Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in The Hunchback of Notre Dame, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Gothic Architecture, History, and Art
Lust, Sin, and Misogyny
Appearances, Alienation, and Hypocrisy
Fate and Predestination
The Supernatural, Rationalism, and Knowledge
Justice, Punishment, and Freedom
Summary
Analysis
The cathedral of Notre Dame is an extremely beautiful building, even though it has been damaged and worn away over the years. Men, especially artists and architects, have done even more damage than time to the cathedral. The façade of Notre Dame is an example of its beauty and its harmonious design. Its three huge, pointed doorways, its pointed spires, and its statues of the French kings all contribute to the artistry of the overall design.
Hugo argues that Gothic architecture has been neglected because, since the end of the medieval period, architects and members of the public have failed to appreciate its beauty. Instead, post-medieval society tends to prefer neat, balanced architecture (in the Neo-classicist style, which prioritized harmony of shape over decoration or exaggeration) and considers the Gothic, with its extreme heights and grotesque facades, a vulgar and ugly art form. Hugo suggests that this is untrue, however, and that Gothic designs are just as harmonious and beautiful as Neo-classicist ones.
Themes
The cathedral of Notre Dame is like a symphony or a great work of epic literature, such as “the Iliad or the Romanceros.” It showcases all the creative energy of the age in which it was built, both the creativity of the artist who imagined it and the inspiration of the laborer who built it. The same is true of all medieval architecture, which is all built with the same ideas of proportion and grandeur in mind.
Hugo compares Notre Dame to the Iliad and the Romanceros because these literary works do not have only one author but rather were contributed to by many members of society. The Iliad, written by Homer in Ancient Greece, is based on popular myths, which were developed collectively by many individuals. Similarly, the Romanceros is a collection of French romances, rather than the work of just one author. In this way they are like buildings, which may be designed by one person but are built by many.
Themes
In 1830, Notre Dame’s façade looks very different from the way it did in the medieval period. The steps which lead up to the church have been swallowed up by high modern pavements and the statues of kings on the façade have been partly destroyed and replaced by “insipid” modern carvings. It was not time that damaged the statues, but humans. Inside the church, people have defaced the statues of saints and the “Gothic altar” has been replaced with a marble one.
After the medieval period, when European society entered the Renaissance and then the Enlightenment, Gothic architecture was considered ugly and unbalanced because it showcased a variety of grotesque figures and pointed shapes, rather than only classically beautiful ones. This lack of care for Gothic architecture is demonstrated through the damage done to the cathedral. Hugo suggests that modern, classical styles are “insipid” compared to the Gothic because Gothic architecture reflects the reality of life, which is often cruel and ugly as well as picturesque and beautiful.
Themes
Much of the stained glass in Notre Dame has been removed and one of its towers has been knocked down and replaced by the design of a more modern architect. These types of renovations to medieval architecture are common across all Europe, but they are particularly common in France. Time, political revolutions, and fashion have “laid waste” to the beauty of Gothic architecture and many Gothic buildings have been renovated in the name of “good taste.”
Hugo suggests that modern architects show no regard for the history of Gothic buildings and, instead, carelessly knock them down. Instead of trying to learn from these buildings or appreciate them aesthetically, modern architects are shallowly obsessed with fashion, appearances, and “good taste,” which in the 19th century favored picturesque, Neo-classicist styles over exaggerated Gothic ones. Although, Hugo suggests, political revolutions have improved society, disregard for the architecture of previous societies shows that people in the 19th century are not as knowledgeable or civilized as they may imagine.
Themes
Get the entire The Hunchback of Notre Dame LitChart as a printable PDF.
Notre Dame is not a purely Gothic cathedral—it is a synthesis of the Romanesque and the Gothic, medieval style. It was built after the decline in Romanesque architecture but before the total changeover to the Gothic. Its Gothic features, like the spires, were added gradually on top of the original Romanesque foundations.
Hugo suggests that the Gothic architectural style of Notre Dame shows how European society developed in the early medieval period. From studying the design of the cathedral, one can see that society changed and went from imitating Roman styles to the more expressive and individualistic Gothic style. This suggests that, as medieval society progressed, people became more interested in the individual, rather than in collective ideas. In turn, this shift this paved the way towards modern, Enlightenment ideas such as psychology or individual human rights, which existed in the 19th century when Hugo was writing. Architecture, therefore, is an asset to historical knowledge, as it shows how society thought and expressed itself across different periods. The gradual changes to the cathedral symbolize the growth and development of western society.
Themes
The architecture of Notre Dame shows not only the history of Europe, but also the development of different technological and architectural techniques. Each section of the building is like a page in a book from its respective time period. This demonstrates that architecture is a collective medium, rather than one based on an individual’s vision, and that buildings grow and change with time. They are often quite different when they are finished from what they were when they were started. In this sense, buildings like Notre Dame are like plants or natural organisms.
Architecture can be read like a history book, Hugo implies, and it can be used to see how a society changed and developed over time. Compared with books, however (which generally just have one author and show one perspective), buildings show the ideas and perspective of a whole society because there are so many different skills and types of people needed to build something as complex as a cathedral. Buildings are the natural products of society, just as plants are the natural products of their environments, because humans shape their environments to suit their needs.
Themes
The histories of whole nations can be read through their architecture. The architecture of “Christian Europe,” for example, can be split into three periods: the Romanesque, the Gothic, and the Renaissance. The Romanesque is the oldest, the Gothic came next, and then the Renaissance followed.
Hugo suggests that humanity would not know as much about its own history if it could not look at the architecture of different societies and observe how it changed over time. Developments in knowledge and culture are visible in the buildings produced by these societies and, in this sense, architecture can be read like a history book to gain knowledge.
Themes
These architectural changes only affect the outsides of churches, however. The interior design of churches remains Romanesque throughout and reflects continuity in the style of Christian worship. In this sense, the inside of the church is like the trunk of a tree and the façade is like the foliage that grows on it.
The appearance of buildings comes second to their function. Churches, for example, can be built in many elaborate styles, but their function is always as a place of worship. This suggests that, with buildings as well as people, it is what is inside that really counts.
Themes
