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
One Quasimodo Sunday, 16 years before this story takes place, a group of old women gather round a bench after the morning service in Notre Dame. It is customary for abandoned children to be left on this bench, where they can be adopted by members of the public. The old women are extremely excited because a strange child has been left on the bench. One of them says that it is “a sin” to look at a child as ugly as this one and another suggests that it might be a monkey instead.
Churches are places of charity, as well as powerful institutions. This suggests that, although the medieval Church became extremely powerful and corrupt, its original aims were charitable and generous. People were very superstitious in the medieval period and, because of the baby’s unusual appearance, the women believe he must not be human.
Themes
The strange child on the bench is extremely upset by all the attention and begins to cry and scream. One of the women says that the baby’s presence is a miracle, and another reminds her that this would be the third miracle that month. They discuss the possibility that the creature is a monster that should be drowned or burnt to death. The child is wrapped in a sack and seems too large to be a newborn. His face is deformed, and he has several large teeth already.
People in the medieval period were often extremely superstitious because they did not have access to knowledge of science or natural phenomena to understand the world. This is demonstrated by the women’s strange beliefs about the baby and the apparent prevalence of miracles (which likely have rational explanations) in medieval society.
Themes
A rich woman goes by but turns away from the strange child in disgust. A wise man then passes with his wife and confidently informs the old women that the cyst above the baby’s eye is an egg which contains a demon. He predicts that the creature will suffer terrible misfortunes and that it is an ill omen. The old women are alarmed and think it would be best to burn the baby.
People are easily taken in by appearances in medieval society and tend to take things at face value. Therefore, people often believe that people (even babies) who are ugly on the outside are ugly or evil on the inside. Ugliness is also associated with demonic or evil forces in medieval society because people are extremely superstitious. They do not have the scientific knowledge to understand physical deformities and, therefore, use supernatural explanations to rationalize the baby’s strange appearance.
Themes
Claude Frollo, who is a young priest at the time, listens nearby. After a few minutes, he pushes past the old women, officially adopts the baby, and carries him off. One old woman says to another that she always suspected Frollo was a magician.
Clearly, Frollo is not superstitious and recognizes that the baby is unfortunate rather than demonic. He is also more sympathetic and loving than the other people around the bench. Frollo is at odds with medieval society in some ways, because he is interested in science and wants to search for rational ways of understanding the world, rather than giving in to superstitious ones. Due to these unconventional interests, Frollo himself is suspected of witchcraft. This suggests that people in medieval society often believed that things outside of the norm were unnatural—even though in this case, Frollo is the most rational of them all.
Themes
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