (It received its popular English title at the time of its second translation in 1833.) Hugo wrote that his inspiration came from a carving of the word "fatality" in Greek that he had found in the cathedral. The inscription had been eradicated by the time the book was published, and Hugo feared that Notre-Dame's Gothic splendor might soon be lost to the contemporary fad for tearing down old buildings. Notre-Dame has survived as one of the great monuments of Paris, and Hugo's novel is a fitting celebration of it, a popular classic that is proving to be just as enduring.
The Modern Library has played a significant role in American cultural life for the better part of a century. The series was founded in 1917 by the publishers Boni and Liveright and eight years later acquired by Bennett Cerf and Donald Klopfer. It provided the foun-dation for their next publishing venture, Random House. The Modern Library has been a staple of the American book trade, providing readers with affordable hard-bound editions of important works of liter-ature and thought. For the Modern Library's seventy-fifth anniversary, Random House redesigned the series, restoring as its emblem the running torchbearer created by Lucian Bernhard in 1925 and refurbishing jackets, bindings, and type, as well as inau-gurating a new program of selecting titles. The Modern Library continues to provide the world's best books, at the best prices.
Jacket paintings: (front) detail from Notre Dame by Paul Lecomte, courtesy of David David Gallery/SuperStock; (spine) Victor Hugo, 1833, by Louis Boulanger of Giraudon/Art Resource, N.Y. -
Hunchback's story revolves around a beautiful gypsy dancer, Esmeralda (Patsy Ruth Miller) and the men in the life. Esmeralda's possessive guardian is Clopin, King of the Beggars (Ernest Torrence). He is willing to barter her to advance his interests and those of his impoverished followers. She loves and is loved in turn by Phoebus de Chateaupers (Norman Kerry) a cavalier of King Louis XI (Tully Marshall). Esmeralda is also the obsessive object of Jehan (Brandon Hurst) the villainous brother of Dom Claudio (Nigel De Brulier) the cathedral's saintly Archdeacon. And she is adored by Quasimodo, the grotesque bellringer of Notre Dame for her kindness to him after an unjust flogging. During a tender moment between the dancer and the soldier, the jealous Jehan stabs Phoebus. Esmeralda is accused of the crime, tortured and sentenced to hang. Workmen from the cathedral stop laboring to enjoy her public execution, the following day, while Quasimodo watches in horror.
